Hello, all! Since my organization is legendary *big sigh of damn-I-wish-that-was-true*, this post is about two totally different things:

1. Next week I will be at the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City, MO!
Come if you can because it is so fun. At the E-book Signing Expo on Thursday afternoon, I will need company and perhaps someone to sit in my chair and pretend they are me if I have to go potty. :) I'll also be going to classes, chatting with strangers who share a passion for books, or will be in the bar. But I intend to see very little of my hotel room. Please send me a note if you are going or if you can drop by, as I'd love to meet you.
www.rtconvention.com

2. A sneak peek/update of Strange Case (Hyde Book III)
Right now, the book is in the hands of my two amazing critique partners. When I get it back, I'll be doing some more obsessive tweaking. Then the copy editing starts. So, fingers crossed, the book will be ready for a June release. And let me tell you, kids, it is a very big book.

Below is a snippet from the first moment Mitch is freed from Hyde. You all knew Mitch was going to come back, didn't you?  I'm cruel, but not that cruel. Enjoy!

Mitch would’ve given anything to have his hands free. Except his cock. That he’d like to keep, just in case he was ever lucky enough to need it again. His head felt like it was about to explode and all he wanted was to push against the pain. But at least he was somewhere warm, somewhere different than where he’d been—an unknown place for an unknown amount of time. There was a chance he was actually alive. And if he was, he hoped it would continue. But then, that was something that seemed to be out of his control most of the time. His body and his mind were his own—no pain from Hyde, no physical reminders other than the headache. Maybe the bastard had thrown their head into the wall a few dozen times. Yeah, that sounded about right. Sad. Because it was a perfectly good head. The stuff inside of it was shit, but the head itself was fine.

When he heard the door slam into the wall, he craned his head up. Fuck, that hurt. But it was so worth it. Because he saw her. His love. His life. His afterlife. Oh shit. Maybe he was really dead. Sure it was a shitload better than the last place he’d been, but how mother-fucking ironic that he’d be strapped down in hell too. With her image just across the room to torture him because he couldn’t touch her.

Damn it, that was so poetic he wanted to kill someone. Again.

~~~~~~

That's all for now. But I promise to post more here and on FB. Also please sign up for my newsletter. I'll tell you why you'll want to in about two weeks.

A few weeks ago I received a letter from a young, pre-published author whose name is Lauren Stewart. She wrote to say that she'd Googled her name and had found that (oh no!) there was already an author named Lauren Stewart. Me. She decided to use her first two initials instead, so her books wouldn't get confused with mine. A great solution all around that didn't cost me a thing (not even the rare and precious commodity of time).

You see, authors can call themselves anything they want to and can title their books anything they want to. To my knowledge, the only restriction is that no two books from the same publishing house can have the same name. Therefore, if I were so inclined (and had a bit of a professional death-wish), I could use the pen name ‘JR Ward', ‘Stephen King', or ‘Karen Marie Moning', as long as the name isn't a trademark*.

Though I'd done a search for other authors with my name before I published my first book, I decided to do it again. So I typed ‘Lauren Stewart' into Amazon's search engine and all my novels appeared. First Hyde, then Jekyll, then No Experience Required, and finally, Second Bite. But the list didn't end.

‘Lauren Stewart' also wrote Sweet Tea and Burglary (Short Stories) and A View From Here (A Contemporary Western Novel). ‘Lauren Stewart' illustrated a book called Igniting the Sacred Fire, Reinventing Yourself at Any Age, and you can even buy a subscription to her blog that I believe is about healthy living.

And therein lies my dilemma. I didn't write those books. That's not my blog. I can't draw worth shit. And believe me, I'm the last person you should come to for advice on healthy living. And while I am sure they are all wonderful reads, I don't want my readers to pick them up thinking that they are getting my style of dark urban fantasy, comedic-mystery, or whatever I write in the future. Nor do I want the other Lauren Stewarts to get flack for not having enough cursing, sex, sarcasm, and violence in their books, just because my readers expect a bit (or a lot) of it. I also don't want their readers to pick up one of my darker books expecting something…nicer and more hopeful, and then be shell-shocked by page three. But I can't force those other writers to change their pen names, regardless of who published first. Plus, I'm a nice person and hate pissing people off.

So what would you do? Would you change your name to Lauren S. Stewart, get all of your book covers fixed, re-do the front and back matter of them all, and adjust your social media profiles? Or would you just ignore it and hope readers can tell from the books' descriptions which ones were written by you and which weren't? I like my name. I always have. But I don't want to confuse people. Advice and suggestions are welcome.

I plan to eventually have something published in almost every genre–UF, PNR, contemporary romance, fantasy, women's lit, YA, NA, mystery, thriller, even middle grade. And regardless of what I decide to do with my name, or how many new Lauren Stewarts there are in the future, you'll know my work by its edge, its humor, and its voice. But I don't do nice people leading happy lives, I don't do cowboys, and I don't do inspirational. I leave that to those who can do it better than I, no matter what their names are.

*Correction: A friend (who knows stuff) told me that I wouldn't actually be able to use King's, Ward's, or Moning's name and that it is actually a trademark issue, not a copyright issue. I stand corrected and chagrined.

A lot of people have been asking me when they can expect Book III to be released. You know I'm not one for giving spoilers. I like unpredictability, and I love surprises. So here's what I can tell you…

The third book of Hyde is tentatively titled:

Strange Case

I'm hard at work on it and plan to have it out this summer. As you know, this story is complex, and all the pieces need to be set just right to make them fit. Believe me, I tried using a hammer, but it didn't work. :) So please be patient with me while I squeeze it all together.

Mitch and Eden have gone through a lot to get to this point. And they have a lot more to figure out before they can have their HEA (happily ever after). I know someone out there just screamed, “What?!? An HEA?” Of course. After all they've been through, all they've had taken from them, I can't leave them hanging. Nor can I leave you hanging…for too much longer. Ha.

If you sign up for my newsletter, you'll be notified of Strange Case's release, my other releases, and any big news I need to share. But I'm not into spam, so I'll only be sending them out if the news is BIG. Add it to your Goodreads TBR list. If you friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you'll be able to see updates as release day approaches.

Thank you for your kind words and support. I can't express how wonderful it is to know you are so anxious to see more of Mitch and Eden's story. All I ask of you is a little bit more patience.

Thanks again, and happy reading!