Whoa . . .

You see that little count-down widget over there on my sidebar? Over, down, down, down, yes! Right there! It's cute, isn't it? Did you know you can put it on your own blog by just clicking the little Share button and following directions?

*ahem* Um, that wasn't the point.

Point is, look at the count down numbers.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS!!!! Holy cow!!!! I swear Spells came out like two months ago. I do NOT know where 2010 went. For me, it seemed like it lasted a couple months at best. But somehow, it IS 2011, and not only that, but it is almost the end of January. And thus, Illusions comes out in 100 days!

That is awesome!

To celebrate, I'm serving cookies! Well, just one cookie.

So after promising this for ages, here is a taste of Illusions!

“It’s this way,” she said to Tamani.

He paused for a second, then walked over to Laurel’s dad and stuck out his hand, which Laurel noted was temporarily free of pollen, probably courtesy of Tamani’s pocket-lining. “Great to meet you, Mr. Sewell,” he said.

“Absolutely, Tam.” Laurel cringed. It sounded twice as bizarre coming out of her dad’s mouth. “We’ll have to talk more one of these days.”

“Sure,” Tamani said, reaching his other hand up to clasp her dad’s shoulder. “But for now, wow, it’s Saturday—your store must be really busy.”

“Oh, it usually gets busy at about twelve,” he said, pointing to the clock that read just after eleven.

“Sure, but school just started a few weeks ago and people always want books for school, right? I bet they’re really busy down there and could use your help. You should go to the store. Help out. We’ll be fine here.”

It took Laurel about three seconds to realize what was happening.

“You know, you’re right,” her dad said, his voice sounding just a little far away, “I should go help them.”

“Well, it was good to see you for a little while at least. I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

“Yep, that would be great!” Laurel’s dad said, looking a little more like himself. “Well, you two get some good work done, I think I’m going to go down and help Maddie out at the store. It’s a Saturday; I bet it’s busy.” He grabbed his car keys and was out the door.

“Okay,” Laurel said, turning to Tamani, “not cool.”

“What?” Tamani asked, looking genuinely confused. “I got him out of the way.”

“Him? That him is my dad!”

“Enticement doesn’t hurt him at all,” Tamani protested. “Besides, I’ve been living on my own for years—I don’t do well with hovering parents.”

“My house, my rules,” Laurel said sternly. “Don’t do it again.”

*squirms in seat* Oh, man I can't wait to give you the whole context of this scene! Or, yanno, the whole book!

But, hey, in 100 days!!!!!!:D

Ciao!

Winner and Boxes

At long last I have five spare minutes and I am here to announce the winner of the Wondrous Strange series!!!

Congrats to A Rick who said:

"I love fairies because they can be sweet or they could be evil. You never know! That is why I love reading about them, to see what angle the author will take!"

Please email me your full name and address to aprilynne pike at "gee" mail dot com and I will get those right in the mail for you!

Okay, this doesn't have anything to do with writing. But I think it's a fun story. Earlier this summer I was reading something about collections and I was talking to my husband and I said, "I don't collect things. Well, I kind of collect dolls, but I haven't added to that collection in years and really, it just fell into my lap to begin with."

And he said, "What are you talking about? You collect boxes."

And my first thought was Boxes? That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Who collects boxes? And I said, "I do NOT collect boxes."

"Sure you do."

"I do not. Well, I have my Tiffany box, but who wouldn't keep their Tiffany box? And I have my perfume boxes, but they're pretty. And I guess I have that turquoise shoebox I've held onto, and that little blue box . . . Oh my gosh, I collect boxes."

Turns out, I collect boxes. I have tons! And, in support of my newfound hobby, my husband got me two new boxes for Christmas this year. Boxes that encompass BOTH of my collections.:D We have gotten rather obsessed . . . er . . . interested in these amazing porcelain dolls. They are ART. Like, they put them in museums. (*disclaimer* These are amazing art, but . . .um . . . they are anatomically correct and most of them have no clothes on. It showcases their full body porcelain hinges. They are very cool, but you have been warned. Don't follow the link if naked porcelain dolls weird you out.) Anyway, it's called Enchanted Doll and they are gorgeous and I want one some day!! Yanno, some day when I have $16K just laying around (the price her last doll went for on eBay). *sigh* So Kenny did the next best thing. He got me two doll-sized tin boxes with Enchanted Doll figures painted on them! So I have dolls, boxes, and two doll boxes!!! They are my new pride and joy.

With the addition of my new boxes, I figured I would actually decorate the top of my bookshelves (now that I've had them for seven months . . . FAIL.) And I thought I would share!

First, my new boxes (and the blue box in the middle was my very first box, about five years ago. You'd have thought I would get the hint that it was special to me when I lugged it through two moves . . . I'm a little slow.) Anyway, the new ones are the yellow and blue ones on the sides.




And the whole shelves, dolls and boxes.:D



I'm very excited.:D

Okay, a couple of things for the future: I traditionally give away an ARC of my new book for Valentine's Day and I will be doing that again, so stay tuned. Also, I have been working on some short pieces for Harper that take place either between Spells and Illusions or during the first part of Illusions but from another person's point of view. (In fact, one of them is first person point of view from a character you haven't met yet.) I am having a blast with that and should know more about when and where they will be posted soon. And as soon as I know, I will let you know. I will also be doing a few excerpts from Illusions starting next week so you will have something to tide you over.

Also, I counted months last week and Illusions comes out in LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS!!!! WHOO-HOOO!!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry about that.

:D

So yeah, lots to look forward to and hopefully more frequent blogging is one of those things.:D

Ciao!