I was waiting to blog this month because there are some cool things in the mix for the Three Dark Crowns series that are yet to be announced. BUT! If I don’t blog now I’ll miss February, plus I need something to do for like twenty minutes before I can feed my pack their lunch and fix myself my daily cup of coffee, so here I am. I’ll just have to save the news for March. But it’s rad. And I want to talk about it. Now.

But I won’t. Restraint. It’s the name of the game.

ONE DARK THRONE got a nifty cover reveal over on the official series Facebook page. And oh! It got an official series Facebook page! Have you liked and followed it? I wholeheartedly recommend that you do, because it sounds like they have some excellent plans: announcements and quizzes and special content. My lovely webdesigner Rachel also added a One Dark Throne page to the site here, complete with pre-order links if you are so inclined (and for those of you who have asked, there have been rumblings about a pre-order campaign but I’m not sure yet. Save your receipts to be safe. Also THANK YOU!).

And I got a sneak peek at the UK cover (I’m thinking there will only be one this time) and it is lovely.

On a personal note, I’d like to wish my horse Lassie a very happy birthday. February 25th will mark her golden birthday, and on such a big occasion, I had to send her something special. So I sent her a box of cannoli made for horses. She’s an old lady horse now, but to me she will always be a baby. And a jerk. Oh, how she bites me.

And on a strange personal note, my parents found my old adoption paperwork and discovered my original name. k81 2097. Which I think sounds fantastic. Like I’m a cyborg. Henceforth I shall be called The k81, and if I ask you if you have seen this boy, you should run.

Now to feed the pack! And I hope to be able to blog next month with news!

2016, you’re finally over. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like even numbers. I talked to my mom on New Year’s Eve and mentioned how glad I was the year was over, and she very sweetly asked “Why? Is it Trump?” And I wanted to say, “well sure but also remember that time you tried to kill yourself?” but honestly I think she’s blocked most of that out, and that’s fine, she’s doing much better now and I have appreciated all of the kind thoughts that came in after my last post and I apologize for this run-on sentence.

I didn’t need to tell her that celebrity deaths also sucked, and nor do I need to tell anyone else, but I will mention the one that affected me the most, and that was Alan Rickman. My adoration started with Sense and Sensibility and I never really got over it.

But, despite an air of relief that the year was ending, the holidays around here were pleasant. I made Giada DeLaurentis’s lobster linguini and standing rib roast, plus fennel, which we’d never had and discovered we’d rather just have celery. I received a very cool set of gifts from my serial killer-studying pal: a weaving made from one of my favorite chapters of Anna Dressed in Blood, and a crow sculpture made entirely of graphite so the whole thing is a pencil.

And last but certainly not least, we got a new baby. A five month old sphynx kitten named Armpit McGee:

He has no fur, and needs many bathings and face and ear cleanings, and sure, sometimes it feels like there’s an uncooked chicken running across my living room, but we adore him.

In writing world: edits on ONE DARK THRONE are nearly done, and we have a release date: September 19th, 2017 !! It’s available for pre-order already, and some of you have already ordered, which blows my mind. A million times, thank you. More news to come soon.

And I’m going to Chicago to chat with Veronica Roth about her new book CARVE THE MARK: February 9th at 7pm, Community Christian Church, hosted by Anderson’s Bookshop. It’s ticketed, and we’ll both sign after, I think.

Three Dark Crowns popped up on the NYT list again yesterday, print(#3!) and ebook(#2!), so that was awesome. Thank you to those of you who have given it a whirl.

And that’s my month. Keep on, keepin’ on.

I’m fairly crappy at keeping this place updated, but over the years I have done my best to post one new entry per month. A record for myself, if nothing else, of what the hell was going on. I haven’t posted an entry since July. Here’s why.

In August, my mom tried to commit suicide. She had been struggling with a fairly rapid onset of anxiety disorder since the spring. I’d been trying to help her, having some experience with anxiety myself. For a brief rundown, see this post I wrote for Psychology Today.

When I wrote that, I didn’t know we were a few weeks away from my mom overdosing, and my family in the ICU for 40 hours waiting for her to stop convulsing and die. She hadn’t meant to do it. Not really. She wanted to get our attention (even though she already had it, the anxiety convinced her she needed more. Such is the nature of that beast.). I cried and laughed bitterly to Dylan that my mom had accidentally killed herself. Bitter laughter, bitter tears. Four in the morning waiting by the phone half a country away while my dad and my brother and all my childhood friends camped out in the ICU. Five am watching Philadelphia on HBO which would have made me cry on a normal day (especially those songs, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, damn you and your sick mournful beats).

But my mom didn’t die. Sometime in the night they intubated and put her under, and 40 hours later they brought her back up, and she opened her eyes. The tough old bird came out of it with no lasting damage (a fricking miracle!), and I flew home to make sure she was placed in proper inpatient care. She wanted us to put her into a nursing home. She didn’t think she could ever get better. We knew that she could.

Fast forward six weeks, and by the time I was set to go on book tour, my mom was on her way back. We were, and are, cautiously optimistic. Her medication is working well, and it is good to hear her laugh again, and smart off again, and be a big sarcastic butthole again like I’m used to.

This beast of Generalized Anxiety Disorder came on fast and strong. From fine and functioning to total collapse inside the span of a year. Our denial of how bad it had gotten, and some of our unfamiliarity with the disorder didn’t help. But we know what to watch for now, and because of her experiences, a friend who also struggled with anxiety went to get treatment, so, silver linings, I guess. This season was almost much, much worse.

In the midst of this, I was gearing up for the release of Three Dark Crowns, pasting on my author’s smile (which is usually, seriously, quite genuine). And then it was in the world, and it debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestsellers list (#5 on ebook!) and then I was on the road, hanging with incredible authors like Lauren Oliver, Zac Brewer, M.E. Girard, Renee Ahdieh (I think I had five panels with Renee this season!) and so many more. 3DC hung out on the list for six weeks, and continues on the national Indie list. Thank you to everyone who helped to put it there. It’s surreal, and to say I’m grateful for all of these things doesn’t quite cut it.

So there’s the ups. And they were big ups, after a big down. We came close. The fight continues. I apologize for the hiatus here. The plan is to return to normal now.  Smartassery and raucous dogs. Monthly posts. The sweetest co-writing cat in the world. And Lauren Oliver told me about a way to prepare a whole duck so I am totally doing that for Thanksgiving.

This is likely all I will say about this. I’m hesitant to post it, but I wrote that article about not being ashamed of anxiety disorders and I meant it, so a-posting I will go.

According to my master plan, I am supposed to finish Three Dark Crowns 2 in two days. That isn’t going to happen. I’m heading down to Bend, Oregon this Friday for a book festival, so the big finish is pushed off until next week. But! I’m betting there are ten thousand words or less remaining, and I sort of might know what most or some of those words are, so…not so bad.

The writing speed has slowed here at the end, as there are many things happening, and writing them tires me out. Isn’t that weird? I’m not physically doing the things that I’m writing but shit I need a nap.

On a personal note, we’re thinking of expanding the family again, with a kitten, perhaps sometime late this fall or winter. It will probably be of the hairless suede variety. So if anyone has experience with cats of the hairless suede variety, please do chime in to endorse or warn us off. This will be our final child, until our children get very old, and we begin to lose them.

On a slightly less personal but infinitely awesome note, a book blogger/book trailer creator made a trailer for Three Dark Crowns! She just made one! Just because the concept inspired her! How excellent is that? So I’ll link to it here: THE BOOK TRAVELER’S RAD TRAILER

Five months to Three Dark Crowns. Advance copies are out to readers and I’m freaking out. Dylan is trying to be patient but I can see his eyeball starting to tic. Whatever. He can take it. And if he can’t, I shall put Icy Hot in his undershorts and that will perk him right up.

Yes I do advocate spousal sabotage with Icy Hot.

Next month I’m off to BEA/Bookcon, where I will be signing ARCs, miraculously, from a fetal position. Until then, peace out, and word to your mothers.

Sunny day out there today, after a week or so of gloom. Frost on the ground. Grass still green. It’s the end of 2015, and to be honest, I’m glad it’s over. It was sort of a shit year. Of course, things can always get worse.

I have two short stories and one novel coming out in 2016. The X-FILES: TRUST NO ONE in March, featuring my story, “Heart“; SCARY OUT THERE in spring or summer, featuring my story, “Chlorine-damaged Hair and Other Pool Hazards” and THREE DARK CROWNS, in the fall. Late September, perhaps. My brother and best friend are visiting Seattle for the first time in early spring, and my parents in the summer. We will be very touristy. I will take them for good sushi. Except for my brother, who is allergic to fish. If I took him for good sushi, he would get green spots and then die.

I have one book to write: Three Dark Crowns 2, and I suppose, I ought to start thinking about what’s next. What’s next and what’s new. The perennial questions.

We got Obi-Dog a sister for Xmas. She’s a rescue from a shelter in Texas. She is sweet, and has a gruff little bark. She takes no shit. Her name is Agent Scully, and here she is, for your viewing pleasure:

Tyrion Cattister approves. She is smallish, and very gentle with him. He’s only had to smack her in the face like, four times.

Saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so I don’t have to feel like the only person on the planet who hasn’t. I enjoyed it, but I’ve watched too many blockbusters lately. Leaves me craving something quiet, and thoughtful, and talky. Or something ominous, with a sinister score.

Aaand, Agent Scully just licked water out of my glass. Time to get back to line/copy edits. I’m sort of worried I’m going to make all kinds of mistakes when I transfer the line edits into the copyedited file. So if you read Three Dark Crowns next year, and it’s all messed up, like sentences breaking apart and continuing on the next page, or the phrase “O-Doyle Rules!” just inserted in there randomly, hey, I’m sorry. I’m just not that organized.