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!