illustration by Christian Nacorda

 Last week, my editor gave me the wonderful news that Dark Companion has been nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults award by the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). I'm thrilled that this respected group has recognized the serious themes within my young adult gothic. I've always used humor, especially satire, as  commentary. Writing a gothic challenged me to approach issues of inequity, exploitation and abuse, feminism, social contracts, etc., without humor as both a tool and a buffer.

Which is not to say that I could leave humor out of the story altogether, or that I don't enjoy silliness for its own sake, because I totally do. As Nancy Carrington-Chambers says, "Life without silliness is like champagne without bubbles." Patricia Fructuoso, the narrator for my Casa Dracula series, is now recording the audiobook for Nancy's Theory of Style. It is very silly -- but in the good way.

In other news, Simon & Schuster/Gallery is planning to design new covers for the ebook editions of the Casa Dracula novels and Nancy's Theory of Style. Pretty swell, right? Right.

Also, I have a new book coming out in June 2013. I am not at liberty to discuss it yet, but it's sort of fantastic. And awesome. And super funny.

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