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Wednesday 31 January 2007

Tagged with the name game!

Okay, so C tagged me.

Here are my answers!


1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Yolanda Sfetsos

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle)
Yolizzle (huh??)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last)
Y-Sfe (Not so fly, is it?)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Black Tiger (Oooh, I like this one!)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on):
n/a, don't have a middle name! :/

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name)
Sfe –Yo Jim (strangely enough, it sounds like something out of Star Wars! Lol)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink)
Black Ruski (heee, heee. I'm a Russian superhero that drinks vodka! Heeeee)

8. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dad’s middle name, 1st letter of a sibling’s first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Oe-ifja (???)

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray)
Vanilla (this definitely sounds like a stripper name! Lol!)

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name)
Maria Rafael


That was fun. Except for the not having a middle name from which to take letters from!

So I'm tagging (if you wanna play, that is) Shelli, Karen and Cora!

Monday 29 January 2007

MINION


Well, over the weekend I finished reading the first novel of A Vampire Huntress Legend.

This is the setup to what I think will be a terrific series! Damali's a very interesting character and so is the premise of what's going on. I would've hated to read this and then have to wait for the next instalment though, it kinda ended in the middle of something... lucky for me, I have the next five books already. So that's cool. :)

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. The characters are great, and I can't wait to find out more about them. Also, the thing between Damali and Carlos is totally interesting. I can't wait to see how and if their relationship develops.

I'm a sucker for a vamp story, so it's no wonder that I enjoyed this!

Wednesday 24 January 2007

DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD



In her old life, Isabella DeMarco lived in New York with her father and had just started to fall for a handsome police lieutenant. Then she learned the truth--she is Gifted, a powerful magic user.

Okay, I finished this book last night. It's another GREAT Bombshell. I started it over the weekend and read a little more each night, but last night I polished off the last 80 pages or so in one sitting. It seems to be the trend for this year. I start out sneaking in as many reading sessions as I can, until I can't take it anymore and just have to finish the book!

And this one didn't disappoint.

It follows straight after Daughter of the Flames, which I absolutely loved as well.

In this book we fall deeper into the world of the Gifted and the supernaturals of New Orleans. The atmosphere is wonderful and engulfed in mystery. The characters are engaging and wonderful. Most of the time I was untrusting of the people around Izzy, just as confused about who was friend or foe as she was. It was so nicely written, and so much happens to Izzy in this instalment.

It's amazing, and definitely worth reading until the very last word. Because right at the very end, we find out an even deeper secret about her... This trilogy is great. I can't wait to read the next one. Though with the demise of the Bombshell line, I'm not sure how it will be released. :/

Thursday 18 January 2007

POSSESSED


I finished reading this book last night! I was going to read a little more before going to bed but got so caught up in what was happening that I wound up finishing it!

Man, it was GREAT! I loved it! The heroine is Cass and she's a medium that helps the police sometimes. Except, she's not respected or even accepted. Hardly anyone believes she's got the talent to hear the dead speak, and so she lives a life of isolation with very few possessions. Too many things happened in her past, and she has trouble trusting people.

With a serial killer on the loose, Cass is forced to trust in someone... and not just herself!

I really enjoyed this ride and tried to guess who the killer was, but didn't. Just like every other Bombshell I've read, this is another keeper!

I can't believe they got rid of this line!

Monday 15 January 2007

HELL TO PAY

Loved it!

This is the 7th Nightside book by Simon R. Green. I absolutely love this series. It's so darn cool.

The first 6 books were excellent too, and mostly dealt with who John Taylor's mother really was. This one starts on another path, I suppose. Here we meet a family of immortals called the Griffins. The imagery in this world beneath London is outstanding! And the tale that unfolds very interesting and cool. For once John has to try and find someone without the use of his gift.

'The Griffin' has summoned John to find his granddaughter, Melissa. No one's sure if she left the mansion, or if she was kidnapped... but one way, or another, John has to find out.

Very cool book. Can't wait for the next one! :)

Friday 12 January 2007

*insert title here*

It's Friday... again! Man, I was kinda hoping that this year wouldn't go by as quick as last year.

Anyway, I got through the (final) reading of Jake & Mary tale. It's 109 pages long, 21,570 words. Of course I cheated. ;) Last night instead of reading, I picked up the lappy and made further progress.

I made more changes than I thought I would. Nothing huge, pretty much small things here and there, and everywhere. :/ I think it's made it much stronger... at least I hope it has. Why do us writers always get hounded by self-doubt? I suppose it goes with the job of writing. Self-doubt and rejection are two sure things in this biz.

Gee, I sound like a real happy camper today, don't I? Not sure where all that came from, because I'm actually feeling quite good today. It's bright and sunny out there, very warm! Summer finally feels like it's here and I got through quite a bit of writing stuff this week... so what's the prob? No prob. I think I need more sleep, though :D

Looking forward to the weekend, that's for sure! I want to get through the rest of the book I'm reading now. It's Simon R Green's latest Nightside book. I love the Nightside books. It's great to be back in the Nightside.

You know, sometimes it's hard to come up with an appropriate blog post title.

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Thursday 11 January 2007

Lots to do!

Okay, so I got back into it today. Though I didn't actually get a chance to sit down until about 2pm. I had several things to do today - none of them writing related. That took a lot of time, not to mention that the morning flew by and it was time to feed my daughter lunch before I realised it!

Also made a vanilla cake to surprise the hubby when he gets home, though it's not really a suprise. He already knows about it. :/

Anyway, I got through 40 pages today and I'm hoping to do some more later. We'll see how I go. I'm still enjoying this tale, I really like Jake and Mary.

My daughter watched another Barbie flick today, Fairytopia this time. Shelli and Zinnia, I'm glad I'm not alone on the Barbie movie thing. My gosh! At least this one just had music, without the endless (annoying) singing. At least I think it didn't, I tried to block it all out as much as I could. Totally lost myself in the story this time.

I'm a bit sore today. We got back into the weights last night, after the brief hiatus. My arms are sore and so are my legs, and let's not even talk about my sides! But hell, it feels good. I've actually missed it. I've got more energy when we workout, just feel better overall. Isn't that strange? Strange but cool.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna go take a look around the net for a while. Just take it easy for a bit...

Wednesday 10 January 2007

Not so much


Today I started reading Jake & Mary's story again. I've put in all the changes the hubby suggested, so it just needs one more full read. But my daughter was watching a Barbie movie in the living room and it was really distracting. There's so much music in those movies, and not all of it is good either. :/

I ended up going through the whole thing to make sure the formatting was right and only got through the first chapter. I think it's 11 pages or so, out of 106. Not as much as I wanted to get through, but it's a start I suppose.

I'm not going to stress about it, or try to push myself any harder. As long as I can get through it by Friday, I'll be happy.
Gotta go grocery shopping tonight. Not a very exciting day today!

Monday 8 January 2007

MORTAL DANGER


I finished reading this book over the weekend. I've had it for a while now, but because of the way I've got my bookshelf set up (in two rows) it got shelved behind more recent books without my reading it. :/

What prompted me to remember was that I ordered the third book this month. And it looks and sounds very interesting, but I can't read it without reading this one first.

Anyway, you get the picture.

I really enjoyed the first book. Both Lily and Rule were very likeable characters and I enjoy the way Eileen Wilks has set up her world. In this book, there was further expansion and explanation of how things work. Plus I got to meet Cynna (she's on the cover of the third book) and once again encountered Cullen.

Overall, the plot was great! Actually, everything was great. It was very unpredictable, I had no idea what was going to happen next. It's a very deep book, with lots happening on different levels and one problem after another being laid out for the characters. It was very cool.

I really enjoyed this one! My first book for 2007. :)

Friday 5 January 2007

Not quite there yet

So, I got a chance to sit down to add a little more to my story. I didn't get to the end, though. I was hoping to get enough time to finish it this afternoon, but the day's just gone so quick today!

Anyway, I'm now up to 8,258 words. There's probably only one more chapter left to be written. So that's something to be excited about. Maybe Monday... or, if I get a chance to grab the lappy during the weekend. Hee. Heee.

Not much more to update for now... ;)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Thursday 4 January 2007

Faeries

Got some more written today. I'm up to 7,062 words. I might be able to finish this tale tomorrow. Not sure yet. I'm aiming for 10k or just over. I'd like to keep it at a similar length to the first one.

I'm actually really enjoying this tale now. Even if things aren't going great for my faerie. :/ Poor thing's swamped with issues. She didn't mean to get herself into any of the probs that are now hounding her.

Anyway, I'm really tired today. *yawn* Didn't get to bed as early as I wanted to last night. Here's hoping for an early night this time.

Tuesday 2 January 2007

Books Read in 2006:

AN ANGEL IN STONE: Peggy Nicholson

TOUCH OF THE WHITE TIGER: Julie Beard

THE DA VINCI CODE: Dan Brown

THE CARDINAL RULE: Cate Dermody

TIGER EYE: Marjorie M Liu

BITTEN & SMITTEN: Michelle Rowen

AWAKEN ME DARKLY: Gena Showalter

MOON CALLED: Patricia Briggs

SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH: Simon R Green

WORKING FOR THE DEVIL: Lilith Saintcrow

TOUCH OF EVIL: CT Adams & Cathy Clamp

DEVIL'S DUE: Rachel Caine

SOMETHING WICKED: Evelyn Vaughn

GUNS, DRUGS AND MONSTERS: Steve Niles

ENSLAVE ME SWEETLY: Gena Showalter

NIGHTLIFE: Rob Thurman

DEAD AS A DOORNAIL: Charlaine Harris

SERENITY - THOSE LEFT BEHIND: Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad

EVEN VAMPIRES GET THE BLUES: Katie MacAlister

A VISION OF MURDER: Victoria Laurie

CELL: Stephen King

SHADOW TOUCH: Marjorie M. Liu

SHADOWS IN THE DARKNESS: Elaine Cunningham

PAST REDEMPTION: Savannah Russe

ANGEL WITH ATTITUDE: Michelle Rowen

TOUCH THE DARK: Karen Chance

ELEVEN ON TOP: Janet Evanovich

DAUGHTER OF THE FLAMES: Nancy Holder

LOST CALLING: Evelyn Vaughn

KITTY GOES TO WASHINGTON: Carrie Vaughn

CRESCENT MOON: Lori Handeland

FOOL MOON: Jim Butcher

BROKEN: Kelley Armstrong

MIDNIGHT MOON: Lori Handeland

THE TURNING: Jennifer Armintrout

SACRILEGIOUS: Savannah Jordan

FIRESTORM: Rachel Caine

DEAD MAN RISING: Lilith Saintcrow

BAITED: Crystal Green

HERETIC: Joseph Nassise

EVE: Tamara Thorne

MERILYNN: Tamara Thorne

SAMANTHA: Tamara Thorne

WITCHLING: Yasmine Galenorn

ROGUE ANGEL - DESTINY: Alex Archer

ROGUE ANGEL - SOLOMON'S JAR: Alex Archer

FROM THE DARK: Michele Hauf

THUNDERBIRD FALLS: CE Murphy

LIGHT MY FIRE: Katie MacAlister
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