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And with a final button press, I had finished my Native American Literature essay, which included one reference to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and ended with a call to arms: We need to travel back in time and assassinate Andrew Jackson before it's too late.

Thus, my college education ends (at least for now), and all I have to do is wrap up a single final and then head home for a well deserved, relaxing vacation at home before coming back up for summer school. But that's all boring stuff that no one cares about: Lets instead talk about everyone's favorite thing ever: Writing!

Writing news has never been more exciting. Sometime next week, my beta-readers will get back to me on Debris Dreams sequel - Shattered Sky. In the near future, I will get to do a guest blogspot (hopefully!) and the sketch of my novel's cover will hit the internet like a face-full of sexy, awesome buckshot. And in the interim, I am splitting my working time between Luna's Lament (which has required a great deal of research in underwater weapons, oddly enough) and looking through an older idea of mine: A Rat's Tale!

A Rat's Tale was an idea that struck me while re-reading an old webcomic called Sluggy Freelance (14 years old and going strong!) wherein the main characters are shocked when their lame friend, Sam, turns out to be a FREAKING VAMPIRE. It was a legitimate shock and marked a turning point in the comic, for me at least, when I realized it had real story arcs and not just a series of throwaway (but funny!) jokes. And it lead to one of my favorite lines ever.

The scene: Our heroes have been captured by a clan of vampires and are forced to watch two other people be transformed. The man becomes tall and muscular, while the woman becomes...statuesque, to say the least. One of the main characters comments, "Wow, you should sell that on prime time TV."

To which the vampire's leader responds, "Do you really think humans will sell their immortal souls just to be beautiful and skinny without having to work for...it..." And then she turns to her assistant, who says, "I'm already scheduling the infomercial."

And so, A Rat's Tale takes place in the near future. Humanity has discovered that "metahumans" (or mets) live amongst them, and have for thousands of years. Vampires and a plethora of lycanthrope types (were-bear, were-wolf, were-cat) are real and are ready to become legitimate. Initially, things were tense, but an artificial blood supplement has made vampirisim sustainable on a large scale. Suddenly, becoming a bloodsucker is the hippest fashion choice, and the best health plan available: You never age, are hard to kill, and look awesome.

For those who can't afford (or don't want to give up sunlight) vampirism, there is lycanthropy and a suitable drug that inhibits the wild frenzy of the Lunar cycle. Of course, there is a downside to each animal type: Werewolves are not immortal, but they do live a long time. Werebears live shorter lives, but they're stronger and larger.

And finally, if you are strapped for cash and absolutely have to become a met (for example, if you have inoperable brain cancer or want to live an extra century) you can go for the "economy" version of metahumanity: The were-rat.

But not is all as it seems. Our heroine - a teenage street urchin named Qiwi - happens to stumble on a information trade gone wrong. A shootout occurs, and Qiwi is left bleeding to death. When she wakes up, she finds that a black market doctor has "saved" her by turning her into a were-rat. Needless to say, she's not happy...and she's even less happy when she finds that her witnessing the assassination has brought her under fire as well. But even as Qiwi struggles to escape the threat, she learns that the fate of the world may hang in the balance...conspiracy, murder and a bid for global domination all await in the telling of A Rat's Tale.

I thought it sounded neat, at least.

Still, I should really get back to studying for my final...final. Wish me luck!