Haunted Halloween 2011: Guest Post - Sarah Beth Durst + A Giveaway!

Best Halloween ever:  I was six, and I decided to be a unicorn princess.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a princess of the unicorns or a unicorn who was a princess, so I wore a sparkle-coated dress and stuck a paper horn on a headband.  I looked spectacular, at least until my mom made me wear a parka over the dress and until the drizzle outside made my horn droop.

But it didn't matter.  The unicorns recognized me anyway.

I heard them coming as I was stuffing a Three Musketeers into my mouth.  Their hooves sounded like bells on the pavement.  My dad didn't hear them.  He was listening for oncoming cars, and I guess a bell sound didn't register.  Or maybe he couldn't hear them -- one of those kids-only things, like the Polar Express bell.

Anyway, the herd of unicorns trotted toward me, and the lead unicorn bowed his head until his horn touched my feet.  I felt a shiver across my skin, and then my whole body stretched and twisted until I stood on four hooves beside my brethren.

That's when my dad finally noticed the unicorns.  He patted my mane and said, "For the record, you get this from your mom's side of the family."

The lead unicorn nodded gravely and said, "Your Pointy Highness, it's time for us to slay some vampires."

Off we ran into the night, hunting the vampires that were hunting costumed children.  We staked seven with our magnificent glowing horns before finally returning to my father.  He wiped the blood from my horn and then I changed back into a six-year-old girl.

And that is the last time that vampires were ever seen in my hometown.

Also, it confirmed my lifelong fondness for Three Musketeers.  And perhaps explains why I write fantasy novels...

Drink, Slay, Love - released September 13th 2011 from Margaret K. McElderry.

Synopsis: Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Find Sarah Online: 

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Order Online:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Book Trailer:

Enter to win a copy of DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!

Rules and how to enter:

You MUST be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fell out the form provided below.
Giveaway open to US residents only. Sorry!
Giveaway ends: October 16th, 2011.

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A HUGE thank you goes out to Sarah for taking the time to write up the post for us and also for donating the copy of Drink, Slay, Love for the giveaway!

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.