Happy Friday, all! My agent has challenged me to blog at least once a week, and since he's my boss, I must do as he commands. Here are a few things that are on my mind...

1. Every day someone asks about the fourth and final book of THE 13th REALITY. Which makes me happy. I know you guys have been patient, and I'm thankful. I actually wrote it last year and it's getting very close to being officially announced for publication. It's called THE VOID OF MIST AND THUNDER, and I'm very proud of how it ends for Atticus and the Realitants. Stay tuned!

2. If you missed the reveal of the cover for THE KILL ORDER, be sure and CLICK HERE . I really love what Philip Straub and the design team at Random House have done with it. The book comes out August 14th.

3. There's going to be an amazing event in Utah on March 17, a writing conference where every penny of the proceeds go to charity. Unfortunately, I can't make it this year, but there will be plenty of amazing authors, including Brandon Sanderson, Shannon Hale, and many others. CLICK HERE to find out more.

4. It's not often I plug a business (never maybe?), but I want to spread the word about my nephew's new venture, Aston Audio Productions in Atlanta. This guy is a music and sound guru and genius, and his company is already taking off. If you have any kind of need for audio production in any form, check out his website: CLICK HERE . And tell him I sent you!

5. I'm reading a book called CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith. And I really like it. It's basically a serial killer mystery story set in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Reminds me a little of Dragon Tattoo.

Anyway, something has really struck me. This latest surge in popularity for Dystopian novels has been a fun thing. Well, you should read this book if you like that sort of stuff. Because guess what, we've had plenty of dystopias in the PAST. I totally feel like I'm reading a book about the future, where an evil government has taken away all of your rights and identity and what makes you unique. Where people live in daily fear of being arrested at a whim.

I'm not saying anything profound or new. But it's just really been interesting to read a historical fiction novel that feels like a future Dystopian world. Eerie.

6. A new website is in the works for all things James Dashner. It'll be going live in about a month and a half. This poor little sad blog page is finally going to retire and move to Montana, where it'll live on a ranch, wear diapers, and drink lots of prune juice. You'll be hearing a lot more, but the people responsible (for the new website, not the diapers and prune juice)... Warehouse 21. Stay tuned.

That's all for today. How about this for the comments (if you actually made it this far): Any guesses or speculation on what you might see in the prequel this August?