Katie MacAlister

Noelle's big reveal

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:54:42 GMT

Some of you may remember that earlier this year, giving way to the many, many demands to find Noelle a vamp to call her own, I did, in fact, break down and write a novella for her. That novella, Shades of Gray (no relation to the risque novel of a similar name), will be out at the end of September, and since I can now share the cover for the anthology that includes Noelle's novella, I thought I'd do just that.

I'll put up a tiny little excerpt for the novella soon, but until then, you can read a bit more about Noelle and her vamp on my website.

The things I used to know

Thu, 10 May 2012 18:43:25 GMT

Cast your mind back about twenty-five or so years. Way back then, I was a student at the University of Washington studying--of all things--physics and astronomy. And one of the things I badly wanted to learn was the Russian language. Why? I have no idea. I'm not sure I even knew then, and I certainly don't know now. I simply remember that I wanted to learn Russian.

For two happy undergraduate years, I frolicked with the Russian language. I was Katya, and I was quite happy to tell all those pesky Young Republicans who hung out on campus soliciting voters to join their flanks that I was studying Russian *and* astrophysics, and then watched with great pleasure when, sputtering something about patriotism, they cautioned me against ever visiting the (then still Soviet Union) while in possession of Valuable American Scientific Knowledge.

MY FIRST YEAR RUSSIAN TEXTBOOK

Fast forward a couple of decades. The sum total of the Russian I could remember were pithy phrases like "Today, I have no mind" and "My name is Katya. I am an American student. Would you like to buy my valuable physics secrets?"

Now, I've always been fascinated with learning another language. And I have a small, very, very small smattering of many languages, usually just a few phrases because as we all know, I have the memory of maple syrup. And while I enjoy the process of learning languages (hence my desire to learn Greek last year, which failed when it became clear that Rosetta Stone's method of teaching was not working well with my brain), previous attempts of learning on my own have forced me to face the fact that I'm one of those people who really need an actual class with an actual instructor, and more importantly, actual interaction to learn languages.

ACTUAL PAGE WITH NOTES FROM RUSSIAN TEXTBOOK SHOWING THAT AT SOME POINT IN MY LIFE, I UNDERSTOOD THIS STUFF.

And since I'm busy writing books, and live in the boonies, and am a shy little hermit who refuses to go to metropolitan areas like downtown Seattle in order to attend such classes, I've had to simply wander the house with my arms flailing about vaguely while muttering things like, "Man, I wish I could speak French. Or Greek. Or Russian. Hey, I used to speak Russian!"

A few days ago, I decided to give the ole language-learning part of my brain another shot at showing its quality. But this time, I was going to attend an actual class. And rather than going for a language that was new to me, I'd go back to my old love, and try to resurrect the Russian that must surely still be stashed away somewhere in my brain.

Starting May 21s, I'll be attending an (online, true, but with streaming video hookups) ACTUAL LIVE RUSSIAN CLASS. My brain may never be the same.

Oh, and if you'd like some valuable undergraduate astrophysics secrets from 25+ years ago, let me know. I've still got the paper I wrote about the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The horror that is my inbox

Wed, 09 May 2012 18:27:22 GMT

I should be writing today. But then I caught sight of my inbox, and even though I cleaned it out just a couple of months ago...well, the screen grab below says it all.

*sigh*

This is why I ask for patience when writing to me. My inbox sometimes becomes quite unruly and threatens me with bodily harm if I don't prune it down to a manageable level. Guess what I'm going to be doing today instead of writing? And can your inbox beat up my inbox, or is yours in proper shape, the shape that indicates you are not only in control, but organized to boot?

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:39:02 GMT

I know what we can do on this arrived-way-quicker-than-is-seemly Monday...let's play a rousing game of Spot the Sun-Loving Dog.

Yes, my idiot boy dog loves lolling about on the deck on a sunny day. Except for the, you know, actual part of being OUTSIDE.

Slightly Late Second Quarter Wallpaper!

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:18:20 GMT

I know some of you have been waiting patiently for this, and I apologize for it being seventeen days late. But hey, it has a hunky guy on it--worth waiting for, yes?

Second Quarter Wallpaper (right click on the image size you want and save it to your desktop)

Sizes available:

The birthday week

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:51:50 GMT

Those of you who follow my posts on Facebook know two things: one, I recently had a birthday, and two, I celebrated said birthday with a week long party with five of my friends. I thought I'd share some of that fun with you all.

Amongst those friends is my darling agent Michelle (in the red jacket), who I was delighted could spend almost the whole week with us.

We had all sorts of fun during the week. One member of the party, Sara (of Looming Moon), was most excited to see groceries being delivered.

OK, I may have egged her on to take a picture with the truck, and the driver didn't quite know what to make of her plastering herself to it, but it was a perfect way to start the week.

The dogs loved having new people to molest.

White Girl especially loved going on walks with people between bouts of rain.

The lemon drops I mentioned on Facebook?

Yeah, we had a full counter of booze and snackies. The lemon drops were divine.

We played an awesome game that involved drawing phrases, and having the next person guess what the drawing was supposed to be (the game is called Telestrations, by the way. I highly recommend it).

Here's my guess of one of darling agent Michelle's drawings:

And the next person's rendition of my guess (slightly enhanced so as to remove the naughty part)

Lots and lots and lots of spinning (of yarn) went on during the week. We even taught darling agent Michelle how to spin.

[And yes, we sat around in our jammies most of the time.]

It was a glorious week of non-stop fun and frolics and my dogs waking people up at five in the morning. And of course, fish crossing signs.

Photos courtesy of Vin and Sara and my mother.

The very late quarterly calendar wallpaper

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:56:48 GMT

I realize that the first quarter of the year is almost gone (man, where DOES the time go?), so this wallpaper won't be enjoyed for long, but in the spirit of better late than never, I've uploaded the Yacky wallpaper for those of you who wish to enjoy him. It. The wallpaper. *cough*

As usual, the wallpaper is available in three sizes: 1900x1200, 1600x1200, and 1024x768. You can download one or all of the sizes on the Katie Mac Wallpaper Page o' Manly Goodness.

Why cleaning is bad for you

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:31:58 GMT

In a few weeks it will be my birthday. I decided last year that I was going to give myself a really big birthday present this year--I am going to host a party with a bunch of friends.

For a week.

In my house.

And while all five of the visiting friends are excited about our week o' fun, filled with events such as:

Pride and Prejudice Day
Coloring Day
Henna Tattoo Day
Tiara-making Day
Dr. Who Day
Eat Sundaes For Dinner Day
Teach Darling Agent Michelle to Spin Yarn Day

it occurred to me that in order to fit five extra people into my house, I'd have to organize my stuff. So I did. And now, when I need to find something, I can't.

And this is why cleaning is bad for you.

I rest my case.

Sigh

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:30:51 GMT

As I mentioned yesterday, we here in Western Washington do not cope well with snow. We don't get it often, and we don't like it. We have oodles of hills, and very few people here know how to drive in it. Cities have few resources to cope with snowy and icy roads because we don't normally have that issue.

Well, we have snow now. I've got about a foot of it, and apparently, another foot is on its way. I'm all snuggled into the house with the dogs, however, so other than venting a generalized snow rage, I'm actually not having any issues...well, unless you count having to go out every couple of hours to brush off the hummingbird feeder an issue. And I do.

Here's a picture of a brave little hummer getting a hit of energy at the (somewhat snow-covered) feeder. Time to brush it off again...

Feedng the Birds

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:30:31 GMT

What's going on at Rancho Doghair today?

Oh, nothing, just feeding the birds outside my window.

*gark*

[For those of you who don't sense the irony in my voice, it's because we here in Western Washington do not "do" snow. And we have a lot of it, with more on the way. Eeep.]

Bring your drool cloths, it's cover time!

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:59:05 GMT

The e-mail looked innocuous enough. It was simply titled A Tale of Two Vampires cover. And I, always thrilled to see new covers, immediately loaded it up. I looked at the stepback first (the inner cover picture) because I like to save the hunky guy for last.

The stepback is very pretty, very evocative, and fits perfectly the heroine and scenery of the book.

Nice, huh? See the castle? And the foggy bits? It's dead on.

And then I loaded up the cover, and my jaw literally dropped an inch. The only thing that went through my head was: Oh my god oh my god oh my god. Oh. My. God. Ohmigod.

After a few minutes of that, I managed to reclaim my jaw, put my tongue back in my mouth, and stop staring at the model, and started immediately into planning how I was going to marry him and have his babies.

Here is a smaller version of the cover, so you can admire it as a whole piece. Don't worry, I will provide a bigger picture, so you, too, can drool and plot your immediate marriage plans.

Do you see his eyes? DO YOU SEE THE LOOK HE IS GIVING US? *swoon*

Here is a close up, just because I think we all need to stare deeply into his eyes.

*whimper*

If you want a larger view of the whole front cover, you can find it here.

And this is why I value my friends

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:37:12 GMT

By now, most of you know that I'm racing against a deadline for the next vampire book, which is due in less than two weeks. Most of you also know I'm hideously behind on it, due to a number of factors, not the least of which is some turmoil in my personal life, the holidays, and my brain not being happy about several work-related things.

Because of all that, my stress level is higher than normal. I'm in full protection mode, which means I get my writing done, and reward my brain with movies or MMOs or whatever it wants in order to keep it productive, but it also means I'm posting blogs less, participating in discussions less, and pretty much hiding from the world until the book is done.

One of the resources I fall back on to keep me sane is friends and family, the people I laugh with, and with whom I can relax and be silly and enjoy myself. I'm hideously grateful to all of them, as well as to the people who post with me on Facebook, or respond to something odd I've mentioned, or even e-mail me to tell me what they thought of a book.

Except the last person who e-mailed me.

This person didn't like Yacky. Now, I'm resigned to the fact that not all of my books are going to be hits with even my biggest fans--heaven knows, there are some books by my favorite authors that don't ring my chimes--but this person not only wrote to tell me how much she disliked the book, she went on to tell me that if I had spent less time laughing with my friends, I wouldn't have written such a dud of a book.

And that makes me feel sad. Sad not because this person didn't like the book--see above disclaimer--but because this person clearly doesn't have the pleasure of getting silly with friends. If she did, she'd wouldn't dismiss that time spent with friends, and would understand what it means to me to have people with whom I can have fun.

Since I don't say it enough, thank you to all of you who take the time to be silly with me, or post funny links, or share fun stories. You guys make life much better, and I'm truly grateful that I have you all.

Seriously, who couldn't love Yacky? *shakes head*

The dogs

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:42:14 GMT

White Dog: Mom! Mom! I have a toy! I want to play with my toy! Get my Christmas toy!

Me (because I'm a sucker for a happy dog face): All right, I will get your toy, but you can only play with it in the kitchen, because if you take it anywhere else, it gets stuck, and I'm tired of getting up every minute and a half to get it for you.

White Dog: Yay! I have a toy! Get the toy! I want the toy!

I get the toy out, and the bag of treats that goes in it. Insert treats into round ball toy. Snap it together.

Boy dog, dancing around like a deranged 100 lb idiot: Mom! I have a toy, too! I want my toy! Get my toy! Get my toy, too!

I get out the boy dog's toy, which unlike the White Dog's toy, is shaped like a bottle with a rope coming out of the opening, and thus is less prone to rolling under and behind furniture. Guess which toy I like better.

I fill boy dog's toy, and sternly tell him: You have to play with this in the kitchen, as well, because although you don't get yours stuck behind things, you do bash into stuff with it, so you just stay here and play with it where you won't hurt anything but kitchen cupboards.

Boy dog: Yay! Toys! Toys with treats in them!

White dog, in voice sounding like something from the Exorcist: GIVE US THE TOYS WITH TREATS IN THEM!

I place both toys in the kitchen, where there is ample room, AMPLE ROOM, for them to play, and both dogs leap around happily.

For the count of seven.

Then White Dog picks up her ball and takes it into the living room, where, three seconds later, she has it stuck behind a chair. Boy dog, because he has about three functioning brain cells, stares at his toy like he's never seen it before, doesn't know what it is, what it does, or what he should do with it, and instantly comes to me to see if I've taken the treats from it and placed them upon my person.

*sigh*

I hope everyone has a happy, prosperous, and healthy New Year!

Nap time!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:28:19 GMT

Oh, how I wish it was.

DGM is going to be DG-another day this week, due to all the Yacky release activities that leave me feeling as limp as a soggy noodle.

I do have the energy to pass along one giggle-worthy tidbit...Yacky has been officially recognized at the Rhapsody book club. Woot!

Awash in turkey gravy

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:00:37 GMT

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving (those of you who celebrate it). I spent a day lolling around in the sated afterglow of a really good turkey dinner. I swear, gravy is like crack at my house...but that's neither here nor there.

While my mother and her husband were visiting for a little Thanksgiving brunch, we had a few visitors.

There were three of them all together, two girls and a boy.

I just hope they made it safely wherever they were going.

A mini-rant

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:48:28 GMT

I'm curious--how many of you will be out and about on Friday snapping up all those fabulous deals?

I have to admit that I've never, ever gone shopping on Black Friday, simply because the crowds scare the crap out of me. I much prefer to do my shopping in a peaceful, happy environment (which is why I do most of it online--there's nothing more relaxing than being snuggled up in a warm blanky on my recliner while browsing online for gifties) than braving the ravaging hordes at the stores.

One thing I have seen this year that has driven home the crass commercialization specter that hangs over the holidays is a TV ad by Best Buy. Now, I don't normally watch commercials--they drive me nuts, so I either mute them on live TV, or fast forward through recordings--but this morning while I was in the kitchen wrestling with a particularly obstreperous can of dog food for the furry beasties, a commercial came on that I couldn't mute. It featured a woman taunting Santa because she had filled all the stockings of her household, leaving Santa befuddled as to how to dispense his gifts.

She then goes on to smugly tell him he could fill the dog's stocking. I have two big issues with this--the first is why the hell didn't she get the dog presents since she was out being so friggin' shop-happy, and the second is, excuse me? Taunting Santa? What is up with that?

Best Buy totally fails on that commercial, IMHO. The message it sends may not be huge, or earth-shattering, or even terribly important in the face of so many other important things, but man, does it rankle. Poor Santa. Poor widdle dog.

Whether you stay home for your shopping (like me), or venture out into the madness on Friday, I hope everyone has a lovely holiday. And for those of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I say you should make up your own holiday on Thursday, and celebrate it to the hilt.

Weak little T-Rex arms flailing around helplessly

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:55:46 GMT

My local grocery store has a delivery service that I used because...well, because I'm lazy and I like to have the groceries not only brought to my door, but hauled into the kitchen. If I could possibly convince the delivery dude to put the groceries away, and cook me dinner, I'd seriously tip him, but alas, bringing the groceries to my kitchen is as far as he'll go.

In preparation for Thanksgiving, over the last week or so I've been building my online order to be delivered, and it wasn't until a short while ago when the guy started hauling all that stuff in that I realized two things:

I should never build a grocery order for longer than a day, because otherwise, I end up with more food than I can possibly eat in a month, and
If a store offers you a free turkey, do not under any circumstances get the biggest one they will allow.

When the grocery dude was done hauling in many, many bags of groceries, so many they spilled over off my center counter and onto the floor, I started to thank the dude and say goodbye. He stopped me with a haunted look. "There's still the turkey to bring in," he said, and with his little wheely cart, went back to the store truck to get it.

I busied myself by stuffing things into the refrigerator and the fridge's freezer, when the sound of heavy breathing and staggered footsteps arrested me.

Grocery dude lumbered into the kitchen with a gigantic frozen turkey in his arms, and a pained expression in his face. "Damned thing keeps throwing snowballs at me," he grumbled under his breath as he set it down onto the newly cleared space on the counter.

Honestly, it sounded like he dropped a bowling ball. I swear the entire house shook.

"Snowballs?" I asked, wondering if the turkey had left a dent in the counter.

He held out his arm. Flakes of frosty snow were smeared up and down his chest, arms, and chin.

"Oh. Snowballs. Heh." Oh, how I would pay for that laughter.

With a dark look at the turkey, he toddled off, and I put away the rest of my groceries. All but Behemothia, Turkey of the Giants. I am planning on having only a small turkey breast for Thanksgiving, so my thought was to stash the mammoth turkey into the large freezer for use at another time. And this would have been a good plan, a sound plan had I but considered one little fact: my hands and wrists are still wimps after the recent unpleasantness.

"Right, of to the big freezer go you," I told the turkey, and attempted to lift it. Immediately my wrist screamed in agony. "OK OK wrong hand. Let's go to hand number two."

Hand number two was perfectly willing to try to lift the turkey, but my fingers, which are still a bit sore if I stress them, disagreed. I decided the patented turkey hug the grocery dude had used on the mighty beast was the way to go, and accordingly, I grasped it to my chest, and lifted, staggering backward with it in my arms...for about three seconds, whereupon it slipped through my arms and fell onto the floor. Luckily, I had made it a few feet onto a carpeted area, and equally luckily, my dogs nimbly sidestepped it as it careened around the family room, but by this point, I knew what I was truly facing: turkey of the antichrist.

It took me fifteen minutes to get the beastly thing into my freezer, and that was only after I rolled it into the room where my standing freezer is located, and then having cleared out not only an entire shelf in the freezer, but also moving shelves to accommodate its massive girth.

I suspect it's going to stay in there for a long time, thinking dark, murky thoughts about the downfall of humankind. Judging by my experience with it, it's well on its way to global domination.

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:04:03 GMT

THE RETURN OF NOBLE DESTINY!

After months of requests, I finally finished making the second book in the Noble Historical series available in e-book format. Those of you with Nooks, Kindles, and other e-readers can now enjoy all three books with their spiffy new covers (although I do still miss Harry's rubber ducky) and at a super-special low price through the end of the year.

Want to see how it all started? NOBLE INTENTIONS is the first novel in the series.

Noble Britton suffered greatly at the hands of his first wife, and he refuses to fall into the same trap again. This time he intends to marry a quiet, biddable woman who will not draw attention to herself or cause scandal. Gillian Leigh’s honest manner and spontaneous laughter attract him immediately. It matters little that she is accident-prone; he can provide the structure necessary to guide her.

But unconventional to the tips of her half-American toes, his new bride turns the tables on him, wreaking havoc on his orderly life. Perpetually one step behind his beguiling spouse, Noble suffers a banged-up head, a black eye, and a broken nose before he realizes Gillian has healed his soul and proven that their union is no heedless tumble, but the swoon of true love.

Info and an excerpt

Noble on the Nook

Noble on the Kindle

Noble in other e-book formats

Newly released in e-book format, the second Noble novel features Charlotte, Gillian's wacky sidekick cousin.

A poor widow, Lady Charlotte Collins returns to England eager to take her place in the ton, only to find herself shunned by all. Her one choice is to marry a groom with wealth, a title, and good looks, but Alasdair McGregor cruelly refuses to be the answer to her problems. In fact, she is forced by Dare’s obstinacy to take extreme action: the faulty codpiece that leads to this marriage, the wedding that is literally a circus. But nothing can stand between Charlotte and what she wants most: the love of her husband.

More info and excerpt

Noble Destiny on the Nook

Noble Destiny on the Kindle

Noble Destiny in other e-book formats

And finally, the third book in the Noble series!

What is the trouble with Harry?

He is Plum’s new husband. Not normally a problem, but when you consider that Harry advertised for a wife, and Plum was set to marry his secretary, there was cause for a bit of confusion.

He has a title. Plum has spent the last twenty years hiding from the ton, and now Harry wants her to shine in society? Horrors!

He doesn’t know about her shocking secret. How is she going to explain about the dead husband who isn’t a husband…and who now seems to be alive again?

He’s fallen in love with her. And yet, the maddening man refuses to confide in her. For Plum knows the real trouble with Harry is that he’s stolen her heart.

More info and excerpt

Harry on the Nook

Harry on the Kindle

Harry in other e-book formats

I hope you enjoy the return of Charlotte and Dare to the e-book world!

Owie hands

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:58:49 GMT

DGM will be delayed. On Saturday my left hand--in protest to being called on to do all the work while right arm is working on healing tendonitis in the wrist--decided that it wanted time off too, and thus set up an inflammation in the knuckles to the point where I couldn't use three of the five fingers.

I put an arthritis glove on the hand and it's slowly getting better, but I basically can't type, so DGM is out until Mr. Left Hand fingers are happy again.

Took a picture by holding camera in mouth. That's just how dedicated I am to showing you my owies.

St. Lumpy and Foster the Balance Impaired Squirrel

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:33:25 GMT

I'm sure that some of you remember me yacking on about the nutwagon in my front yard (where all the cool squirrels hang out). And some of you might be aware that this summer, there was a squirrel who I named Lumpy because he had a huge lump on his side. I didn't know at first if it was just something he had (kind of like a hunchback, only more of a hunchhip), or if he'd been injured and it was blowing up with an infection.

Either way, I felt bad about Lumpy, and worriedly watched for him every day, rejoicing when I saw him at the nutwagon, or hanging around the bird feeder eating sunflower seeds.

Then one day I noticed that Lumpy had a oozing wound on his side in place of his lump. I worried more about him, hoping his owie didn't get infected. Luck was with Lumpy, because it quickly healed over to the point where I have a hard time distinguishing him from the other squirrels (he does have a slight scar, which makes his fur rumpled on that former hunchhip).

My friends, who followed the Lumpy saga with me each day, decided that we needed to canonize him, and make him St. Lumpy. What can I say, I have odd friends. Accordingly, I wrote a little hymn to him, which will soon be set to music. All was well until about two months ago when I noticed that another squirrel, a younger and smaller one than Lumpy, was having problems staying upright on the nutwagon. The squirrel appeared drunk, which is why I named him Foster (for Foster Brooks, not for the beverage).

Since I didn't have Lumpy to worry over any more, I started worrying about Foster and his balance impairment. I got a video of Foster repeatedly falling off the nutwagon, only to catch himself by his toes and hang upside down as he ate peanuts. I worried that Foster would fall out of a tree and hurt himself with his impairment. I worried that the other squirrels would mock him for his balance issues. I worried that he would get worse and not be able to feed himself.

I'm happy to report that although his balance issues are a little worse, he is still around and kicking, and partaking of foods at the nutwagon and birdfeeder. He does fall over a lot, though, so I still worry.

In order to ease my concern, assistant Shawna made me a cheerful little graphic to depict St. Lumpy and his healing powers.

If only St. Lumpy could actually lay his healing paws upon poor Foster, the Balance Impaired Squirrel. And seriously, does Shawna's Photoshop skills rock, or what?

I don't know why I forgot this...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:44:45 GMT

...but I did.

I made a special video by Sally for Much Ado About Vampires. It's being featured on the Penguin page, so if you want to hear me do the world's most atrocious attempt at a Southern accent, trot here to view it.

This is just so wonderful

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:37:54 GMT

Last night I watched the National Geo channel's Brain Games program, and love, love, loved it. One of the optical illusions that just blew my own little brain was this:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/brain-games/watch-this-pictures/

Basically, this picture:

shows what looks like an object of two different shades of gray. But they're not. They're the same. Want to see it? Hold your finger across the join of the top and bottom, and voila! You see the same shade on both pieces.

Awesome, hmm?

Much Ado in Audio Format

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:15:25 GMT

Thanks to Assistant Shawna's prodding of the folks at Recorded Books, Much Ado About Nothing has gone up on Audible. The cover is missing, but it's there and downloadable. Woot!

Much Ado at Recorded Books
Much Ado at Audible

10 WEEKS OF VAMPIRES: WEEK TEN--IN THE COMPANY OF VAMPIRES

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:50:23 GMT

And here we are on the last week of the 10 weeks of vamps. I hope you've all enjoyed the journey, and are primed and ready for the next book, Much Ado About Vampires, which is out...TODAY! Yay!

REMINDER FOR THE LAST TIME: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS POST, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, STOP NOW.

THE BOOK

only a broken heart were all she had to deal with…

…but there are Viking ghosts, gods, werebeings, and one sexy as sin vampire on Francesca’s case. And her biggest trouble is Loki, the trickster god.

When Fran arrives at Goth-Faire to deal with him, things go from bad to worse, for her immortal ex, Benedikt, is there…with a new girlfriend.

Shapesifters, Vikings, and a town filled with deranged opera fans…it’s a good thing Fran’s no ordinary mortal…

More info about the book can be found here.

BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF: HOW THE BOOK CAME TO BE

One day I was talking to Editor Laura about what ideas I had for upcoming books, and out of the blue, Ben and Fran popped into my head. Now, ever since their YA books first came out, and the series cut prematurely short, I've received e-mails from people who wanted to know what happened to them, and when the next book would be out.

Five years later, the idea of bringing them into the adult world finally seemed feasible, so I pitched the idea to Editor Laura, and she, being a woman of good taste, immediately agreed that it was something I would Have To Do.

It's only when I sat down to write the book that the biggest obstacle hit me--how could I keep Ben and Fran apart long enough for Fran to grow up? At the end of Circus of the Darned she was 17 (or close to it), which meant I had to slap 5 years on her in order to put her in my comfort zone, age-wise. But Ben loved her! And she loved Ben! How could I manipulate them to be apart for so long, in a way that was believable and true to the storyline?

After much thinking, and some consumption of chocolate (it makes the brain cells fire better), I finally worked out some deviousness, and started writing the book.

BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF: THE VIKINGS

There were two requests from readers when I announced that I was going to write the new book--they wanted the Vikings, and another shower scene. The latter was taken care of pretty easily (and with much enjoyment), but the former...oh, those Vikings.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE them, but they tend to take over any scene they're in, and I knew I was going to have to limit their scenes just so other characters could have a chance to see and do things. I also limited the Viking ghosts to just three, my three favorites.

For their clothing, I visited some uber expensive men's designers' sites, and picked the most outrageous combination of clothing possible, although to be honest, the Vikings were pretty happy just wandering around in their underwear.

One of the things I love most about the Vikings is their enthusiasm for life. I guess being a ghost gives you that take on things, but they always leaped whole-heartedly into whatever scheme caught their fancy, be it joining an acrobatic troupe, or helping out at a Brunhilde race. And I find that wholly endearing.

For the record, because I know someone will ask, yes, the Vikings will be back in the next vampire book, along with Ben and Fran.

BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF: THE ORIGINAL PLOT

The following is a snippet from the original plot notes:

-----BEGIN ORIGINAL PLOT NOTES---

Main characters:

•   Petra Larson: 24, straight short black hair, tall

•   Dafydd Llwyd (aka David Lloyd): werepanther, and all around hunky guy. Short brown hair, amber eyes, few inches taller than Petra.

•   Francesca Ghetti: younger sister of Petra, resembles her a lot. Has shoulder-length black hair with bangs.

•   Benedikt Czerny: vampire with long black hair and dark eyes. Tattoos on arms. Rides a motorcycle, and sports a black leather jacket.

Petra Larson spent almost twenty-four years thinking she was the black sheep of the family, the one who didn't fit in, the only daughter of three who try as she might, just couldn't master the family ability of speaking with the dead.

When her family takes up residence in Paris to run Goety and Theurgy, an Otherworld bar, Petra is resigned to being a stranger in a strange land, but that all changes on the eve of her twenty-fourth birthday. First there was the strange meeting in G&T with a red-haired Guardian named Noelle, a woman who made odd sorts of references about horns and being wakened and what sort of sword she favored. Then there was a wholly unsettling experience with a vampire who mistook her for someone else. Not even the incredibly sexy guy who’s with him, the one with the funny Welsh name, is enough to keep her from worrying about just what the vampire wants.

-----END ORIGINAL PLOT NOTES-----

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's all this about Petra?

Yup, the original idea for this book had the focus on Petra, and Ben and Fran delegated to secondary characters. After writing out an entire plot outline, I decided that just wasn't what I (or readers) wanted--we wanted to see Ben and Fran get their happy ever after. So I scrapped that idea and demanded the muse give me another story.

She responded with nine single-space pages of plot, which I won't post here because there's basically nothing changed between the writing of the plot and the actual book. Sometimes the muse really zips along on all four thrusters.

BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF: THE CHARACTERS

Petra was always intended to be the star of her own book, the same book for which a tiny bit of plot is shown above. Once I wrote the new Ben and Fran book, I figured she'd spin off into her own series, and I still intend for her to do that, although she may not be in the series I originally envisioned. Rest assured that she will be in at least one other book, though. I'm not done with her by a long shot.

Miranda, Fran's mom, was also kind of left up in the air on purpose. I've been toying with the idea of writing a story for her, even though she's a more "mature" heroine than the others, but I think she has some lovely issues that would be fun to torment her wi...er...play with, and I love the idea of a Wiccan heroine. She'll get put on the musey back burner to let her simmer until I'm ready for her.

And Imogen, sweet Imogen who can't give her heart to a mortal. I haven't yet explored just WHY she can't do that, but I have a strong feeling that will be part of the next book, the one I'm about to write. And speaking of that book...

BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF: HUGE EXCLUSIVE TIDBIT THAT NO ONE ELSE GETS TO SEE!

Want a nice, plump juicy tidbit that you'll be able to hold to yourself and squeal over because no one but you (and whoever else reads this blog post) will know?

Brace yourself. This one is going to be good.

The book I'm due to start writing any day now is called A Tale of Two Vampires. No, that's not the tidbit, this is:
the book's hero will be Ben and Imogen's father. But he's dead! So how can that be?

Welcome to time-travel, my dears.

THE CONTEST

For our last contest, Sara at Looming Moon has knocked herself out so far, I don't have a picture of the actual giveaway item. I do, however, have a picture of a similar item that inspired this last prize:

NOT THE ACTUAL PRIZE

I'll post the picture of the finished item once it's ready, but until then, the above gives you an idea of what Sara is creating, a lovely gothicy, elegant, comb that can be worn in a number of ways.

To be entered to win the gothic spiky comb, please send the following to contest@katiemacalister.com:

* Your name and e-mail address
* Be sure to put Ben Contest in the subject line. Entries without that subject line will be tossed out (it's vital to making sure
my e-mail client sorts the entries into the right contest folder).
* Tell me if there has been something you didn't know about the vamp books mentioned in the 10 Weeks of Vamps

Enter before midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, October 9th. On October 10th, I'll randomly pull one winner from all the entries to receive the comb.

The stuff that goes on in my yard

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:08:55 GMT

Some of you may remember last weekend when, as I was innocently sitting by the window, a teenage Cooper's Hawk paid me a visit.

I've seen him on and off during the week; he seems to know that the bird feeders = free lunch, so frequently he swings by the house to check what's on the buffet.

This morning, he was back, but this time, he had some opposition in the form of a couple of squirrels, who were visiting the bird feeders for their own purposes. I managed to get one picture of them with my phone, although it's very blurry and hard to see.

I'm pleased to say that the squirrels tag-teamed the hawk until he got so pissed, he hurled hawky abuse at them, and flew off.

Yes, it's a jungle in my yard. I can't wait to see what happens when the wildebeest run through for their annual migration...oh, wait, that's somewhere else...