So the hills across the street from our apartment complex — somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 of a mile away — were once again covered in flames. The LAFD and all did a great job putting it out.

I can’t remember if this is three times in three years or three times in four years. Not really all that entertaining, either way.

Wow! Being an author has its perks!

Yesterday, I got a package from Del Rey — two new, beautiful hot off the press editions of Dragongirl. Looking purty! And the two most egregrious typos found in the ARC are (yay!) gone.

What was even cooler was at the back of the book where they’ve got an announcement for the forthcoming next book which they say will be titled “Dragonrider” and will be out in May 2011.

Sadly, they’re wrong on both counts. Dragonrider was the name of the book when it was submitted, about two hours before I realized that it would be better called Dragon’s Time (which was then the name of the sequel). But our brilliant editor at Del Rey, after having read the book, came to the same conclusion and so, cheerfully, Mum and I agreed to its being (properly) renamed Dragon’s Time, with the sequel being (properly) renamed Dragonrider.

That news apparently didn’t get to the marketing department quickly enough (or at all but that’s also not quickly enough, isn’t it?).

And, having mentioned it to our editor, I was also informed that the publication date has had to move, currently the date is June 28th 2011 (not such a bad move and still only 11 months and 1 day after Dragongirl).

On the good news front, Mum and I are working diligently to ensure that the gap between Dragon’s Time and Dragonrider is just about the same as the gap between Dragongirl and Dragon’s Time, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your Pern fix!