Have I mentioned lately what awesome readers I have?  Well, I do.  Really, really awesome readers.

Quite out of the blue, the wonderful Darling Laura J. sent me this package of vampire goodness:

The amazing thing is that, even though I’ve been keeping my perfect night vision eyes peeled for all things vampire for months now, she managed to find things I don’t already have & have never seen. Every single wonderful item is delightfully new-to-me—& I love them! :surrprisse

The “Fan of the Fang” plaque…I so am! The Betty Boop socks…these are SO Mistress Heidi in her Halloween garb, it isn’t even funny. The adorable vampire pail…which I’ve already put to good use. The Dracula Pez dispenser…I’ve got a bat one, but not a vampire one, & I didn’t even know they made chocolate Pez! The black cat post-its…oh, how I love cats! oh, how I love office supplies! And the little black thingie resting on top of the post-its…you may not be able to see those very well, but it’s a bag of the cutest little vampire erasers. Fang-tastic, down to the last bite. :dracuulla

Thank you so much, Laura!  You made my Halloween…& maybe even my birthday. :blowkiss

But it’s not all about me today.  I also have a wee update to the official Vampire Swag Bag Giveaway that will be running until October 30th.

In addition to the prizes already listed, I will be tossing in two bottles of Bath & Body antibacterial hand gel—Vampire Blood (plum scented) & Bat Bite (apple scented).

You have no idea how long I’ve been searching for these items.  Also thanks to an ever-alert Darling Laura, these are two of the very first prizes I wanted for the “Fang-tastic Vampire Swag Bag” Giveaway.  But when I went looking for them, they were completely sold out.  Gack! :sadheart  I looked everywhere, visited all of my local stores…went online…nothing.  So even though I was disappointed, I went ahead & put the Vampire Swag Bag together without them.

But now I’ve got them…lots of them LOL…& I’m tossing them on the pile!

So if you haven’t yet entered, now is the time.  All you have to do is sign up for my Newsletter by clicking the graphic below. A list of prizes & official rules are available on both the Newsletter & HeidiBetts.com Home pages.

Good luck!

Normally, we save this for the end of the month, but since we’re just up & running again, & we really do need a Hunk of the Month to enjoy over Halloween, I thought I’d give you the chance to pick one now that will run through the rest of October.

And because they were oh, so lovely, I’m going to let you choose from the gorgeous Hunk Day hotties we’ve been spending so much time drooling over already.  Each & every one of them has been a vampire at some point (even if only in my own imagination) so it’s totally appropriate.

Here are your choices:

(Spike a.k.a. The Big Bad)

(Mick)

(Angel)

(my inspiration for Ian in THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS)

Let the voting–& drooling–begin!

Did you know that today is 10/10/10?  This sort of thing only happens, like, once a year, if we’re lucky, & it is so cool. (Next year, it will be 11/11/11, by the way, which will also be my birthday. I’m already hugely excited—woot! :party )

Okay, so I’m easily amused.  But then, you knew that already. :winkwink

Now on to the business at hand.  It is time to share our happy thoughts & gratitude items.

This week, I’m excited to have a release date for my next Silhouette Desire.  THE CEO’S SECRET HEIR (which may end up with a new title, but that’s what I’m calling it for now *g*) is officially scheduled for June 2011.  Not only that, but it’s going to be part of the special “Billionaires and Babies” theme promotion. Yay!

My workshop speech for NJRW is coming along.  It’s mostly done, I’m just putting the final touches on & adding last minute thoughts.

VAMPS IN VEGAS (which will also probably end up with a different title) is coming along, too.  Not as quickly as I might like, but I am fang deep in the first love scene & having a bloody good time. :tpspspspt

Last but not least, I am super-delighted (as well as super-grateful :Bigthumbs ) to have my wacky & wicked Mistress Heidi sidebar back.  Are you loving it as much as I am?  And have I forgotten anything from the old Dungeon?  Change is good, but if there’s anything missing that you used to enjoy, please let me know & I’ll see what I can do about getting it up there again.

So that’s my list for this week, how about you?

And now for our Free Book Friday winner…

Laura J.!

Congratulations, Laura! Please contact me with your mailing information & I’ll get your prize—Life Lessons Learned While Shopping—out to you as soon as I can.