My e-mail inbox was full today. Sure, there was the usual stuff … promises to make me bigger, harder, hairier and richer … but there was some mail I actually wanted to see.

First up was the page proofs for Graveside Tales’ upcoming The Beast Within anthology, including my short story “Okie Werewolf Seeks Love.”

The even bigger news, though, was that the proofs for Ulrik came today. Woohoo! We’re getting close. I’ve only skimmed the PDF so far, but I can tell you the layout is fantastic. Nathan did some really nice extra stuff with the layout. I skipped to the end of the book. I have to say, I think I did a good job with this one. I’m dying to get it out there and see what other people say about it. That should happen in just a few weeks now.

In other news, I got the first blurb for Little Graveyard on the Prairie yesterday. It’s from Greg Lamberson, author of Johnny Gruesome and Personal Demons and director of “Slime City.” That novelette, you’ll recall, is due from Bad Moon Books in mid-2009.

Only four more days of school. I cannot begin to tell you how glad I’ll be to bid farewell to my 4th period class. That we’ve made it this far without me killing about five of them is nothing short of a freaking miracle.