Chloe Neill's Blog, page 137

Win a key necklace from Tiffany & Co.!

Foley pulled open a tiny drawer on the right-hand side of her desk. Out of it, she lifted an antique, gold skeleton key—the skinny kind with prongs at the end—which was strung from a royal blue ribbon.

"Your room key," she said, and extended her hand. I lifted the ribbon from her palm, wrapping my fingers around the slender bar of metal.

- FIRESPELL , A Novel of the Dark Elite (Book One)
Have you wondered about the key on the front cover of FIRESPELL? Long story short--every girl at St...

Watch This Space!

Keep an eye out for a post later today about a brand-spanking new, month-long contest to celebrate the January 5, 2010 release of FIRESPELL, the first book in my new Dark Elite series.
But since I'm a literary tease (yes, I'll admit it), here's a little hint:

Wiki, Part Deux

Upon further consideration, Natalie, or anyone else who's a Wiki junkie -- Could you adjust the post either to (1) remove spoilers or (2) add sufficient spoiler tags for the unwary?

Anything which might give away a mystery plot in either book (i.e., the identity of the bad guy in either book, etc.) should be revised or put into offset spoiler tags per Wiki rules (and my interest in, ya know, not giving away the plots). ;)

Thanks, y'all!

Merit's been Wiki'd!

I'm a huge fan of Wikipedia, so it was a mighty thrill to see a comment from reader Natalie today about her addition to the Wikipedia vault--the Chicagoland Vampires series now has its own entry! A warning to those who visit--the entry contains SPOILERS, including descriptions of SGB and FNB, so read at your own risk!
Thanks so much, Natalie, for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive article! I'm probably going to use it as a reference tool for future writing. ;)
I...

Merit Goes International(-er)!

Exciting news from across the pond today!
First, Amazon UK has the pre-order and cover shot for FRIDAY NIGHT BITES, which will be available from Orion/Gollancz on April 8, 2010!

Second, I'm thrilled to announce that publishers in Germany and Russia will be publishing books in the Chicagoland Vampires series! Hello, and a warm welcome, to Egmont Verlag (SGB, FNB and TB) and Azbooka (SGB and FNB)!

Guest post today @ VampChix

Check out a guest post by yours truly today on international vampire myths at VampChix! And thanks for the fabulous Michele Hauf for sponsoring my guest post today!

New FLAIR Store!

I've added two brand-new sections to the Store!
First, a very economically-priced group of flair/buttons to satisfy all your pro-Morgan, pro-Ethan or pro-Luc needs!!

Second, upon request from my lovely new friends in Kearney, a classic CADOGAN T-shirt similar to the one I'm wearing my authorly photo. Enjoy!

And speaking of Kearney, how great was their marquee? Thanks to the Kearney Public Library staff and everyone who showed up for a great event!

Carb-wrapped meat tubes. Chicago Style.

I love this Chicago Hot Dog print by Hawk Krall, which is from his Hot Dog Art series created for one of my favorite food blogs--Serious Eats.


What makes a Chicago Hot Dog (aka, Salad on a Bun) a Chicago Hot Dog? Serious Eats has the scoop:

But today it's all about the classic dragged-through-the-garden jumbo beef frank on a poppy seed bun, topped with pickles, sport peppers, tomatoes, neon green relish, bright yellow mustard and celery salt.

Serious Eats (and Hawk Krall) also introduced me to...

Join me tonight at the Kearney Public Library!

If there are any Kearney residents or UNK students out there in the Meritverse (Can we start saying that?? Or maybe it should be the Ethanverse. Or Celinaverse? Malloryverse? Seriously--I could go all day with this.) join me tonight at 7:00 for a reading and signing at the Kearney Public Library in Kearney, Nebraska.

I'll be showing off my eight-foot-tall banner stand, and handing out TWICE BITTEN postcards and FIRESPELL bookmarks.

I might also, hypothetically, bring in the only print copy of t...

Reason #342 Why I Love Chicago

So, on my most recent trip through Midway, I did this:
The fabulous folks at Eli's Cheesecake then posted this lovely blog about my Tweet, and Marc, the President of Eli's, got in touch to say hello. Apropos of our e-mails, I found this waiting for me today:

Sooooo, many ridiculously delicious calories of this--

--and I can't wait to dive in! Treadmill, here I come.
Thanks to Marc and everyone else at Eli's for this lovely treat! And I'll say it again: Chicago rocks.