My husband’s idea of a supernatural summer is Paul the psychic octopus (yes, he really does exist) correctly predicting the results of the soccer World Cup, but we know better, don’t we….?
Mmm . . . supernatural summer . . . just those words alone send a tingle down my spine. I sense mystery, magic, danger, suspense, romance – especially romance!
And golden summer days, full of sunshine and dreams and long hazy nights.
As an English writer it is such an honor to be published in the US by the wonderful people at Harper, but any of you who have ever visited England will know that we don’t always have great summer weather on this rainy little island. But one magical year, when I was about sixteen, we had endless days of sunshine that seemed to last all the way from May to September. I remember wearing the skimpiest of little cotton dresses and denim shorts, and listening to summer love songs on the radio, and having picnics with my friends down by the river, surrounded by tall grasses and scarlet poppies, the buzzing of bees and the glitter of dragonflies. I remember lying in the fields on hot, hot afternoons, the book I was reading discarded in favour of daydreams, and I remember looking up at the high blue sky and wishing that moment could last for ever. It didn’t of course, but the memories of that summer did. The memory of my first proper boyfriend, who was dark and gorgeous and kind, and who played in a totally cool band. The memory of him playing his guitar and singing specially for me. The memory of driving to a gig with him in a white Lotus sports car upholstered in red leather. (Why did I ever let him go?!)
Ruby the Pug is owner of my heart. We recently moved to the country where she has six acres to roam and do her bug hunting. (She is a mighty bug warrior.) The ginormous yellow lab is Buckshot, my neighbor’s dog. Buckshot has a huge crush on Ruby and prances for her when he sees her outside being fierce in the ways of her hunting. And he always gives her a kiss before he goes home. I guess this is true puppy love.
—Melissa Francis
Post your best photo caption suggestion in the comments section and Melissa Francis, author of Love Sucks, will choose her favorite!
The Supernatural Summer Tour was a blast! I am still recalling the memories of having dinner with the other authors and meeting the fangtastic readers like all of you at the book stores.
When I returned I had a little vacay on the Caribbean and then back to business! I locked myself away from the sun and continued to write Vampire Kisses 8: CRYPTIC CRAVINGS. I had a lot of fun writing about the next installment of the love life between Raven and her dreamy and mysterious vampire boyfriend, Alexander. It is amazing to me that when I’m writing, so much happens that I hadn’t planned on. The characters come alive and like to do their own thing—which is great for me. It means that there are sub-plots or twists and turns that happen along the way when I write. Trevor, of course, gets his gorgeous face time and Raven creeps into some really spooky places.
Then at the same time, I was writing BLOOD RELATIVES 4! I was so happy to get back into the manga and explore what happens when Claude and gang are full vampires! Lots of action and vampire kisses!
Now I am reviewing the “close to final” manuscript for ONCE IN A FULL MOON. It too is full of romance and a hot guy who winds up becoming a werewolf.
I hope you enjoy both when they come out! FULL MOON will be out December 8th right before the holidays (pre-order your copy today), CRYPTIC CRAVINGS should be out in May, and BLOOD RELATIVES in September 2011. Hope you all are having a fangtastic summer!
Many fangs,
We had it worked down to this: the girl he liked was short, blonde, in Mrs. Bennion’s class, and her name started with a K. We both knew he was talking about me, and we both knew I liked him, too, but we were twelve, and this was how the game was played as we sat side by side, not touching, waiting for our team’s turn to perform.
“Well,” I said, trying to keep my butterflies down, “What color are her eyes?”
He frowned, but didn’t look over at me. “I don’t know.”
And just like that, the butterflies died a horrible, smashing-into-the-windshield-on-the-freeway death. He didn’t know what color my eyes were? He was supposed to like me, have a crush on me, prefer me above all others in our twelve-year-old world, and he didn’t even take the time to notice that my eyes were green?
While vacationing in Kauai, Hawaii, I took a horseback tour with my wife, her sister, and her sister’s husband. There was a point on the tour when the guide had every couple strike this pose, so the horses had enough experience to know that it was the most hilarious time to relieve themselves. My sister-in-law and her husband have a picture that looks just like this.
—Adam Rex
If you think this is funny, read Fat Vampire by Adam Rex—it’s even funnier. Just saying.
Post your best photo caption suggestion in the comments section and Adam Rex will choose his favorite!
I am sitting in my attic studio at the top of my tall Victorian house, set deep in the English countryside, and I am daydreaming. Half-formed ideas for new stories wander through my mind like elusive ghosts. Soft summer rain is beating on the windows. A cafe latte sits getting cold on my desk. A noise breaks into my reverie, getting louder, thunderous even, so that I can’t ignore it any longer.
Someone is knocking at the door, insisting that I pay attention. Unwillingly, I drag myself down the stairs. I see through the window that a DHL van is parked outside, and a guy with a package is waiting outside the door. An urgent delivery . . . a brown paper package with an international customs label . . . it can only mean something has arrived from New York. I fly down the last the few stairs and fling open the door. The DHL guy is suddenly the person I love most in the whole world; I dazzle him with my smile and he smiles back warily as I scribble to sign his forms and snatch the parcel from him. I dance away and rip it open, and there it is, mine at last . . . the first copy of Betrayal has arrived, and oh, it is soooo beautiful! The gold lettering, the image of the glittering Talisman in the mystical flames; it’s all so perfect that it actually brings a lump to my throat.
I worked so hard on this book. I sighed and swore and laughed and cried as I tried to figure out exactly what happened to Evie and Sebastian after the end of Immortal. I knew their story had to be told and I had to get it exactly right.
Inspired by Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis.
Seriously. Have you read The Poison Diaries yet? You have no excuse, because for a limited time this addictive gothic romance is available for FREE online. Send your friends the book trailer, and they’ll want to get into everything poisonous, too. The choice is yours—kill or cure? Decide with your own garden and poison diary.
(Did we mention this book was co-authored by a duchess? Seriously.)
When I was in third grade we moved from Montreal to San Diego. From a land of snow and bitter winter to one of sand and endless summer. From a city on a river to one on the ocean. From a duplex with a tiny yard to a stucco house with trees and flowers and land and, holy bananafish, a swimming pool. And the beach was only a short drive away.
I begged my parents constantly to take to me the beach, and we went so much that, even at eight, I knew which freeways and exits to take. My favorite was the beach at the Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island. I loved walking around the elegant red-roofed Hotel Del to sneak onto their beautiful white beach. I could spend all day, every day playing in the sand, searching for seashells, and wading into the surf.
Around this same time, the movie Splash came out. Daryl Hannah played Madison, a beautiful mermaid with long blonde curly hair, who ventures out onto land because she falls in love with a human, the dark-curly-haired Tom Hanks. It was instantly one of my favorites. In the movie, if Madison got wet, her legs turned back into a tailfin. My cousin and I spent hours dousing ourselves in water, trying unsuccessfully to make our mermaid tails appear.
There was a blinding flash of light as if my entire world was exploding.
Three teens. Disaster in a mysterious desert. And the next morning…a return to their ordinary lives with everything just as it was before. Or is it?
New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman teamed up with her talented teen daughter, Aliza, to write this gripping paranormal thriller.
Escape the summer heat and step inside the fascinating alternative world of Prism to watch this mother-daughter duo on video, listen to their podcast, take the “spills kills” quiz, and more!
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