Okay, they're not mine.  They're not anybody's . . . yet.  But Paul and Brady just seem to be headed that way in my opinion.  And I should know, I just made them up a couple of weeks ago.  Although, like many of my characters, I suppose they've been stewing in the soup I loosely call my brain for a couple of years now.

So, since I consider you guys my best and loyal crew (a.k.a. guinea pigs) I've decided to see if Paul and Brady appeal as much to you as they do to me by offering you a sampling of their adventures starting with, of course, the first one: Paul and Brady Get Hoodoo With The Voodoo.  The fun part is that it's interactive, so every once in a while, usually when I get too tired to write anymore, I'll stop and let you decide which way to turn the plot next.

What I'd also like to know exclusively from you MySpace followers is in what form you'd most like to see Paul and Brady ultimately released.  Book?  Comics?  Animated TV series?  Can't wait for your feedback. 

In the meantime, here's the link to part one of The Minion Chronicles.  Vote your heart, or your head, or whatever makes your spouse happiest.  I don't care.  It's gonna be fun for me either way!

I just renewed my website over at my host (GoDaddy.com) for another year.  I could've done it for TWO YEARS (!!!) or even more and SAVED!  But, uh, here's the thing.  I'm afraid if I do that I'll get too comfortable with this whole writing gig, stop putting out good quality work, and my career will go flushy flush.  All because I renewed my website for multiple years.

I know.  Ridiculous.  But this is the way I think.

Another example:  last Saturday my husband nearly drove me to tears by observing that our son had nearly gotten through his whole wrestling tournament without getting hurt.  WTF?  "Really?" I said.  "You want to tempt Karma that bad?"  I made him knock wood.  And then that didn't seem like enough so I did too.  Our boy got through the competition fine, but I did see another wrestler break his arm very badly.  Shook me like a tornado.  I'm telling you, my friends.  You don't wanna mess with The Fates.

Yeah, yeah, I'm considered a smart woman.  Graduated from college with honors and everything.  But I've got a superstitious streak that only seems to widen as I get older. 

Are you of a more practical nature?  Nothing really throws you off track?  Or have you done something recently to bring yourself luck?  And if so, what was it?

I'm watching an opera.  On purpose.  I'm hoping I will, pretty much by osmosis, become a learned and appreciative member of the operatic community if I just spend enough time glancing from the subtitles to the freaky costumes and back again.  I figure if I start now, maybe by the time my kids are nabbing leading roles in The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, I can at least fake interest.

So far?

I like the scenery.

Maybe if I sit a little closer to the TV.

How about you?  Any artsy fartsy pieces you'd really like to dig that you just...don't...get?

Okay, I'll admit up-front that I've been feeling slightly jaded about Sesame Street ever since I heard they decided Cookie Monster should stop eating cookies.  Permanently.  And even though rumor has it that the rule has changed again, and now he's allowed a few after a well-rounded meal once in a while, the damage is done.  Hubby says his innocence was lost even earlier, when they asked him to believe in a vegetarian lion that didn't look like it was starving to death.

So when we saw the newest Christmas gift from their line to hit the shelves our immediate reaction was . . . oh no they didn't.

It's just a hand.  A big, monster Elmo hand.  That vibrates.  So, basically, if a little kid has no friends or family available for a tickle-fight, step in Elmo . . . or, well, Elmo's hand. 

WTF?

Help, my friends!  Restore our faith in toymakers and, if at all possible, Sesame Street!  Let us know what was, or is, the best toy you've played with up to this moment in your life.  Maybe we'll put it in our letter to Santa.  (Now there's a dude who shows up in his entirety.  Although, I have to admit, if he just sent, like, a boot down the chimney one Christmas, that would make for a terrific horror story!)

I just got back from a book signing in Tennessee where the wonderful group who met me praised the presence of gadgetry in my books.  My response was to say, I love the stuff.  I was the kid who switched on the Inspector Gadget cartoon every Saturday despite the fact that the plot never wavered from its tried and true template.  Because I desperately wanted to see that umbrella pop out of Gadget's hat!

Beyond the intense action and occasional car chase, this is, I suspect, one of the reasons my books have been compared to the adventures of James Bond. 

So, hey, let's go there. 

What are some of your favorite Q inventions that he handed over with endless warnings and lowered brows to 007 throughout the years?

One of the facets of Jaz Parks’s life that appeals to me the most is her family.  The sister she adores.  The twin brother she struggles to come to terms with.  The father who pisses her off without even trying.  The mother she loves despite her repeated betrayals.  Even though most of the action we see has to do with Jaz’s career, I think the family aspect of her life is what makes her most lovable. 

Which is why I’m considering sticking her with at least one, and possibly two, family members for book eight.

This will not please our girl.  We will, mostly likely, hear swearing.  Items will be thrown and possibly even broken.  Which makes me giggle a little.  I love putting my heroine in these situations.  Because she’s really at her best when she’s on the edge of control.  Barely hanging on by her fingernails while Vayl shakes his head and says, “Jasmine.  Breathe.”

Yeah, I think this is gonna be good.

Which is mega-cool!

Except some online stores have already been shipping it for a couple of weeks.  Some bookstores started selling it early too.  So, yeah, it's out there.  People have already read it and let me know what they think.

Early feedback is pretty doggone positive.  Whew!  I wasn't sure how people would take to evil, cannibalistic gnomes.  But they seem to be grooving on the whole concept.  I should've trusted my Jazfans more.  They are, simply, the best!

So if you were to peer out into the world of mythical creatures, which ones would you be surprised (and secretly delighted) to hear weren't so pure and polished after all?

Just had to share this Halloween tradition with you guys which began, quite innocently, with me buying my Halloween candy early one year.  I figured I was being efficient.  Until the family got hold of it and decimated my supply!  Which was when I began to hide the bags from them, thinking I could keep them safe from sticky fingers and growly stomachs until hubby and the kids had a legitimate excuse to steal the treats on Halloween night.  Except they kept finding the bags! 

Pretty quickly this became one of our Halloween traditions.  I'd buy candy early, hide it around the house, and they'd attempt to find it before costumed kids came to the door to "take" it from them.  This year I was about to give up the habit.  I'd put a bowl in the middle of the table and stocked it with chocolate.

You'd have thought I'd crushed our pumpkins in the road.

I was informed this was not the proper way to approach the holiday.  Goodies were meant to be tucked away in the cleverest spots I could find so that my son could prove he was even smarter.  So far he's found all but one bag of Reece Cups.

I wonder if vampires would enjoy their own version of this game.  They could hide humans around the mansion and then take turns trying to find them.  Creepy fun for the bloodsucking segment.  What do you think?

....................

Somebody asked me recently about Bergman’s creations.  Specifically, how did I come up with the ideas for them?  And I began to think about the new invention you’ll be reading about in Bite Marks very soon (because it officially releases on October 29^th).  I don’t want to get into specifics, because that would spoil a big portion of the story for you.  But the invention is somewhat unique in that I’ve never heard of anything quite like it.  However I wouldn’t be surprised if it exists deep in the sublevels of the CIA or the Pentagon.  Which is what I try to do with Bergman’s gadgets.  Make them original while at the same time almost familiar.  Kind of like old Miles himself. 

.. ..

So, considering that so far our genius has given Jaz a badass gun, a great long-distance communications device, and a key-opening necklace (just to name a few of his surprises), which one of his inventions do you like the best?