Today, we begin with the celebration of Charles Dickens birthday! I know that most of you think, “Charles Dickens?” *yaaawwwwnnn*

But he is my hero. I admire the way he managed to keep writing all of his life. He was able to support his family with his writing – and change the world at the same time. Life wasn’t ever easy for Mr. Dickens. His work is deeper, richer for his suffering. (I’m sure that’s cold comfort to him at the time.)

Trust me, Charles Dickens changed the world. His themes of poverty and crime, class conflict, and interpersonal relationships echo issues and struggles of today. There are few authors who have had the same impact.

Please join me in a rowdy – “Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens and Thank you!”

…And back to our round up…

In Denver Cereal, it’s time to have a baby. This is Valerie and Mike’s baby so of course there’s some twist and trick. Valerie loses her mind and pretends she’s not in labor. As per usual, she’s secretly driving everyone crazy. Jill and Heather find someone to help her deliver the baby. And, with any luck, a baby is born at home in the cool new space Celia (the ghost) led Valerie to.

In case you missed the announcement, Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5, is on sale today and tomorrow at our store. Black Forest is the volume that covers most of the Saint Jude murder mystery. It’s shockingly scary, deliciously intense, with a dash of the bizarre thrown in. If you haven’t read that story line, it’s very fun.

The Queen of Cool is getting very exciting! Lo sneaks out of the Lake Worth house to wish Don a Happy Birthday only to be caught by none other than Will Wallace, Amanda’s ex and fake Texas Ranger with an agenda of his own. She manages to get away unnoticed only to take a wild ride through the dark to… where? (As a hint, we’re thinking of having a ghost hunt there when I return to Fort Worth in April!) When Lo figures out where she is, she knows where the VX is. Meeting with everyone at the Fort Worth Refuge, they make a plan to check everything out that night.

While all this drama is going on, more drama is going on inside the She is Dallas servers. Arg. No one has any real idea what’s going so wonky. In order to ensure readers have a chance to read every day, we’ve set up a duplicate feed at: http://sheisdallas.thequeenofcool.com We apologize for any and all inconvenience. The best way to ensure you get a chance to read is by subscribing by email. We control this feed and can shift it to any new location should She is Dallas go down (again). Plus, you’ll get the story delivered to you in the comfort of your inbox and skip all the insanity going on inside some random web server.

Enjoy and Happy Birthday to Charles Dickens!