What Gift Did You Want Most as a Kid?

Happy Holidays!

Come join me over at FIGMENT FICTION, a fabulous writing community for teens and authors, as I talk about the one gift I would have done anything to get for Christmas when I was a teen. Hop on over and join the discussion about what you'd have prized most. Hint about my answer: It's bigger on the inside...

Merry, merry!

Spare a moment for DARKER STILL?

Nominate Your Favorite Books of 2011 for the Teen Choice Book of the Year!

If you enjoyed DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul, here's a way to support it!

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The rest of the four fields are up to you. :) Thanks in advance for your vote and support of paranormal and fantastical YA fiction!

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(Don't worry that DARKER STILL is not listed on their list, just write it in, there are tons of 2011 titles not listed)

Cheers! Happy reading, happy haunting, happy holidays!

No More Kisses for Oscar's Grave - But I Left One When I Could

As you all are well aware, much of the inspiration for DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul came from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Considering Wilde worked in many literary mediums, as a playwright and author, he provided me inspiration in my many artistic lives as an actress, playwright and an author. No other literary luminary inspired me in so many different forms as Wilde. Last year, during a research trip through London, Paris, Verdun and Germany, I was able to pay my respect in Pere Lachaise cemetery to my beloved Mr. Wilde. Tradition is to leave notes of affection, and yes, lipstick kisses (which began appearing in the 1990s) upon the Art Deco styled grave.

But no more kisses for Oscar, according to the UK Guardian. The oils have caused damage to the stone, which is a sculptural work of art in and of itself, and the grave will now have a barrier around it.

While I wholly understand the reasoning behind protecting the beloved author's stone from these discouraged (yes, it could have resulted in a fine) displays of affection, I confess, I don't regret, per that tradition, showing my adoration. Here I am paying my respects:

After bestowing the kiss I left a note, under a rock, asking Oscar for his blessing on DARKER STILL.

As I say in the first lines of the Acknowledgement Page of the novel: "My dear Oscar Wilde, thank you for Dorian Gray, and for your genius. I'd like to think that if I had the privilege of knowing you, we'd have gotten along famously. Regardless, I am eternally your fan."

I was quite overcome at the site. I cried, thinking of all the trials he endured in his too-short life. I look forward to revisiting Paris, and Oscar, again, to see his brilliantly restored grave, and to pay my respects at a slight distance, but with no less love.

I know I'll ask for Mr. Wilde's blessing on the rest of the Magic Most Foul saga as I continue writing it. XOXO, Oscar.

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