My all-time favorite Buffy episode premiered during the show’s fourth season, and the episode was aptly named…Hush. The majority of Hush occured in silence. Yep, silence.

Now, tell me, truly–when was the last time you turned on a prime-time show and no one said anything?

Hush wasn’t your typical show. All the characters were trapped in silence–and only a scream (which was timely voiced at the end of the episode) could save everyone from certain death. Very eerie, creep-me-out, double-check-my-lock episode. And absoutely fantastic.

Hush was different. There weren’t a dozen other episdoes out there just like it. It stood on its own, thrilling, chilling.

Unusual.

Great.

I hope everyone out there has a great Easter! I’m about to dash off to my mom’s house for egg coloring, egg hiding, and, of course, lots and lots of eating. And next week…I’ll probably do pretty much the same thing at my mother-in-law’s Orthodox Easter celebration.

It’s Saturday night, and I’m sitting in my comfy recliner, laptop on my…um, well, lap…Jack’s sleeping in his swing. Nick’s gone to a party (Oh, no, I’m not jealous! Really). And I’m…editing. I’m doing my line-edits for The Wizard’s Spell.

And, honestly, I’m having a pretty good time. I absolutely love the editing style of ImaJinn’s editor, Linda Kichline. She’s really great, and I always feel like she takes pains to make sure my writing voice stays completely intact when she suggests changes. I’m zipping through the edits she has for me, zooming straight through Microsoft Track Changes–and I’m remembering why I liked this story so much last year.

I finished up The Wizard’s Spell after a pretty painful time in my life (don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the details), and the book was a good release for me. I immersed myself in the story. Wrote pretty much constantly for a month–as soon as I came in from my then day job, I would write until it was time for bed. And then I sent my little paranormal off.

That’s actually one of the reasons why I like writing so much–writing takes me away. Let’s me forget my woes and go to a whole new world. I really like that.

But, well, I guess I’d better get back to my editing.

And I’ll post an excerpt from The Wizard’s Spell soon.

Oh, and Michelle–if you’re reading this–I haven’t forgotten about my recommended werewolf reads–I’ll post those very soon, promise!

I decided it was time for me to come clean about another addiction that I have–I am completely hooked on bargain books at Barnes and Noble. Jeez, it’s bad. Nick literally has to pull me away from them–and as he does it, I’m clutching a handful of books and muttering about how I really, really need that book on haunted England–no, the book on being your own superstar bartender–no, the book on famous criminals from history–and then, at that point, Nick usually sighs and takes my armload of books away so that I can go back and poke around a bit more.

Yep, Nick’s good guy–he sure knows how to keep me happy.

But, honestly, there is a reason for my addiction. I buy these books (currently enough to fill 3 bookcases) because when I see them in the store, I think….hmm, that would be a good reference for a future book.

Oh, yeah, all those bargain books were purchased because I have plans for them. Wonderful, brilliant plans–plans that I truly hope will one day come to fruition.

I plan to write a time travel–so I had to have all those books on the Middle Ages.
I plan to write a story that features ancient Egypt–so I had to get all those books about the pharoahs and archaeology.
I plan to write a romantic suspense–so I definitely had to buy those books about serial killers, crime scenes, and murder planning.

For every book on my shelf, I have a story to go with it.

Now, if I could just find the time to write all those stories…Sigh…

Anybody out there suffer from a similar addiction? Maybe we can form a Bargain Books Anonymous group.

Why is it that I always find out about the cool ebay auctions too late? Nick sent me this link today from Boing Boing–apparently, there was an authentic 19th century vampire-slaying kit up for auction. Dang.

How much did the winner pay? Try $1000.00.

Here’s a link to the ebay ad.

This so would have been my perfect birthday gift. And Nick–if you’re reading this–you have less than 2 months to find me another vampire slaying kit! Ha–this time you can’t say that I never tell you what to get me!