Today is the official on-sale date for what is likely to be the last book I write for the Charmed series. (Although, technically it’s been available on Amazon for a couple weeks now. Publication dates tend to be rather fluid.) Leo Rising focuses on the male members of the Halliwell family as they try to locate the missing Charmed Ones. It also marks the first time in the book series that Leo, Wyatt, and Chris have shared a cover.

Between the Charmed series and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, I’ve written or contributed to a dozen books about witches (not counting the Buffy books, in which a witch was a prominent character). I don’t know. Maybe it’s time I took a break from the subject of witches…

Or maybe it’s time to come up with an original series about witches that’s my own creation.

Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that.

In the meantime, I have other fun news of a more personal nature…
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I’ve been very busy lo these many weeks since my last blog. I’d love to say that I’ve been so deeply immersed in the writing of my latest book—and I have been writing—but the lack of blogging probably had to do with all the TV on DVD I’ve been watching, a trip home for the best wedding ever! (Congrats Tim and Kate!), and all the time spent working my way through my summer reading list … Not that I’m going back to school or anything, but once the new TV season starts my reading tends to drop off dramatically.

Here’s just a highlight of some of the great books I’ve been reading lately…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: So much has already been said about the Harry Potter books by the likes of Stephen King and other writers much more articulate than me … than I … than moi? All I would like to add is simple thank you to JK Rowling for inspiring imagination.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series: Thanks to Al Roker’s suggestion, I picked up The Lightning Thief, the first book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. (I know. I feel like such a sheep following a television book club suggestion. But I still have no plans to read Anna Karenina, no matter how much Oprah extols its virtues.) The Lightning Thief and its follow up books take mythological characters from Ancient Greece and bring them into the modern day in stories that follow the quests of Percy Jackson, the half-blood child of a mortal and one of the gods. Highly recommended for anyone who likes mythological stories.

Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse: When I first read Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight, I enjoyed it enough, but didn’t feel all that motivated to get the next book. Then, all of the sudden, she became the biggest thing in young adult publishing, so I felt like I had to give it another shot and I’m glad I did. I don’t think anyone has ever done a better job capturing the “reality” of how difficult it would be for a mortal girl to fall in love with a vampire, though many people have certainly tried. (I remind you that Buffy wasn’t exactly mortal so I’m not counting her star-crossed love with Angel … and Spike in that comparison.) Sure, the books can get a little angsty at times, but wouldn’t you suffer some angst if the person of your dreams happened to be the undead?

Lean Mean Thirteen: My mom, my sister, and I love the Janet Evanovich numbered mysteries. The characters she creates to fill the Trenton, N.J. locale are incredibly stereotypical and outrageous and totally remind me of home back in Northeast Philly. Always good for a laugh. As some of the situations can be more mature, I’d suggest this for older teens and adults.

And now, I have to get back to my reading … I mean writing … I have to get back to writing.