Whoa, whoa, whoa, my dear readers.  I think I have to say a word or two about the “Just For Fun” polls that some people are taking way too seriously.

First thing, I have an announcement to make.  To the best of my knowledge (I mean, barring an act of God), there definitely will be at least three more books in the Vampire Diaries book series.  There is also a very good chance—especially if you want them—that there will be three more books after this.

Please try to think of it this way: you are not going to get any final answers for a long, long time.  I know that may distress some of you, but that is what the publishers want.   (To keep the series going, I mean—they don’t want to distress you.)  The book packagers who package this book (Alloy Entertainment) and the publishers who buy it from them and sell it to you (HarperCollins) want to keep publishing these books for as long as you want to keep reading them.   Therefore we’re so far from endgame right now that all bets are off and anything can happen. 

Don’t waste your time being distressed by the “who gets Damon in the end?” question.  I mean, knowing him, he might take off all by himself, flashing a 250-kilowatt smile at us all . . . well, no, I supposed he’s changed since those days.  But, believe me, the polls will have absolutely no bearing on what happens in the future.   They really are “just for fun polls”—and, I’ll admit, I was a little curious about whether Ian Somerhalder’s witty wickedness and my own modest contributions had caused Damon to go off the charts in terms of male desirability.  Poor, poor Stefan, is what I say.

In any case, I think that many of my readers are being hurt by the clash in the fandom.  I’m having the latest poll taken down as soon as my genius webmaster (but also busy father and husband—so don’t expect anything on Sunday) can do it. 

And as for the Bamon and Delena shippers who write so passionately to me, I have a suggestion.  Since the series isn’t going to provide you with an endgame for at least four more books—Midnight and then the new trilogy: The Hunters—why don’t you try your hand at fanfic?  Write your own perfect ending and you’ll feel much better—I promise.  It might even turn into a hobby, or a profession. :)

In fact, I’ll post fanfics along with my stories, if they are good enough in terms of grammar and spelling,  and not too bawdy.  I’d love to see some fans putting all their passion to good use by trying out their maiden writing skills, and I’d welcome the product of any experienced fic writers out there.

And finally, just so that I’m sure I’ve said it enough: I have no idea of what’s going to happen at endgame.  You can quote e on that. No idea at all, not even the faintest clue.  Writing is my life, but I can assure you that I have never even started to imagine how the series should turn out.  And no by-then-long-forgotten polls will have the slightest influence on the ending; I give you my word.

So let’s all hold hands and sing the Barney song, cos we all love each other and the war is officially over.  If there’s one thing I try to get into my books, it’s the idea that we all can get along.