Trusting Vlad and Joss

Minions, so many of you have been writing to me lately, asking if I will write more Vlad books. I want to answer you all, to set your minds at ease, but also to share with you my thoughts as I work through the copyedits for the third and final Slayer Chronicles book. I’ll have the title and cover for you soon, I promise! But for now…there’s this.

It feels so strange to me to be putting the finishing touches on the third and final Slayer Chronicles book. Effectively, this will end that series. Not only that, but it will sever my ties to the world of Vladimir Tod. To Elysia, to the Slayer Society, to the goths and every other character who exists there, including Bill, Tom, Principal Snelgrove, and *shudder* Eddie Poe. It’s a strange place to be. I feel as if I’m standing on the edge of a cliff with Vlad and Joss, discussing the end of things, and they’re reassuring me that it’s okay to jump off. They’re telling me I’ll be okay without them, and I’m trying to trust that I will, but DUDE…IT’S A CLIFF.

For what it’s worth, I do trust them. And I do know that I have many, many other stories, other worlds inside of me. I have no doubts that I will write books, weave together other wonderful series’, and you Minions will love them each in different ways. But knowing that doesn’t make it easy to leave behind a world one has shared with her readers for six years.

Side thought: six years? Really? Wow. EIGHTH GRADE BITES came out in August of 2007. Where has the time gone?

Many of you have asked if I will ever address the question raised in TWELFTH GRADE KILLS–the question you all ask about Snow’s eyes. Namely, “Why?”. And I’d like to think that some day, I will answer it for you. I just have to figure out how I can do just that. It’s not as simple as “write a book”, I’m afraid. But I will do what I can to find a way, and if I never get a chance to answer that question for you, Minions, I hope that you will do what you can to find an answer for yourselves.

You see, when I began writing The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, I set out to reach a goal. I wanted to feel a bit better about having been bullied in school, about feeling like such a freak in a world of so-called “normal” people. I accomplished that goal. I wrote great books about a twisted vampire world. But once those stories were printed on pages and glued into a cover, they became your stories. It became your world to explore and enjoy. Since that time, so many of you have created amazing fanfic tales about the characters that I created. And I love that. Please keep going. Because through you, Vlad and Joss live on into eternity. Through you, Henry keeps crackin’ jokes at inappropriate times and Snow keeps being strong. Through you, Eddie Poe keeps being hungry for power, and Cecile keeps Joss’s nights interesting. These books will never cease to exist. Because of you, Minions.

So here I stand, on top of a cliff. The boy to my left has a crooked smile and fangs. His black hair is hanging in his eyes. He’s wearing Tripp pants and a black t-shirt with a red vampire smiley on it. There’s a hole in the toe of one of his shoes. The boy to my right is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. His shoulders are drawn back with false confidence, and I can see a strange sorrow lurking in his eyes. He looks like he’d be very popular with the sporty crowd, but something about him tells me he’s not. I know these boys. I love these boys. And more importantly, I trust them both completely.

I hope that you do too. And that you trust me.

Because it’s time for something new.