DRINK, SLAY, LOVE Comes Out Today!

Pearl, meet the world.

World, meet Pearl.

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire, fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night she is stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn's horn and begins to develop a conscience. And today is the publication date for her story, my new YA novel DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!


Here's a rough transcript of how this novel came about:

MY BRAIN: So, what are we writing about next?

ME: I really like unicorns.

MY BRAIN: What are you, four years old?

ME: What's wrong with unicorns?

MY BRAIN: Unicorns are not cool. Unicorns are sparkly.

ME: My unicorns would be cool!

MY BRAIN: You just miss your Lisa Frank sticker collection from your Trapper Keeper.

ME: I loved those stickers.

MY BRAIN: Think of something else.

ME: Okay.

*crickets chirp*

MY BRAIN: I'm waiting.

ME: I really like vampires.

MY BRAIN: No. Also too sparkly.

ME: You're just mad because you had that dream again, the one where you're convinced you're at a carnival and it's dark and the clowns are scary and you can't find the bathroom.

MY BRAIN: I'm not mad. And clowns are scary.

ME: So are vampires.

MY BRAIN: We are not writing about vampires! Everyone writes about vampires! You can't write about vampires!

ME: Unicorns could hunt vampires.

*crickets fall silent*

ME: Think about it. Built-in stake. Unicorns are badass vampire hunters.

MY BRAIN: We're writing about vampires.

ME: And unicorns.

MY BRAIN: Vampires and unicorns. Go! Write, write, WRITE!

And I did. I wrote this novel in a frenzy. Every day. Every weekend. Late at night. Early morning. I'd pass by my computer on the way to brush my teeth, and I'd dart in to add or edit a paragraph or bit of dialogue because Pearl, my vampire girl, would not stop talking in my head. She wanted her story to be told. She wanted to come out of the darkness and meet the world.

Usually, my writing process involves ups and downs and doubts and wrong turns and all the typical writer angst that you hear about. But not with this book. I loved every second of writing this book. Hanging out every day with Pearl and Evan and Bethany... And of course, Matt and Zeke...

From DRINK, SLAY, LOVE:

Behind her, she heard two voices.

"Dude, you ask her."

"Nuh-uh, you ask."

"Rock paper scissors?"

"You cheat, man," Matt said.

"How is it possible to cheat at rock paper scissors?" Zeke asked.

"You game the system," Matt said.

"It's not my fault you always choose rock."

"My manly strength will not allow me to choose a less unyielding material," Matt said. "I have rocks for muscles. You fear my strength."

"Whatever," Zeke said. "You never choose scissors."

"Sometimes I choose paper," Matt said. "You can't predict me. I'm cagey."

"You always choose rock or paper," Zeke said. "So long as I always choose paper, I can't lose."

"See, I knew you gamed the system."

Pearl did not turn around.

"On the count of three?" Zeke asked. Together, they said, "One. Two. Three." There was a brief pause. "You should have chosen scissors."

"That would have been too obvious," Matt said. "You just said I never choose scissors so you had to know I would choose scissors so I couldn't choose scissors because you'd know it. Hence, the rock."

"Hence the paper, covering your rock. You ask her."

"Well played, my friend," Matt said. "Well played."


I miss those guys.

But I am excited that you can now meet them and the rest of Pearl's friends (and enemies... I haven't forgotten about you, Antoinette! How could I forget to mention a vicious vampire with a passion for Molly Ringwald movies?).

So, please, join me in saying hello and welcome to all of them. Today is their first day in the sun.