Round numbers, because I feel like bribing you.

I like round numbers. It’s insane, I know, but I just like nice, big, round numbers. I took a picture of my car’s odometer when it hit exactly 100,000 miles (if only because nobody expected a Geo to survive that long—and, okay, yes, because I was stuck in a traffic jam on the 110 freeway and excruciatingly bored at the time). And now, as Comic-Con approaches and I hope my revised and 200% more awesome manuscript will win the favor of the publishing gods … I find I want just a few more fans to brag about when I talk to them.

I’ve been telling people for a while that the page has “about 250 fans,” which is true if you round to the nearest 50 and sounds much better than “about 240 fans,” which was true if you rounded to the nearest 10 up until I finally hit 245 yesterday. But wouldn’t it be nice to actually HAVE 250 fans? I think it would. And, as is usually the case when I want something, I’m prepared to bribe you to get it.

So here’s the deal. Comic-Con runs from July 22 through July 25. I and the Masks Posse (there are four of us, in matching T-shirts!) will be at the con on July 25, meeting and greeting and handing out some truly awesome buttons and bookmarks. If the page hits 250 fans before the morning of July 25, then I will, at the next convenient moment, post not one but TWO scenes from Masks—one from Rae’s past, one from Trevor’s. There will be action. There will be angst. At least one person will get beaten up, and at least one person will cry. And they probably won’t be the same person.

So go to it. Invite your friends. Beg, borrow, steal; lie, cheat, bribe. Do whatever it takes to get the fan count up to 250 … and let my round-number-based madness begin.