The hero of Lewis's humorous debut is Eric, a vampire having a bad week, with a poor memory and raging blackouts. In the midst of a rough tantrum, he realizes he has torn off the head of a fellow undead, but he can't remember who the victim is or why he killed him. As the story continues, however, Eric proves to be a much nicer guy than the opening would suggest. With a host of interesting characters—the elderly human Marilyn, the greatest love of Eric's life; Tabitha, the stripper-turned-vampire who loves Eric; evangelical werewolf William, who erroneously believes Eric killed his son; and Roger, co-owner with Eric of the Demon Heart Strip Club—this is a fast-paced story with a heady mixture of humor, violence, and sex. Recommended for large fantasy collections.”

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6529602.html

It's coming out in twenty days. Gah! I'm like an expectant Dad all over again, only this time it's silly because the "baby" is made of paper and ink.

Only fifteen more days to go.

Staked hasn't shown up in stores yet, but it has started shipping from several online booksellers. I got an email from one of the folks who pre-ordered the book through Simon & Schuster's website letting me know that the book was waiting for her when she got home from work.

/happy dance

Oh! And Maryelizabeth Hart co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy Book in Sand Diego posted a really nice review here (so feel free to order a copy from her):

http://mysteriousgalaxy.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storepicks&page=265510

"Let'’s face it -- vampires in particular have been "done to death" in terms of being the protagonists of urban fantasy lately. So it's pleasantly unusual to get to read a vampire novel and think, "wow, that was different." On its most basic level, Staked is all about the blood (and there's lots of it). Apparently it's the only body fluid coursing around the undead's systems, so when they get sweaty foreheads, or cry, or create any other body fluids ... well, you get the idea. Strip club owner Eric is a vampire, a Vlad by the nomenclature of the world, rendered nigh immortal through his transformation. Seems if one is high enough up the vamp foodchain, methods that would dust a common vampire, like sunlight, holy water, or the traditional wooden stake through the heart, are terribly inconvenient, but not fatal. In contrast to Eric, who occasionally bursts into flames through simply not paying attention to sunrise, but who has been a vampire for decades, Lewis also offers insights into what it's like to be newly undead, through the POV of Eric's (mostly-former) lover, Tabitha. Lots of visceral gore, a mysterious werewolf vendetta, and an intriguing paranormal infrastructure make Staked a welcome addition to the field. Particularly recommended to fans of Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels.
-- MeH"

That's awesome news! Thank you!

I stopped by a few of the bookstores on my way home and saw that they each had four copies, so it's out there.

AN update:

I went to OmegaCon this weekend and all of the booksellers sold out of Staked which means that a little over fifty copies moved into the hands of readers.

AND Sherrilyn Kenyon wore one of my Welcome to the Void t-shirts to her autographs session...AND Jack (her super-cool man with plan type guy) put a copy of Staked by their reigister for display.

Everyone was super nice. I wound up being table neighbors with several folks (due to first tiem convention confusion)... David Talon, Anthony Taylor, Scotty Roberts, and M.B. Weston. Not a bad apple among them or on any of the panels I was on.

It was great, if tiring, fun. I even got a brief interview on the local news. Yay!