Excuse me while I get all Sally Field on y’all:

You like my story, you really do!  I am so excited beyond words (okay, almost beyond words) that Breathe Me won the Best Crossover/Switzerland Award at the Sparkle Awards. Everyone who voted ROCKS! I love you guys! *hand on heart*

And isn’t that award banner just beautiful?!  I love it – thank you Sparkle Awards!

(P.S.: Don’t forget, you haven’t heard the last from the Breathe Me crew! Also, if you want to discuss my newest story, Spell My Heart, Greta created an awesome thread about it on the Twilighted forum.)

Breathe Me – Sia

Help, I have done it again,
I have been here many times before,
I hurt myself again today,
And, the worst part is there’s no-one else to blame.

Be my friend,
Hold me, wrap me up,
Unfold me.
I am small,
and needy.
Warm me up,
And breathe me.

Ouch

I have lost myself again.
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break.
Lost myself again and I feel unsafe.

Be my friend,
Hold me, wrap me up,
Unfold me.
I am small,
and needy.
Warm me up,
And breathe me.

Other things that make me happy: seeing New Moon for the 4th time and finally being able to post pictures of Shirtless Rob again.

Happy:

I am so happy to have finished my first multi-chapter fan fiction story. DH keeps reminding me that 23 chapters and 70K+ words is a book, but it’s still kinda hard to wrap my mind around. My A/N in the last chapter says it better; still I want to thank everyone again for all their time, support, reviews, DMs, Tweets, RTs, blog posts, graphics, everything…I’m thankful for all the friends I’ve made in the Twilight and Moonlight fandoms. Fuck people who don’t get us, ’cause y’all are great people *hug*

Sad:

I’ve become quite attached to Edward, Bella, Mick, and Beth. It’s been really strange these last few weeks to not have a Breathe Me chapter I need to write. Also, if a chapter made you cry to read, it probably made me cry to write it. I re-read the entire story from start to finish this weekend, and it made me sad all over again. Someone remind me why I write angsty stuff again?  ;)

Getting:

Mrs. Vanquish asked me if I was interested in doing an interview about Breathe Me for her blog, and I excitedly agreed. She asked great questions that really made me work to put into words why I wrote the story the way I did. I love the way the interview turned out, and I’m so happy that she asked me to do it.

As part of her post, I got a huge surprise from Betti – the wonderful Breathe Me farewell graphic you see above. It’s so great to see all my guys and girls in one beautiful picture (and Bella’s rockin’ the police uniform, btw). Thank you so much, Betti!

Mrs. Vanquish & Betti: I love you both…hard!

Giving:

To celebrate the end *sniffle* of Breathe Me, I had my very first giveaway. There’s a big non-scientific method I used to assign everyone a number (um, pulling numbers out of a hat), and then I used an online random number generator to pick the winner.

immortaltwiluv has left me lovely, epic reviews, and I’m so glad she won the giveaway!

Okay, folks, tomorrow (probably midnight, ’cause I have no self-control) I’ll post the first chapter of the Alice story. Please try to remember how much you like me, okay?

This is it, the chapter I simultaneously longed for and dreaded. I won’t get all mushy now; I’ll save that for my last author’s note. Still, I can’t not say how happy and sad finishing this story has made me. It’s hard to believe that, on Monday, I’m posting the last chapter and marking the story completed. *sniffle*

Chapter 23, the final Breathe Me chapter, is titled “One Never-ending Kiss.”

It was winter, and their meadow was not in full bloom as it had been their first time there. Still, it was beautiful, not only for its natural wonder but also for the memories it held. Lying on the cold ground, he pulled Bella down next to him. She rested her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Do you remember the first time we came here?” he asked, brushing the fingertips of his free hand along her jaw.

She sighed. “Of course I do. It was the first time you allowed yourself to be open with me.”

“Yes, and, if I’d just remembered how right we felt that day, we could have avoided so much wasted time.”

Bella turned over and propped herself up on her elbows. Looking up at her, Edward saw the trust and forgiveness he so desperately needed. “Baby,” she whispered, “none of that matters now. Starting today, we have forever to be together.” She gently brushed her lips along his jaw until they hovered over his mouth. “Just forget everything and kiss me.”

When I first outlined this story, there were a few songs I always knew I’d use. I always knew the song for the first chapter in Edward’s POV would be “Black” by Pearl Jam. I always knew the first time Edward and Bella made love, the song would be “Breathe Me.” And I’ve always known that, when Mick said goodbye to Bella, the song would be “Baby Girl” by Will Hoge.

On Monday, after I post the final chapter, I’ll announce the winner of the Moonlight DVD giveaway. Also on Monday, Mrs. Vanquish will post an interview she did with me about Breathe Me. Please be sure to read it.

Oh, and that last author’s note? Yeah, it’ll be huge.

Wow, just one more chapter after this one. Where did the weeks go? Thank you for all your reviews – each week more and more readers tell me how much they like the story.

Chapter 22 begins with Edward taking care of his Bella:

Edward watched as the sun set on their fifth day as man and wife, the fourth day he had waited for Bella to open her eyes. He had carried Bella to her balcony, and he cradled her limp, sheet-wrapped body in his lap. She was still breathing, and her heart was still beating. Neither had returned to the strength Mick expected, and Edward knew they were preparing for the pyre he made Mick promise to create if anything went wrong. Mick was only waiting now for one last confirmation that Bella was gone forever.

“Love, I know you’re in there,” he whispered, stroking her cool cheek. “You wouldn’t leave me alone. I don’t know what to do, and I wish you could tell me.”

He heard the clamoring thoughts before the opening and closing doors and the footsteps up the stairs. He wasn’t sure why they were bothering to whisper; even if he didn’t have vampire hearing, he’d still know every thought they had in their heads. He continued to look out into the woods, rocking Bella back and forth, until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

I’m not including the playlist song in this week’s teaser. I don’t want you to listen to it until after you’ve read the chapter. There will be a link to the song in an author’s note at the end.

Don’t forget, the Moonlight DVD giveaway ends November 29th!

Since you’re not getting a song, the least I can do is give you a video.   How ’bout the Remember Me trailer? Yep, my spoiler-free ways do not extend to this movie at all.

To celebrate completing Breathe Me *sniffle* and the end of the New Moon cone of silence, I am doing my first official giveaway. And what, pray tell, am I giving away?

That’s right: I’m giving away one set of Moonlight DVDs! Here’s the details:

1 – I will give away one set of DVDs away in either Region 1 (US & Canada) or Region 2 (Japan, Europe, South Africa, & the Middle East including Egypt) format (your choice).

2 – The DVDs will be sent directly from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk (depending on the format you choose).

3 – If, for some strange reason, the DVD is out of stock, I will send you an Amazon gift card for the current cost of the DVDs so you can order them when they’re back in stock.

Here’s the product description from Amazon:

Any private eye knows a lot about other people’s secrets. L.A. private eye Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin) has a secret of his own. He’s a vampire, dwelling in a covert netherworld complicated by friendship with an undead finance honcho (Jason Dohring), memories of the alluring ex- wife (Shannyn Sossamon) who turned him into a vampire, and a relationship with a human (Sophia Myles) he feels drawn to protect – and maybe to love. But no matter how tempting, Mick knows a vampire-human romance is eternally dangerous. This 16-episode, 4-disc set of the series voted the 2008 People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama is a sure entertainment bet for all who like their vampire stories sleek, intense and passionate.

So, what do you have to do to win this giveaway? Simple: just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite quote or scene from Breathe Me and why it’s your favorite. (1 entry per person)

Leave your comment by November 29th, and I’ll pick a commenter at random to win the DVDs. I’ll announce the winner on November 30th, the same day I post the last Breathe Me chapter. *sob*

And, just ’cause I can now, here’s a picture of my favorite vampire:

Welcome home, Edward. Welcome home.

So hard to believe it’s getting that much closer to the end. Chapter 21, “Time for Sleep,” will be posted on Monday.

Standing outside the bedroom door, Edward took slow, deep, steadying breaths. Even though this had been his idea, having someone else change Bella was not something he relished doing. Still, he wanted an eternity with her, an eternity she wouldn’t have to spend in fear and trepidation as he did. If anything ever happened to him, Bella would be able to blend in with humans and live a life of freedom he’d never know. No matter how much it would tear him up inside to watch someone else change her, he knew it was the right thing to do.

When it was time, Edward slowly opened the door. Bella was standing on the balcony, and the cool breeze billowed her gauzy white top around her. It was the same outfit she’d worn the night she allowed him to love her again, and he smiled remembering. When she turned to face him, the beautiful disarray of her hair and the depth of molten eyes made him gasp.

He felt Mick’s hand on his shoulder, and Mick spoke to him wordlessly. We don’t have to do this now. Maybe you need time.

Edward didn’t need time; he needed courage. Looking at Bella, he realized she had enough for both of them.

The playlist song for this chapter is one Greta sent me. She’s always sending me songs she thinks fit my stories, and this one was perfect for this chapter.

Instead of blogging or writing my NaNoWriMo story or sleeping, I have spent the past 48 hours writing the last four chapters of Breathe Me. I am currently writing the last chapter, which will be finished before I go to bed tonight. So, for each of the next four Mondays, beginning tomorrow, a new Breathe Me chapter will be posted to FFn. The final chapter will be posted November 30th. In addition to weekly teasers, expect a couple of big Breathe Me related posts here in the next few weeks.

Chapter 20 is titled “She Dances and I Dream.”

Underneath a clear and starry sky, Edward and Mick stood in Bella’s backyard, listening to the leaf-barren trees sway in the cool, light breeze. Edward had come to love this place just as much as Bella had, and he knew he would miss the peacefulness. He breathed in deeply, just barely catching the scent of the only woman he would ever love.

Mick cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’ve never been more ready for anything.” Edward looked at Mick and smiled. “I’ve never been more sure.”

“Will your family be angry that you’re doing this on your own?” Mick asked, a worried expression on his face.

Edward thought for a moment. “Angry, no. Disappointed, maybe. But we need to do this our way, Bella and I. Hopefully they’ll understand that.”

I asked my Twitter friends for song suggestions, and they came back with lots of great recommendations (all of which I’ll use eventually). @CaptCall recommended the following song, which is an old, forgotten favorite of mine. It was the perfect song for this chapter. Thank you CaptCall!!

Only 4 chapters after this one…wow. Sorry it’s late – I’ve been working on other stories, and Edward and Mick didn’t want to talk to me until today.

“Edward, why are you so tense?” Walking up behind him, Bella ran her hands around his waist, laying her cheek on his back.

Standing on the balcony and watching the swaying trees, Edward hadn’t realized his hands were in tight fists at his sides. “Just thinking about everything.” He pried her hands apart, raising each to his mouth to kiss her palms. “I’m better now.” He turned around and sweetly kissed her forehead. “Go downstairs and let Mick in. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes, okay?”

Bella looked at him, confusion clouding her eyes. Hearing the doorbell ring, she smiled, standing on tiptoes to kiss him quickly before heading downstairs. As she walked away, Edward’s cellphone beeped, and he opened it to find a new text message from Alice.

“Quit ignoring my calls and ANSWER YOUR PHONE!”

Edward quickly typed a response.

“Don’t worry. I have everything under control.”

He turned off his phone and threw it onto a wicker chair. Breathing deeply, enjoying the scent of Bella and her surroundings, he turned and walked downstairs. Standing in the kitchen doorway, he found Mick and Bella sitting on opposite sides of the kitchen table.

The playlist song is a favorite of mine by Better Than Ezra. There’s not a music video for it, but someone made a great Moonlight fan video using the song.

What makes a video game enjoyable? It’s obviously different things for different gamers: some like non-stop action, while others prefer games to be slower, more cerebral experiences. Some are graphics fetishists, while others say that gameplay complexity trumps visuals every time. Myself, I like a good narrative in a game, but I also want the gameplay and storytelling to be intertwined.

In the end, however, what it boils down to for most people, and in the most circular fashion at that, is that most people want games to be fun. They want to be taken out of their everyday lives for a while. Obviously that’s one of the reasons why so-called ‘casual games’ have been a major success in the last few years. Whether it’s Peggle or Plants vs. Zombies, or indeed one of the gazillion variations on the theme of Mah Jong, they’re all making money compared to what they cost that make most ‘non-casual’ games cry into their DVD boxes.

Now, old-school gamers like myself, who remember the times when a pixel was bigger than your head and the height of gaming was yellow pill addicts running through mazes and frogs crossing the street… Many of those gamers have nothing but disdain for casual games. Why? Because they’re easy. There’s little to no challenge in Puzzle Quest, they claim, so even your grandmother can play them and succeed. The most embarrassing examples of such old-school gamers will then go on a rant about the evils of instant gratification and those horrible people who feel entitled to winning a game every now and then without serious training.

Myself, I like a challenge every now and then – but to be honest, next to working 100% and having a relationship, I definitely see the appeal of games that are not punishingly hard. I see the fun in games that you can pick up, play for 15 minutes and drop again feeling that you’ve had a good time and cleared your mind.

However, there is such a thing as a game being too easy. I’m currently playing Prince of Persia, a reboot of a reboot of a classic gaming series back from the days when computers were big as houses and joysticks had one button. It’s a beautifully crafted game: it looks and sounds gorgeous, and it tells a nice story to boot. But, honestly: if I wanted a game that practically plays itself, I’d watch a DVD.

It’s a real shame, because the game could easily have been as much fun or more while still providing a bit of a challenge. As it is, you never feel like you’re controlling your character – and for me, that’s one of the big things when it comes to good games. If it’s there, you never think about it, but the moment that control is taken from you, you can’t help noticing. In previous incarnations of the Prince of Persia series, your character performed the most amazing free-running acrobatics, but the controls were tight enough to make you feel that you were the one making the Prince run along walls, parkouring his way through Arabian Nights-inspired worlds. In this game, however, it’s enough to run roughly in the right direction and press a button at roughly the right time, and hey presto! you’re running along walls as if gravity was completely optional.

Without a bit of a challenge, without the feeling that you’re actually controlling your character, the gameplay actually becomes a bit of an annoyance much of the time. It’s like watching a film on DVD (or Blu-ray, of course!), and every time you get to a new scene you have to play Tic Tac Toe against an idiot. You’re sure to win, but it breaks the flow of the game. At what point does a game become so easy that it might as well consist of one button: “Press X to watch the next cutscene?”

But yeah… the game is oh so pretty. Behold (and if you’re a fan of the final episode of Six Feet Under, you may want to brace yourself for a tune you know very well – once you’ve accepted this as something other than utter blasphemy, it actually works quite well):

If I didn’t lose you after the last chapter, it’s probably safe to say you’ll be around for the long haul. Many thanks again to everyone who sent me such wonderful reviews, and hopefully you’ve all recovered from your shell shock.

Here’s the first little bit of the new chapter, which is with my lovely beta and will hopefully be posted tonight:

Pressing the button to disconnect his call, Mick shoved his cellphone into his jacket pocket. He was furious with Edward for what he’d done. Walking onto the porch, he motioned Bella toward him.

“Edward needs you.”

She started to run into the house, but Mick grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop.

“Bella,” he whispered, “Edward’s killed him.”

“What?” The shock was evident on her face, and she tried to jerk away from him and continue into the house.

“Listen to me,” he said brusquely, pulling her back toward him. “It’s a mess in there. You need to be prepared.”

When she nodded slowly, Mick let her go. She stepped into the doorway and looked around the room, gasping at the sight. He could see her take a deep, steadying breath then walk toward Edward, who was crouched in a corner on the far wall of the room. She lowered herself in front of him and gently smoothed his hair away from his blood-splattered face. Raising his gaze from the floor to her face, Edward’s eyes were the darkest amber and full of fear. Even in the midst of so much horror, the love between them was palpable, and the intimacy of their stare made Mick consider looking away.

There’s a little story about the playlist song. See, back in the day, there was this fucking awesome alternative radio station in Birmingham, Alabama, called 107.7 the X. After breaking acts way before they went large nationally, the X had quite the reputation in alternative circles. As bands came through town, they’d play acoustic sets at the station, and songs were compiled for a yearly album that raised money for United Cerebral Palsy.

It was on one of these albums that I heard the most excellent version of this chapter’s playlist song ever. I didn’t even know the song was used on a TV show until I started looking for it on YouTube.  The video I found on YouTube is not the version from the X album, but it’s pretty close.

Quickies

Please please please tell us about your DH/SO mancrush or obsession that’s supposedly so much better than Twilight or Edward. My DH? Completely over the moon for the chick on Fringe, but more on that later.

Voting for the Sparkle Awards is underway now, and Breathe Me is nominated for Best Crossover. Please consider voting, because it makes Mick and Edward very happy. Voting ends Sunday November 8th.

Chapter 3 of In the Blood will be posted on Wednesday, and, if you aren’t reading it yet, I have one word for you: Emmett.

Honolulu Girl @ True Blood Twilight gave a great shout to Breathe Me in a recent post – thank you!!

I sabotage myself. This is pretty much the quintessence I can draw out of this morning’s therapy session. Emailing D. is sabotage, because I feel ashamed and guilty about it afterward, binging and purging goes the same way. So does my excessive spending and or my alcohol consumption. I cannot discipline myself and feel trapped.
Ah, but I was asked to journal in my native tongue for a week… So I will do and although I already journal in German in my moleskins I feel like I need to do it on here, since I spend so much time on here as well and my moleskins are being rather neglected lately due to a lack in time…

So, sorry for those following my blog – it will only be a change for a week Maybe this will make you study some German?! Who knows

Ode an die Selbst-Sabotage.

Und genau das tue ich gerade auch. Ich sabotiere mich. Warum sonst arbeite ich nicht an meinem Referat? Das sollte ich doch eigentlich jetzt tun. Ich habe noch einmal an D. geschrieben. Das brauchte ich irgendwie. Ich weiss ja schon, dass ich mit ihm abschliessen muss. Will ich nur nicht. Er bedeutet mir so viel und es tut einfach nur weh ihn nicht in meinem Leben haben zu koennen. Bisher bin ich ja immer ueber diese “Verluste” hinweggekommen, doch mittlerweile scheint es mir einfach zu anstrengend.
Ok, liebes “Sabotage-Ich”, ab heute heisst du “Sia” und deine Hymne kennen wir alle: Breathe Me. Das A. steht uebrigens fuer die erste Initiale meines deutschen Vornamens. Verrueckt. Passt.

So, aber nun will ich mich nicht verlieren und auch nicht unsicher sein. Ich will mein Referat fuer morgen perfektionieren und dann zu Starbucks, ein Stueck Kuchen essen, Soy Chai trinken und mit Chris ein bisschen was fuer Freitag (TEST!) ueben.
Dann noch zur Uni-Psychologin und vielleicht beginnen ein SSRI also Serotonin-basierendes Antidepressivum zu nehmen. Ich habe eigentlich kein Geld, aber es scheint mir durchaus fuer angebracht. es wird mir vielleicht auch helfen meinen Alkoholkonsum einzuschraenken, denn Med + Alk = suboptimal.

Sia, du musst sterben, weil ich leben will. Und vergiss nicht Ana und Mia mitzunehmen. Danke.

Remember when I said this story was a rollercoaster? Buckle up.

“Thank you, Julie.” Bella looked around the station slowly. “Where’s Detective Glenn?”

“He’s back in the conference room. I’ll page him,” Julie said, reaching for the phone.

Bella began walking toward the back of the station. “That’s okay. I’ll just walk back there and find him.”

As she walked around the corner into the sea of officer cubicles, Bella heard Jackson’s voice booming from the conference room. She walked to the doorway, and Jackson and several other detectives were crowded around a large monitor watching a grainy video and taking notes. After a few seconds, the familiar timbre of Charlie’s voice came through the speakers, and Bella froze.

“I’ve got him stopped on the bridge,” Charlie’s voice explained. “You need to send backup right…wait! Sir, step back into the vehicle!”

The playlist song is “Hurt,” the Johnny Cash version.

I didn’t think I’d EVER get to this chapter or get it written.  I’ve sent it to my lovely beta, and I hope it will be posted to FFn tonight *fingers crossed*

Standing on the balcony, Edward watched the sun rise, it’s blazing rays lighting up the sky. He tentatively reached out of the balcony’s safe shadows until the sunlight hit his fingertips. The glittering reflection of the sun on his skin made him remember their first day in their meadow and how she’d slowly stroked his hand and called him beautiful.

He wondered how he’d missed it before, her inner strength and resilience, and couldn’t remember exactly why he’d ever thought she was so weak. He was the weak one, the one who ran and hid and pretended that he could go on without her. Their last day in the meadow, he’d been cruel and stupid, not understanding that the depth of her love matched his.

This is the best version of the playlist song I’ve ever heard – it made me cry.  The song starts around :38.

I’ve always loved Polaroid pictures, I think they capture an ionic abstract moment in time and preserve it forever. The viewer is then always actively encouraged to then ponder the image, make up any story with their imaginations. As people too often say, “A picture tells a thousand words”.

Even Breathe Me by the singer Sia, uses a bunch of Polaroid pictures in her music clip, to merge moments in her past with her current reality. It’s an absolutely enchanting song, just listen to the words. If you want to watch:

In other news, NASA is bombing the moon with missiles. To find water. Seems like a good plot for a movie/novel, I must say the people at NASA have a lot of time on their hands.

“And at the last possible minute, the missiles were launched into the cloudy night sky. Spotlights flashed around the compound, shadows running away in fleeting glances behind. If everything went according to plan, the moon would be completely destroyed and Earth would turn into the new breeding ground for chaos, which laughed maniacally. And no one would be the wiser, species would flourish, others die out. Yet he didn’t seem to care, the one person who could have stopped all this from occurring. No, he did it for money. Money is the root of all evil, he mused..”

However I was also pondering about the disturbance of the moon. These missiles are going to take out a portion of the moon, when they crash land, sending up a massive dust cloud. Will this have any impact on earth? Or is it an insignificant amount? Will the moon’s gravity be affected and in turn earth’s volatile oceans? Well, for one I will be very interested in what NASA finds out and achieves.

-Sparkles.

P.S. Restaurant City users have risen to 16.2 million, Cafe World users to 10 million users. ;D Will we see a take over soon enough?

"I don't see fragile here anywhere. Wait...OMG...who is that checking out Edward?!"

Yes, I know, I’ve been neglecting the blog. I suck. But, I have good reasons, really I do. They’re included below, along with some other quickies.

Reason #1: Breathe Me

I’ve been writing like mad, posting new chapters of Breathe Me as fast as I can finish them and get them beta-ed. Chapter 15 was the most recent update.

Chapters 14 and 15 dealt with some heavy material, and I was very nervous about them. I didn’t undertake them lightly, and I hope the respect I intended to show for the characters came through.

The feedback I received from everyone was wonderful, and I was really touched by all the love and experiences you shared with me. Thank you so much *hug for each and every one of you*

There will be 8 more chapters of Breathe Me, and my plan is to finish it by the end of the month. I can’t believe the end is coming so soon. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing about Bella, Edward, Mick, and Charlie since June. I’m thinking about doing something special to mark this huge milestone, and I’ll keep you posted.

Last, but not least, Breathe Me reached another FFn milestone: it has been marked as a favorite story over 100 times! I squealed like a little girl when it happened, really I did. Thank you all so much!

Reason #2: Super Secret Project

To borrow a phrase from Cutie, I’ve been working on a super secret project that will be introduced this weekend. Not going to say anything else except that it FUCKING ROCKS! Yeah, I don’t have any humility at all

Breathe Me nominated for a Sparkle Award

Breathe Me has been nominated for a Sparkle Award for Best Crossover! Voting starts on Friday, October 16th. Please consider voting for my story – Mick will thank you!

New Moon book discussion

(Graphic by Cutie)

Ana @ the Danger Magnet is hosting a New Moon book discussion, and it’s not too late to jump into the fray. Yours truly will be guest posting to discuss chapters 16-18 (after Bella jumps but before they go to Italy) on Thursday, October 29th. Just got to keep reminding myself that Ana runs a high-class joint, so I can’t curse

Lovely events at other lovely blogs

Cutie @ SSTB is hosting New Moon Tuesday, talking about all kinds of great (non-spoiler) stuff leading up to the movie’s release next month. Make sure to head over there and see what goodness she has posted next Tuesday!

Mrs. Vanquish @ Let’s Ride the Vanquish has borrowed Fanny from Betti @ Betti. Music. Twilight., and they’re hosting a Twilight book vs. movie discussion. You should participate for Fanny’s epic storyboards if nothing else.

In response to a set of challenges from Mrs. V, Betti has let Artsie go wild on her blog. Part 1 has Artsie creating some damn good banners, if you ask me (which, admittedly, you didn’t). Can’t wait to see what else she comes up with.

Yes, I know

I still owe y’all posts about Breaking Dawn and Dead Until Dark, and I will get to them, I promise. But, at this rate, it will take longer to write the BD post than it did to read the damn book.

So, now that you know where I am, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I had planned on posting something tonight, but I fucked up getting it ready. (Please, people in the know, forgive me!) I will have it ready in a day or two, I promise. Instead, I’m writing Breathe Me chapter 13, and I thought I’d post the meanest teaser ever:

“Why did you believe me?”

Bella was incredulous.

He did not just fucking say what I think he fucking said.

“What?”

“It hurt me that it was so easy for you to believe I didn’t love you,” Edward whispered, his eyes again downcast. “Why did you?”

When Edward says that bullshit in New Moon, I want to jump into the book and bitchslap him. Take from that what you will. *evil grin*

It’s been a long week, and I kept waiting for someone, anyone to whisper the new Breathe Me chapter into my ear. Finally, Bella and Mick came to see me. The chapter is currently waiting for my lovely beta to get some well-deserved sleep, so here’s a teaser to tide you over until the chapter is posted on FFn tomorrow:

When Bella pulled into the parking space in front of the diner, she congratulated Angela and Ben again before saying goodbye and ending the call. She climbed down out of the truck, noticing the cloudy sky and wet pavement. It looked like it was turning into a rainy Alabama winter, she thought, which was still a good 15 degrees warmer and 15 inches drier than the average in Forks. Greeting a couple walking out of the diner, she was inside before she first looked for Mick.

There at the regular table, sitting next to Mick, was Edward, looking at her expectantly.

Oh, yeah, Bella isn’t a happy camper. As if you needed more proof, here’s the playlist song for this chapter:

Don’t forget: Breathe Me has it’s own thread on the Twilighted forum. Please consider posting; I’m not above begging.