…but sometimes you just don’t know what else to say. I wrote King of Darkness kind of as a challenge to myself. A “let’s see if I can” thing, something that I would do while my kids were napping. One day I realized it had become a career and a monster and something I need to do for my sanity, to breathe, and when will the kids be in school so I can write more, and so on.

Now, as hot as the fire burns inside to write more (my friend Amy calls that drive her writing dragon, which always strikes me as appropriate. I kept getting dragon tattoos when I was younger, I always wondered what that obsession was–I didn’t realize back then that they were writing dragons), the tragedy that just happened in Connecticut has tempered my desire to rush my oldest “baby” off to Kindergarten and start that new series I’d been burning to dive into. Yesterday my son was having a rough morning, so instead of taking him to preschool we drew pictures and baked Christmas cookies together all morning. He didn’t practice his alphabet and I’m a day behind on my writing/blogging/pimping schedule. We’ll all be okay. Balancing parenting and writing is harder than I realized. Being an author at all is harder than I anticipated. Every day is a learning experience. Still, I love to write, I love my readers, and I’m so, so  grateful.

King of Darkness was literally the first novel I wrote. I wrote essays and poems and short stories here and there my whole life, but a 90,000 word novel? 352 pages, balls out, many story arcs, many points of view and voices and whatnot? King of Darkness was almost like one of my babies. I started writing it just after my youngest was born, and talk about a challenge. A challenge I knew may never see the light of day. That it did, that it sold, that people liked it…It’s just so awesome. And I have been so flattered to have multiple readers/bloggers list is among their favorite books of 2012, and Prince of Power, one of their most anticipated books of 2013. Awesome. So, so awesome. Thanks you guys.

Lee Goram, the King’s human-hating first in command

To have that first try, that book that I sometimes wrote while typing one-handed with a sleeping newborn in my lap, recognized by a well-respected site like GraveTells, is another huge honor. I’ve been nominated in their 2012 Readers Choice Awards for Most Promising New Author, Most Engaging Author, and King of Darkness has been nominated for Best Cover Art (by artist Jodie Welter, who ROCKS) and everyone’s favorite BAMF, Lee, has been nominated for Most Memorable Sidekick (I’m working on his book right now btw). So voting begins Friday, 12/21,and regardless of who you vote for, I hope you vote, because we authors all appreciate the support. And many congrats to my fellow nominees, I am honored to be in truly great company. Thank you to everyone for the continued awesomeness. I’ll come up with a better words soon. Promise.

Meanwhile, you can go here to vote until 12/28.

Happy holidays,

Elisabeth