First of all: Sorry this is a little later than promised! I’ll do better next time…

To celebrate the fact that we are just two months from The Stone Demon‘s release, I posted a snippet from the beginning of the book at the Deadline Dames (back on Monday). CLICK HERE to read it.

The continuation of that email conversation (a sort of prologue) between Donna and Navin is below… Plus the opening lines of Chapter One. Enjoy!

The Stone Demon: Snippet 2…

From: Navin Sharma
To: Donna Underwood
Subject: Trust Your Feelings

Donna,

Stop sending me such miserable emails, would you? You’re depressing the crap out of me.

It’s bad enough that you’re not here, but then the only communication I get from you is filled with doom, gloom and typos. (Wom)man up! What happened to the Donna Underwood who can open inter-dimensional doorways and rescue her mom’s soul from the Wood Queen? Okay, so you probably started the apocalypse while doing that, but we’re focusing on the positive here. And anyway, who says demons always have to be the bad guys?

Oh, and about what you asked me: no, I haven’t seen or heard anything from the Wingless Wonder. (That’s Xan, just in case you were confused.) Sorry, but I don’t expect to. I think the guy was always threatened by my good looks, charm and manly physique, if you really want the truth. He’s hardly likely to want to hang out with me while you’re not here, you know? I’m surprised he hasn’t visited you yet. Doesn’t his mom live somewhere in England?

Anyway, I’m stuck with school and homework and – ugh – exams. Some of us our destined to save the world, while others have to write essays on Macbeth’s primal would. Personally, I think you might actually have the best deal. This shit is messed up, yo.

Don, I’m worried about you. You haven’t sounded like your normal self (and I used the world “normal” with caution) in ages. The last couple weeks, I mean. Don’t make me get on a plane just so I can kick your ass.

I’m not sure the English laydeez are ready for me.

Write soon.

Your buddy,
Nav

–

CHAPTER ONE

The British Museum was on fire.

Donna gazed in horror at the television screen, which showed the entire museum complex ablaze. Hungry flames licked the night sky, staining it the color of dried blood. Firefighters were beaten back by a wall of heat, smoke billowed in choking black clouds, and sirens split the air like screams of terror.

________________________________________

Aaand… that’s where we’re leaving it. For now!

P.S. Did you read the Deadline Dames post in full? Just in case you went straight to the snippet-y goodness, I also mentioned the AMAZING review that The Stone Demon got from Kirkus. I am beyond thrilled! Writing this book was a huge challenge (clue: ending a trilogy is hard) – and I rewrote some parts of it, from the ground up, several times. I’m not gonna lie to you: I shed a few tears. Probably my editor did too, but for different reasons. *ahem* So, yay Kirkus! I’m not allowed to reproduce the whole review here yet because you have to be a subscriber to read reviews super early, but it should be available two weeks before the publication date.