A kind reader from Ireland, horrified by Victoria's adventures, is so engrossed in the book that he ignores his pregnant Tenneseean friend, who's being attacked by the Scottish guy with the fangsvampire in the pic below.

He's entering both of the two contests for a chance to win an Advance Copy of The Bleeding Dusk, and sent me the pic he entered in the contest. 

Cool!

And thanks to everyone who came out to my signing at Borders today! It was great to see you all…Bree, Michele, Laura, Tina, Kelli, Nadia, Xanthe, Laura, Kat, Susan, Donna/Vicky/Chris…I know I'm forgetting some of you…I'm sorry!

…and also my husband's family who came all the way from Coldwater!

 Hope to see more of you on Tuesday in Ann Arbor, or Thurs in Warren! 

…here's a link to a $1-off coupon at Borders for Rises the Night (among other great books), good through July 3.

(Don't forget, I'll be signing at Borders June 9 and June 12, and also on June 20. Check my Web site for details.)

I was sitting around with a bunch of people last night, and somehow we got onto stories–or, rather, they got into stories–about how, when they were young and foolish, they (or people they knew) would scam free food from pizza delivery people, drive-thrus, etc.

So, time to 'fess up: Have you ever, when you had the munchies and/or were a starving college student and/or it was late at night, scammed for free food in any way…

such as….

…calling a pizza place and saying "Where are you guys? It's been three hours! Where's our pizza?" when you hadn't ordered anything, or

….driven through a drive-thru, preferably Taco Bell, near closing time, and giving a really long, complicated, indecipherable order through the speaker so that the person on the other end has no idea what you're saying…repeat the same or similar indecipherable order (throwing in a few recognizable words like "cheese" or "hot sauce" every so often) in great annoyance because the drive-thru personnel doesn't understand….at least two or three times, until the person inside gives up, waves you through, and hands you a big bag of food because they have no idea what you ordered, or…

…waited in the college dorm parking lot for the pizza guy to take a pizza into the dorm, and while he's gone, snatch a pizza or two from his unlocked car, or….

…ordered a pizza, took two pieces out and put them under the toaster oven or in the broiler to "burn" them, call the pizza place and complain about your burned pizza so they deliver a new one to you (actually, this scam didn't work, or so the story-teller told us)….

So. 'Fess up: didja? Didja get caught? Didja feel guilty?

Or…were you ever on the receiving end of such a scheme?

(As for me…I can say with a clear conscience: No, to all of the above. Honest.) 

…Oh, and by the way, next Friday, I'm going to start a new feature on the blog here called Readers Ask. For more info, check in the sidebar. (I was going to do it today, but I liked this post idea better.)

Here's a quick pic from my booksigning event last night at the Barnes & Noble in Rochester, Michigan. The gal next to me is Laura, Vampire-Book- Seller Extraordinaire. She's fabulous!!

(And thanks to everyone who came out last night…Cheryl, Lauren, Heather, Debbie, Kathleen, Linda, Jeff!) 

And….I wanted to mention that I'm giving away a copy of Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume, which is a new hard-cover collection of essays by such talented authors as Meg Cabot, Julie Kenner, and my dear friend Diana Peterfreund.

The contest is on my other blog, Muse/News, so head on over there and put your name in. The book looks fabulous! 

I finally finished my re-read of The Order of the Phoenix. Now to decide when to start my inaugural read of The Half-Blood Prince. Now…or closer to July 21??? 

I think my favorite book is still The Goblet of Fire, although I must say I liked The Order of the Phoenix better the second time around. Which is your favorite Harry Potter book? 

Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings, who's hosting a contest to win an advance copy of The Bleeding Dusk, posted this pic on his blog today, proving that men can multi-task!

(At least, it looks to me like he's warding off vamps while he's reading.)

Today, I'm also over at The Midnight Hour (which is owned by fellow Noodler Stephanie Rowe, along with several other uber talented authors like Cheyenne McCray and Michelle Rowen)…and we're giving away a copy of The Rest Falls Away or Rises the Night–whichever the winner prefers. But you have to ask me a question to be entered to win.

In other news, I'll be signing books tonight at the Barnes & Noble in Rochester, MI, and on Saturday at the Borders in Brighton. If you haven't checked my Web site for my other scheduled stops (Ann Arbor, Warren, Albany NY, Phila PA, and Dallas TX), you can find anything you need to know about where I'll be and when…by looking on my home page.

And finally…I got my latest order of Born Venator t-shirts last night and stay tuned, because I'll need to give some away. These are the Rises the Night edition, done with electric blue printing on either black or dark blue tees. They look hot. See?