I feel like I am hovering between so many things right now. The decade is nearly over. I’ve almost finished Mad About the Duke. And of course, How I Met My Countess arrives in stores tomorrow. I have to admit a certain excitement for all three things.

First of all, I have to say that I’ve felt that 2009 was just not my year. It was challenging, difficult and when I got sick, nearly deadly. But now with my feet back beneath me, I can’t wait for it to end. I put up the 2010 calendar tonight and honest to God, I got shivers. I saw that bright shiny new month, without a lick of commitments on it (what an illusion, I have lots to do in January) and it made me giddy. I find I’ve been guarding 2010 like a mother hen—saying no to a bunch of commitments, picking only what I really want to do (PLA in March, and RomConInc in July) and that’s it. The rest of the year is devoted to writing and refreshing the well. A year of blank pages yet to be filled, just like my calendar.

BTW, do you need a calendar? Download this one. I think it’s awfully pretty. And it doesn’t come filled with a bunch of appointments and commitments.

And right now I’m working crazy hours to put the finishing touches on Mad About the Duke. Jack Tremont’s stuffed shirt brother, the Duke of Parkerton is a hoot to write about. Think Mr. Darcy Gone Wild. He’s starting to make Mad Jack Tremont (This Rake of Mine) look like the sensible Tremont. I’m living in my office, drinking too much espresso, and living off leftover Christmas cookies, but having fun working on bringing this story together. It’s rather like a juggling act on speed.

Finally, How I Met My Countess comes out on Tuesday. Now some of you lucky customers found it early. Heck, some readers got a copy before I got mine hot off the press. Apparently Santa has been dropping off early copies all over the place. Leave it to the man in the red suit to make all your reader wishes come true. For those of you who haven’t hit the holiday jackpot, tomorrow it will be on sale everywhere. Or save yourself the trouble of snow and ice and packed parking lots and use that gift card that’s burning a hole in your pocket to order one online. I told my son, who got a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas he could use it to buy a copy of How I Met My Countess. I won’t repeat his comment. It’s best left in this old, and almost gone decade.

So tell me, How Will You Find Your Copy?