On our way to New York City!

(This is a picture of the Flatiron Building in NYC, which is also known as Headquarters of St. Martin's Press, the Most Awesome Publisher in the Known Universe!)

So Kristin and I got a call this afternoon from our lovely publicist, Katy, who informed us we're coming to New York City tomorrow (Wednesday) to tape a segment on the Rachael Ray Show! Oh, baby! We're not sure when it'll air, but stay tuned for more news...

XXXOOO
PC

Quick link to a Toronto story

Thought you guys would get a kick out of reading this article from a Toronto paper. It totally cracked me up! We do heart us some Canada!

http://www.thestar.com/Entertainment/article/609729

Answering questions - #1

Since we're finally back from our tour (tours are fun, but really make you tired - and apparently give you bad hair, too, as you can tell from any number of pictures of us) and I have to hermit myself up AND FINISH TEMPTED BEFORE ALL OF YOU AND MY PUBLISHER KILL ME DEAD, I've decided the best way to answer the barrage of email questions I'm getting would be to post some of them and answer them in groups.

So please try and understand if I'm not being super good with my email/facebook/myspace responses. I'm focusing on TEMPTED, which means I have to limit my on-line procrastination (grin) time.

Here we go:

Question: I'm a parent/step-parent/aunt/uncle/grandma, etc., of a twelve year old (you can really insert any age from ten to fifteen or so here), and my child wants to read your series. Could you please tell me if it's appropriate for his/her age?

P.C.'s answer: First, this question really makes me crazy. As a long time teacher, from a family of teachers, perhaps I'm jaded, but I DON'T UNDERSTAND NOT READING WHAT YOUR KID IS READING, TOO! As a mom, I don't understand asking someone else what's appropriate for your child. So my short answer is: read the books yourself (not just mine, any author's books) and decide whether or not your child is mature enough to read them. I can't possibly know that. The longer answer is: Kristin and I had in mind kids sixteen years old on up when we began writing the series, and that still holds true. That said, when I was a kid I read everything I could get my hands on and would have devoured this series when I was a pre-teen. I'm the kid that got in trouble in 8th grade for reading a book my hag of an English teacher decided was "inappropriate." It was Eric Segal's LOVE STORY. I tried to tell the teacher it was okay with my mom that I was reading it. She didn't believe me and marched me down to the principal's office to call my mom. Mom said, "I know what she's reading. Leave her alone." Thanks Mom! Hees. So you see why this question is personal to me? I truly believe each family should decide for their children what THEY believe is appropriate.

Special note: please don't post defensive, hateful responses to this as you assume I'm passing judgment on your parenting. I'm not. You came to me asking my opinion. I'm giving it. That's all.

Question: HUNTED doesn't have a page in the back of it that announces the next book! Is HUNTED the last book? Help! Please say it's not the last book!!!!

P.C.'s answer: Of course HUNTED isn't the last book! I would never leave y'all hanging like that and just quit writing. We've sold twelve books to St. Martin's. I'm not sure how many will follow Zoey and how many will follow Stevie Rae (and Kristin and I have a cool idea for a new YA series not set in the HoN world, too). I promise I won't drag out the series - nor will I cut it off. I'll just tell the stories and see where that takes us. TEMPTED is the next book, and it will be out in the fall, probably around Samhain, which means around Halloween.

And I have no clue why my lovely publisher - who usually is freakishly close to perfect - didn't put a page in the end telling you TEMPTED will be out this fall. I think it was just an oversight, and I forgive them because Kristin and I heart us some St. Martin's!

Question: Do you know there are mistakes in HUNTED on page(s) ____________________ (fill in with a list of pages on which there are screw-ups).

P.C.s answer: YES! I KNOW! Okay, thank you guys for telling me, and I've forwarded the page numbers and mistakes to my lovely editor. They're being fixed in subsequent prints. But now you don't have to tell me anymore. THE MISTAKES MAKE ME CRAZY. I have no clue why they happened. I actually remember correcting several of them during the publishing process. All I can say is mistakes will happen, no matter how hard my publishing team and I wish they didn't. I mean, please. I taught English for fifteen years - you know I'd like to take a red pen out and go nuts on the book...


Question: While I'm waiting for TEMPTED (hurry up and write Ms. Cast!) can you recommend any other good books?

P.C.'s answer: I do have a list of some of my favorite books and authors on my website, www.pccast.net. But, again, I'm not just listing YA books - so if you're really young, be sure to follow your family's standards and keep in mind your maturity level. Of course I'm going to recommend my Goddess Summoning Books, written for Berkley: GODDESS OF THE SEA, GODDESS OF SPRING, GODDESS OF LIGHT, GODDESS OF THE ROSE, GODDESS OF LOVE and WARRIOR RISING. But they are ADULT paranormal romances - so there's lots of sex in them. My Partholon fantasy books, published by Harlequin's LUNA imprint: DIVINE BY MISTAKE, DIVINE BY CHOICE, DIVINE BY BLOOD, ELPHAME'S CHOICE and BRIGHID'S QUEST, are sometimes hard to find. Several are out of print. BUT the good news is ELPHAME'S CHOICE and BRIGHID'S QUEST are going to be repackaged and re-released next year in Harlequin's new young adult imprint - so just be patient for those. I think y'all will LOVE those books!

As for other authors: I adore anything by Robin McKinley, Anne McCaffrey's Pern books made me want to be an author, especially DRAGON FLIGHT, DRAGON QUEST, and THE WHITE DRAGON. I love Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' HAWKSONG books. Christopher Moore is the funniest man on this earth, and I devour all of his books - just finished FOOL and couldn't love it more. I think everyone should read Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451. I heart me the OUTLANDER series by the amazing Diana Gabaldon and WISH SHE'D WRITE FASTER! And Dean Koontz is also a favorite of mine. The list goes on and on...check out my website for more...and happy reading!

Okay - that's it for now. Back to writing TEMPTED. I'll post more Q&As next time I take a break/procrastinate.

Great to see all of you out on tour!

XXXOOO
PC

Schaumberg Borders! Fun!

Two kids made seriously cool shirts. The fronts had HoN class emblems and the back had quotes from the books. Hilarious!


Cool henna!

Us with some of the lovely Borders ladies! We heart them!


Here are some pics from our Schaumberg, IL signing. What a great crowd! I'll post pictures from our other stops as soon as the bookstores send them to me. Can't wait to show you the fun crowd at Changing Hands in Tempe!

We're home now for a few days and then off to Canada. I'm getting my voice back - finally. See y'all there!

XXXOOO
PC

Tulsa Launch of Hunted! Pictures!

Can you see the henna on our hands?!


An early shot as they were setting up one of the treat tables. Yum, Merritt's bakery!



Thought you guys would like to see some pictures from the fabulous launch of HUNTED Tuesday night. Thanks to everyone who came out to make release day so great! I'm amazed that Kristin and I don't appear to have the plague...

We are feeling, better, by-the-by. I'm actually getting my voice back.

We're taking off for the tour starting tomorrow! So hope to see you in: Norman, OK, Chicago, Dallas, Tempe or San Diego!

Oh, and YES there will be books after HUNTED. We're working on TEMPTED right now - due to release in November.

XXXOOO
PC

Full Moon Release!

The release day of HUNTED is finally here! Kristin and I are so excited! We had a lovely midnight party at the Borders right down the street tonight - thanks to our fabulous fans who came out late on a school night, and special thanks to amazing Borders who stayed open past midnight!

Our launch is at the 41st Street Barnes & Noble in Tulsa, starting at 7:00, then off we go on our tour Monday. Can't wait to see everyone!

Isn't it magical that our release coincides with a full moon!

Brightest full moon blessings to you all, and hope to see you soon!

PC

Final Video - Zoey!

Only seven more days until HUNTED!