Those of you who were not born into fear can never know the horror of spending April 1st waiting for your practical joker of a grandfather to make a fool out of you. I waited all day. I was suspicious of everything he said, everything the radio said, everything the computer said. I was suspicious of Google because, for all I know, he can hack Google. Toward the end of the day, I was even suspicious of my grandmother, thinking she was in on it, too. I didn’t go to bed until midnight, knowing that if I did, my grandfather would rush in at 10:30 screaming that there was a lodge down the river on fire and I needed to get dressed and in snowsuit and firefighting gear in TWO SECONDS!!
He never tried anything.
I could not believe it. I woke up this morning in a sort of dread, knowing that I must have simply missed the practical joke yesterday, and today was the humiliating part.
So far, nothing. That is…odd. Yet I almost wish there HAD been a joke, that way I could have gotten it out of the way, instead of just letting it simmer. Now I’ll probably be looking over my shoulder for the next two weeks. April Fools is kind of like a bandaid–best get it over with quickly.
In other news, I’ve gotta go into town today and don’t have much time to post, but here’s a couple of the awesome letters I’ve gotten in the last week:
From a guy who just read Outer Bounds and Millennium Potion in 48 hours…
The first email: “Firstly, that was fantastic. Secondly, thank you. Outer Bounds was truly inspirational to me as a young man who is looking to expand his writing to greater levels and it was a very captivating read that i read straight through in one sitting….I am very interested in Part 4 and would be very happy to read anything you have on that part.”
The second email:
“Hey Sara!
This is definitely the most excited I have been while emailing you. I have just finished reading the Millennium Potion and I must say wow!
It was fantastic, the character development, the great story and all of the twists, the atmosphere. I loved it all.
I loved Dallas especially and was glad to have read the prologue short story before reading the book because it gave me an emotional tie to her that had me rooting for her throughout the entire book. She was the stand out character for me and i never doubted that she would rise to the occasion.
I can definitely see why you have been picked up as an author and continue to be published, it isnt often that I discover an author that can hook me with multiple texts like you have done with Outer Bounds and now with the Millennium Potion. I greatly look forward to reading The Team and being able to develop a more in depth analysis of the manuscript as your writing is so easy to love and there are so many points that I could make to back this up.”
(Big grin). Thank you, sir 
It’s little things like this that make the whole damn pain in the ass that is the publishing world worth bearing.
And one from a new Outer Bounds reader:
The way you’ve put this together keeps the reader engaged and wondering when he/she will see the connection between the various characters. How does Joel become a smuggler? Did he have a choice or just regret it later and couldn’t get out of it, sort of like the Mafia? How exactly is Magali to blame for her parents’ death? Is there any connection between their family and Widerman Joe? How did Magali and Anna end up at the egger camp? Why would they take children to train as Nephyrs since they’d have no idea whether they’ll grow up small like Tatania or large like the Camp Director?
I have so thoroughly enjoyed this. I’ve read a lot of published fantasy and science fiction and this is as good as some and better than most. I am so looking forward to part 4.”
And another, from someone just starting Outer Bounds:
“That was really, really good. Normally I’m more into reading Fantasy then Science Fiction but I gave this a shot and was plesantly surprized. Titiana seems like a interesting charater–clostrophobic and yet forced inside a machine most of the time. No wonder she paniced. Plus there was enough fore shadowing that I can’t wait to read more. Definalty something I would have picked off the shelves.”
Okay, so now I’ve gotta run. Gotta pack, then hop a plane to town. All of my normal writing/correspondence activities might have to be delayed for a few days, as I don’t believe I will have reliable access to an internet connection. If you don’t hear from me, that’s probably what happened.
…Or maybe my plane went down. 
-Sara King
www.kingfiction.com
Proud Graduate of Odyssey ‘08