I feel sooo guilty about my reader mail. I have been so late on my
correspondence lately. But please know I READ every one of your emails,
and I am still holding on to wanting to respond PERSONALLY to each one,
so it just takes a while for me to get back to you.

But here’s what you guys want to know…

WHEN
IS MASQUERADE OUT? It’s out NOW! Yippee! Kirkus called it "a tasty and
alluring sequel for the vampire-sex-and-fashion set". And readers who
pre-ordered it seem to like it too. I re-read it last night because I’m
gearing up to write REVELATIONS right now and I have to say, it’s a
fun, fun read. I forgot all the twists and turns that I even riveted
myself. Heh Heh. I’m told REVELATIONS is scheduled for Fall 2008.

WHEN
IS CRAZY HOT OUT? It’s out NOW! Yippee! It’s the fourth book in the Au
Pairs series, and there’s tons of fun stuff in it: Jacqui meets a sexy
Aussie photog, Jeremy gives Eliza a "Holly-rock" (major bling, minor
commitment?), and Mara has a hot new boyfriend, but does she still have
the hots for the old one (ie Ryan Perry?) Find out in CRAZY HOT! Will
there be a new Au Pairs book? I’m not sure! Stay tuned. It’s never up
to me. It’s always reader demand that decides whether the series will
continue. So if you DEMAND it, I will write it.

And to those
readers who asked, the Au Pairs series goes like this: Book One is Au
Pairs, Book Two is Skinny Dipping, Book Three is Sun Kissed and Book
Four is Crazy Hot.

I SAW A BOOK ON AMAZON CALLED ST. TROPEZ BY
YOU. WHEN IS THIS COMING OUT? Not yet! St. Tropez is my first book in
my new series called SOCIAL LIFE, which I believe debuts in Summer
2008.

WHEN IS YOUR BOOK THE ASHLEYS COMING OUT? Ashleys comes
out December 2007. I am still writing this book!!! It’s about the four
coolest seventh-graders ever to wear designer saddleshoes.
You know
what saddleshoes are? They are those white-and-black shoes that private
school kids have to wear. Yes, I wore them. They were ugly. But you
know what? Chanel and Louboutin now make high-heeled designer
saddleshoes. They call them "spectators". They rock. And my girls rock
them in the Ashleys.

ARE YOU WRITING A SEQUEL TO ANGELS ON
SUNSET BOULEVARD? Yes! I don’t know yet when this book will be
published, but I am writing a sequel to it. The tentative title is
ANGELS FLIGHT or ANGELS SONG. We’ll see which one works better. It
might have a completely different title by the time I’m done with it.

WHAT
ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW? My tan. Ha. Seriously. I am overwhelmed with
work. Don’t even talk to me about work. There is too much of it. Plus
my baby is still not sleeping thru the night. So can you say "sleepless
zombie"??

I’M HAVING A PARTY! For CRAZY HOT – IF you are in
the O.C. area, come by the Calabasas Commons – at the M. Fredric store
on May 9th from 6-8 pm. We’ll have raffles, goodie-bags, a popcorn
machine, a frozen & fruity drink machine, a DJ, and I’ll be
chatting and signing books!

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN BUYING? Lots. I’m
re-writing some really important shopping scenes in the Ashleys and I
of course had to go shopping with my BFF Jennie (we’ve been BFFs since
college) so that I could have some fun material to work with. Everytime
I am with Jennie I feel like I am eighteeen again, atlho truly, we
regress to two 14 year olds, which is about right since that’s my
EMOTIONAL age.

One of the fun things we did was Jennie and I
bought the same Michael Stars hoodie ($74) and she really wanted me to
buy the same wedges as she did, but I am scared of wearing platforms
now because I need to hold the baby and I’m scared of tripping in my
heels while I’m holding her. Jennie and I always used to buy the same
shoes. Same shoes=the sign of true friendship.

When we were in
college, during one Spring Break that I spent with her in B’more, we
bought these ass-kiccking cowboy booties together (they came back
briefly a few years ago). They were so hot. And $14 each. From
JORDACHE! We also peeled off the label together and vowed never to
reveal where they came from. So when people would ask us where we got
them, we would say "Kenneth Cole" or "Bloomingdales" because we were
embarassed of their provenance! So funny. I have owned tons of shoes in
my life, some in the four-figure range (those rhinestone Manolos are
expensive!), and nothing warms my heart as much as the memory of those
$14 Jordache "booties".

And now, I must go back to my regulary scheduled writing…

xoxo
Mel