So, we are all moved into our new place (huzzah!) and Baby the Second is politely staying put while we unpack (for now! one month to go!), so I have a moment (not really, but I’m stealing one) to come on here and tell you about A THRILLING NEW TRILOGY (not by me!) that I think you will LOVE.  Because it is AWESOME and also MADE OF AWESOME and also WRITTEN BY AWESOME, that’s why.  🙂

One of my favorite people in the world, my brilliant and fabulous and talented friend Dayna Lorentz, has her first middle-grade trilogy, Dogs of the Drowned City, coming out right now!  Book One (The Storm) on April 1, Book Two (The Pack) on May 1, and Book Three (The Return) on June 1.  (Check that out!  No waiting!  You are the luckiest readers!)  You can read all about them (along with some great reviews!) right here, and check out her blog this week for some very cool behind-the-scenes info on how she wrote these books.

Are you a Pet Trouble fan?  Do you love dogs?  Then you’ll love these heroes, especially Shep and Callie, who have all the loyalty and hilarious wonderfulness of our favorite dogs everywhere.  Or are you a Warriors/Seekers fan, looking for heart-pounding (and heartbreaking!) action and adventure?  Then you’ll REALLY love Dogs of the Drowned City, where a group of pet dogs are abandoned in a city devastated by a hurricane and then have to form their own pack and find a way to survive.  There’s all kinds of suspense, thrilling action, unexpected twists . . . and a terrific version of a dog’s point of view, too, which sometimes made me laugh and often made me go, “oh wow, of course that’s what they’d think!” 

In other thrilling news, I saw the Hunger Games movie this weekend and actually quite loved it, although there was WAY too much unnecessary shaky camerawork.  But the actors were awesome and the pacing was pretty terrific – I wanted more time with Peeta and Katniss before the games started, but I can see why they had to hurry through all that to get to the actual action of the games, and there were still a lot of great pre-games moments included.  Plus, OK, I know I’m pregnant and all, but I was totally SOB SOB SOB for like a quarter of the movie, which has to be a good sign, right?  ;-)  (Hmmm . . . possibly I’m just very pregnant.)  Anyway, I vote YES on the movie, but I also vote “sit as far away from the screen as you can,” because seriously, cinematographer, just HOLD THE CAMERA STILL ALREADY and let the people act.  MY GOODNESS.

The weirdest part of seeing the movie, though, was our audience.  Because every time Katniss had a moment with Peeta, and then the movie cut to Gale watching them on the screen, our audience laughed.  What?  Why on earth?  Pretty sure that was in no way intended to be funny.  What the heck, movie audience?

All right, I’d better either work or go back to sleep (I have been awake for four whole hours already, after all) – hopefully more soon!  Hopefully before the new baby arrives!  Eeeeeeeeeee!!!