L.J. Smith's Blog, page 9

Happy Halloween!

Well, to do my webmaster justice, I shouldn't have used the preliminary figures I gave out for our debut.  I'm happy to report that we actually had over 5,000 unique visitors, from 102 countries, with 33,000+ page visits.  I can't say how delighted I am to welcome each of you.  And yet, there's still so much I want to do with the website—if it wasn't for that little thing called "writing for a living" I'd happily spend all my time pottering around here, because all the books I've already written are still alive to me. 

There is so much more about the Night World (so many of Hannah's incarnations, the odd and, to me, rather poignant story of Ash's repentance, the tale of Quinn's love for Dove Redfern told in real time) and so many things about The Vampire Diaries  (Bonnie and Damon's real first meeting, stories of the Dark Dimension, Sage and Damon's bandit career, and more tales that I'd have to put huge spoilers in here to even name).  In my mind, the sequel to Dark Visions is clear (titled Blindsight), and clearer yet (since I've started to write  it) is the sequel to The Forbidden Game.  I even know exactly what I'd like to do with the never-written book to complete the Trilogy of Night of the Solstice and Heart of Valor.   But then new books nag at me, too.  Brionwy's Lullabies, which took over Strange Fate so thoroughly that I had to make it a separate book.  Wanderer, which is my newest name for the story of Princess Aprit, who lives in a world of rather dark magic of its own.  And so many more.

But don't worry—I have to finish the present Vampire Diaries books first.  And then Strange Fate.  I know this seems backwards, and I apologize to all who have been faithfully awaiting the tenth Night World book.  Again, it's too complicated to explain how it all happened.

As for the agony and the ecstasy and the agony of the Secret Circle option, all I know so far is what's out on Google.  And that means I don't know anything at all.  (Except that some sweet fans are rooting for it.)  I'll do my best to get more info, so that those who are rooting for it can let the CW know that they are.  That might do a spot of good.

And finally, to get round to what was supposed to be the point of this article, Happy Halloween!  I have been in such a crunch that I haven't even carved a pumpkin yet or bought candy, but I do have a costume—a vampire cape, of course.  Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and usually I do the whole shebang: scary music, flickering strobe light, several jack o'lanterns, spiced apple cider, and a friend or two to watch horror flicks from my video collection while we wait for the doorbell to ring.  One sad trend I saw last year was more and more kids coming costumeless.  Come on, kids!  Why should I just hand you a lethal amount of sugar if you don't even bother to put on a silly hat?

Anyway, I hope that others who read this are prepared to enjoy Halloween, and that it's ghoulishly delightful.  (It's one of Damon's favorite nights of the year, too, but of course when he rings the doorbell, it's not a mini Hershey bar that he's after.  He does the trick and you're the treat.)  So be safe, Good Samhain, and Happy All Hallow's Eve.

Welcome and The Secret Circle

Welcome!  First, I'd like to thank the nearly 4,000 people from 93 countries who have come to visit.  And grateful thanks to the two and a half thousand who participated in the poll on the Home Page to determine Bonnie's fate.  I myself was a bit stunned at the many who thought she should cast her fate with Matt, and I have to say that it was slightly unfair because of course nobody knows what new character will be introduced.  But, believe me, I will certainly listen to my reader's opinions . . . and don't worry, at just 18, she's not yet ready to get married.

The other thing I wanted visitors to know is that if you didn't see your favorite character featured in a story this month, you very well may next month.  I am committed to keeping this website fresh and interesting for everyone—and the next contest, which starts November 20, sports a prize that has to be seen to be believed!

I guess the other news that one or two readers/viewers might possibly not have heard about is the fact that The Secret Circle has been optioned by the CW.  When The Vampire Diaries was optioned I kept pretty tight-lipped about it, but this time I think I will blog about the agony and the ecstasy, and the probably very short life of a burgeoning TV show.  I wonder which characters will be cut and what number they'll get it down to—I'd guess seven witches at most, and even that might be too many to handle.  But I am working assiduously at a Secret Circle story that I hope will be ready for the next update.

Thanks again for stopping by.  Please keep on reading—and writing!

If You Were One of the Prizewinners in the Name the Trilogy Constest . . .

If you write in to the info@ljanesmith.net account, and get an answer from my private Yahoo account, don't be surprised. It really is me answering. Here's what happened.

I got home from a vacation (my first time off in over two years) only to find that The Worst had happened. In my absence my computer had pined away for me and died. Completely, irrevocably, quite thoroughly died. It had joined the choir invisible. It was pushing up the daisies. It was a non-booter, black-screened, unresponsive hunk of metal that did not respond to anything. It had gone to the Great Spare Parts Land in the sky. It was an ex-computer.

So I did what any sensible, resourceful woman would have done: I burst into tears. And when I was done crying, I picked it up tenderly and took its corpese to Fry's, Electronics, which in my area is the only computer store left, having driven all the other stores out of business.

There I met George, a brilliant young man with wise, but somehow sad eyes, a soft voice, and a sister who liked The Vampire Diaries. He also turned out to be a brilliant repairman because in only a few days he had transferred all my data from my old computer (which had croaked because of a video card that had bitten the dust) onto a sleek new fuel injected PC with two googleplexes of disk space, an automatic redundancy mode, a monitor bigger than most movie theater screens and all sorts of doodads that I don't know how to work. Okay, maybe I'm exagerating a little. But this monitor really is bigger than my TV.

The one thing George couldn't do was to rescue my old Outlook Express files. There was just no way to get them off the old drives.

All was not lost though (I was thinking OH MY GOD! All those contest entries!). I still had my own personal computer guru--the One who has made the cool new website which will be unveiled before Halloween. And he, Usok Choe, of Usok Choe Computer Designs (who is also, believe it or not, a Taekwondo World Champion--dude! You don't want to get on this guy's bad side!) performed a holy miracle and managed to recover alllllllll my info@ljanesmith.net messages. So everyone's contest entries are safe.

However, this was done by downloading the messages once again from the server, and I was left with one or two small problems. One: I no longer have the file with the names, addresses, and books to be autographed by those who suggested versions of The Hunters for the new Vampire Diaries trilogy.

Two: right now I can read email from that account but can't send email from it. So if you get an answer from me from my private Yahoo account, don't freak out. It's me. Really me. It's just that I have to answer you from that account or not answer you at all.

So, once again: if you previously wrote to me to tell me that you suggested a title similar to The Hunters and gave me your address and told me which book to autograph . . . I no longer have that information. If you want your prize you will have to send it to me again. You will know I've gotten your message when I answer from my private Yahoo account.

Also, please join me on Halloween and take a look at the new site. It will have new Sneak Peeks, deleted scenes from recent books, new art, a whole gorgeous new format, and soon a new contest. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

If You Were One of the Prizewinners in the Name the Trilogy Constest . . .

> Originally from Blogspot's Ye Olde Blog by L.J. <

If you write in to the info@ljanesmith.net account, and get an answer from my private Yahoo account, don't be surprised. It really is me answering. Here's what happened.

I got home from a vacation (my first time off in over two years) only to find that The Worst had happened. In my absence my computer had pined away for me and died. Completely, irrevocably, quite thoroughly died. It had joined the choir invisible. It was pushing up the daisies. It was a non-booter, black-screened, unresponsive hunk of metal that did not respond to anything. It had gone to the Great Spare Parts Land in the sky. It was an ex-computer.

So I did what any sensible, resourceful woman would have done: I burst into tears. And when I was done crying, I picked it up tenderly and took its corpese to Fry's, Electronics, which in my area is the only computer store left, having driven all the other stores out of business.

There I met George, a brilliant young man with wise, but somehow sad eyes, a soft voice, and a sister who liked The Vampire Diaries. He also turned out to be a brilliant repairman because in only a few days he had transferred all my data from my old computer (which had croaked because of a video card that had bitten the dust) onto a sleek new fuel injected PC with two googleplexes of disk space, an automatic redundancy mode, a monitor bigger than most movie theater screens and all sorts of doodads that I don't know how to work. Okay, maybe I'm exagerating a little. But this monitor really is bigger than my TV.

The one thing George couldn't do was to rescue my old Outlook Express files. There was just no way to get them off the old drives.

All was not lost though (I was thinking OH MY GOD! All those contest entries!). I still had my own personal computer guru--the One who has made the cool new website which will be unveiled before Halloween. And he, Usok Choe, of Usok Choe Designs (who is also, believe it or not, a Taekwondo World Champion--dude! You don't want to get on this guy's bad side!) performed a holy miracle and managed to recover alllllllll my info@ljanesmith.net messages. So everyone's contest entries are safe.

However, this was done by downloading the messages once again from the server, and I was left with one or two small problems. One: I no longer have the file with the names, addresses, and books to be autographed by those who suggested versions of The Hunters for the new Vampire Diaries trilogy.

Two: right now I can read email from that account but can't send email from it. So if you get an answer from me from my private Yahoo account, don't freak out. It's me. Really me. It's just that I have to answer you from that account or not answer you at all.

So, once again: if you previously wrote to me to tell me that you suggested a title similar to The Hunters and gave me your address and told me which book to autograph . . . I no longer have that information. If you want your prize you will have to send it to me again. You will know I've gotten your message when I answer from my private Yahoo account.

Also, please join me on Halloween and take a look at the new site. It will have new Sneak Peeks, deleted scenes from recent books, new art, a whole gorgeous new format, and soon a new contest. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

Just testing Halloween blog

[image error]This is sort of a test blog, I guess.  It's the first one written for the new site, anyway.  I'm hoping that it's right around Halloween when this site first opens, and that I will be able to post a couple of pictures of the pumpkins my friends and I have carved.  It's a tradition (probably started when I taught kindgerten, when of course all the kids wanted to help in carving pumpkins with faces so menacing they'd scare themselves.

Okay!  Here's a pic of a couple of last year's jack-o-lanterns.  They don't really show up well because the picture was taken before it was fully dark, but I promise you, they were truly demonic. I want to know if anybody has found something that will write on a pumpkin and not smear.  I can carve much more easily if I can draw a face on first.

Anyway, a good opening for my first test blog on my new site.  At least, everything is in working order, and I can wish everyone a ghoulish happy Halloween!

The New Name for the next Vampire Diaries Trilogy is . . .

. . . The Hunters. I suppose this is because the core group will be going to college together, where they will meet new characters and find mysteries to solve, both occult and otherwise.

I don't actually remember anyone suggesting this, but I get a lot of email, and my assistant is on vacation. So if you wrote in and recommended "Hunter, " "Hunters," "The Hunters" or something like that, let me know and I'll check for your email and then send you an autographed book—of your choice.

I have to sa...

The New Name for the next Vampire Diaries Trilogy is . . .

> Originally from Blogspot's Ye Olde Blog by L.J. <

. . . The Hunters. I suppose this is because the core group will be going to college together, where they will meet new characters and find mysteries to solve, both occult and otherwise.

I don't actually remember anyone suggesting this, but I get a lot of email, and my assistant is on vacation. So if you wrote in and recommended "Hunter, " "Hunters," "The Hunters" or something like that, let me know and I'll check for your email and then send you an autographed book—of your choice.

I have to say thank you to everyone who participated in this—some of the titles were fabulous and I may—if it's allowed—use them for individual books in the future. I really appreciate all the suggestions, which ran the gamut from gritty and down-to-earth to high fantasy. I'm so proud that my readers have such great imaginations.

What will the three individual books be called? Unless something changes, they will be Phantom, which will should be out in the summer of 2011, Moonsong, and Eternity. I'll post dates for the last two books when I hear them from my publisher.

In the meantime, paperbacks called Stefan's Diaries will be coming out. These will be about the TV show, back in the time of the Civil War. None of the Stefan's Diaries books will be written by me, but they may help . . . er, sate your thirst for new Vampire Diaries material.

I'm really, really excited about my new website, created by Usok Choe of Usok Choe Designs. Usok is such a nice guy, especially since he's an absolute genius. He really thinks and researches before he begins work and what he's done for the site is nothing less than miraculous. It's what I always envisioned, but that a huge company like Lightmaker couldn't produce. Since I am about twenty years behind on the technology front (I still remember cute ftp and making sites with Adobe Pagemill) then this is just another blessing I don't deserve.

Speaking of technology, I got a Droid 2 phone and I am doing my best to figure out how to use it. First I had to get my nails cut so that the darn thing would recognize my touch, and then I tried to figure out the apps already on it before getting more. I swear that the phone has taken a dislike to me and refuses to show me my email, while it rolls over like a puppy and will do anything for my more tech-savvy friends.

One thing in particular I wanted to do was pick up the CW's offer of free passages from The Vampire Diaries books, and read them on my phone. I saw in an ad that you can even buy the entire books to read on a phone. Why anyone would want to do this is beyond me, but I guess the young and keen of sight are a different breed.

Oh, and sincere thanks to Victoria M. of New Jersey who discovered a lovely new item for a wonderful new contest. Thank you, Vicki! I always appreciate new contest ideas, or new prizes that have meaning to my readers.

Bonnie's Opal Ring Contest--Open To ALL

NEW NEW NEW INFORMATION! Please read!

I can't help it--I just can't exclude readers from other countries from this contest. So what I will do is make the Grand Prize, Bonnie's opal ring itself, open to anybody, from any country, on any continent. But the book winners will have to be confined to the USA. Maybe by the next contest I can find some way around that.

The following is just the old blog about the contest and the rules. :)

If you've read Vampire Diaries: Volume 6: Shadow Souls, then...

New! Bonnie's Opal Ring Contest -- Open To All

> Originally from Blogspot's Ye Olde Blog by L.J. <

[image error]NEW NEW NEW INFORMATION! Please read!

I can't help it--I just can't exclude readers from other countries from this contest. So what I will do is make the Grand Prize, Bonnie's opal ring itself, open to anybody, from any country, on any continent. But the book winners will have to be confined to the USA. Maybe by the next contest I can find some way around that. The following is just the old blog about the contest and the rules. :)

If you've read Vampire Diaries: Volume 6: Shadow Souls, then you know that Bonnie is sent home with an opal ring set with diamonds, as well as many other pieces of opal jewelry, and I can tell you in advance that this opal ring gains great significance in Vampire Diaries: Volume 7: Midnight.

So I can't think of a better prize right now than "Bonnie's Opal Ring"--which has been slightly sized down from its book description (which would hardly be suitable, except as a cocktail ring!).

Now you can win this version of Bonnie's opal ring (see above). It's made of 14 karat gold and 14 karat white gold, with one central opal and diamonds sprinkled around it. This is a gorgeous ring that sells for over $700—so pretty that I got one for myself! And if you didn't win an autographed Shadow Souls book during the last contes--well, here's your chance, because I'm offering ten (10) this time around as second prizes.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm going to have to confine the books in this contest to readers in the United States, just because I had so much difficulty mailing prizes to other countries. However, the ring is now available to everyone.

To enter, simply send an email to info@ljanesmith.net with the words BONNIE'S OPAL RING in the Subject Field. Please use these exact words, or your entry will not be in the right alphabetical place to be randomly picked for the ring. So if you have sent an email to Opal Ring Contest or Contest: Bonnie's Ring, do yourself a favor and send another with the subject BONNIE'S OPAL RING.

Inside, if you like, you can let me know in your email who you think Bonnie should end up with in the Vampire Diaries. Will it be Matt? Damon? Some boy yet to be introduced (and I'm introducing at least two more)? If a stranger what should he be like? I'd love to hear your opinions.

This contest will begin September 15, 2010, and end on Halloween, after which the winners will be announced. I'm hoping that I can put up the quotes from winners of this and previoius contests on my new completely refurbished website.

Also—I shouldn't have to say this, but—only one entry from any email address, and only one prize to a home address.

Good luck!

Update on Bonnie's Opal Ring Contest (International Entries)

> Originally from MySpace Blog <

NEW NEW NEW INFORMATION ABOUT BONNIE'S OPAL RING CONTEST! I've got some pleading letters and I just can't stand to keep Bonnie's Opal Ring Contest open to only those in the USA. So please pass it on--the contest is now open to all countries as regards the Grand Prize, Bonnie's gorgeous opal ring. If you win it and you are from anywhere on the planet, I'll find a way to get it to you. Remember, to enter you must put these exact words in the Subject field: BONNIE'S OPAL RING, and send the email to info@ljanesmith.net. If you enter different words in the Subject, your email won't be put alphabetically in the right place to be randomly drawn. Inside the email, you can tell me who you think Bonnie should end up with in the Vampire Diaries series, if you like.