Harlequin Teen Website Live!

I'm getting ready to take off for Wash, DC, and the Romance Writers of America's national convention (which I'm not "officially" attending, but I will be meeting with my editors, my agent, and a bunch of author friends - fun!). Just got the word that the Harlequin Teen site is live, so here it is: http://harlequinteen.com/teen/. And also here's a short Q&A I did for them.

Author Q&A: P. C. Cast
P.C. Cast is proud to have published in the young adult, paranormal romance and fantasy genres. She has a special spot in her heart for the fantasy series she's written for Luna and Harlequin Teen because she wishes she could live in the world of Partholon. Her first Harlequin Teen title is Elphame's Choice.

Q: On your nightstand now:

PC's Answer: Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

Q: Favorite book when you were a child:

PC's Answer: It's a three-way tie:

I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley

Q: Your top five authors:

PC's Answer: Ray Bradbury, Robin McKinley, Pat Conroy, Anne McCaffrey and Charlotte Bronte.

Q: Book you've faked reading:

PC's Answer: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. (I even faked teaching it!)

Q: Book you're an evangelist for:

PC's Answer: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Q: Book that changed your life:

PC's Answer: There are two of them:

Dragon Flight by Anne McCaffrey and Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd.

Q: Favorite line from a book:

PC's Answer: It's a little more than one line from near the end of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird:

" . . . Summer, and he watched his children's heart break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough . . ."

Q: Book you most want to read again for the first time:

PC's Answer: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Street Cats Tulsa!

To carry on with the What Should Be On My Website But Isn't While It's Under Construction theme, I wanted to blog about one of my favorite local charities, the fabulous Street Cats. Yes, they are the Street Cats mentioned many times in the HoN books. Yes, the place I describe is the real building (pictured below). Yes, the women who volunteer to run it are WONDERFUL; Kristin and I heart them. The real Nala was adopted from Street Cats. Okay, no, they aren't nuns. But still.

In case you'd like to check them out, their website is www.streetcatstulsa.org, and email contact information is cats@streetcatstulsa.org. They always appreciate donations, and there are always super cool cats waiting to be adopted. So if you're looking for a cat...

Kristin and I give a big "well done you!" to our Street Cats buddies.




p.s. Speaking of cats - thought you guys would like to see my horrid monster, Patchy Poo the Pud. He's a magnificent beast and I heart him completely!

YA Books!

I'm really excited about being included in the launch of Harlequin Teen along with Rachel Vincent (MY SOUL TO TAKE, August) and my buddy Gena Showalter (INTERTWINED, September).

ELPHAME'S CHOICE will be on sale late September, followed by BRIGHID'S QUEST in March 2010. Both are set in my fantasy world of Partholon, one hundred and twenty five years after the events of my adult trilogy: DIVINE BY MISTAKE, DIVINE BY CHOICE, DIVINE BY BLOOD. Elphame and Brighid are coming of age stories in a fantasy setting. I love these books and am so glad Harlequin is breathing new life into them. I think fans of House of Night will adore them! I can't wait to hear what you guys think!!

So here are the amazing covers:

My Favorite Books

I had a page on my website that referenced some of my favorite all time reads because I get asked so often for recommendations. So I'm going to duplicate them here, divided into YA and adult. Guys - please understand that I'm only making the two distinctions because parents can get uncomfortable with teens reading what they consider "adult" material. I think that's each family's business, and I'm just being careful not to recommend to twelve year olds something that's sooooo not appropriate.

Some of my all time favorite books are:

Young Adult:
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Dragon Flight, Dragon Quest, and The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Wicked Lovely and Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Hawksong Books by Amelia Atwater Rhodes
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Adult:
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Watchers by Dean Koontz
The Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz
I really love Wilbur Smith's African novels!
Anything at all by Pat Conroy, but I especially love Beach Music, The Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide, and The Great Santini
Anything Christopher Moore writes. My current favorites are: Fool and Lamb.
If you want hot and sexy, Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series will be a perfect fit.
I also totally heart Kresley Cole's books.
And I think everyone should read: Winds of War by Hermon Wouk, Shogun by James Clavell, Night by Elie Wiesel, and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Requiem for the Devil by Jeri Smith Ready is an amazing novel

Wow! There are so many amazing books!

Happy reading,
PC

THE DIVINE TRILOGY

To continue my posts meant to avoid confusion caused by my author site, www.pccast.net, being under construction, I'm blogging about the other series I've written apart from the HOUSE OF NIGHT.

This next series is a trilogy of fantasy books published by LUNA (Harlequin's single title fantasy imprint). The books will be released exclusively for Borders starting with DIVINE BY MISTAKE in August, DIVINE BY CHOICE in September, and DIVINE BY BLOOD in October. In November all three will be available everywhere.

I love this series - it's funny and sexy and great adventure. It's also not written for a YA audience. So, again, please be aware of the adult content, which I'd rate at about R for sex and violence.

Here are the lovely covers with the blurbs. Enjoy!

GODDESS SUMMONING BOOKS

I'm having my www.pccast.net website rebuilt, so I thought it would be wise to devote a few posts to things you'd usually find on my author site to avoid "under construction" confusion.

I get lots of questions about the other books I've written besides the HOUSE OF NIGHT series. First, I do have a paranormal romance series I've written for Berkley called THE GODDESS SUMMONING BOOKS. At this time there are six of the books available. The seventh book, GODDESS OF CAMELOT, will be released in 2010 (sorry, I don't have a month yet). The GODDESS SUMMONING BOOKS do not have to be read in order, as each stand alone. Some of them do have characters that repeat in other books, but not to the point of confusion. My YA readers should know that these are not young adult books. I consider them at about an R rating for sex and violence (mostly sex).

Here's the list of each book, a little blurb about it, and the ISBN number (that makes it easy to request from any bookstore or library). I'm listing them in order of which was published first to the most recently published book. Here goes:

1. GODDESS OF THE SEA

ISBN: 978-0-425-22688-9
Home alone on the night of her twenty-fifth birthday, USAF sergeant Christine Canady yearned for something to cure her loneliness. After drinking too much champagne, she recited a divine invocation to revive her humdrum life. but how was she to know the spell would actually work?
When her plane crashes into the ocean, CC's life changes forever. She awakens, bewildered, to find herself in a legendary time and place ruled by magic - and in the body of the mythical mermaid Undine. But danger lurks in the water, ready to swallow CC whole. Taking pity on her, the goddess Gaea turns CC into a damsel so that she might seek shelter on land. When a dashing knight comes to CC's rescue, instead of falling for this dream come true, she aches for the sea and the darkly sexy merman who's stolen her heart...

2. GODDESS OF SPRING

ISBN: 978-0-425-22708+4
Lina's bakery in Tulsa is proving to be less than lucrative - and she needs a plan. When she stumbles upon an Italian goddess's cookbook, Lina can't help but think she's found her answer - even if it means summoning an ancient goddess...
Soon enough, Lina finds herself face-to-face with the goddess Demeter, who proposes that Lina change places with Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, who'll breathe new life into the bakery. In return, Lina, embodying the lovely Persephone, must bring Spring to a world of spirits. But when the handsome, brooding Hades kindles a spark in her heart, Lina wonders whether the dark Lord of the Underworld is her worst nightmare - or the man of her dreams...

3. GODDESS OF LIGHT

ISBN: 978-0-425-22709-1
Tired of dating egomaniacs, interior designer Pamela Gray has nearly given up on men. She wants to be treated like a goddess - preferably by a god. As she whispers her wish, she unwittingly invokes the goddess Artemis, who has some tricks up her celestial sleeve...
Twins Aretmis and Apollo have been sent to the Kingdom of Las Vegas to test their mettle. Their first assignments: make Pamela's wish come true. So Artemis volunteers her golden brother. After all, who better than the handsome Gode of Light to bring love to this lonely woman?
If might be a first, but here in Sin city, where life is a gamble, both god and mortal are about to bet on a high stakes game of love. Hey, you only live once. Or do you?

4. GODDESS OF THE ROSE

ISBN: 978-0-425-22710-7
It's not a green thumb that's kept the Empousai family's roses blooming for centuries - it's the drops of blood that their women secretly sacrifice for their gardens. But Mikki would rather forget this family quirk and lead a normal life. Until the day she unwittingly performs a ritual and ends up in the strangely familiar Realm of the Rose. As its goddess, Hecate, reveals to her, Mikki has the blood of a high priestess running through her veins. And the realm has been waiting for her...
It a long ago flash of temper, Hecate cursed her Guardian beast with a slumber that only her priestess can undo - and Hecate is counting on Mikki to set things right. At first the beast terrifies Mikki - but soon he intrigues her more than any man ever has. But the only way he and the realm can be saved for for Mikki to sacrifice her life-giving blood...and herself...

5. GODDESS OF LOVE

ISBN: 978-0-425-21528-9
My Goddess, does Pea Chamberlain ever need a makeover! her shoes, hair, clothes, makeup are all disasters, especially if she wants to attract uber-sexy fireman Griffin DeAngelo at the firemen's masked ball. And who better to coax Pea out of her pod than the Goddess of Love, who she invokes when she gets her hands on a book of enchantments.
Sure enough, Venus works her magic on Pea, which is what she has been doing for eons - helping others find love. But who will help the Goddess of Love when she finds herself falling for the same sexy fireman she is trying to land for Pea? Could it be that Venus needs a love makeover herself? Check out the fireworks when the Goddess of Love unexpectedly loses her heart...

6. WARRIOR RISING

ISBN: 978-0-425-22137-2
Goddesses Hera, Athena, and Venus have had it up to here with the Trojan War. So much devastation - all because of some silly male egos. The worst of the bunch is Achilles, the Greek champion whose powers have made him practically invincible. To stop him would be to end the war. But the only way to stop a man like Achilles is to distract him - with something far more pleasurable than combat...
The three goddesses seize their chance when a twenty-first-century beauty named Kat and her best friend perish in a car crash in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In no time, they shift the friends' souls into the bodies of a Trojan princess and her handmaiden, having no doubt that Kat will catch Achilles's attention. But can her independent, fiery spirit match the unquenchable fire of his epic rage? Goddess only knows...

Okey-dokey! That's a summary of the Goddess Summoning Books out as of right now. Happy reading!

PC

Oooh! A contest! Free HoN stuff! Ooooh!

In celebration of TEMTED being finished, THE FLEDGLING HANDBOOK almost being finished, my stress level going way down along with my grumpy level, I've decided to run a very cool CONTEST because I have the most awesome and creative fans EVER. And I'm going to give away stuff! Cool House of Night stuff!

So, here are the details:
1) The contest will be for who can create the coolest vampyre tattoo, photograph it, and send it to my lovely new personal assistant, Camden Clark at castseries@gmail.com.

2) You may enter as many times as you'd like, but each tattoo has to be unique.

3) No, for this contest I won't take sketches. But don't despair artists - I'll run a contest for you after this one (and don't worry - I have plenty of cool HoN stuff!).

4) The pictures must be real people and not computer generated images, but you may photoshop them. Holly's picture in the previous post, and beautiful Iona's picture in this post are good examples of what I'm looking for.

5) The contest begins immediately and will run until midnight, central time, on July 31st.

6) Camden will collect the entries and give them to me, and then I'll pick the winners. I'll probably award the first three places and perhaps an honerable mention.

7) I will judge the photos on: origionality, creativity, and general coolness.

8) PRIZES! I'll be giving away a signed set of the HoN books, tee shirts, and jewelry. FYI: The Fire Goddess, my wonderful jeweler who does exclusive work for the HoN, has created a NEW PIECE OF JEWELRY for the October release of TEMPTED. It's a pendant of Nyx, and it is amazing! The pendant won't be available for purchase until October, but the lucky winner of this contest will receive the piece early! Yea!

9) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN THE US TO ENTER. The HoN is currently published in 22 countries around the world. You may enter from anywhere!

Good luck! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

XXXOOO
PC

Check out Holly's Fun With Photoshop!

Holly Rodgers sent me this lovely photo. I think she makes an excellent vampyre! Holly: well done you!

XXXOOO
PC

A cover I CAN show you!

I know you guys are anxiously awaiting the unveiling of the cover of TEMPTED, which my wonderful publisher is keeping Top Secret until later this summer. So when my editor at Harlequin sent me the final cover for my early October Nocturne release, THE AVENGER, I thought I'd post it right away!

It's a cool time travel story with most of the action set in Briton in 60 AD, and Boudica is an important secondary character. Interestingly enough, in the House of Night world's history I have Boudica's two teenage daughters being Marked and going through the Change - and during that time they found the Dark Daughters.

Oh, a ratings warning: THE AVENGER is not young adult. I'd give it an R rating for violence and sex. So if your parents won't let you see R rated movies this book isn't for you.

XXXOOO
PC

Back from NYC...

Well, we're back from GMA and a fun Borders interview at BEA in NYC. The picture is from our last day in the city, after our Borders interview. We got to take off and SHOP! It was a gorgeous day - perfect weather. We had a bike guy take us back to our hotel, and when he dropped us off he told us his bike was brand new! We were his very first customers, so we had him take a picture to commemorate the event. The bike guys are so much more fun than cabs!

The rewrite of TEMPTED is almost finished, and then I'll be working on the text part of the illustrated FLEDGLING HANDBOOK. More on that later...

Those of you in the Oklahoma City area check out ABC on June 29th. I'm not sure what time, but the program is called "Believe in Oklahoma." They were just here interviewing us - such a nice group. I'll try to post a link after it airs.

Wishing y'all happy reading and lovely summer weather,
PC

HUNTED in Iraq with our guys!

Gary Schubert, my friend over in Iraq, sent this great picture of himself with HUNTED. Soooo cool, Gary! Thanks! Gary is a short-timer, and in just a little over 50 days he's returning to his wife and family stateside.

Let's all wish Gary a fast, safe 50 days!

XXXOOO
PC

GMA & Nightline!

Hi Guys!
Kristin and I are off to New York City to appear on Good Morning America Thursday morning, May 28th. We hear we should be live between 8:30 and 9:00 ET. Then we'll be on Nightline Thursday night. It's PC & Kristin day on ABC!

Fingers crossed we don't mess up...

XXXOOO
PC

A new series!

Hi guys! Happy Memorial Day weekend! I know a bunch of you have finally been released from school - so yea to you AND your amazing teachers.

I thought I'd give you a heads up about a new series I've been involved in. It's for Harlequin's Nocturne imprint, which means it'll be super cool paranormal romance. It's not YA, but it's also not graphically sexual, so I'd say it's fine for my older teen fans on up. Here's the really unique part of the series - the idea for the books was thought up and written exclusively by women authors who have also served in our armed forces. Some of you know I was active duty Air Force back in the day, so I'm really proud to be included in this project. The series leads off with four books, beginning with the first release in August, THE SEEKER by Lindsay McKenna. In September Cindy Dees' THE SLAYER will be released, and in October my book, THE AVENGER, will be out. The final book, by my good friend Merline Lovelace, THE PROTECTOR, releases. The series has danger and time travel and a whole we-have-to-save-the-world theme. I'll post my cover as soon as I have it. In the meantime you guys can check out more about all four fantastic books at: www.timeraidersseries.com.

I heart you guys!
PC

Back from paradise and off to New York City!

Here's a lovely picture taken from our vacation balcony. Sooooo gorgeous!

I wanted to let y'all know we'll be headed to New York City to appear on Good Morning America Thursday, May 28th. We'll also be featured on Nightline that night.

I'm in the middle of rewrites of TEMPTED. Yep - there are always rewrites, which I really don't mind as it makes for a better book.

Wish us luck on GMA and here's hoping we don't sound moronic on Nightline...

XXXOOO
PC

TEMPTED IS FINISHED! Vacation here we come!!

Thought y'all would like to know TEMPTED IS FINISHED! Yea! And we totally heart it! So, we're off on a much needed vacation and thought I'd show you guys the totally cool shirt made by the lovely Rachel Christianson for a literature project. I say "Well done Rachel!"

Wishing you guys the brightest of blessings as I totally de-stress!

XXXOOO
PC

Kalona image

I love it when I see different visual interpretations of characters from the House of Night. It's always interesting for me to get a glimpse of what you guys see as you imagine the world. Here's one very cool version of Kalona created by a talented artist named Andy. With his permission I've posted some of his process and the end result. Please don't share this art without Andy's permission.

Check it out!

Starbucks at Utica Square

Well I was over at Starbucks the other day and thought I'd snap a couple quick pictures of it because this is the Starbucks at Utica Square - the one Zoey saw Heath at in BETRAYED, and where she had her birthmas cake with Grandma Redbird and her horrid mother. They're not great pictures and it doesn't do the store justice - it really is pretty. But here ya go! If it ever stops raining I'll run over to the real Tulsa Depot (which is now renovated and lovey as the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame) and post pictures from there, too.

Almost done with TEMPTED...yea!

Enjoy!
PC

Mary's Grotto - the real one!

I thought you guys might find it interesting to see the "real" Mary's Grotto on which I based the fictional one in HUNTED.
This really is at the corner of Lewis and 21st Streets in the heart of Tulsa's beautiful midtown.

My pictures really don't do it justice. You can't see the blooming Dogwoods and Redbuds all over.

If you double click on the pictures they get bigger and you can see just how lovely this statue of Mary is. The grotto is definitely a special place. Hope you can glimpse a little of its magic from these...

Brightest blessings to you,
PC

Rachael Ray Show

Here's the link to our Rachael Ray Show interview!


http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/motherdaughter-vampire-authors/

YALSA Top Ten Book for Teens Nominations!

Kristin and I are thrilled to have been nominated for the Young Adult Library Service Association's Top Ten Books for Teens list. We're honored to be included among so many amazing books. So now teens have 25 weeks to read the 25 books and then vote for their favorites. You can go to www.ala.org/teenstopten between October 18-24 and vote. The more teens who participate, the more accurately the winning list will reflect the reading tastes of teens all over the country! Which is really cool!

About the Teens' Top Ten

Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! Nominators are members of teen book groups in fifteen school and public libraries around the country. Nominations are posted in April during National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year during Teen Read Week. Readers aged twelve to eighteen can vote right here, online, anytime that week.

Check out: www.ala.org/teenstopten.

Happy reading, guys! There are some awesome books nominated!

Win Signed Books!

Want a chance to win a signed copy of HUNTED? Of course you do!

We revisited Free Book Friday and had an interview to answer some of your questions, so head on over to http://teens.freebookfriday.com/ for your chance to win 1 of 5 copies, and listen to the podcast too!

One quick question, so let's say this is Questions Answered 3 1/2

Recently I've been getting a bunch of questions about the research that goes into writing the House of Night, most specifically about the religions on which the worship of Nyx is based. I know it sounds weird, but I enjoy research, which is good because I do a lot of it. Actually, I find plot ideas quite often while I research. So, the short answer to the research question is that I do a lot of it, specifically about: Wiccan traditions, Celtic shamanism, druids, ancient goddess religions, and Native American lore. I thought those of you asking about research might be interested in a short list of some of my favorite starting off books. So, here you go:

THE SPIRAL DANCE by Starhawk (I like the 20th anniversary edition for Starhawk's updated commentary)
WICCA DEMYSTIFIED by Bryan Lankford (on whom Dragon was based!)
FIRE IN THE HEAD by Tom Cowan
DRUIDS AND DRUIDISM by T.D. Kendrick
THE BODY OF THE GODDESS by Rachel Pollack
A HISTORY OF PAGAN EUROPE by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick
THE WHITE GODDESS by Robert Graves
THE NEW LAROUSSE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHOLOGY

These are just a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Back to TEMPTED...

Your Questions Answered #3

First, I want to reiterate that I’m under a very tight deadline right now, at the end of writing TEMPTED (which is a seriously good book!), AND I have construction going on in my home. In other words, I’m stressed. So if you don’t find your answer in this particular blog entry, scroll down and look through my archives. If you STILL can’t find your answer, then email me. I won’t respond personally, but I will probably use your question as the basis of a blog post. Please understand that my goal here is to slow down the deluge of emails I get so that I can finish TEMPTED on time. This goes for my facebook and myspace, too. This is basically the only place I’m posting until early June.

Okay, batch #3 of questions:


QUESTION: So, what’s going to happen with Erik and Zoey? And is Stark going to be in the rest of them? What’s up with Stevie Rae?

PC’s ANSWER: I’m not going to give away plot points, so please don’t email me with “what’s going to happen” questions. You’ll just have to wait along with me because sometimes things happen in the HoN world that surprise even the author.

QUESTION: I have a cool idea about what should happen in TEMPTED (or any of the next books). Would you email me so I can tell you about it?

PC’S ANSWER: No. I have more ideas of my own that I can possibly write in one lifetime. Plus, if I used your ideas about my world, then it wouldn’t be my world anymore. And here’s another great opportunity to mention how annoying fanfic is to me. If you want to be a writer, then you make up YOUR OWN WORLD and write in it. My world is copyrighted as MINE. Please, just leave it to me.

QUESTION: I have this book that I want to write and it’s about: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________(insert long paragraph and/or attachment).
Could you help tell me how to write it? OR Could you tell me if it’s any good?

PC’s ANSWER: First, please don’t send your writing to people who have not asked to read it. It’s not polite. Second, I cannot get you published, so even if I were to read your ideas (which I don’t have time to do, so I won’t do), my opinion doesn’t mean anything. Third, if you want my advice for aspiring authors then check out the archive post in this blog in which I deal in depth about the subject.

QUESTION: I live in _________________(insert your city), and you never come here. Do you hate us? Would you please come here?

PC’s ANSWER: Authors don’t get to pick where we go on our book tours. Our publishers send us to different cities and countries. Their choices are dependent upon many factors, such as: volume of sales in the area, fan enthusiasm, bookstore locations and availability. Kristin and I don’t include or exclude locations; we don’t choose. If we did, I can promise you we’d be in : Australia, San Francisco, Japan, Italy, Chicago, New York City, Seattle (we’ve never been to the upper northwest and I’m dying to go), Alaska…the list goes on and on. Oh, and right now we’re not going anywhere. I’m writing. Then Kristin will be going through the manuscript. Then we’ll be turning it in and she’ll be taking semester finals. THEN WE’RE GOING ON VACATION.


Back to writing…

PC

Check out the Library Fun!

Okay, there's a cool thing going on with some of your libraries (and if they're not into it - get with your librarian and have her sign up!). It's called The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest! It's offering prizes and such from teen and youth librarians in the U.S. and Canada, which means scavenger hunts from more than 120 authors, and tons of free prizes! MARKED is definitely in the hunt! Want to find out more? Go to: www.kaycassidy.com/hunt

Let me know how it goes!

XXXOOO
PC

Questions answered group #2

(Cool HoN doodle by Jazmin Haque!)

We're back from NYC and I'm hard at work on TEMPTED. So, as I said in an earlier post, I'm going to back off answer personal email until the book's done and turned in. What I will do is post groups of questions with my answers. Here's another gaggle o' questions I get:

1. QUESTION: I have to write a paper/do a report and I need you to answer some questions for me about yourself and your writing and your books and your daughter and...

P.C.'S ANSWER: If I answered your homework questions, which basically amount to interview questions, I wouldn't get my own work done. So, no, I can't send personal answers to you OR, and yes, I've actually been asked this, do your homework for you - not even if your mom asks me to. Here's the deal - Kristin and I have given a lot of interviews that are easily found on-line with a little work and perseverance. And we don't answer personal questions, i.e., exact birth dates, places, addresses, etc., for obvious reasons.

2. QUESTION: Who is Zoey going to end up with? And when the heck is she going to settle down with one guy and be good?

P.C.'S ANSWER: Kristin and I don't know who Zoey is going to end up with because she doesn't know yet BECAUSE SHE'S NOT EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE, LET ALONE CHOOSE A PARTNER FOR LIFE! Jeesh. And give the girl a break. She can be interested in more than one guy. Girls are all the time - too many girls think they have to vow eternal love to some kid before they're of legal age. That's ridiculous. Dating is an interview process. Lots of guys need to be fired! And, yes, it goes the other way for guys, too. Zoey happens to be honest enough, with herself and her friends, to admit to liking more than one guy at a time. Besides that, you need to remember she's living in a matriarchal society where women are highly respected and valued, which means she shouldn't be judged as harshly for her boy issues as many of you are judging her because a lot of what she's doing is cultural for a High Priestess in the House of Night world.

Here's the bottom line about Zoey and guys - she has to be a mature, independent woman who knows herself and is okay with being alone BEFORE she chooses a life partner. That's impossible right now because she's only seventeen. That is, by-the-by, good advice for any young woman (or young man!).

I find it interesting and disturbing that Zoey gets called all sorts of names because of her boy issues. I think it's indicative of our society and the issues of inequality with which we still struggle, and it saddens me when young girls are so eager to take nasty swipes at Zoey, but think it's okay that Erik acts like a possessive jerk. Wow. Not cool at all.

3. QUESTION: How come you have gay guys as main characters but no lesbians?

P.C.'S ANSWER: Well, I don't know many "out" teenage lesbians, and in order for me to create a credible character, especially in a YA novel set in a modern world, I prefer to work from a framework of observation. Plus, my novels aren't social platforms. I'm telling a story, and it just so happened that Damien became part of that story. If a lesbian character shows up as part of the story - I'll write her. But I'm not going to fill some kind of character quota and stuff a gay girl in to weirdly "balance" things. Doesn't make any sense to me...

4. QUESTION: Where did the idea of the fledgling/vampyre Mark come from?

P.C.'S ANSWER: Ancient goddess lore. During my research I came across references of ancient peoples, from the Celts to the Egyptians, Eastern Indians to Native Americans, who physically marked people who where considered priestesses, or wise women, holy people or shamans. Many of those marks were tattooed into the skin. In Marion Zimmer Bradley's fabulous book, MISTS OF AVALON, she had her priestesses tattoo a a crescent with the two ends pointing up in the middle of their foreheads when they were accepted into the service of their Goddess. I just took it a step farther, and added my own spin to it.

5. QUESTION: Where can I get the shirts and/or jewelry you guys wore on tour?

P.C.'S ANSWER: You can get both in the campus store link on the house of night site. You can also scroll through my blog archives for jewelry info, or go directly to the lovely Fire Goddess's site, www.firegoddess.com. She is our exclusive jeweler and she creates all her wonderful HoN pieces with my input and by staying true to the HoN world. (They're not ridiculously expensive, either, but she will do custom work if you ask.)

Okay, back to writing TEMPTED! More later...

XXXOOO
PC

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