I’ve decided to award TWO prizes for this contests, one for a song suggestion and one for a book on magic title. AND, since I got my box of author copies, they will be real live BOOKS, not simply an ARC. Unless you want the Advanced Reader Copy.

And the winner’s are . . .

DEBBY for her wonderfully titled Awakening Your Inner Oracle by Euphemia, Daughter of The Pythia and

MIKE for the Strange Magic song suggestion. (PERFECT for Theo Four!)

When you guys have a chance, email me with your snail mail addresses and I’ll get your prizes out to you. Also, let me know if you’d like them signed to you or just signed.

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Hello, hello! I’ve finally finished up Book Four, THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH, and sent it off to my editor. Yippee! Which means I have more time to blog.

For today, just some fun random things. And maybe—yes, I think so—a contest! I have one last, lonely Advanced Reader’s Copy of Book Three, THEODOSIA AND THE EYES OF HORUS to give away…

First of all, the Theodosia books are now available in an audio book! Very cool. I’ve been dying to know what voice they’d pick for Theo, and I think it’s a winner. I love it. If you are curious, you can listen to it here. (Click the green bar beneath the image of the book cover.)

And speaking of listening, I’ve gotten a few questions lately about what, if any, sort of music I listen to when writing the Theodosia books. I don’t actually listen to music while I write, but I will often listen to music before I write, to get me in the mood.

Below is my Theodosia playlist:

Manic Monday- The Bangles
Walk Like an Egyptian – The Bangles
Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Orange Crush – R.E.M. (I have no idea why, it just works)
Other Side of the World – KT Tunstall
She Bop – Cyndi Lauper
Rumble in Brighton – The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds – Elton John
It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M
Man On the Moon – R.E.M.
Suddenly I See – KT Tunstall

And here is where the contest comes in. To enter, simply post a comment and name a song that you think deserves a place on a Theodosia playlist. Be sure to post both the name of the song and the artist who performs it.

If you don’t have any songs you want to suggest, the other way to enter the contest is this: Invent the name of a magician and a book he wrote on ancient magic. There are lots of examples from the books: Mummies and Their Secrets by Sir Lynn N. Bandage, The Rites of the Dead by Sir Roger Mortis, A Dark Journey Through the Egyptian Underworld by Mordecai Black. (Note, yours don’t have to be on Egyptian magic, it can be any kind of magic!)

I’ll close the contest at midnight on Monday, March 29, then announce the winner on Wednesday, the 31st.

Have fun! And I can’t wait to see your answers!

Okay all you loyal fans! Here it is, the last serial chapter of  THEODOSIA AND THE EYES OF HORUS. The book itself should start showing up in bookstores within the next two or three weeks!

For those of you just tuning in, I am posting a chapter a month of Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus to help tide you over until the book comes out in April. I also need to post my standard spoiler alert:

WARNING, This chapter of Book Three, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR BOOK TWO, Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. So if you haven’t read that yet, STOP RIGHT NOW. The rest of the chapter is up under the cut in order to protect those who haven’t read Book Two yet.

You’ll also notice that I’ve taken down Chapters Three and Four. Part of the agreement with my publisher is that I wouldn’t leave six chapters up at once.

CHAPTER SIX

THE EMERALDTABLET

“HENRY!”I YELLED. “What on earth are you doing? These aren’t toys, you know.”

Henry stared in horror at the tip of the lance blade, which was now slightly crumpled. “How was I to know you were going to bash it with a stone tablet?”

“What do you expect me to do when you come at me with a lance? Besides, I didn’t mean to. It was just instinct to get something between me and the point of the blade.”

I knelt down to examine the stele. Sure enough, a huge crack ran right through the middle. “Oh, Henry, you’ve destroyed it!”

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