So I stayed up insanely late watching the end of LOST. And I woke up insanely early because I had a dream about LOST. That happens to me — whenever I find a story that I love, whether it’s a book or, apparently, a television show, I dream new scenes about those stories. Dream fic, I guess. LOST definitely left its impression on me. It quickly went from Survivor Meets Cast Away to something unique…possibly even profound.

I’m still processing everything. And I’m sure that after I buy the series Blu-Ray set in August and I watch the entire series again, I’ll be even more enchanted with the show. I’m thrilled it ended the way it did — the major plots nicely tied up, with enough left open for interpretation that I’m sure people will be discussing it for a long, long time.

(Open Message To Television Producers: After Heroes and Desperate Housewives and Lost, I hope it’s become very clear that you cannot have a child as an ongoing member of an ensemble show — especially one that’s supposed to take place over three months but is filmed over more than three years. Remember: children GROW. Quickly. So you’ll have to either ship off the character to some relative or other, or fast-forward your series five years so that the child has aged appropriately.)

So…what are we supposed to do on Tuesdays now that LOST is done?

I know — read an online serial novel!

Last week, I officially launched HELL TO PAY, the fourth Hell on Earth book. It’s free, it’s online, and it’s serialized. Every Tuesday, until the last Tuesday in December 2010, I’ll post a new chapter. (The entire book is already written, so I know exactly how long it is.)

Here’s the cover, designed by the amazing Michelle Rowen:

The Prologue is already up; chapter one will be online tomorrow.

(Okay, no, it’s not Josh Holloway without a shirt. But hey, if Hell were ever to be a movie, I’d see what I could do about getting him to play Paul.)