In which I wish you the happiest of holidays

Ah, dear readers, I confess. I am a wee bit fatigued. I could not figure out why until I did the math and realized that in the last fourteen months I have written--not counting blogs, letters, e-mails, extra content for electronic editions, bios, or interviews--roughly 1500 pages! It has been tremendous fun and I am a very lucky girl to get to do what I do, make no mistake. But je suis needing a rest, my poppets, and as 2010 is shaping up to be VERY busy, I am taking a few days off to spend time with my family and just BE. Ordinarily, I write blog entries ahead of time to load into the queue so there is always content, but this time I have decided to take a proper break. I suspect I will miss you inordinately, and I will still tweet and update facebook periodically. I plan to rejoin you in the New Year, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Solstice, a Joyful Kwanzaa, and for my Jewish friends, I hope your Hanukkah was a lovely and peaceful time. Whatever is good and lovely, I wish it for you all in 2010.

A reminder, should you happen to receive a gift card to a bookstore, the trade edition of Silent in the Grave, the first book in the Lady Julia Grey series, is out January 1. Or you can use those gift cards to pre-order The Dead Travel Fast, which will ship right around February 23!

I also have a holiday treat for you all--the book trailer for The Dead Travel Fast! Just a taste of the Gothic thrills afoot in the new book, and I hope you enjoy. I actually have two cameos in the video--see if you can spot me!

Also, the website will be updated with appearances and contest information, so be sure to check the main pages for details on where I will be signing books and the goodies up for grabs.

Thank you for making 2009 such a memorable year!