I’m so, so happy with it! It’s a new look, a new model (and she’s just gorgeous), and I couldn’t be happier.

And here again is the back cover copy:

READING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEAD

When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.

As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

Just as an FYI, this book is currently available for Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion (meaning you buy three books, get one free). So now is the perfect time to pre-order!

A while ago I found out that the lovely people at Random House were planning to offer UNHOLY GHOSTS at a special promotional price. VERY exciting. I didn’t want to say anything about it because we hadn’t set on a specific date or anything, but now that’s it happening I can shout it from the rooftops (and if you all would help me do so, I’d be very grateful).

So, UNHOLY GHOSTS is now available for Kindle AND Nook–and I assume, any number of other ebook sales sites in North America (Random House only publishes me in Canada and the US, so the special price only applies to those territories)–for ONLY NINETY-NINE CENTS.

Yes, NINETY-NINE CENTS.

So if you haven’t read the book, now’s your chance. If you have a hard copy but just got an ereader and are converting your paper library to electronic, now’s your chance (wouldn’t it be cool if you could buy the paperback, and like for an extra buck or two the ebook would be bundled with it?).

If you’re still on the fence, you can download and read the first five chapters for free, just by clicking here: UNHOLY GHOSTS sample.

But wait! There’s MORE!

UNHOLY MAGIC and CITY OF GHOSTS are both also on sale, for $4.99! That’s UNHOLY MAGIC–book 2 in the series–on Kindle and Nook, and CITY OF GHOSTS–Book 3–on Kindle and Nook.

Yes, that means you can download the entire series for eleven dollars.

I’m very excited about this!

In other news, I handed in my “final” version of HOME, the short Downside story I sold to Heroes and Heartbreakers, a couple of days ago (I had a couple of minor changes I wanted to make before it went to the editor there) AND–tah-dah!–handed in my “final” draft of Downside 5, CHASING MAGIC, to my editor at Del Rey. Of course, I know she’ll have edits for it, so the book isn’t “finished” yet, but still. It’s done, and the handed-in version ran 108,000 words. I figure after her edits it’ll be around 110 at least. So, shorter than SACRIFICIAL MAGIC, but long enough that I feel you guys are getting some value for money. And I’m still quite excited about this one; I think it’s pretty fast-paced and exciting, and there’s a whole bunch of twisty-turny stuff happening in Chess’s life, and of course I just really hope you’ll all enjoy it.

So. Go forth and read!

Now…yes, HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION is out! I’m really excited about this one, and I hope you all are too; it’s the first new Downside material released since CITY OF GHOSTS (I’m not counting MADDIE CARVER, because although it was set in this world it wasn’t technically a Downside story, and although we caught a glimpse of Elder Griffin in it, it doesn’t have any of the regular characters, really).

RICK THE BRAVE (my antho story) was/is a concept I’d had for a while; I thought it would be fun to give readers a glimpse at how “normal” people in Triumph City view Downside and its inhabitants, and that it would be especially fun to write Terrible and Chess from that same outsider’s perspective. It was a little weird at first, a little difficult, since I’m so used to writing from Chess’s perspective, but overall I had a really good time with it, so I hope it’s as much fun for you to read as it was for me to write. (Also weird: it’s a drug-free story, of course, since our outsider doesn’t know Chess at all. So it was interesting to write her the way other people see her, and not as she sees herself.)

It was actually so much fun I’ve been thinking of doing a couple more “outsider” stories at some point; I’ve been thinking for a while it’d be fun to do something from Edsel’s POV, for example, and of course at some point I want to do something from Terrible’s, and, oh, the possibilities. Heh.

Anyway. HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION is out there now, and I really, really hope you all buy it and read it and enjoy it; not just my story, but all of the amazing stories by amazing writers who are also in it. I was and am totally flabbergasted to have been invited to participate, and so grateful to have my story included with stories by Charlaine and Toni, with Patricia Briggs and Melissa Marr and Simon R. Green and all the other great authors inside it. I have my author copy right next to me and have barely been able to stop reading.

Oh, and I also have a new bio in the antho (not that anyone cares, really, but I need to change it here so this is like a reminder to myself, too):

Stacia Kane is the author of the gritty dystopian urban fantasy Downside series starring Chess Putnam and featuring ghosts, human sacrifice, drugs, witchcraft, punk rock, and a badass ’69 Chevelle. She bleaches her hair and wears a lot of black.

As always I hope you like the story!

2. All this talk about short stories has me thinking. And there may be some stuff going on this summer as far as promotions etc. Certainly I have that story in HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION which frankly needs no promotion from me at all, given that the other authors in it are actually successful, but I’d like to do something for it and I’d certainly like to have some stuff to offer to piggyback from it a bit, if you know what I mean. I like my story in the antho pretty well–certainly I think it’s the best short I’ve written, but then you all know I’m not crazy about my short stories in general.

But that brings me to another question, actually. I’ve mentioned here that there’s a (very) dark erotica/erotic romance story I want to do. But I also have HOME, the Downside short which would have gone to the MMBO GHOST ROMANCE, (which made me realize earlier that I also have TRUST ME, my short from the MMBO VAMPIRE ROMANCE II, which is now essentially reverted to me–it was a non-exclusive contract after the first year). And I’d really, really like to get some more Downside stuff out there for you guys, and have been considering a few options.

So…

I thought there was a way to do a proper voting poll on WordPress here but I can’t find it. So I’ll just ask and you guys can leave our thoughts in comments or @ me on Twitter or whatever.

I’m having some thoughts re the following short/novella-type projects. Keep in mind that not only do I of course want to do something special for you guys but I’m hoping to do something that might be accessible to those who haven’t read the books, something that might entice them a bit and get the word out? I know there are people who think the series is very successful because of the great reviews it got last summer but really that’s not the case, so I’m working really hard on finding a way to reach a larger audience.

Here are some of the ideas I have in mind; I may actually end up doing all of them, but I’m really interested in what appeals to you:

1. An “origin”-type story for Chess from her Church training

2. UG/UM/CoG from Terrible’s POV

3. ” ” ” from Lex’s POV

4. Some shorter in-continuity stories; nothing you’d have to read to understand/follow later books (I hate that) but, you know, “Further Adventures”-type things (HOME is one of these already)

5. Origin-type stories for other characters (Bump, Terrible, Lex, Edsel, etc.)

What do you guys think?

Anything I don’t have there that you’d really like to see?

Let me know!

I hope you enjoy it, and that you’re having a wonderful holiday! I’ll be away for the first few days of next week, but I’ll be back before the new year. (Not that you asked or anything, just that you–oh, never mind.)

(NOTE: This is an excerpt posted free on my blog for anyone to read, yes, but it’s still mine and belongs to me. Sorry, but as the creator and copyright holder I do NOT give permission for this excerpt to be reproduced–on a blog or a website or whatever–without at least notifying me first, much less asking me. Please don’t do that. Feel free to link back all you like, of course, and discuss the excerpt or whatever else. But don’t just copy & paste it elsewhere, okay?)

This is from the unedited manuscript and the final published version may vary.

His eyes sparked too hard behind their darkness as he crossed the kitchen floor, not speaking. Too much energy moved in the air around him, and when he stood right in front of her—close enough to make her tilt her head all the way back—and reached out to touch her cheek she knew what it was. He’d had quite a day, she guessed; violence clung to him like black oil.

Violence and a wild sort of intoxication from that violence, to be more exact. Whatever it was inside him that made him so good at his job, that made him the most feared man in Downside, had been riding him for hours from the looks of it, the feel of it. Now there was nothing else to hit or attack or destroy, and that energy, that almost feral whatever-it-was…wanted to find some other satisfaction. Something or someone else to overpower, something or someone else to subdue, to defeat, to conquer.

She knew he’d never think of it that way. He probably wasn’t even aware of it, that dark bloodthirsty excitement lurking behind his eyes, surrounding him like a vicious cloud. His work—fighting in general—didn’t always do that to him, not that she’d seen, but when it did… Her heart jumped into her throat, then fell straight into her pelvis and stayed there, beating like a hummingbird’s wings.

“The fuck happened here? It hurting?”

“Oh, I just…” She bit her lip. “I got a new case today. And no, it doesn’t hurt, not really.”

“Aye? Ain’t so much?”

“Yeah, it looks worse than it—”

Definitely violence. Even if she hadn’t known from his energy she would have known from the way he kissed her, the way he fisted her hair tight at the nape of her neck, the firm possessiveness of his hand on her bottom as he yanked her up against him, bending her backwards. Rough and eager, and that energy infected her, too, made her grab his shoulders, wrap her leg around his.

Anyway. Down to how Twitter ruined my fucking day, which it did.

The last few days–ever since the day I logged in and got a nice little reminder from Twitter that I wouldn’t be able to use Old Twitter–much longer, Twitter’s been fucking up. Like it keeps sticking the same tweet in my “What’s Happening” window, or takes me to my DM box instead of taking me to my timeline, or whatever. Obviously–since it’s now giving me the sternly worded reminder at the top of my screen that Old Twitter won’t be available much longer–Twitter is trying to push me into changing.

But here’s the thing. I hate and fear change. It freaks me out. Especially stuff like that. Bigger changes, like moves, don’t bother me that much, but let the grocery store move the soda aisle and I’m upset for days. (Once they redecorated the office where I worked; I literally cried at my desk for weeks, it bothered me so much to have everything rearranged and different.) So I’ve been resisting the Twitter change as much as possible.

But today I got sick of it fucking up, so decided whatever, why not. And made the switch.

Why not? I’ll tell you why not. Because New Twitter sucks gorilla ass, that’s why not. It’s ugly. It’s counterintuitive. It’s harder to use: harder to follow conversations, impossible to @ reply to more than one person at a time (with OT you can just click “Reply” to three or four different people; I can’t figure out how to do it at all in New Twitter, because when you click Reply it brings up this irritating new box and dulls out the rest of the screen. Which makes it harder to repeat stuff, too, but Twitter obviously doesn’t care about us having conversations).

It took me about half an hour to decide it was time to try some apps. First was Seesmic, because I had a few people say they liked it. Seesmic was okay, but the columns were really narrow and it’s frankly rather ugly. It’s not very configurable, either. But really it was the narrow columns and tiny print; my eyes are bad enough without that.

So I headed for Tweetdeck, which my friend Yasmine Galenorn recommended. It looked rather scary, frankly, but I decided to give it a go.

Except I use Google Chrome, and I want to use my Twitter app through it, as a tab, and not as a separate window. Tweetdeck in Google Chrome doesn’t give you the ability to follow conversations (like “in reply to”) or to reply to more than one person. When I mentioned this I was deluged with people insisting it did, all of whom were trying to help, none of whom were using Google Chrome on a Mac, and all of whom basically succeeded in panicking me further to the point of tears. (It was confirmed, btw, that there is no way to follow conversations etc. in Tweetdeck using Google Chrome.)

Also, installing Tweetdeck for Chrome “upgraded” my Chrome, so now my homepage doesn’t give me little pictures of screens but just a row of page names, most of which are abbreviated. It also made my Home, Refresh, and Back-Forward arrow keys invisible. More panic. I had to switch my Chrome theme (I’m using Wes Craven now) to get to see them again.

So screw Tweetdeck. I deleted it from the computer. I was told most people who use a Mac use Tweetie. Tweetie looked a lot like Old Twitter, which was quite soothing. But Tweetie is also a separate window, a little narrow one. Not what I’m looking for. Deleted it as well.

I headed to TWhirl next. Again, TWhirl looked good; I liked that it looked nice and basic and familiar. It seemed easy to use. But to download it would require letting it do something with “Adobe Air,” which I don’t know what that is, and after having my Chrome look all weird I didn’t want to mess with anything that would change anything on my computer again. Also, why should I download stuff? I didn’t download Twitter, it’s just a website. The fact that I had to d/l it made me suspect it was a in-its-own-window thing, and I didn’t want to take the chance.

So I went to Hootsuite. Okay. Hootsuite has a lot of things I really like; I really, really like the “Show conversation” link at the bottom of tweets that are replies to others, and you can, well, see a whole conversation. And it’s nice and clear and easy to read. I kind of like that I have a separate column for my DMs, though it’s not really necessary.

But unless I want to pay for Hootsuite I’m going to get these “promoted tweets,” which are ads. Ads for things I don’t give a damn about either. It’s not a huge deal but still.

I went back to Seesmic and discovered that I can widen the columns, which was good. Both Seesmic and Hootsuite have Refresh buttons right there on the screen, which is cool. Seesmic doesn’t have the “Follow conversation” button but if I clock “In reply to ” it will show me what was said. And it does have a thing where if you click on a DM it expands the whole conversation in cool little bubbles, whereas Hootsuite doesn’t. Neither of them are great at DMs, though; Seesmic doesn’t want to show you incoming ones, Hootsuite doesn’t want to show outgoing. But those are the frontrunners at the moment.

For the moment I’m back to Old Twitter, hoping someone will have a suggestion for me.

The one bright spot in the day was getting a holiday giftie from my darling friend Caitlin, which was awesome, and having a nice chat with my agent, who likes my new idea, and is as puzzled as I on the origins of the word “taint” and why it’s suddenly the hot new body part.

So… Twitter apps? Anyone?

And I’m getting a fairly enthusiastic response to my idea of sending out one last excerpt of Downside 4 for my Downside Army members…so I’m leaning…thoughts on that are welcome too. (Also, in the spirit of the holiday season, it will be an excerpt with kissing. If I send one. See how nice I am?)

*collapses exhausted* It has been killing me not to say anything, especially when you guys ask (which you have).

So that’s what I’ve been doing today. Signing contracts and ordering gifts, and of course today my Faerie turned six and she is very excited about it and how it took her six whole years to get to this point.

I really am exhausted, actually. I just realized I’ve only been getting five hours of sleep or so a night for the last few weeks; I can handle that when I’m actively working because working is very, um, adrenalizing? It’s not really like doing speed at all, it just wakes me the fuck up, basically, so when I finally force myself to go to bed–which for the last couple of weeks has been edging ever closer to six am–I lie there awake in the dark (and luckily it is dark in the bedroom, although I also do own sleepshades which come in very handy sometimes) for a couple of hours trying to come down. And then I get up at–for the last few weeks–about one-thirty in the afternoon. So it would be enough sleep if I actually slept when I got into bed, which I didn’t, so there you go.

The point is that I’m very, very tired at the moment. But! I am also re-reading the enormous doorstop I just wrote and am actually kind of enjoying it; I think I have some ideas where to tighten it up and yeah, there will be a nice selection of deleted scenes for the website after this book comes out. (Which no, I do not have a date yet, sorry, I’ll tell you as soon as I do.) (Same with the title.)

So. News! There you go! More books!

First, don’t forget tomorrow’s #UFChat on Twitter, which I’ll be answering questions in. You can get a bit more information on it here, if you like. It starts at 6 pm EST (3 PST) and I really hope you all come and say hi! Well, really, I hope anyone comes to say hi. This is the sort of event that gives me nightmares imagining it will just be me sitting there and no one else showing up. Seriously.

Next, there’s a new interview with me at The Literary Project. It’s not really about the books, it’s more about writing and career and personal stuff, and a bit about the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. So worth checking out if any of that interests you.

A review or two! Murder by the Book bookseller John does a joint review of UM and CoG here:

I can’t say enough about how wonderful this whole series [is]. The plotting over the three book arc is top-notch. Once I finished City of Ghosts I felt like the three books together told a bigger story. That doesn’t happen often with books in a series.

And Book Chick City gives CoG a 10/10 review(!!) and says:

Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic stayed with me long after I read them and it was no different with City of Ghosts. There’s so many layers from the complex characters to the awesome world building of Downside. It’s full of witchy magic, action and romance, I literally couldn’t put this book down until I had read the very last word. I could go on and on about these books, they are just so brilliant! If you haven’t started this series, you MUST!

And last but not least, don’t forget the big-ass Name a Character Contest! I’m really excited by the number of entries I’ve gotten so far, and I hope to get plenty more, too! And I’m really hoping word spreads and more people give the books a try, too.

But anyway! On to the excerpt!! This is from Chapter Thirty.

And again, it is a bit spoilery. I tried to find one that wasn’t, and this one isn’t terribly so, but do be warned. Click at your own risk!

(As always, this is from the pre-copyedited version of the ms, and may differ slightly from the final published version.)

Chess and Lex are investigating a body and some magic items found in the tunnels under the city, when they realize someone else is down there with them. The lights snap off.

Every muscle in her body screamed to run. They had to get out of there, away from [the] destroyed body, away from the lungs and the fetish, out of the tunnels.

But Lex’s hand squeezed her arm tight, like he knew what she was thinking. She heard the sound of his gun cocked slow in his other hand as his lips pressed to her ear. “Ain’t just go off now, tulip. On the minute, aye? Let’s us have a thought first.”

Water splashed; how far away was it? Was that a foot? Something else? She pictured things dropped into the little stream, curse bags and gris-gris and fetishes, things the water would carry to them and drag against their feet. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might literally leap into her mouth.

“Ain’t get that flash you got neither,” he continued. “No draggin them eyes our way. Gimme a hold-on, aye?”

She nodded, knew he could feel her move.

“Know my way right, I do. Door ain’t far, dig, back where we come. Stay on me, aye?”

She nodded again. Not enough air, there wasn’t enough air in the tunnel, not enough in the world. Fresh air, clean air, air that didn’t thrum with magic, lay thick and heavy in her lungs with it. Choking her. She clutched his arm, wiry and hard under her hand.

Gentle pressure forced her to step back, to turn slightly. Even her sense of direction started to fail her; had she turned all the way around, or just partway? Which way was she facing? The darkness around them was a solid thing, completely impenetrable.

They stepped forward. Chess tried to keep her feet on the curve at the bottom of the wall, out of the water. Lex tucked her hand around his waist so her chest pressed against his back. It made walking difficult but it wasn’t as though they were just taking a stroll anyway, and she had to admit it reassured her.

Which kind of pissed her off, but this wasn’t the time to start wondering when she’d suddenly gone soft. People, she was discovering, were like cockroaches; if you allowed one in, more were sure to follow.

Another giggle, low and smooth. Her head whipped around, eyes straining to see something, anything in the pitch black air. Was that closer? Where were they?

Lex didn’t stop. They took another step, another. Chess’s foot hit something heavy, something solid and unyielding and yet somehow…somehow dull, against her toes. [The] body. She swallowed hard, kept moving.
Something ran past them. She felt it stir the air against her skin and bit back a scream. Sweat trickled down her face, into her eyes; she wiped them against Lex’s shirt without moving her hand. Without stopping. They had to get out, get out, get—

A sharp tug on her hair. A scream; not hers, not her voice. Hot foul-smelling breath on her cheek; Lex yanked her to the side and the gun went off in a flash of white light. Hot blood spattered on her skin.

And they ran.

No more secrecy now. No more hiding. Still they didn’t use the light—all she saw were huge red spots before her eyes from the gun—but their feet splashed through the water, pounded the cement beneath them while voices screamed in rage and pain behind them. More than one voice, many voices, echoing around her, reaching into her and yanking out her soul.

Lex ran faster, pulling her along through the darkness. He was the only real thing in the world; this wasn’t real, none of it was real, it was a nightmare she had to wake up from.

They were being chased. The screams turned to howls, catcalls. And then, horribly, to barks.

Dogs. Vicious ones. Baying in the tunnels, their low deep barks scratching her, hurting her, and it wasn’t until her frantic mind realized they hurt that she realized why.

It wasn’t real dogs following them. Not living dogs. It was psychopomps.

A dozen maybe, or a hundred. She had no idea, no way to tell. Didn’t have the breath to tell Lex, and no point anyway; psychopomps couldn’t be shot, couldn’t be stabbed, couldn’t be killed. Couldn’t be stopped without magic, and even if she had time to get her supplies she somehow doubted these particular hounds would respond.

They hurtled around a corner with the barks getting closer, the unearthly howls of the psychopomps, sounds she’d never heard a psychopomp make before.

Her head turned to the left as they entered another tunnel and she almost fell. Their eyes. She could see their eyes, the dogs, their glowing purple eyes. Hundreds of them. Hundreds of eyes, oh shit oh fuck they were going to die, have their souls torn from their living bodies and devoured or savaged, those were not normal psychopomps holy fuck what were they she was going to die—

No! She ran harder. Pushed herself with everything she had, until she was even with Lex. She couldn’t look back, didn’t want to look back, couldn’t stand to see them ready to bite.

Lex jerked her to the side, yanked her arm up. She stumbled on the steps; her right hand hit gritty cement. The dogs were right behind them, so loud she couldn’t even hear herself scream.

See you Tuesday!

(One thing about the deleted scenes that I think will be really fun: I wrote a scene for UM that ended up getting cut. But I really really liked the scene, so I rewrote a little bit of it–the intro part, basically–and stuck it in CITY OF GHOSTS. But as I edited CoG, I decided the scene still didn’t work as written, so I rewrote it again, extensively this time. So there will be a few versions of that scene, and you’ll be able to compare them all, if you’re the type of person who enjoys stuff like that.)

So look for all of that soon. I’m really excited about it.

Another thing I’m quite excited about is the fact that my blog series “Be a Sex-writing Strumpet,” with which I know some of you are familiar, is now available on Kindle! So you can buy a paperback from Lulu, or an ebook from Lulu, or a Kindle version from Amazon. And of course, as always, the series is free here on the blog; just click the “be a sex-writing strumpet” tag in the sidebar.

I offer the series as an actual book because I had a lot of requests to do so, and I charge for it in those formats because people convinced me to do so by saying they wanted to pay me something for it, but you absolutely do not have to buy the book to read and enjoy the series. You don’t and you never will have to. I wrote it as a blog series, and it will remain a blog series. The book formats are just there to make it easier for people if they like, and so they don’t have to keep clicking all over my blog if they want to read it. I still get website hits for that series almost every day, which just stuns me; if you type “be a se” into google the second auto-finish term it offers is “be a sex-writing strumpet.” It’s just insane, it really is. I never imagined when I wrote it that people would enjoy it so much and find it so useful, and that’s amazingly gratifying. Also, having it on Amazon offers people a chance to write a review for it, which would be fantastic; it’d be really cool to see some feedback on it after all this time! And of course you could all review all of my books if you want, heh.

Also exciting to me is the Name a Character Contest! I’m thrilled at how enthusiastic you all are! Thank you so much! I did want to let you know that I am checking the #cityofghosts tag on Twitter regularly, and keeping track of the entries there, as well as the emails and blog post links I’m getting. If at any time you want to double-check the number of entries you have, feel free to email either the Downside Army email address or me, or use the contact form here on the site (which of course also comes to me). Make sure you include your Twitter name, if you have one, or whatever other information I might need to identify you.

Tomorrow evening sometime I plan to post a new snippety excerpt from CITY OF GHOSTS, so be on the lookout for that!

I know I say this a lot, and you guys are probably tired of hearing it, but I really honestly am amazed by how enthusiastic the response has been to the series. I never expected it, I really didn’t, and it’s absolutely amazing. I can’t thank you all enough.

So let’s see, what else? I’m going to be popping down to the RWA convention in Orlando next week for a couple of days. I know, I know, it’s RWA, but I’m not actually registering/paying for the convention, I’m just hanging out in the bar, really. I’d decided–and basically committed to–doing so when it was supposed to be in Nashville, which is only like two hours away. Of course, tragic floods intervened, and now it’s in Orlando which is considerably farther, but like I said, I’d already committed. And it’s not a bad drive. I like driving by myself. I mean, I like to drive, period, but I especially like driving by myself. I can turn the music up loud and sing along, I can flip through the radio stations all I want, stop or don’t stop as I please…whee! I’m almost more excited about the drive than the con itself, much like I was when I drove to Massachusetts to see Caitlin before we went to RT. Of course, I was excited about the convention, but that really was an awfully fun drive.

Anyway, I think this post is unfortunately a bit dull. Too much news and stuff to keep track of. I’ll try to be more fun again shortly. For now my head is so full of nervousness (over CoG’s release; what if you all hate it? What if nobody buys it?), projects I’m working on (loosely mentally plotting the 4th Downside book, and lots of stuff for the new WIP/series I’m working on), netbooks (hee, I am totally getting one asap!), our trip to Florida to see my BFF next month–we’ll be there for my birthday–and of course the usual family things. So forgive me, please. I’ll be more interesting next time. Anything you want me to blog about? Feel free to ask!

Oh! And speaking of questions, I wanted to let everyone know that this Saturday the 24th at three pm, I’ll be participating in Twitter’s first #UFChat! You can find a bit more info about it here. Either way, come and hang out, follow the hash tag, and please ask any questions you want, as many as you want! I’m hoping it’s going to be a lot of fun (and, you know, that people actually participate).

Let’s clear some other things out of the way first. I have some really exciting news! We’ve sold Polish rights to the Megan Chase series to Amber Publishing, the same company putting out the Polish Downside books! Foreign translations are just the coolest thing, so I’m really thrilled about this!

And speaking of the Downside books, we have a couple of new UNHOLY MAGIC reviews!

Vampire Book Club gives it five stars and says:

With increased intensity, Kane delivers an action-packed, dark urban fantasy novel that will leave you reeling for days after finishing it. (We actually pre-ordered the third novel, City of Ghosts, the day after completion of Unholy Magic because we don’t want to waste even a day not knowing what will happen with Chess, her job, the love-triangle and the others within Downside.)

Smokin’ Hot Books also gives it five stars (to both books in one review, actually):

Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic are two of the best books I’ve read of 2010 and 2009. I’m not going to lie, the second book will tear your heart out, you may even find yourself emotionally ‘stress eating’ but so worth it. I promise! This series has grit, angst, violence, and pulls you in with each page – if you haven’t read this series, get thee to a bookstore post haste!

Vampire Book Club also has an interview with me, and a giveaway contest for both UNHOLY GHOSTS and UNHOLY MAGIC. So if you haven’t yet read them, there’s your chance!

There’s another interview with me, conducted by Daniela, a very sweet German blogger I chanced upon one day (she was blogging about GEISTERFLUT, the German edition of UNHOLY GHOSTS which will be released in Feb 2011, and I said hello, and it went on from there). Anyway, she asked me some kind of neat questions, and you can find it here. The interview is first in English, then in German; hee, look at my perfect German! And don’t you love that German cover? I can’t wait to see what they do with the other two! Obviously, the bangs aren’t there, ha, but who cares when it’s that pretty and atmospheric?

Anyway. I have a TON of website updates we’re going to be doing in the next week or so, including five or six deleted scenes from UNHOLY MAGIC. (I would post some for UNHOLY GHOSTS but I don’t actually have any!) So keep a lookout for all of that; of course I will let everyone know when they’re up. I’m also putting the Strumpet series up on Kindle, so as soon as I have a link I’ll put that up as well (and yes, it will still be free on the blog; it will ALWAYS be free on the blog).

With those updates I also want to update my FAQ a bit, so if any of you have any questions for it, please don’t hesitate to ask! Leave them in comments, or email them to me through the contact form on the site. If you have questions, I want to answer them, so don’t be shy.

Also, I’m considering getting myself a netbook. I’d like something smaller for travel, something lighter. Well, I say “considering,” but I totally want one, and as soon as my next check arrives I’m going to get myself one (we can’t afford it until then). I want this one. Anyone have any thoughts? I know for big computers Gateway isn’t the greatest, but they are owned by Acer and I’ve heard their netbooks are actually very good. Plus, it’s pretty! It’s red, look! SHINY.

Okay, two more things. First, although you website blog readers may not be familiar with him, those of you who follow my livejournal will know David Bridger. David’s been a reader of the blog for a couple of years now and has become a pal as well; he’s a lovely man.

And…that lovely man has written a novel, which is being published today by Liquid Silver Books! Again, longtime readers will know how much I really like the people at LSB and what a great house I think they are, so this is extra exciting. I’m so happy for David, and I know those of you who’ve had any interaction with him will be too. (And for those who don’t, he’s going to be doing a guest blog post for me next week as well).

BEAUTY AND THE BASTARD by David Bridger releases today from Liquid Silver Books!

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

Okay, okay. I guess I’ve rambled on enough now and can get down to the contest. Here’s what I’m going to do. To celebrate the release of CITY OF GHOSTS, and really the release of the entire series so far, I’m going to do a Name A Character Contest for the fourth Downside book!

It could be your name; it could be a made-up name*. Whatever you like! And you’ll also get an acknowledgment in that fourth Downside book, with full credit for the name you picked (or your own name).

How does that sound? Fun? Want more stuff? Okay. I’ll also give away a FULL SET OF DOWNSIDE AUDIOBOOKS from Blackstone Audio, in their pretty shiny padded cases and everything (they’re on CDs), and they ARE Unabridged.

And if enough people enter, I might add a set of signed books too.

THIS CONTEST IS OPEN WORLDWIDE. YES, SERIOUSLY, WORLDWIDE. Australia/NZ too, yes.

*A couple of things to remember before entering: I don’t know what character I will use your name for. It could be a wonderful person, a fellow Church employee, a new friend; it could be a junkie, a whore, a gruesome murder victim, an evil rampaging ghost, or a drug dealer or thief or scumbag of any type. This is a Downside book, remember. Do not expect that your name will be used for someone cool. BUT, if I do use it for any of the aforementioned unsavory types, I promise your note in the Acknowledgment will emphasize that you personally are a fine, upstanding citizen and all of that. Okay? Seriously. By entering this contest you agree that you understand your name may be used in any way and agree not to hold me responsible if you don’t like the way it’s used. I’ll certainly try my best to make you happy, but I have a funny feeling that quite a few of you out there would want me to write a special new sex scene involving you and Terrible, and I just can’t guarantee that would be possible, sorry. (Heh heh heh.)

Anyway. So we’re all clear? Excellent. Here’s how you enter; there’s a bunch of ways to do it, and you’re free to do as few or as many as you wish:

1. Have you pre-ordered CITY OF GHOSTS? Forward your receipt to DownsideArmy AT gmail DOT com. You get TWO entries for that!

2. You get ONE entry every time you tweet about the book, using the #cityofghosts hashtag HarperVoyager invented last week. Say anything you like (um, as long as it’s positive; I guess you could enter with “#cityofghosts fucking sucks,” but if you hate the books why would you want to enter to begin with?) but please do use the hashtag. You can tweet about the contest; you can tweet about how much you can’t wait for the book or how excited you are or anything you want, really. And yes, each tweet is one entry. And pass the word about the contest, as well!

3. Have you blogged about the books? Each blog post is TWO entries. Send the links to DownsideArmy AT gmail DOT com.

…and that’s it. Three ways to enter, but you may enter as many times as you wish. No purchase is necessary to enter, but if you have pre-ordered the book you get extra entries (and really, why haven’t you pre-ordered the book? Pre-orders are good! You can do it at the bookstore too, and they’ll hold your copy aside for you on the day of release, even!)

So, to sum up:

Polish Demons books!

Great reviews!

Interviews with me, and contest!

Web updates/deleted scenes coming!

Questions for FAQ?

Shiny red netbooks?

David Bridger wrote a book!

Tweet and blog & pre-order CITY OF GHOSTS to name a character in Book 4!

Oh, and I forgot to mention! ALL entries must be in by midnight on Friday, July 30th. I will announce the winners the following Friday.