I am ready to publicly announce here that I’m a geek.

Not a little bit. Not just a smidgen. A real live, true and honest through and through geek.

Yes, I was the field commander in my high school marching band. And I have played three different instruments in my life.

Yes, I have purposely crashed and rebuilt my own hard drive. Not just once. More than once.

I own my own Xbox and Nintendo DS, and asked for games for Christmas. I’ve got my eye on a PS3. And maybe a Wii. And a new laptop. My electronic wishlist is always longer than my budget will allow!

For those of you who read those qualifications who might think that I still don’t qualify as a true geek, I will add here that I have my own dicebox; I tabletop game, have run tabletop games. I have a World of Warcraft account, and although it’s currently deactivated, I used to play my undead deep fire mage in raids. I’m absolutely gaga over my Blackberry, and I cried when I accidentally dropped my iPod in a bucket of water while working on my house.

The book collection is ridiculous. I can keep my house clean…but the pile of books is always a trip hazard.

And let’s not forget the fact that I write urban fantasy and humor. And I’ve got a science fiction short story I’ve been fighting with lately.

The geek cred’s there. I promise.

And my inner book geek is doing a happy little internal geeky dance at the following news…

I’ve mentioned the coolness factor of Patrick Rothfuss and his Heifer International fundraiser. Pat’s never made a big secret out of the fact that he’s a huge Joss Whedon fan. If you liked Buffy, or Angel, or Firefly/Serenity, then you’re a Joss Whedon fan as well. I liked Buffy, Angel was okay, but Firefly is true awesomesauce.

And now Pat’s added some pretty serious incentive to donate through his fundraiser…he’s giving away entire sets of Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Dollhouse, Whedon’s Xmen books, AND the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog. Which, of course, is so catchy, that you just do catch yourself wanting to sing along.I dare you to watch it without wanting to sing along. Even if you don’t know the words, you just can’t look away.

That’s some pretty awesome geeky incentive to donate. And it’s a great cause. What better way to satisfy both the inner geek and the great tax deductions of charitable giving?

But wait…there’s more.

My friend Julie Kagawa has a brand spanking new YA book coming out at the beginning of February. No, I haven’t read it, but I remember talking to Julie about some of her ideas a while ago, and it totally sounds AWESOME. She’s got contests where you might even win a free SIGNED author’s copy of her new book! And you can get a Grimalkin rock as well!

But I’m not done yet…there’s even MORE!!

My friend Jennie Bentley‘s also got a new book coming out in March…and it’s getting great reviews! Jennie’s a great person, a real cheerleader for me, and deserves all the great accolades on her books. Go check out her newest PLASTER AND POISON, DIY #3. Also…she’s got a new series under her alter ego’s name, Bente Gallagher, coming out June of this year…A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS.

The inner book nerd in me is doing the whole happy-happy-joy-joy thing. Check out all three awesome authors!

(*Just because I’m coming out of the geek closet here, does not mean that my friends are or are not geeks. I’ll let them make their own disclaimers or admissions on their own!)

3/14/2010 EDIT to note that I did receive an advance copy of A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS from my good friend Jennie Bentley (AKA Bente Gallagher), and I’m in the middle of it as we speak. Loving it! More later.