What I’m Really Excited About

I’m excited about a few things right now, and I wanted to share. For starters, I have two books coming out in the near future. The first is one I wrote with my mother, a sequel to her bestseller, THE MUMMY or RAMSES THE DAMNED. This one’s called RAMSES THE DAMNED: THE PASSION OF CLEOPATRA and it releases this November. (Check out the banner on my Facebook page for info about a fun giveaway.) The second is a thriller I wrote on my own called BONE MUSIC: A BURNING GIRL NOVEL. It’s the start of all new series featuring a kick-ass heroine who gets her hands on a drug that gives her a burst of superhuman strength whenever she’s terrified. (And yes, there will be gays.) That one comes out in February. I’ve just started copyedits on it. At the end of this month, I’m traveling to New York to do a signing at Book Con, the author centric portion of the Book Expo of America. I’ll be signing copies of RAMSES THE DAMNED but *I will be there WITHOUT my mother so don’t be disappointed when you get to the front of the line and it’s just me. I might have a consolation cookie for you just in case, but you’ve been forewarned, OK?* It also looks like I’ll be doing a casual booth signing at San Diego Comic Con this July. Stay tuned.

But can I tell you what I’m *really* excited about? I mean, really, really excited about? I’m not entirely sure of this, but my weekend social media use strongly suggests it and so I’m willing to speculate about it openly, but it’s entirely possible that Nora Roberts takes weekends off. In case you’re unaware, Nora Roberts is America’s most popular novelist and she has one of the most enviable work ethics of any writer publishing today. I’m also a big fan of her work. Her novels are consistently absorbing and filled with places where I want to live and people I would love to live there with. Her dialogue sparkles and sings and the romantic moments in her books feel gratifying and earned. And she manages to maintain this level of quality while writing something on the order of 612 books a year, keeping a massive garden at her home, cooking for family and friends and maintaining a regular exercise schedule. Meanwhile I spend most of Sunday debating whether or not I should go the gym. It’s amazing, when you think about it. Sometimes, when I’m feeling lazy, it’s *too* amazing, and asking myself, “What would Nora Roberts be doing right now?” only to realize the answer is probably, “Writing!” doesn’t inspire me so much as it produces a kind of self-defeating envy in my soul. So imagine my satisfaction when I saw on her blog and Facebook pages evidence that maybe, just maybe, she took the weekend off to organize some boxes in her guest room. This gives me hope that I can manage to lounge on the sofa now and then, rewinding all the Max Riemelt scenes in SENSE8, and still someday achieve Nora’s level of productivity and greatness.

So what are you guys excited about right now?