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Saturday 31 March 2012

THE WALKING DEAD, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: there is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living. This volume follows our band of survivors as they set up a permanent camp inside a prison. Relationships change, characters die, and our team of survivors learn there's something far more deadly than zombies out there: each other.


The third volume of The Walking Dead includes issues 13-18, and is absolutely awesome!

The small group of survivors has stumbled on a jail and can't believe their (possible) luck. If they can clear the zombies, they could actually start a real life here. There's sure to be food, they'll be protected by the fences, and will have relative safety for once. Of course, things aren't ever that easy and they soon find themselves in the middle of some pretty shocking situations that aren't caused by the walking dead.

I couldn't believe some of the shocking things that happen in this volume. You'd think that most of the world being dead around them and willing to eat them would be enough to bring the best out of people. Instead, it makes them worse--paranoid, crazed, and willing to do things they never would have before.

My gosh, I'm so glad I decided to get stuck into these. It's an amazing story. Now, onto the next volume...        

FURY by Elizabeth Miles

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But all is not as it seems...

Em is thrilled that the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend. And on the other side of town, Chase’s social life is unraveling and the stress of his home life is starting to take its toll. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel....And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. There are three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—to choose who will pay. Em and Chase have been chosen.


Wow, let me just start by saying that I absolutely loved this book. OMG. It turned out to be an awesome surprise, a lot better than I expected.

Em is a naughty girl. She's got a huge crush on her best friend's boyfriend and is planning to do something about it while she's away. Chase should be an outsider, but he's a popular jock with a secret.

When three mysterious and very creepy girls start haunting and stalking them, they soon find out how deadly revenge is. What goes around comes around in the town of Ascension.

Like I said, I was blown away by this book. Was totally hooked from the beginning and although both Em and Chase were characters who'd done some pretty bad things, they also had sympathetic qualities and I was drawn to their story. I couldn't wait to find out how it would all turn out, and wasn't disappointed. Though I have to say that this isn't a happily ever after story. This is an honest look at average people doing bad things and then being held accountable for it in the harshest of ways.

Loved it!

Friday 30 March 2012

Stupid People & General Update

Yeah, stupid people annoy the hell out of me. So do racists, sexist pigs, bigots, and homophobes. Actually, I don't like anyone who thinks it's okay to be horrible to someone else because of their race, gender, faith, sexual preference, etc. Which is exactly what is going on at the moment.

I honestly can't believe that some morons decided to cast a negative light on a brilliant movie, just because of their own prejudices. It's pathetic, and very wrong.

We went to watch THE HUNGER GAMES the other day, and absolutely loved it. I thought it was one of the best book-to-movie I've ever seen. And the character casting was perfect. Every character in the movie lived up to my expectations from the book. And Rue--played by Amandla Stenberg--was one of them. She was perfect! Sweet, innocent, beautiful... everything she was in the book and more. I loved her interaction with Katniss, and the last scene she was in was heartbreaking.

So, why are people being assholes about it? I really don't know. Or understand it, to be honest. I've never been the kind of person to judge someone on the color of their skin. I just find it very disappointing to read the horrible, racist and insulting tweets that were posted against this sweet young actress. She did a brilliant job, and deserves to be praised not insulted.

Sorry for the heavy post, but I just had to say something about it. It disgusted me when I heard about those racist tweets. I also think that these pathetic people should be worried about their lack of comprehension skills, because they claim to have read the book. Something which I doubt, since they obviously didn't understand what they were reading, especially when it comes to character descriptions. :/

Okay... now that I got the heavy stuff out of the way, what have I been doing this week? Well, I've been very busy working on the FLE for A PATCH OF DARKNESS. I actually got it finished yesterday afternoon and emailed it back to my editor. Which is always an awesome feeling! There's only one thing left to do now: proofread the ARC. (It just hit my Inbox!)

I think I'll take today off, though. Asides from working hard on the edit, I've also gotten up at 4AM two days in a row, which takes a lot out of me. It's still early in the morning and I'm super tired, lol.

Have a great weekend!

THE WALKING DEAD, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living. This volume follows our band of survivors on their tragic journey in search of shelter. Characters live and die as they brave a treacherous landscape littered with packs of the walking dead.

The second volume of The Walking Dead includes issues 7-12, and continues the adventure of a group of survivors trying to stay one step ahead of the zombies while struggling to survive the cold and hunger.

I really enjoyed it, and can't help but find myself comparing what's going on in the book with what's happened on the TV show. There are a lot of differences. They call them zombies, not walkers. There are a bunch of characters that aren't in the show. Hershel's family is a lot bigger, and the events on the farm play out a lot differently. Still, I love both mediums.

I'm looking forward to reading about what happens next, and now that I'm getting ahead of the second season of the show, it looks like everything's going to be new and exciting. Unexpected things are bound to happen! ;)

Wednesday 28 March 2012

What? It's already Wednesday!

I can't believe how quickly this week is going! Yikes.

Anyway, I've been busy working on the FLE (final line edit) for A PATCH OF DARKNESS. And I'm having a great time with it!

As of this morning I have reached page 148/298, which is super cool. I'd like to get this back to my editor by Friday afternoon, so I'm aiming for page 200 by the end of my editing session today. I'll see how I go.

We went to see THE HUNGER GAMES movie yesterday, and I absolutely loved it! Seriously loved it. I noticed several things that were taken out, but it didn't matter because all of the characters were brilliantly performed, and the heart of the story was there. I can't wait to see the next two. :)

Well, that's it for today. Not much to say because my head is full of Sierra and her world at the moment. So much that I can't shake her and am looking forward to getting stuck into Book 3.

Have a great day!


Tuesday 27 March 2012

THE GOOD NEIGHBORS, Book 3: Kind by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh

Holly Black and Ted Naifeh weave another masterful mix of fantasy and the unexpected.After biding their time, the faeries have taken control of the human world. The fey and mortals might not be such good neighbors after all.Rue's world is fragmenting. The fey have taken over her city, and now the humans must share. Her grandfather is gone. Her faerie mother is triumphant. Her human father is despondent. And her boyfriend? He would rather be eaten alive by mergirls than be with Rue. Tension between the humans and faeries is growing, and Rue feels pulled in both directions. In some ways, she feels like her place is in the human world-with her friends, her father, and the humans who want to protect themselves. But then there's her fey half-with her beautiful, dangerous mother, the faeries, and her kinship with the natural world. Can Rue fix the rift between the fey and the humans? Or does she have the courage to continue her grandfather's interrupted plan?


I was looking forward to finding out how this trilogy would end, so when I picked this book up from the library yesterday, I was very excited.

Rue Silver is caught in the middle of a huge faerie problem that her grandfather started. Now, she has to decide whether she's going to help the humans--which includes her father and friends--who are being manipulated and affected by the faeries. Or help the faeries--which includes her mother and heritage--take this section of human world as theirs...

This was another lovely book. I love the intricate drawings, especially in the crowded faerie scenes. They're all so beautiful. I also liked the twist at the end, and that I got my answer--Rue manages to save the humans and accepts her faerie fate, in an unexpected way.

Monday 26 March 2012

JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER: Setting Sun by Warren Ellis

John Constantine, a razor-tongued, chain-smoking, trench-coat-wearing mystic with a penchant for being in the wrong place at the right time, has become one of the most recognizable and enduring characters in modern comics. Featuring bone-chilling tales of horror, magic, loss and regret, JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER: SETTING SUN follows John Constantine as he faces the London underworld.


My husband borrowed this book from the library the other day and when he finished reading it he suggested I check it out. He did warn me about it being pretty effed up. lol.

So, I was curious. And read it today. It contains five different stories...

LOCKED: John Constantine is called in by the police to check out a bizarre situation. There's a killer locked inside a room, but there's a catch. Every time someone steps inside to get the guy, they end up killing each other. Only Constantine's strong enough to face such a barbaric situation, and still manage to get a chuckle out of the reader.

I enjoyed this one. It's violent and morbid, but I liked it.

THE CRIB: This was an insane story, and I have to say that one of the pictures cracked me up. The myth about the crib of the antichrist's miscarried fetus claims that it's inside a box. And everyone that comes in contact with it gets involved in some pretty crazy shit. But as Constantine finds out, not everything is as it seems.

SETTING SUN: Oh gosh. This story was pretty gross. So bad that it made my appetite disappear. Gross! :/

ONE LAST LOVE SONG: A surreal story about Constantine remembering all of his lost loves. Strange, but hauntingly cool.

TELLING TALES: I really enjoyed this one! Constantine has a lot of fun telling a nosey journalist a bunch of crazy occult stories about London, politicians, and the royal family.

This was a fun one.

That's it. That's what I thought of each story. Although I enjoyed it, I don't recommend this comic book for anyone who's squeamish. This is not for the faint hearted.

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay’s dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.


I've wanted to read this book for a while, so I was very excited when I found it at the library.

Clay Jensen gets home from school one day to find a package filled with cassette tapes. They were recorded by Hannah Baker. Hannah was a classmate who killed herself a few weeks before. She was also the girl he had a huge crush on.

Unable to resist, he starts to listen to her tale. Every tape contains a story about a certain person and how they affected her life, and not in a positive way. It also answers why she decided to end her life...

OMG, this book was amazing! It was intriguing, mysterious, and very sad. It also kept me hooked from start to finish.

Hannah's story was haunting and filled me with rage at many points, because of the things this poor girl had to go through. It also broke my heart to see Clay's reaction to her stories. He really cared about her, but wasn't strong enough to show her just how much she meant to him. Which is quite a common thing, I think. How many times is someone scared to make the first move because they're scared of the other person's reaction? Or are afraid of getting rejected, hurt, or both? Many times.

This book also connects everything that led to this young girl giving up on herself, and her life. It's never just the one thing, but a variety of things that are all interconnected and can push someone over the edge.

I loved it! It's one of those stories that really makes you think about how your words--or lack of words--can affect a person.         

Saturday 24 March 2012

GLITCHES by Marissa Meyer

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In “Glitches,” a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch....


I've got CINDER on my TBR pile, so when I found out about this prequel novella, I decided to read it first.

Cinder is a cyborg. She can't remember much before the surgeries that turned her into what she is now, but she's just being adopted by Garan. When she gets to his home in New Beijing and meets his wife and two daughters, she's shy and uncertain of how she'll fit in, but it doesn't take long for one of the girls to make her feel welcome. The other seems to resent Cinder, and their mother thinks she's monstrous.

This is the story of how she became part of the family.

I think it's a great introduction to Cinder, and now I can't wait to read her story. I'm also looking forward to finding out all about her past and what happened to her...

BTW, you can read the story HERE.

STRANGE CANDY by Laurell K. Hamilton

#1 New York Times bestselling author's Laurell K. Hamilton's first short story collection-including an all new Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter story.


Known for her darkly violent, stunningly erotic Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels, New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton reveals new dimensions of her talent in these fantastical fairy tales and lush parables as she welcomes readers to the far corners of her fertile imagination.

I haven't read any Anita Blake books since Book 12. It used to be one of my favourite series, but something happened along the way and I just couldn't handle the path Anita is headed in. So I stopped reading her stories. I borrowed this from the library with the intention of reading the short stories only, so I skipped Micah.

THOSE WHO SEEK FORGIVENESS: This is actually an Anita Blake story, and I loved it! It's got everything I originally loved about Anita and her world. It focuses on a case that seems pretty straightforward--a standard reanimation--but ends up in a pretty bad place. It was great!

A LUST OF CUPIDS: Um... not sure about this one. It was a little too light and fluffy, I think. Even the description of the cupids, lol. And the ending was a little... meh.

THE EDGE OF THE SEA: Oooh, I liked the atmospheric feeling of this story.

The night Adria wakes up nervous and with a feeling of doom, she finds her best friend and housemate dead on the beach. Shortly after a man was taking advantage of her, and then disappears into the sea. Distraught and grief-stricken, she starts to hear a strange song inside her head, while other women turn up abused and dead on the shore. Soon, she finds herself in the same danger... but she might be strong enough to save herself and put an end to this monster.

Although the subject matter of this one was very dark, I liked the style of the story. I really got dragged into the middle of Adria's confused and haunted state of mind. Besides, I've always thought the sea to be super creepy.

A SCARCITY OF LAKE MONSTERS: Oh, I think this is my favourite story so far!

It's set in a world where lake monsters are actually real, and a wife and husband team take care of one in particular in the Enchanted Forest National Park. His name is Irving, and he's got quite the sense of humour, plus really likes his human caretakers. However, the night some assholes take their boat out on the lake and pretty much butcher the poor lake monster, Mike and Susan are distraught, but also discover something fascinating about these sea monsters.

I loved this story.

SELLING HOUSES: This is a short story set in Anita Blake's world, but starring a realtor. Abbie is trying to sell the house of a recent family massacre, but this isn't your average murder house. There's a really dark and evil stain left on it. Dark enough that some pretty heavy supernatural cleansing needs to be done before it can be sold. Lucky for her, other creatures of the night happen to be interested.

A fun and tension-filled story that I really enjoyed.

A TOKEN FOR CELANDINE: An interesting fantasy story about an elf, a healer, a demon and the quest to cleanse the healer. I really enjoyed this one!

A CLEAN SWEEP: This is a silly story that I didn't like. At all. :/

THE CURSE-MAKER: I just couldn't get into this one... DNF.

GEESE: Another fantasy story, but one that I really couldn't get into. So, in the end I read the beginning, skimmed the body, and read the ending. That's it.

HOUSE OF WIZARDS: Another fantasy story. Didn't bother with it.

HERE BE DRAGONS: Now, this was a great, psychologically insane story. In a totally screwed-up way. Wow. It hooked me in from the very beginning and I just had to read it in one sitting. It's a very powerful story set in a world filled with very dangerous, psychic children. Yikes! It made my skin crawl, and I agree with the editor LKH mentioned at the beginning--I feel unclean now.

WINTERKILL: This is another fantasy story, so I decided to skip it...

STEALING SOULS: ...and this one too.

THE GIRL WHO WAS INFATUATED WITH DEATH: Y'know, it wasn't until Jean-Claude entered the scene that I realised I'd already read this story, lol. Still, it's an Anita Blake story and it managed to hook me in once again. So, I just kept reading until I got to the end.

This was an interesting story, another one that reminded me how much I used to love Anita and her world. :/


Well, there it is. This book was a strange mix of short stories. Some I REALLY enjoyed, some I had to skim, and a few I decided to skip. Still, I'm glad I read this collection.

My faves were: Those Who Seek Forgiveness and A Scarcity of Sea Monsters. :)        

Friday 23 March 2012

Yeah, it's Friday

This is another MakeME doll. This one was made by my daughter. And as you've probably already guessed, it's her. So darn cute! She's wearing a Loki tee and slippers. lmao.

So, what's up with you guys? I'm kinda glad it's Friday. Hubby's actually going to work tomorrow morning, so sometimes I'm not quite sure why I enjoy Fridays so much. Weird, huh?

Anyway. I've been working on my SFR Rewrite:1st-revision this week. I actually reached the end yesterday, so that's cool. However, I'm not comfortable saying that I finished it, because to be honest, I didn't. I mean, sure, I got to the end... but now that I've made so many changes and made the story a lot better, I don't like the ending. I initially had an Epilogue, and now I'm wondering if maybe the story is better off ending without one.

Hmmm. So much to think about with this darn story. It's seriously driving me crazy. Luckily, now that I've got this draft done I can put it away for another week or so. That'll give me a chance to think things through and hopefully come up with the perfect ending. Yeah, wishful thinking.

And as much as it desperately needs one more full draft done, I have to admit that I'm really happy with it now. I prefer the way it starts, the way it flows, the character changes, and even how everything turns out. I'm just searching for that perfect ending...

So, I've been reading STRANGE CANDY by Laurell K. Hamilton and have to admit that I'm really enjoying it. Since turning away from both Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, I haven't read anything by LKH. I lost interest in the direction her writing was taking a long time ago. But I'd always been interested in checking out this short story collection because I'd heard good things about it. And so far, I have to agree. I'm having a lot of fun with it! I've read the first five stories already, and I'm finding them all to be very interesting and atmospheric. Which of course is a great thing!

Today, I put together a small to-do list that I'd like to complete by the end of the day. Nothing too strenuous, but a few things that need to be finalised.

Better get to it!

Thursday 22 March 2012

It's Thursday, already?

As I've mentioned before, my daughter has a bunch of doll-making apps on her iPad. So when she showed me another one last night (MakeME), I couldn't help but make a doll of my own. I love making these things. They're so cute! 

<---This is supposed to be a cute version of myself. ;)

So, what's new? I hope you're all having a good and productive week. I've been very busy with this Rewrite:1st-revision I'm working on at the moment. It's driving me crazy! Just when I think I've got a good grasp on what's going on, I find myself deleting and replacing more stuff.

This is seriously turning into a huge rewrite. It's beginning to feel like a different story, lol. Which is actually a good thing.

As of this morning, I've hit page 80/92 and the word count is just over 37k. I still want this to be about 40k by the time I'm finished with it, but I don't think those extra words are going to come during this draft. I need to do another draft after I'm done with this one. I know! It's like a never-ending story, right? :) Still, as long as it becomes a much, much better story at the end of it, I'm happy! And although I know I won't be done after this draft, at least I can be happy knowing that I'm only one more step away from finishing...

So, what else have I been doing? Getting on with real life stuff and reading a few comic books. We also watched the season finale for THE WALKING DEAD. I loved it! I seriously can't wait until the next season starts, which is why I've decided to get stuck into the comic books. And I've also decided that I have to read more zombie books! Like, now.


Well, that's pretty much it for today. I'm hoping to get stuck into the rest of this revision after I get back from dropping my daughter off at school. It doesn't sound like much--I have 12 pages left--but yesterday it took me all day to revise 9 pages! O_o

See ya.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

THE GOOD NEIGHBORS, Book 2: Kith by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh

Rue Silver's life is not what it appears to be. Her mother is a faerie, and has been taken back to the faerie realm. As Rue goes to bring her back, she must travel deep into an inhuman world.


I really enjoyed the first The Good Neighbors graphic novel, so I was looking forward to reading this one.

Rue Silver is a half faerie, and her life is thrown into chaos because of it. Now, she has to deal with knowing her mother didn't really die, her boyfriend acting very strangely and developing a very dangerous addiction, as well as her friends drifting apart as they too are affected by the faerie world. But worse of all is the fact that her faerie grandfather has a horrible plan for her...

I read this book today, and really liked it. Though I have to admit that I enjoyed the first one a lot more, but this still captured my interest from the very beginning.

I can't wait to see what happens next. What's Rue going to do--save the humans, or accept her faerie fate? :)

THE WALKING DEAD, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.


I'm a huge fan of the AMC TV show, The Walking Dead, and I've been wondering about the differences between the comic books and the show for a while now.

So, I reserved the first volume from my local library and it came in yesterday.

Volume 1: Days Gone Bye, includes issues 1-6. It starts with Rick being shot and then waking up in an abandoned hospital to find dead creatures everywhere. When he leaves, it doesn't get any better. The dead have taken over the streets, and he has no idea what's going on. Well, not until he gets hit in the back of the head with a shovel and wakes up to meet Morgan and Duane Jones. Morgan explains a few things to him, and that's when Rick decides to head for Atlanta. Hoping to find his wife and son...

A trek that leads him right into the middle of danger, as well as a group of survivors hiding out on the outskirts of the city. He even finds his family and best friend. But in this new world, things aren't the same. Friendships are tested, and relationships are complicated.

I really enjoyed this book! I especially enjoyed seeing some of the characters from the show in it, as well as finding out the differences. There seem to be many so far, but that just makes the adventure of reading the comic books and watching the show that much better!

Did I mention I'm a big zombie fan? Well, yeah, I am. Can't wait to read the next volume.        

Tuesday 20 March 2012

ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER: Guilty Pleasures #1-12 by Laurell K Hamilton, Ritchie, Ruffner-Booth, Booth, Lim

Fusing mythology and horror in a story loaded with mystery, action and romance, New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels take place in a world where vampires, werewolves and other creatures of nightmare have been declared legal citizens of the United States. Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for a living. She is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she moonlights by investigating cases outside the jurisdiction of conventional police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters in her hometown of St. Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power.

Collecting ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER: GUILTY PLEASURES #1-12.


When we stopped by the library last week hubby found this book, so I decided to borrow it. I used to be a huge fan of the Anita Blake series, but sstopped reading after the eleventh book because I just couldn't take it anymore. But I still reckon that the first ten books were awesome.

I enjoyed the comic book version. Probably not as much as I enjoyed the book the first time I read it, but it was nice to actually see the characters on paper. The art in this book is lovely, too.

Monday 19 March 2012

MIA, again...

I know! How crazy, right?

I really didn't mean to be absent from blogging for most of last week... but when you spend almost all week writing guest blog posts and proofreading them, it makes it hard to get into the daily-blogging swing of things.

Plus, last Thursday ended up being a non-productive day. My daughter took a selective test at the local high school, to see if she gets into the selective stream for next year. It doesn't matter if she doesn't, but I think it was worth a shot. And I wound up spending most of the day dropping her off, coming back home, and then heading out to pick her up again after only a few hours. lol.

Anyway, back to what I achieved last week. I ended up writing seven guest blog posts in four days. I know it doesn't sound like much, but trust me--it is! They were also a lot of fun to put together, and it's helped me get ahead of my planned promo spots for May. Which is cool. :)

So, what's on for this week? Today, I got stuck into the Rewrite:1st-revision of my SFR novella. Y'know the one that I've been working on (well, on-and-off, really) mostly this month? Yeah. I finally like the new direction. I got the first 26/92 pages done today. That's the first two chapters, and they're a lot better than they were before. I know there'll be another draft left to do after this one, but I'm just glad that I'm finally feeling excited about this story again and that it doesn't feel like a complete loss anymore.

The only bad thing is that I feel like I can't work on anything else until this one is done. Even though I've got a lot of pesky new ideas that want to be written. ;)

Well, that's it for today. See ya!


Thursday 15 March 2012

PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver

Lena has escaped, and now must piece herself back together as she finds herself having to live without Alex and love. She becomes involved in the fight against the cure, the Rebellion, and then suddenly finds happiness again.. or does she?

For the first time the thought comes to me - I wish I hadn't crossed - and I push it away instantly, try to bury it. It's done now... There's no point in looking back. I can't look back.

I absolutely loved DELIRIUM, so I couldn't wait to get stuck into the second book in this trilogy.

After Lena tries to escape into the Wilds with Alex, her life is thrown into chaos. She was the only one who got over, so she had to leave him behind the fence in Portland. Alex was captured, probably killed... but she got away, she survived. And so messed up, she nearly dies. Until she's saved by a girl called Raven.

Raven belongs to a small community of Invalids who are hiding out in the ruins of the Wilds. It's a hard life where food is scarce, the manual work is constant, and hiding is essential. It doesn't take long for Lena to fit in, but her life is now on a constant cycle of hardship and loss. Ending up in New York, she becomes part of the resistance.

Pretending to be someone she's not leads her to meeting Julian. He's about to be cured, and also happens to be the son of the ruthless founder of the DFA (Deliria-Free America). While on a mission, she winds up becoming a prisoner with him. And even though she's still heartbroken about what happened with Alex, she can't stop her heart from falling in love again...

Told in sequences covering the Now and Then, it gives the reader a look at what happened to Lena after the first book, and why she's become so different. It also throws you right into the middle of the action right now, and leads into the very shocking ending.

Pandemonium is another intriguing, great installment to this trilogy! Although I have to admit that it took me a while to get into, because the first half of the book was like meeting a completely different Lena. I still really enjoyed it, though. It's beautifully written, there are many complications, a few revelations, and a whole lot of trouble to look forward to in the next book.

I can't wait to see how it all ends for Lena, Alex, and Julian.      

Pandemonium: Delirium #2, March 2012, ISBN 9781444722932, H&S Fiction

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Some Sierra News!

That's right! I received my copy of the signed contract this morning, so I suppose it's now okay to announce that Sierra Fox #2 will be published by Samhain Publishing.

Yay! Awesome!

The second book in her series is called, SPLIT AT THE SEAMS.

I can't wait to share more info as I get it. Also, really looking forward to seeing this cover. :)

Have a nice day!

Monday 12 March 2012

Yeah, I knew it...

the rain couldn't hold out for too long. It actually didn't rain at all yesterday. Though I can't remember if it did or not on Saturday because all of the rainy days are starting to blur into each other. O_o

But this morning, it started up again while I was halfway through my walk by the river. Damn! I would just love a few weeks of sunny, lovely weather. Is that too much to ask for after we practically missed out on summer? I don't think it is.

Sorry, I'm still not feeling 100% so I'm a little cranky. It doesn't take much to irritate me at the moment.

Hubby and I finally picked up the antibiotics the doctor prescribed if we weren't feeling better by Friday. A few days into it, and I feel like they are making a difference. Though taking the bullet-sized capsules is quite an ordeal. I mean, my throat hurts and is clogged up, so having to take such a huge capsule is not the easiest thing to do at the moment. I've been cheating--cutting it in half, and swallowing the two halves separately. And even then, my gosh, I can feel each bit as if it's getting stuck on the way down. Yuck!

Can't wait to be done with the treatment.

So, I've decided that today I'm going to work on some guest blog posts I owe for the month of May. They're for several guest spots I've lined up for the release of my first Sierra Fox book. I have eight to write, so if I can get through at least the first draft of half of those by the end of today, that would be awesome!

I'm not sure if it's because of the way I feel at the moment, but I'm reading the sequel for a book that I absolutely loved last year. The first book in the trilogy was outstanding, so I couldn't wait to get stuck into the next one. And now that I am getting stuck into it, there's just something that keeps me from loving it. I'm not sure what, or why, but it's not the awesome book I was expecting. Maybe it's my fault because I was expecting too much. Not sure. But I won't judge it until I get to the very end...

Well, that's all for today. Wish me luck on being productive! ;)

Friday 9 March 2012

The blue sky is back... but for how long?

This is how it was for most of the day yesterday. Actually, it was worse. We had torrential rain that lasted for so long the river nearby flooded. Our apartment block was okay, though the garage level downstairs was full of puddles.

And I wasn't feeling very well. Whatever my hubby has, he pretty much passed on to me. So we went to the doctor yesterday and while he has a throat infection, mine's viral. His problem is all in the throat--clogged up, has lost his voice, keeps coughing--and mine's viral--itchy, clogged up throat and nose, my head feels heavy, limbs sore, and I even had a fever when the doctor took my temperature. :(

I'm feeling a little better today. I'm trying to take it easy. I did go for my usual walk along the river, and was disappointed to find it now looks more like a swamp than a river. Though, the huge group of ibis seemed to be enjoying it. (We have a lot of ibis around here. I think they're cute.)

Anyway. So I really don't have much planned for today. The only real plan I had was to attend the Readers Appreciation/Read an EBook Week chat. And I did. It was a lot of fun!

I actually got through the first round of rewrites for the SFR novella I mentioned earlier this week. I ended up cutting about 14k words. Ouch! The word count's gone down to 36k, but that's okay. Everything I deleted had to go. Yet, the story's nowhere near done yet. Nope. It's still broken. The skeleton story is there, but after taking such a huge chunk out, I need to ramp up the character motivation, story tension, and make sure it all flows smoothly. Man, there's still so much more work to do...

Which sucks, because I'm itching to get stuck into other projects already screaming at me to get on with it. LOL. But it feels like I need to finish this one before tackling anything else. I think what I really need to do is look at my goals for this year again, and reshuffle some stuff.

There's something to think about, huh?

For now, I'm going to start thinking about what I can have for lunch. See ya!

Thursday 8 March 2012

GONE TO THE DOGS & ICE, ICE BABY by Naomi Clark

Before Ethan Banning was a down-and-out demon-possessed PI, he was just a down-and-out PI. Follow his pre-Shoregrave adventures in the Ethan Banning Files, a series of short stories.


After really enjoying Ungrateful Dead, I was looking forward to getting stuck into another Ethan Banning short story. And it didn't disappoint.

Ethan's run up a pretty big bar tab, so when the owner tells him to pay up or he'll break his face, he tells him he'll be back with some money that's owed to him, and instead ends up at the greyhound track. Where he meets a strange woman.

When she finds out he's a PI, she wants his help. Since he needs the money, he accepts. But this isn't an average case and certainly doesn't get him the money he was hoping for...

This is another fun Ethan story. I absolutely love his PI voice. He cracks me up. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. :)

Can't wait to read more.


This isn't just another great Ethan Banning short story, it's also a damn good Christmas tale. With added riddle. ;)

Ethan's spending Christmas Eve at the bar. It's crowded, he's got a little extra money to spend on booze, and he's even trying to make the moves on his favourite barmaid, Haley. However, when he accidentally spills his drink on Haley and she goes to clean up, Ethan goes after her to make sure she's okay. Instead, he finds her cleaning up in the bathroom, and a dead girl on the toilet...

What a fun, little story! I also like the title, lol. Ethan's an awesome character, and I can't get enough of him. It's also great to see things (kinda) go his way for a change. ;)        

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Not feeling the best...

Yeah. I think I can blame the sudden change in weather.

Seriously, it feels like the weather went from hot to cool as soon as the new month ticked over last week. :( You know how I get during the season transitions--I bitch about it every year, lol--but at least there's still one month left until we have to turn back our clocks and night comes at 5pm. Not looking forward to that.

Anyway, hubby started coughing last week. And a few days later, I did too. I think it's a head cold, or something. I don't feel 100% but I'm not going to let that stop me from getting on with my day. This week, that means tackling the rewrite of my latest SFR novella.

At the beginning of the week, I decided to go back to the start. Again.

So far, I've reached page 54/111 and the word count's gone down by about 4k. Which is actually a good thing. There are a lot of bad words I need to delete, and I think the new direction is a lot better. Of course, even after I get to the end, I'll need to do one more draft to smooth everything out, but I'm happy with whatever progress I can get with this story. It's taken me several months to reach this point with this particular rewrite, so I'm happy to finally be making some headway. :)

Oh, and if you're interested, I'll be at the Samhain Cafe this week to help celebrate Readers Appreciation/Read an EBook Week. So if you'd like to catch up, I'll be there on Thursday, March 8 at 3-4pm EST. That's Friday, March 9 at 7-8am for me. ;)

Not much else has been going on around here. I'm keeping busy, like always. I'm also reading a few books at the moment. I have so many books I (desperately) want to read, but I need to clear a few others off my plate first.

Anyway, speak to you soon!

TWELTH GRADE KILLS by Heather Brewer

It all comes down to this.

Vlad’s running out of time. The Elysian Council has given him weeks to live, and that’s if the Slayer Society doesn’t kill him – along with all the citizens of Bathory – first. Then there’s the issue of Vlad’s father, who may or may not still be alive after all these years, and oh yeah, that tiny little detail in the Pravus prophecy about Vlad enslaving Vampirekind and the human race. So much for college applications.

In this epic finale to Heather Brewer’s heart-stopping Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, dark secrets will be revealed, old friends will become enemies, and warm blood will run cold. Just be careful it isn’t yours.


**Spolier Alert**


This is the last book in the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, so I was really looking forward to finding out how Vlad's story was going to end...

Vlad is in his last year of high school, and as usual, things in his life are complicated and confusing. Especially since his father's 'returned from the dead', and claims to have been watching him from the shadows--for Vlad's protection, and to stay off the vampire radar. The truth is a lot more disturbing. And with the Slayers preparing to cleanse the town of Bathory completely, things only get worse.

At least he's got a truce going with Joss, still has the loyalty of his best friend, and has finally faced his true feelings about the girl he really likes...

As soon as Tomas--Vlad's father--entered the scene, I knew something was off about him. I pretty much suspected him from the beginning, but I didn't expect him to have killed Vlad's mother. That revelation was huge, and upsetting at the same time. I was also very sad about what happened to Nelly, surprised at what happened to Snow, and glad that Otis made it out alive.

This ended up being a great vampire series!        

Monday 5 March 2012

ONE HELL OF A RIDE by Seanan McGuire

JONATHAN HEALY AND FRANCES BROWN
(circa 1928-???)

After a rather...eventful...visit to Tempe, Arizona, Jonathan Healy wants nothing more than to return to his home in Buckley Township, Michigan, where at least the threats are generally familiar ones. With the last of the blood mopped up and the locals none the wiser, it seems he's just a train ride away from getting his wish.

Of course, there are a few small complications. Like the lovely and occasionally violent Miss Frances Brown, former star of the Campbell Family Circus, who seems to have become his new traveling companion. And then there's the matter of the train having driven through a dimensional gateway into Hell...

Maybe Jonathan shouldn't be quite so worried about getting back to Michigan. Maybe his time would be better spent in worrying about how to get off the train while he, and Fran, are still among the living.


I read this story in one sitting and really enjoyed it! It was fun, filled with interesting and dangerous creatures, two very cool main characters, and a train worming its way through a hellish portal. Cool!

Now, I can't wait to receive my copy of Discount Armageddon. :)        

Sunday 4 March 2012

WONDER WOMAN: Amazons Attack! by Will Pfeifer and Pete Woods

The 6-issue miniseries AMAZONS ATTACK by the CATWOMAN creative team of Will Pfeifer and Pete Woods explodes in this hardcover volume! Over a year since the events of INFINITE CRISIS, Wonder Woman's Amazon Sisters have retreated to the realm of the gods. But now the Amazons are back, screaming for vengeance. What could compel the Amazons to renounce their peaceful ways and attack the United States? The answers will prove useless to a country whose super-powered protectors are utterly unprepared for this savage attack. And where is Wonder Woman while her sisters threaten to destroy a nation?


When we went to the library yesterday, hubby found this book and because he knows I love Wonder Woman, he showed it to me. Of course, I had to borrow it and decided to get stuck into it today.

Circe resurrect Queen Hippolyta and when she asks about her daughter Diana, Circe tells her the American government has her. The queen then declares war on mankind by unleashing the Amazons on American soil to destroy them. While the Justice League tries to protect humans and Wonder Woman confronts her mother to try and end this senseless war...

It started out pretty well. I liked the character list at the front, and the story seemed like it was going somewhere. For a while. Then, a lot of stuff started to happen behind the scenes. Some of what was going on didn't make much sense. And the more I read, the more the story seemed disjointed--jumping from here to there, and back again without making sense.

In the end, I found the disjointed events to be more confusing than anything else. Which is a real shame since I love Wonder Woman. Though to be honest, she really wasn't in it much. Or seemed very important to the overall story, even though the whole war thing starts because of her. Strange.

The drawings are nice. Even if most of the women look the same--young, with big boobs and muscled bodies. :/ At least Wonder Woman looked cool

Saturday 3 March 2012

THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin

Seventeen-year-old Mara cannot remember the accident that took the lives of three of her friends but, after moving from Rhode Island to Florida, finding love with Noah, and more deaths, she realizes uncovering something buried in her memory might save her family and her future.

As soon as I read the first chapter of this book, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next.

Mara wakes up in the hospital and she can't remember why she ended up there. She does find out that there was an accident involving a building collapsing, leaving her best friend, another friend, and her boyfriend dead. After being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, her family moves to Florida, where they start fresh and Mara hopes she'll be able to forget all about the tragedy she suffered.

But the ghosts of her dead friends are haunting her. All of a sudden, she starts to see them. And she starts to see the death of other people, too. She keeps hallucinating and starts to feel as if reality is slipping away from her. And having the alluring--yet annoying and pushy--Noah constantly pursuing her isn't any fun for her, either.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Mara's story. A lot. I lost myself in the misery and mystery constantly hounding her. The way she starts to see things that aren't there, and starts to think she's crazy, was written so well that at times I truly didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

I do have to admit that I didn't like Noah much. He was too pushy, cocky and full of secrets. Sometimes he even comes across as creepy. But once I found out exactly what was going on with him, it made sense why he was so desperate to connect with someone like him. Besides, their romance didn't deter from the main story, so that was cool.

Oh, and the ending--wow! I thought this book was intriguing and excellent. :)  

Thursday 1 March 2012

Zombie Dreams & Mind Clutter

Today, I woke up with the very vivid and graphic images of a zombie dream still inside my head. Or are those classified as nightmares? lol. Either way, I can still see everything that happened. It was pretty horrific, spooky, and downright creepy. I should write it all down, because this is definitely something I would like to turn into a story.

Then, hubby showed me the latest Avengers trailer. OMG. It's amazing! I can't wait to see this movie. It's gonna be... explosive. So cool.

Well,  I spent most of yesterday answering interview questions and updating stuff online. It doesn't feel quite as productive as writing, revising and editing, etc. but it's still cool to be one step closer to crossing these three interviews off my to-do list. I've scheduled a bunch of guest blogs and interviews for April/May, so I think now's a good time to get started on them. Rather than wait until the last minute.

I've also hit a bit of a reading funk. I finished 'reading' a book last night that everyone else in the world (or at least, Goodreads) seemed to love. I just couldn't get into it, so I wound up skimming most of it before putting it aside. I hate doing that with books. I like to give them a real shot, but sometimes... there's just no connection. Unfortunately, this was one of those books.

And now, because of that I've started a few books and put them aside. Go back to them, and then grab another one. Maybe I've just got too much on my TBR pile. :/ I think the best thing to do right now is for me to go through my bookshelf and Kindle, then read the books that I really want to read, not the ones that need a review and have due dates. We'll see.

I tend to get a little brain cluttered sometimes, and I think it's happening to me right now. I've got a lot on my mind, and some story ideas are brewing. That always makes me a little restless.

Well, I better get going. Need to head out to drop my daughter off at school soon...
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