People in Hong Kong, Texas, Vancouver, and Michigan have all emailed to tell me they've found (and bought) Rises the Night. YAY!

So what are you waiting for?

Get thee to a store! Buy a copy!

Put me out of my Release Day Jitters (which are exacerbated by PMS, unfortunately for my Music Man and the rest of the VampAuthor/MusicMan Clan–and to the delight of Dairy Queen, Jet's Pizza, and Frito-Lay) and get your copy this week!

And then make like a JK Rowling fan and curl up and read it.

And if you're still at work, biding your time until you can leave to get thee to a bookstore, you can check out these interviews and other fun things being hosted on the Web in honor of the Rises the Night release:

Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings is sponsoring a chance to win an ARC of The Bleeding Dusk, if you send a picture of the book by June 10. (You don't have to read the whole interview, but it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself, and since this is the Most Shameless of Self-Promotion, I'm going to say it!…but anyway, the contest details are near the end of the post).(Oh, and Carl also reviewed the book, here.)

Jaye did a fabulous interview with me in which she asks me the most impossible question: who would win in a fight, Buffy or Victoria?

Hilariously talented author Jana DeLeon is posting an exclusive excerpt from Rises the Night in honor of its release date…go check it out if you need something besides the fabulous reviews to whet your appetite for the book!

The Jaunty Quills, home of such talented authors as co-Noodler Anne Mallory and others, along with their…er…spiky porcupine…are hosting me in an odd sort of interview with Jaunty, and a chance to win an autographed book.

And Twisted Kingdom wants you to join them on a scavenger hunt for Rises the Night…with another chance to win an early copy of The Bleeding Dusk.

So what are you sticking around here for? Get going!!!!!

No, not me! The movie. (Definitely not me!)

I saw the trailer for this movie about four times in the last six months, and every time I thought, "No way." "I have no interest in this movie." "This looks ridiculous."

Then my dear friend Holli, whom I trust like you wouldn't believe (she's my critique partner, for one–she reads all of my books as I write them), told me she'd read great reviews for this movie everywhere, and she and her husband went and saw it…and they liked it.

Since my Music Man and I had planned a "Date Night" Saturday night, but had nothing on the docket that was dateish, I dragged him to see the flick. And, like my friend, I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked it.

I didn't love it–I wouldn't necessarily see it again–but I really liked it. And it's longish, too, for a comedy, so sit back with a full bag of popcorn. It's not what I expected. It's not a slapstick comedy.

It's a movie about real people in an unfortunate situation and how they deal with it. And, thankfully, they deal with it like normal, real people would deal with it. I could easily see why each of them responded the way they did, in the different phases of their relationship. 

It reminded me, in feel, of The Forty-Year-Old Virgin (not surprisingly because of the director/cast), and also of The Break-Up, and The Tao of Steve. There's black comedy there, very real conversations and fights, and a resolution that works (at least for me).

It's not a "hold-your-sides" laughing comedy at all. Yes, there are funny parts (personally, I think the movie did a brilliant job of including "male" humor, a la Animal House and Hard School, and not quite as good a job of including "female" humor).

It's definitely worth seeing–but I think it's more of a guy flick than a girl flick. After all, the story is about a deadbeat guy who's never worked a day in his life (except to puff in his bong) and who pretty much thinks only about getting laid and how weed can cure a hang-over…and how he meets a hot television personality and knocks her up on a one-night stand. 

And what happens when they try and work things out.

All I can say is, you might find the movie itself unrealistic, but I can tell you from personal experience that there are guys who will coast as long as they can on money they've been living on, but when the cash runs out and it's time to take responsibility for themselves and get married to the woman they love…they can step up to the plate.

They can, and they do. I married one of them!

Have you seen it? What did you think?

(oh, and by the way…my husband, the Movie Critic, loved the movie. More than I did!)

It's dreary and rainy here today. Perfect day to be lazing around in bed with a good book….

However, I got up, got the kids up and dressed and met the Music Man at church this morning (hey! we renewed our wedding vows today, which was kind of fun. My six year old insisted on being part of it too, so now the three of us are married)….when all I really wanted to do was stay in bed and read…so…when we got home….

I commandeered our king-sized bed with some junk food (oh dear!) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm really enjoying my rereads, and am looking forward to diving into The Half-Blood Prince, probably within the next week…although this will be a busy week so I may not get as much reading done as I'd like.

Anyway, I commandeered the bed, pulled out my Smartfood White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn (a hold-out from the Music Man's early days of courting me), and slid back into the world of Hogwarts.

Have I mentioned how much I love JK Rowling, and how bloody envious I am of her worldbuilding? The details–the essay topics, the book titles, the creatures and plants and gadgets [I want a Sneakoscope.]–everything's great.

And then I took a nap.

And then I woke up and read some more!

Incidentally, that's my favorite way to take a nap: after curling up in bed with a good book on a rainy day, with the sliding glass door to my bedroom open for a crisp breeze, after munching on some forbidden food….and then, when my eyelids get pleasantly droopy….putting the book aside and tipping over onto my mound of pillows for a little doze.

Happy, happy day! And even moreso because, wonder of wonders, my children were all otherwise occupied and so was Music Man. And no one bothered me!

So…what's your favorite way/place to nap?

Wow! VampireRomanceBooks.com is also giving away both The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night, and an authentic vampire hunting stake (all signed by me!).

Check it out…the contest ends this weekend!

Colleen 

The most exotic place I've ever visited….