Friday 30 November 2012

What I'm Reading: Iced by Karen Marie Moning. What I'm Drinking: Champagne.


I love Karen Marie Moning. She is one hundred percent guilty pleasure, like eating a rich, delicious chocolate cake that you know is too big of a slice and you know pretty much makes up your entire ideal calorie count for the next three days, but you’re doing it anyway. Her romances are so over-the-top sometimes that you feel like she’s utterly aware of the inherent cheesiness of the genre—and is rolling around in it like a kitten in catnip, inviting you to join her. And I’m right there with her, every time, furry little paws in the air, batting at invisible butterflies.

With the Fever series, though, her writing takes a darker turn. I wouldn’t call this series romance. It has a strong romantic undercurrent, and its hero and heroine mostly adhere to romance novel archetypes. But the story itself is more fantasy than romance, and the romantic arc draws out over several novels. Here’s where we meet the deadly-sexy-dangerous JZB—my favorite evil-dark-hero-badass of all time. Yes, I must speak in giddy hyphens when referring to him. He is too much to describe in just one single word.

Iced is a spinoff of the Fever series, told from the perspective of Dani, a fourteen-year-old girl with special powers—a peripheral character in the Fever books. As with those, I wouldn’t call this a romance—instead, like the heroine, it’s growing up slowly, and you know one day it’ll evolve into a brilliant romantic future. It’s just not quite there yet.

There are several different candidates put forward for the man who will evolve into Dani’s hero. One is a JZB equivalent character—much older than he looks, keeping dangerous secrets, and truly badass. But this guy doesn’t quite stand up to the JZB example to me. Maybe it’s the age difference, but Ryodan strikes me more as the creepy uncle you walked in on having sex that one time—and you’re still scarred—than as a potential love interest.

And where JZB never could or wanted to control Mac—the heroine of the Fever series—I found Ryodan’s interactions with Dani to be too controlling. True, Dani is a child. But she has a very vibrant and strong personality, and the way Ryodan bosses her around makes him a dangerous adversary—but also makes me not want to root for them as a future couple. Maybe the difference is explained best by Dani herself, who once compared JZB to a wild animal and Ryodan to a machine. The wild animal doesn’t seek to control others—and the only gift he can give someone else is her freedom. I think ultimately, that’s what makes a dark hero like him work. At least for me.

Then there’s Christian. Sexy Christian, who’s evolving into a powerful but also out-of-control supernatural creature because of some kind of curse he picked up in the Fever series. I thought he had potential at first. But his level of intense interest in Dani—who is, don’t forget, only fourteen—and the other creepy stuff he keeps doing (you’ll have to read the book for that; I don’t want to spoil it) puts him officially in the friend zone for me. I don’t think he’s hero material in this book, although he could make that transition in a different one—and I’d like to see that.

To be honest—and this is a surprise to me—my favorite candidate for Dani’s future main squeeze is Dancer. Dancer is not a supernatural being. He’s also not a lot older than Dani. He’s a normal human boy, and true, he’s really smart. But he’s not a typical romance novel hero. He’s not powerful. He’s not alpha. He’s not intimidated by Christian or Ryodan, both of whom are plenty intimidating. But he’s not a testosterone-happy posturer, either. He quietly gets the job done. He shows himself out. He’s there when she needs him.

My hero tastes run more toward the JZB-style dark hero than the nice, ordinary guy—at least in fiction. But KMM makes that nice guy attractive. Through Dani’s eyes, Dancer comes off as truly the strongest and most mature of all of them—despite lacking special powers of his own or a supernaturally extended lifespan. (Sigh. I just re-read that sentence. MAN, I am such a paranormal romance geek.) For Dani, who is a bold, brave, larger-than-life character herself, that may be just what she needs. Strong, solid, and steady—someone she can make a life with.

As for what I’m drinking when I read this novel: champagne. Not expensive champagne. But definitely champagne. It’s light, it’s intoxicating, and you get so drunk on it you’re a little embarrassed the next day—but you just can’t stop guzzling it. It’s the equivalent of alcoholic sunshine—or, dare I say it, catnip. This is a thick book, and I finished it in a single joyous, orgiastic weekend of reading. I bet you will, too.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Cupcake of the Week: End of NaNoWriMo Approaches. Are You Ready?

I am a long time NaNo-nut. This is the first year in five years where I'm not spending my November locked to the keyboard -- mostly because I need to finish some things and, well, I tried Camp NaNo over the summer. But, I know right now I'm totally back next year. National Novel Writing Month helped me start and finish projects in ways I hadn't thought possible before. And I'd like to thank both Genn and Jenny for getting me into it.

In honor of those out there who are banging away even as we speak, I'm giving you one of the most hilarious NaNo send-ups I've seen so far this year:

for more Jonesy and the Commander go to thepunchlineismachismo.com.

Monday 26 November 2012

Oh, Thought Catalog, I might have to quit you.


Sigh.

I am no longer in my 20s. I’m in my very early 30s. For the most part, I’m ok with this. I really am. I like my 30s so far. I have a much better understanding of who I am and what I want from life. It’s a big improvement over the crazytown that I was for most of my 20s. Let’s be honest, I still have many crazytown moments, but they are far less in scale compared to my 20s.



These are all good things.

This isn’t really a post about that, though.

This is a post about Thought Catalog. I adore Thought Catalog. Sometimes it feels like their posts come straight from inside my brain. I’d love to write for them because I think the content they are producing is fantastic! But lately, I’m not feeling it so much. Sometimes their brilliance makes me want to sob. Check out this post on ‘Game of Thrones Love’. I mean, this is the stuff I think about. A lot.

But more often than not there’s a post about a 20 something problem. About ten of these posts a day. I am again, only in my very early 30s (ok, I’m 31!) but these posts annoy me to no end. Not because they aren’t well written (though sometimes they aren’t, which breaks my heart a little) but because of the sheer volume of them. Yes, Thought Catalog is for the young, hip and terminally cool (it’s a disease, trust me). But it’s also for people who like to think, to have their brains expanded with wonderfully written posts. Lately, its turned into the graveyard for all things 20 something. Which is reading to me a lot like Cosmo or The Catcher in the Rye. Great in small doses, but you can OD on it quickly.

So, I guess you can call this my open letter to Thought Catalog.


I have loved you since before you were cool. Before everyone read you. Before you decided to publish ebook only collections of your articles (I have questions about how that works actually, who gets royalties, what content goes into those books, etc, but that’s probably for another post). My love affair with you has been long and distinguished. But the bloom is off the rose now, my darling. You are firmly entering hipster middle age. I don’t want to part from you, but I find myself yearning for something new. Something that remembers I exist. Something that wants me to keep reading it. Something that doesn’t act as if your 30s is a decade to ignore (heaven forbid 40s). I miss your cocky swagger. I miss when you used to write posts that got inside my brain and made me think, made me look at life and smile, laugh or get a bit misty eyed. I miss when you dazzled me with your brilliance. I miss when you were a site that spanned all decades and didn’t just focus on one. In short, I miss when you used to have my number and called me up late at night, not just for a drunken booty call, but for a soul to soul chat on my roof under the stars. I miss you.

But I’m a woman in my 30s. I don’t do relationships that are one sided. I learned that from three of your ‘Men not to date in your 20s’ posts. The other six posts on this topic I shamefully must admit I ignored. Did I miss something? Please do tell me, oh wise and wonderful font of all things 20 something.  

I won’t write you off entirely, my darling dearest, but I will be taking a step back from you. Let’s call this an open relationship. I might cuddle with Good.is sometimes. I might occasionally look to Jezebel.com for insight. But I don’t want to quit you.

Please don’t make me quit you.

Yours always,
Genn 

Friday 23 November 2012

Story time: Beauty and The Werewolf


I am mad for Mercedes Lackey's two current fairytale-based series, and while I'll talk more about the other one some other time, I just finished one of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books, Beauty and the Werewolf. Some of these books I've loved more than others, I'll admit. But, I do like the world she creates with the Tradition and those who are in the know about it. I love Godmother Elena -- whose story, The Fairy Godmother, was just fantastic -- and her cadre of friends, assistants, and disguised allies that appear throughout the series. I also love that these stories can almost all be read out of sequence and still enjoyed for just how awesome they are. In fact, while some characters carry over into other stories, like this one, really, there is no particular order needed, although it does make finding someone you recognize from an earlier book more fun.

With Beauty and The Werewolf, we see the story of both "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast" in a completely new light. Isabella -- her friends call her Bella -- is visiting a wise woman most folks call Granny when she's attacked by wolf. She ends up being dragged into the world of Tradition and finds that the wolf was more than he seemed, as are those around him. I love the world and I love the new twist on an old story, although I think I would have loved to see more interactions between Bella and her cursed nobleman. They both seem like fantastic characters, but I really didn't see enough of what made them laugh together, as the cover talks about. And I would have liked to get to know him better. He seems like an interesting guy: cursed to be a werewolf every full moon, a wizard who works in the Godmother network, a nobleman and a recluse who desperately needs some companionship but is afraid he might hurt someone if he leaves his castle for too long. I wanted more time to fall in love with him, too. Bella is a no-nonsense type of girl who, before she knew what tradition was was doing what she could to manipulate it in her favor. She may chafe at her confinement, but she largely makes the best of it and takes over changing the lives of those who are living in the castle and her werewolf. I like that about her. I also like that she does crumble a little when the frustration gets too much. It shows just how human she is. I also love how vivid her descriptions are of the world, I can really smell, taste, and feel the world that Bella inhabits.

I will be buying the next when it comes out.

It's a little late for it, but what I've been thinking about drinking with this is -- mostly for the kitsch factor -- the Newcastle seasonal, Werewolf, a red amber ale. If beer is not your style -- and generally, it's not mine, I'd go with a nice hot spiced cider, something to cut the chill, sweet, spicy, with a little bite.

We'll see you next week, with Genn taking the lead on Monday. 

Enjoy!

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Cupcake of the Week: Things security cameras capture

Ok, so today's Cupcake isn't funny. It's not traditionally delicious either. But, it did warm my heart and make me smile long after I finished watching the film. Enjoy!


Monday 19 November 2012

Musings on a Monday Afternoon: What I’ve Lost, What I Cling To


I recently turned an age where I thought, at sixteen, I’d have it All Figured Out. I believed I’d have an amazing successful career by now—as an actress and a novelist. I thought I’d have found my soulmate and would be settled down by now, preferably in a rambling old fixer-upper of a chateau in France. None of these things have happened.

I think of myself as someone who hasn’t changed much. I still want the same things I’ve wanted since I was five. But in some ways, my childhood self might not recognize herself in me now.

These are the things I’ve let go of:

  1. The idea of never settling. No relationship is perfect. No matter how amazing yours is, you will always be settling for something.
  1. The idea of being famous. I don’t think I want to be famous. I think I would hate my life.
  1. The dream of being a really well-known actress. See above.
  1. The conviction that I can ever have put-together, done-looking hair. I am done getting into arm-wrestling matches with a curling iron or a blow dryer. I never win.
  1. The idea that I will ever be part of any kind of artistic in-crowd. For the following reasons: a. No discernible fashion sense. b. Zero ability to project that intangible "cool" factor. c. Serious lack of aptitude for putting together a credible bohemian-sexy outfit involving leggings. Leggings as a clothing staple go right over my head. (Yes, mostly it has to do with clothes.)
  1. The idea that sex needs to be like sex in a romance novel. It took me a looong time to get over that one. When I did, I started having better sex.
  1. The search for the perfect black suede boot I saw in a Banana Republic once for $280, years ago. I told myself I would buy them on sale. I never saw them again. I’ve been settling, boot-wise, ever since.
  1. The idea that success is something defined by others. I may never be a famous actress. I’m not sure I want to be. But if I’m doing fun projects, work I’m proud of, and I actually get paid for it—that looks a lot like success to me.
  1. The idea that I have to impress anyone with my reading list. I have a lot of guilty pleasures, and I embrace them with wanton, loose-bodiced abandon. Also, the fact that I have a reading list is pretty impressive in this day and age, sadly enough.
  1. The idea that I need to change. The people who matter love me for who I am.
These are the things I still believe in:

  1. Flossing. Every day. 
  1. Someday I can have a career as a novelist. And that the publishing industry will be in some shape to support my career as a novelist when I finally get my act together, no matter how ugly it is out there. 
  1. Being myself, always. Even when it’s not the easiest thing to be. See No. 10 on the previous list.
  1. No matter how much of a mess I am, a good manicure and pedicure can make me feel about 80% more put together.
  1. Great shoes will take care of a large part of the remaining 20%.
  1. A book and a bubble bath can cure all kinds of ills.
  1. The world is a warmer place when you’re swathed in fleece. Seriously, if you’re expecting bad news, wear fleece socks. It'll take the edge off.
  1. I can change, if I choose to, even if I don’t need to. 
What have you lost? What do you cling to?

Friday 16 November 2012

What I'm Reading: The Mark of Athena



This week I'm reading The Mark of Athena. I’m a big big big HUUUGGGEEE fan of Rick Riordan. I loved the Percy Jackson series. I really enjoyed the Kane Chronicles. Rick Riordan’s books are an instabuy in hardback for me (I am not a fan of reading books in hardback as they tend to be heavy and make my commute unhappy) but I can’t wait for the paperbacks.
Besides my love of the stories I love that Rick Riordan’s books are so engaging for kids. I love that he manages to make Greek and Egyptian mythology cool. I love that he brings old stories to a completely new audience. I love, more than anything, that he gets people reading. As a *hopeful* YA writer, that’s all I want to do—get teens reading. It’s not an easy task and Rick Riordan does it so well.
I am really digging the Heroes of Olympus series which sees Percy and Annabeth returning to face the looming god-pocalpyse (yes, I make up words) with a new crew of demigod heroes. This is the third book in the series so I’m not going to summarise the other books for you. I’ll just say this: if you haven’t read the Percy Jackson books, but want to see what all the fuss is about, pick up the first book Heroes of OlympusThe Lost Hero. Rick Riordan has done a fantastic job of merging the two series and allowing readers to jump into this new series with the
first book. I love seeing the old characters come back, but the new characters are just as engaging (if not more so). 

This series feels a little older to me than Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles (which are firmly middle grade). If not quite YA, then it’s not far off. The Mark of Athena sees our heroes from Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood finally join together to embark on their quest to Rome to stop Gaia from rising and destroying the earth. Filled with lots of action, brilliant characterisation and Riordan’s trademark humour, this is an adventure not to be missed.
While I’m reading, I’ll be sipping an old-school pink lemonade and vodka. Because that’s the perfect drink to accompany this book. A summer favourite (pink lemonade) with a kick of vodka makes me a happy camper. See what I did there, with the whole camp thing? Yeah, it wasn’t that funny.

Thursday 15 November 2012

I Love Fanfiction


...Now that that’s out there.... 

I could call it a guilty pleasure, but it’s not one I often feel guilty about. Unless I’m neglecting things I need to do. Yeah, that’s really the only time I feel guilty about it.

See, part of what I love so much about it is the time and the love people put into writing it KNOWING they’re not going to get paid. And there are some really, really good writers out there.


Take for example, some of the reads I've had this year:  DaphneBeauty, Recycled-Stars, Jameison Rook (who made me sob in public, by the way), and MommaKristine of Castle fandoms. They are amazing writers who write these stories entirely out of love.

I've been known to fall in love with a fandom just because the stories I was reading were so good. I’ve read Sailor Moon stories only for that reason.

Sure, there’s a lot of not great things out there, but even the not great stuff is done with love.

Some do it in their free time, between classes, after work, when the kids have gone to sleep. And to me, they are just as legitimate as any other writer. They publish online and never get a dime, but these are worlds and characters they love -- that I love -- and that they keep alive for me even after the lights go down and the canon story ends. 

I made this!

I've read Harry Potter fic and Dr. Who fic, Inuyasha, Firefly, Babylon 5,  Pride and Prejudice, X-Files, (oh yeah, Matrix).... I could go on.

There are writers I've followed and writers whose work it breaks my heart to know has disappeared from the interwebs (jeuxdevagues, I’m talking to you.).

I go through cycles of reading it, but no matter how long in between, I always come back. And from time to time, I bring a few friends along.

I have lost more links to fic I've loved over the years than I've managed to keep track of. I've been reading FF since I first discovered the internet -- back when Netscape was cutting edge, but I realize I've been into it a lot longer. A friend of mine and I tried writing a Three Ninjas script back when... aaaaand then there was the thing I wrote that may or may not have been based in a single scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Thank god that was lost back in the 90s (or I’m sure that Genn and Jenny would probably have demanded to see it and know why it was never shared before in all it's embarrassing, 15-year-old glory....). 

Among my favorite kinds of stories are ones that make the characters I love real, some that change the way I look at characters, and others that put favorite characters in a whole new world.

(Source - Chocolateisafoodgroup via Tumblr)
It’s one of the things I loved about Recycled-Stars story The Ends Opening to New Ends Always. And not to forget MommaKristine’s Your Last Day. (I’m still looking for this hi-larious set of stories I read that were a little Twilight, a little X-Files. I’ll try to link when I find it.) There are the Pamela Aiden books, the Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a Gentleman series (Okay, that is one of the few that I’ve read that actually got paid to publish.) and, of course, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, that I've already mentioned before.

Before you say it, Genn and Jenny have given me more than enough grief about this, but honestly, I don’t see the problem. If anything, it shares the love for an author’s work, it brings new people into the love, and as long as no one is insisting on starting a flaming copyright war, who does it hurt?

What do you say? Do you feel the love or just disgust? If you feel the love, share me some reads in the comments. I’m always looking for something awesome to read. :)

Cheers!
Angel

PS: Genn's up tomorrow, with more regular programming. Stop back, now, y'hear?

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Prepare to Get Schooled in my Austrian Perspective.

I love this SO HARD.

This video is so geeky and so bad-ASS at the same time that I just want to memorize it (both parts) and give impromptu subway performances. It's super geeky. And you even learn something. HUGE WIN.  (And yes. I am a huge geek.)


A Red-Headed Rant

I’m gutted.
EW.com just released this image from the upcoming Mortal Instruments movie. I loved Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series. One day I’ll write a blog post about why and just how much I love this series.
This is not that post.
This is a post about Clary Fray. As girl with long curly ginger hair I loved Clary Fray. She’s kick-ass. Thrown into an impossible situation, she adapts over the course of the series and becomes a brilliant heroine. I've got some issues with the series which again are for another blog post, but overall, she’s a fantastic role model for girls, especially girls with ginger hair.
The covers of the book all clearly show Clary as she’s described in the books: feisty, little and ginger-haired.
 

So when this image was released I wanted to cry a little. 




This girl doesn't look like Clary. She looks like Bella Swan with a bad rinse job. (Seriously, check out her black eyebrows!) Or even a less fierce Katniss minus the side braid.  Or Hermoine in the final Harry Potter films. What worries me about this is that the film has taken a very different-looking character and tried to shoehorn her into a ‘successful YA look'. Rather than focus on why these books have sold millions of copies it appears (and I so hope I’m wrong) that the film company is trying to create a mold for a successful YA female protagonist. This bothers me on so many levels, but the deepest is that it begs the question: can all girls just be boiled down into one universal image, and if we can figure that out, can we just drop said girl into different movies and make millions?
No. At least I really hope the answer is no.
For me this casting is pretty much the same as making all the Weasley family a bunch of blonds. It doesn't make any sense. Yes, hair shouldn't define a person, or be the only thing about a character that’s remarkable, but sometimes it’s important. Could you picture the Weasley family as a bunch of blonds? Go on, I dare you. Or Draco Malfloy without his white-blond hair? What about Harry sans his famous scar?
Tricky, right?
In my head, Clary will always be a cross between Merida from Brave and this girl on the cover.
 

I won’t write the film off based on this image, but I’m sad to see that the casting directors have gone down this route. Growing up in the (ahem) 80s and 90s there was a lack of role models for ginger girls (except of course for Annie and Anne of Green Gables—strange how their names are nearly identical. Is it possible to be a red headed YA heroine not named Anne? Of course, but you get the idea here.). I guess I expected more from Hollywood. My first mistake, perhaps.
Don’t even get me started on how few role models Hollywood gives children of colour (pretty much none). It’s far too depressing. But this is a topic that deserves its own blog post. I’ll get there. Because it's too important not to get there.  

Monday 12 November 2012

24 Hours of Madness


This weekend, my husband was gone for 24 hours. So, for all intents and purposes, I had 24 hours to get in as much trouble as possible. 

To be honest, my idea of trouble varies. And this weekend, “trouble” really is all about trying to do as much as I can -- things I can’t always get done with him around.

So, here’s the plan:

Hour, by hour, I’m going to do a little of something else. Things, I haven’t been able to get to in a while, since, as this was a holiday weekend, I’ll have the time. I hope.

Here’s the list:

  • Finish the baby blanket for a friend’s shower next weekend
  • Go through the winter and summer clothes -- pack away the summer stuff and put out the winter stuff (and get rid of things I’m never going to wear again)
  • Finish up projects I started for Christmas and Birthdays (a lot more knitting, but some jewelry making)
  • Watch my programs -- I have a lot of TV to catch up on. Weekends are usually my time, but we’ve been off and running for several weeks now. I have A LOT of shows I haven’t seen.
  • Get some exercise.
  • Most importantly: Writing. I have several …. let’s call them projects... that need finishing. and without my darling dearest, it gives me a good chance

Shall I share with you the results of my insanity?

Friday 9 November 2012

What I’m Reading and Drinking: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest


Recently I read most of the Millennium series, starting with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo—I’m on the last book now. And I love Lisbeth Salander as a heroine. One of the reasons I picked up these books is that I’m writing my own bad-ass woman-warrior heroine in a fantasy project—and I feel I have a lot to learn from Stieg Larson.

Tough, stoic warriors of Lisbeth Salander’s type are hard to write. Lisbeth is withdrawn and antisocial—to the point where other characters in the book speculate she has Asberger’s Syndrome. It’s hard to draw a reader in when writing that kind of character. You need a foothold for the reader to relate to her—and start to care about her.

Larson does this through action. Lisbeth is a scary person in a lot of ways—she makes Katniss Everdeen look like a cuddly baby sloth. But you also see some terrible things happen to her. Some of these scenes can be tough to read.

There’s a really graphic rape scene in the first book, and for that alone I wouldn’t recommend this series for a YA audience or even squeamish adults. But that’s an important scene. It establishes Lisbeth’s vulnerability early on. She’s bad-ass, yes. But terrible things also happen to her. She can’t always protect herself. This is a great way to make readers care without drawing us into the character’s emotional life.

Salander expresses herself through action, not a reflective voice. Despite her innate reserve, she makes the story come alive. She drives the plot forward. Whenever we see Lisbeth, she is acting, not reacting. She’s unpredictable. That makes her exciting. And while she’s not introspective, her voice is very human when we do hear it.

The female warrior in my project, who is quite different from Lisbeth in a lot of ways, is also withdrawn and stoic. I’ve struggled to make readers care about her as a character while keeping that stoic personality. I want her to function like Lisbeth—fuelling the plot forward every time we see her, like the burning heart of a freight train. Notes I’m taking from Stieg Larson: Make her an actor, not a reactor. And make her vulnerable in what happens to her—don’t be afraid to show her losing.

As for what to drink while I read this book—I’m thinking port. It’s blood-red and heavy. Like this book, it catches up on you slowly—but when it does, there’s no stopping it. And it’s a little old-fashioned, matching perfectly with the restrained language of the translation.

So: Enjoy!

Zombie Survival Plans at the Ready . . .

The World War Z trailer is here!

If, like me, you read the brilliant book (I loved the book so much) then you'll have been eagerly awaiting this trailer. I'm not sure what to make of it to be honest. The book is episodic and told from the point of view of a UN reporter who is travelling around the world, post zombie apocalypse to get the first hand accounts from survivors of how the epidemic started. This isn't quite what I pictured when I read the book. But Brad Pitt + Zombies = I know where I'll be June 2013!

In the meantime I'm just going to revisit my Zombie Survival Plan . . .

Just in case.

You never know . . .


Wednesday 7 November 2012

Jane Austin Chiffon Cupcakes with Green Bean Cranberry Frosting (?!)

Okay, this is just too sweet not to share:

I've become a ... well, lets say rabid fan wouldn't be too far off. I am a HUMUNGOUS Austen fan and I love quirky takes on classics, so this is right up my alley. This version of Elizabeth feels ... right in the modern setting. And I love the bit about the green-bean-cranberry jello (watch them all, you'll see what I mean).

Things have been heating up. Last Monday, Darcy (!) finally made an appearance at the end as a teaser and even though anyone who has read the books knows what's coming next, I was biting nails until this one came out:



AND THEN, this Monday, we have this:




::sighs:: The Letter.

SQUEEE!! (I don't do that often, by rule. That and I hate loud, high pitched noises, but I reserve them for goofy things like this. ;) )

So please enjoy this cupcake of Austinesque goodness.

Genn, Jenny, what do you think? See you Friday, Jenny!

Monday 5 November 2012

Nerditude!


I’ve never been called a geek, so it’s a bit tricky to write a ‘Geek Manifesto.’ I’ve been called a nerd. A lot. I’ve been told the difference between nerds and geeks is something to do with a love of the sciences vs. a love of the humanities. I am not sure I believe this at all, but I’m just relaying the highly inaccurate facts as they’ve been laid out to me.
So, this is more of a Nerd Manifesto for me. Which, in a way, feels more right.

Friday 2 November 2012

Pour Me Another: Moon Over Soho

I’m in the middle of reading Moon Over Soho, a book by Ben Aaronovitch. It’s the second book in his Rivers of London series. I swear I’m hearing strains of Sting’s Moon over Bourbon Street as I read this story. And no, I’m not finished reading, but the way I’ve been going after it, I’ll probably finish by early next week. Not that it’s a popcorn read, just that it’s really, really good, and I love the voice PC Peter Grant has. I devoured Rivers of London, so of course I recommend this one.

What I’ve been drinking -- or thinking of drinking -- while reading this book has been a snakebite. Sweet, meaty with a sudden sharp bite. It’s a book that goes down quick and easy, so quick and easy that, like a snakebite, you find you’ve come to the end only to realize that going so quickly, you missed something and it’s going to come back to bite you.

Recommend: Moon Over Soho and Snakebite (½ pint hard cider, ½ pint lager)

Thursday 1 November 2012

Popcorn for the soul


Confession time, I love Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series.  Love it. Though some of the later books have been a bit of a let down for me, the early books are fantastic. Well, fantastic in that guilty pleasure read way. But, maybe I should start at the beginning.