Okay, so it took a while to go through all those pages of ideas There were lots of really fantastic ones, meaning it wasn’t an easy job.

As I was reading them, I got a better idea of what I’m interested in writing this year. Remember how I said I’d likely pick a Derek idea? I didn’t. As I read the list, I realized that, right now, I want someone new–either completely new to the series or who didn’t get much “screen time” in the trilogy.

I didn’t take any “what happened after The Reckoning” ideas because I’ve already written one of those. Facing Facts will be out this fall in an anthology called Enthralled that I co-edited with Melissa Marr. More on that to come, but for now I’ll say it’s a Chloe story set 2-3 weeks after they escape.

I didn’t take any ideas on the adult characters because I already write an adult series All my grownups can stay there. For this one, I want teens. I also didn’t take the “adult characters when they were teens” ideas because those would be historical stories, which require research (fashion, hairstyles, technology), which I’d rather not do for a short story.

Here’s the list then:

1) Rae’s story after Chloe & Tori escape from the lab (including when Jacinda finds her)

2) a Project Genesis subject who was “lost” from the experiment

3) Mila Andrews (who was rehabilitated)

4) teen subject who was also in the lab at end of The Reckoning & escaped

5) Kat, Neil & the vampire meeting. If you don’t know who Kat is, read her introduction story for free under “Archives” She has a second story in Kisses from Hell, and at the end of it, she was going to a meeting of vampires. You won’t need to have read that story to understand this one if I write it–I’ll fill in the background.

If you were the first person to suggest the idea, you’ll be emailed Monday re: your prize.

What I’d like now is feedback. Tell me which story interests you most and why. I won’t necessarily pick the most popular one, but I won’t choose one that no one seems interested in!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Time to give away another advance copy of The Gathering. For this one, you have to reply here (in the comments) and tell me what you think one character in the Darkest Powers would give to another for Valentine’s. Just one. I’d say “What would XXX give to XXX?” but I don’t want to give spoilers to anyone who’s not done the trilogy. So pick any character and tell me what they’d give to any other character. There’s no right answer. Just make it up and I’ll choose my fave.

Contest closes: midnight Feb 15 (yes, tomorrow)

We still haven’t heard back from the last winner, so we’re redrawing. For these contests, because they’re early copies (and getting less early by the day!) we’re now putting a response time limit on them. For this one, we’ll email the winner and post the winning entry here Wednesday. That winner has until midnight Friday to email us back or I choose another.

UPDATE: I picked two winners. We’ve emailed them. Their names from the comments are Karen and Hailey. I know we may have multiple commenters by those names, so if that’s yours, check your email! I’m not going to tell you their choices because I’ve decided to do a very short Valentine’s Day story as part of the 2011 online fiction, and you’ll see their ideas there. When will I write that? Before the end of 2011 That’s about all I can commit to right now.

I still have a few Gathering ARCs (advance reader copy) to give away, and with the book just over 2 (yes, 2!) months away, it’s time to get them off my shelf and into the hands of readers. This is the first of three I’ll give away on the blog this month.

To enter: send your answer to the following question to contest@kelleyarmstrong.com You don’t need to give me your mailing address yet. Just the answer.

Deadline: midnight Thursday February 3. I’ll draw a winner from correct answers.

Question: in The Reckoning, Derek has to drive back to Buffalo. Who’s his passenger?

Good luck! Remember, enter by email. Don’t post your answer here or you’ll give it away to others and you don’t want more competition

Note: the winner was emailed Friday morning. We’re still awaiting a response. If you entered, check your email and your SPAM filter. If we don’t hear back in a week, we’ll redraw.