Keeping busy with the words...

Speaking of which, the novel revision is moving along quite nicely. I've stopped at page 120, which means I have 20 pages left to get to the end. Yay! I'm still debating whether to try and tackle half of that tonight, or whether I should just leave it for tomorrow... still thinking about it.

The word count's gone up a tiny bit again--59,611. My gosh, I don't know if I'll make it to 60k. But I'm not worried. It's not a priority. Getting the story revised and ready for subbing is. And I want it to be the best that it can be. :)

Did you all hear about Corey Haim? It was one of the first things I saw this morning when I checked my emails. He passed away. He was only 38 years old. So young. Though I wasn't as surprised as I should've been. See, I was a huge Corey Haim fan. From the time I saw him in The Lost Boys, I rushed out to watch anything else he made. Especially if it was with Corey Feldman. They were fun to watch, and real friends off screen. Which I thought was super cool. I was a teenager, after all. But I also knew that he had a drug problem, and it slowly killed his career. It's really sad that it eventually caught up with his life, too. :( RIP, Corey Haim.

It's really sad that so many of the people that I used to like when I was a kid and teen are slowly passing away. Too many of them left us last year, I hope it's not the same this year.

Well, it's time I head out. Have a good day!

Here we are again

Welcome to a new week!

As you can see from the pic on the left, I've gotten two books off my TBReviewed pile. Yay! Actually, I've got about 100 pages of Zombie: An Anthology of the Undead left to read. So, there's another reason to yay! But my gosh, this is going to be one book that I'm going to miss when I'm done with it. Seriously, there are some awesome gems in this anthology. To be honest, I've only read about two that I didn't think were awesome. The rest--so far--are brilliant.

I'm havin' a zombie good time, that's for sure.

Well, asides from the reading, I've got another goal I'd like to meet this week. That's doing the third/final draft of my NaNoWriMo novel. That's right. I'm hoping to have it in shape for submission by the end of the week. I'm up to page 33 at the moment. Today's goal is page 37, so as long as I stick to that, I'll be able to do it. Fingers crossed.

That means it's going to be a busy week.

Oh, and before I forget, my interview at Fallen Angel Reviews is now live. :)

Well, I better get back to it.

Some days...

...I wish I had straight hair.

Today's one of those days. But I have naturally wavy hair, and if I don't blowdry it--which I didn't have time to do this morning--then it dries all curly in the wrong spots. lol.

Oh well. What can you do?

This morning hubby and I popped into my fave bookstore in the city and I picked up two books. We also popped into a shopping centre on the way back, where we picked up a few bargains and enjoyed a lovely lunch.

Now he's gone to work and I'm back home with Loki. Who was a little upset that I didn't come right back. He likes to do that. An hour or two away from home is fine with him, any longer he doesn't like. But he's gotten over it now and is sitting on the couch closest to me. He's such a cutie!

Anyway. Today I'd like to write one more blog post that I've got scheduled for next week, and also finish reading the second story in this zombie anthology. Not much more planned. Although I do want to get into the right state of mind for my revision next week. Or, actually, tomorrow. I'd like to get started on it tomorrow while hubby and daughter go off to the pool. If I can get one chapter revised, that'll help me get through it by the end of the (next) week. Yay!

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to see if I can enjoy this overcast day. :/

Have a great weekend!

MASQUERADE by Melissa de la Cruz

Preparations are under way for the ball of the century. But as any true Blue Blood knows, it's the after-party that counts. And the cunning Mimi Force is getting ready to make sure her masquerade ball is the place to be for the Young, Fabulous and Fanged.

But Schuyler Van Alen has more on her mind than fancy dresses, even if her crush Jack Force, is sure to make an appearance. She's getting closer to finding out what's been preying on the young vamps and discovering the deadly secrets hiding under the masks...

Rich with glamour, attitude and vampire lore, this second instalment in the Blue Bloods saga will leave readers thirsting for more.

After reading the first Blue Bloods book the other day, I was excited about getting stuck into the second one in the series.

Schuyler Van Alen has decided to go to Venice--with Oliver--in search of her grandfather. Before her grandmother was killed in the first book, she mentioned that Lawrence Van Alen was the only one who could help her get to the bottom of the Silver Bloods mystery. But when Schuyler meets him, he tells her she's wasted her time. So, she heads back to New York. Where the preparations for the Four Hundred Ball are in full swing.

Now that Schuyler knows the truth about Jack Force and his sister, Mimi, she's trying hard to convince herself that she no longer has a crush on him. But he confuses her by paying attention to her, as well as flirting. Luckily for her, her exiled grandfather decides to surprise her by returning to New York. He moves into the mansion that her grandmother let go for so long and is keen to help her. Now that he's here, she's able to spend a lot of time with him, learning a bunch of vampire powers that The Committee doesn't want the younger Blue Bloods to know. He's a great teacher, and she's a very powerful student, but she's still a half-blood and it slowly takes a toll on her.

Meanwhile, Bliss Llewellyn is suffering through her own problems and confusion. She keeps blacking out and wakes up in places she doesn't remember going to. She also gives into the temptation of taking a human familiar. Mimi Force is as bitchy as ever, and when she teams up with a mysterious newcomer with his own agenda, she sets her sights on getting rid of Jack's distraction--Schuyler. With devastating results to herself.

I love the tangled web of these characters' lives. Because of the many lifetimes they've each lived and where they originated, many of them find themselves being parents, sisters, brothers, and even lovers in different lifetimes. It's quite an unconventional thing to get your head around, but as soon as you stop looking at it through human eyes and through the eyes of the mythology Melissa de la Cruz has created, everything starts to fall into place and makes sense.

Masquerade is a nice addition to the series, and has thrown me further into the mystery of the Silver Bloods. Also, the author's laid-back writing style gives this book a feel that turns serious subjects into a fun and easy book to read, while still keeping me intrigued every step of the way. Not to mention the little twist she threw in right at the end! Now the third cover makes sense.

I can't wait to see what happens next...

Masquerade: Blue Bloods Bk 2, March 2010, ISBN 978-190-565477-2, Orbit Paperback

BLUE BLOODS by Melissa de la Cruz

They're Young, Fabulous and Fanged...

And they rule Manhattan from the trendy uptown clubs to the downtown boutiques. Fifteen-year-old Schuyler Van Alen has never quite fit in at her exclusive prep school, she's more of a vintage than a Versace girl, but all that's about to change...

Because Schuyler has just found out she's a Blue Blood. The Blue Bloods are the city's glamorous and secret vampire elite. They're young, beautiful and powerful. But now they're being murdered. And Schuyler must find out who or what is behind it before she's next.

This is the first in the Blue Bloods series. It's a YA series that I've had my eye on for a while, so when I found out it was being released in Australia, I couldn't wait to put my name down for a review copy. I'm a sucker for vampires.

Schuyler Van Alen might attend a private school for the rich and live in one of the greatest cities in the world, but she's never truly fit in. But that's fine, because she's got her best friend Oliver by her side. And together they hang out and manage to ignore all the other teens who are so unlike them. That is, until Schuyler finds out that she's a Blue Blood--a vampire. And not only that, but she's surrounded by them.

As if that's not hard enough to deal with, she's got a crush on one of the most popular guys in school, and is about to find out the real reason why her mother's in a coma, while Blue Bloods are being murdered by a creature more powerful than vampires. With so much going on, even her friendship with Oliver takes an unexpected turn.

Of course, there's a lot more to the story. And it's not just told in the point of view of Schyler. We also get into the head of the very obnoxious, Mimi Force. As well as the Texan, Bliss Llewellyn. As they each go through their own transformations and problems. Out of all of them, I found Mimi to be the hardest to enjoy and relate to because of her bitchiness. Bliss made a welcome change, but of course, Schuyler's story is the one that I enjoyed following the most.

She's the one caught up in the middle of something she had no idea even existed. As she slowly accepts what's going on around her, she also starts to understand things a lot better. And because of her, as a reader I got to delve deeper into the mythology of the Blue Bloods. I really like the new twist the author has given to vampires. I also found that because of how these vampires exist, the the book has a more adult feel. There's certainly not much innocence left in these teens.

Blue Bloods is an interesting book that introduces the reader to a world that at first seems as if it's just filled with spoilt rich teens, but soon opens up to a lot more. The mystery of who is killing these vampires and why, had me guessing the whole time. I can't wait to get all the answers...

And because I've got the next book on my TBR pile, I can at least get a few more answers and get more involved with the Blue Bloods right away.

Blue Bloods: Blue Bloods Bk 1, March 2010, ISBN 978-190-565474-1, Orbit Paperback