Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Excerpt from Devil's Playground

So, I decided to allow myself some time for writing. And because I love to share, I'm gonna let you read some of it. :)

Excerpt from Devil's Playground


                We packed as much as we could of our luggage and survival supplies to the far side of the building. Carla and I made a second, then third trip to get the rest of our stuff, Octavia and Lucy went around gathering chunks of concrete and rock to make a circle to contain the fire, and Zoey put up the tent. Then we all gathered as much dry brush and wood as we could find. Zoey started the fire just as the last rays of light disappeared from the sky and the cold set in.
                With the light from the fire, we were able to inflate all the pillows and matresses. The tent ended up only being big enough to fit 2, maybe three people, and only one air mattress. Zoey and I offered to sleep outside on one air matress so Octavia, Lucy and Carla could sleep in the tent on the mattress. Carla declined, of course, wanting to sleep on the ground beside the fire. Her parents used to take her camping all the time, so she was used to sleeping under the Arizona stars. So that left Octavia and Lucy sharing an air mattress in the tent, Carla on the ground by the fire, and Zoey and me on the other air matress next to the fire.
                “So, we’ve been out here for hours and I don’t see a Port-O-Potty. Did you ladies find a bathroom in there?” Octavia asked.
                “Honestly,” I replied, “we didn’t look.”
                “Here, take the lantern and the wet wipes my mom packed, and see if there’s a bathroom in there,” Zoey offered.
                Octavia took the lantern and wipes, then disappeared around the building.
                “Really, someone should have gone with her,” I said, looking after her.
                “Aw, she’ll be okay. No boogeyman tonight,” Lucy said, plopping down on the ground next to the fire. “Let’s eat, I’m starving.”
                We each took one ready-to-eat meal and a protein bar, and we shared a gallon of water. We set aside the same rations for Octavia for when she got back.
                We finshed eating, and had moved on to mindless gossip, and before we knew it, an hour had passed.
                “Oh, my God,” Lucy said, looking at her nearly dead cell phone. “It’s been over an hour and a half. Has anyone seen Octavia since she went off to find a bathroom?”
                We all looked around, Carla checked the tent in case she had snuck past us and we hadn’t noticed, but there was no sign of her.
                “Lucy, Carla, you two stay here and guard the tent and supplies. Zoey, you come with me, we’re going to look for Octavia.”
                “You two can’t go out there alone!” Carla exclaimed.
                “Don’t leave us here, Savannah!” Lucy squealed.
                “Look,” I said, “I already feel guilty enough that it took us so long to realize that she’s missing. If we all stay here, we’ll never find her. If we all go, we risk having all our supplies stolen or eaten by wild animals. If we split up, we can find Octavia and still keep our supplies safe, and none of us will be alone doing it.”
                “She’s right, we’ve got to find Octavia, and whether we do or we don’t-“
                “NO!” Lucy screamed, standing and marching over to where Zoey and I stood, flashlights in hand, ready to head out to find our missing friend. “We’ve eaten, we have a truck to keep us safe, if we lose the supplies, oh well. I am NOT going to be left behind to be slaughtered, and I’m not letting you two run off to get yourselves killed. We all go together.”
                I stared back at her a moment, then realized she was right. If we lost all the supplies, Mrs. Firesoul might be out a couple hundred bucks, but at least she’d have her daughter coming home to her. But leaving two of us behind was stupid, we needed to stay together. It would be harder to take down a group of four than it would a group of two.
                “You’re right.”
                “What?” Zoey asked, confused.
                “She’s right. A group of four is stronger than two groups of two, and if we lose the supplies, we always have the truck to sleep in. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s safer anyway.”
                “It’s about time someone realized how smart I am,” Lucy said, indignantly.
                “You’re not smart, you got lucky,” Carla said.
                “Bite me.”
                “Everyone grab a flashlight or glowstick, and let’s get going,” I said.


Okay, there you have it. Wanna find out what happens? Stay tuned. 

~With Love and Insanity~



Monday, January 28, 2013

Review: Book 1 in a Series by Nadia Kim

Author Nadia Kim is at it again, and her upcoming book is the first in a series that will leave you panting for more. Read my review of Nadia's top secret, soon-to-be-released novel here first, on the Drunken Space Penguin!!



Nadia Kim warms the heart and tickles the imagination as she tells the stories of two young women whose lives are touched by magic.

Joan’s story begins with magic as she faces life as a witch in the fifties. Coupled with her heritage, she faces many adversities and challenges in the journey to find herself. The imagery was very detailed, and I felt as though I were there with her, especially in the circle in Memphis, TN, watching the scene unfold before me as Joan comes into her power. We follow Joan in her travels to control her power, overcoming the trials of being a witch as well as suffering though horrific losses that we can all relate to in our own lives.

Sidney’s story is one of painful neglect in the modern era, struggling through typical high school issues and untapped magic. Her relationships with family, friends, and the opposite sex are all scarred and mangled, each having its own painful outcome, as she grows into her own person. After abuse from the only two boys who showed any interest in her, Sidney closed herself off to love. That is, until a voice from the past awakens old desires, and she sees the light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in her young life.

Nadia Kim draws the reader into each girl’s story simultaneously, and forces you to feel things you may never have felt before. My heart broke when I read the tragedies that befell Joan’s family, I cried with her when her heart shattered, I cringed with her pain, and I smiled with her greatest joy. Sidney’s relationships with two detestable boys had me wanting to take a baseball bat to their heads, while shaking her parents in an effort to make them see the damage they were causing their daughter. When Sidney finally found a moment of peace and happiness, I rejoiced with her.

Little did either of them know their fates were tainted by a curse –one so powerful it could destroy them both, as well as the ones they love. And once the connection is made between the two women’s stories, Sidney’s future begins to look very dim. The first installment of this series leaves the reader salivating for the rest of the story. I eagerly anticipate reading more about Joan and Sidney’s futures.


Upcoming Givaway

I mentioned in an earlier post I had a lovely treat for y'all, and here it is! I'm participating in an upcoming giveaway hosted by www.faebooks.co.uk running between February 19th and April 2nd, where a bunch of authors are giving away copies of their books! There's gonna be 60+ prizes, and I'll be blogging it frequently to remind everyone to enter. You don't wanna miss it, it's so awesome! Keep up with this blog and also with www.faebooks.blogspot.com, and make sure you get entered as many times as you can!


Photobucket



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hey Ya!!

Okay, I thought life was slowing down a few days ago, but I was wrong. Life is still busy as ever, and I'm just starting to learn to balance it out. My bad, folks!! Forgive me? :)

So, in other news, I'm gonna be posting a couple of really cool things today. One is a superb giveaway that I'm taking part in, hosted by www.Faebooks.co.us. I'm actually going to create a Giveaways tab on the site, because I plan to periodically host giveaways and partake in giveaways. It just seems easier this way. Of course, I'll still post a regular blog post to let y'all know when it becomes available!! :)

The second post I'm gonna put up today is my very first solid review of an ARC book by a wonderful author and comrade, Nadia Kim. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I think you'll enjoy reading it.

So stay tuned, there are a lot of fun things coming soon, and I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Happy insanity!!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Puppy? PUPPY!! Oh, and New Promo Services Explained





YAY!! We just took in the most handsome Siberian Husky I've ever seen. Meet Axel Loki Torbeck, our newest addition to our blended family. He's moody right now because he misses his brother and sisters at the farm, but he's coming around. He's 8 weeks old today, bigger than my fat cat Blizzard, and happiest when he's outside. Say hi to Axel!!




He's such a cuddlebug! And spoiled rotten after only a day. As I'm typing this, I'm sitting on the floor with his head on my leg, and I'm turned around with my laptop on the couch, just so he'll be happy. I'm such a pushover...







Now that you've met my newest lil' tyke, I'd like to introduce you all to my new services for independent authors.

First and foremost, author interviews are always going to be available. I love getting to know new authors, and I'm spicing up the interview questions to make it more personal. While there's plenty of focus on your book(s), I tend to think the main focus ought to be on you as a person. If the readers get to know an author as a person, including what makes you tick, it makes you relatable and intriguing. If they take interest in you, they are more likely to take an interest in his books.

Another service is blowing up Twitter with posts about you. Pretty helpful, I have a lot of bloggers and other authors as followers, so that helps. You pick two consecutive days, provide me with a few basic things like book title/genre, buy links, mini excerpts from reviews, things like this, and I blow up Twitter. I use a Tweet scheduling app that allows me to sit down and plan out what I'm going to say and the program posts the Tweets when I tell it to. So you can see how this would be helpful, especially since I have a very active following that frequently re-tweets many of my posts.

Something I will will be eternally grateful for is guest bloggers. Oh, how awesome you folks are with coming up with things to post! Which not only helps you, it helps me too. I don't always have enough time to post everyday (or even on a regular schedule), so when amazing authors wanna do a guest blog, far be it from me to turn you away. Unless you submit some horrific erotica scene. Much love to the erotic writers out there, but this blog must remain PG-13 or lower. I'm a young adult writer, I don't want a 15 year old reading about graphic sex scenes. Please check out the "For Authors" page on this blog and read the fine print at the bottom. It's not too small to read, so you'll be good.

Do you have a new cover coming out? Wanna reveal it to the public? I'll make a post letting folks know your reveal is coming, build some anticipation, and we'll reveal it here on the Drunken Space Penguin! Every author is different, and we'll set up your cover reveal to meet your needs the best we can. I did this on a few blogs for my most recent book, and it was super fun!

If you're willing to do a giveaway, you can add that to any of the other services offered, or you can just run a giveaway without anything else, though I will say the best luck has come from Twitter to get entries in giveaways. I've had giveaways when there were no winners because there were no entries. It was a total sad day, but sometimes the fish just don't bite. While all my blog posts automatically get a tweet, I recommend incorporating at least one other service. You want sales, right? That's kind of the idea. :)

Now, I am starting to do reviews. I'm a quick reader, but I'm a busy person outside of reading. Heck, I barely have time to write, let alone read! But I'm trying it. And for details on reviews, please see the "For Authors" tab up top, and please, please, PLEASE read it. For the love of all things that sparkle, read the section for reviews and the fine print. It is so vitally important, because if you submit me a non-fiction book, I'm immediately shelving it as "I am never ever ever gonna read your book. Like, Ever." If you don't follow my requests about reviews, you'll get shelved as the same. I'm not being mean or any other ridiculous name someone might decide to call me, I'm just being fair. In all honesty, would you really want a review on a book about the different types of artistic techniques of the 15th century from someone who thinks art is a waste of time and all artists are just too lazy to do any real work? No, that wouldn't be very good, would it? Similarly, I don't like to read graphic novels, because I really don't care for Japanese Anime or anything that can be traced back to it. Am I wrong? No, but I have a different opinion than the masses, it seems. Are they bad books? Probably not, but I'll never read one, so I'll never know. 

Okay, now that I got that out, there are a couple of paid services I'm going to be offering. I know, I know, you're sitting there thinking, "But Ashley, WHY? Why are you making us pay for your services now?" Well, the answer is quite simple. Everything else up to this point is fairly easy, and requires little effort. Anyone who pays someone to do these things is clearly gullible or a newb. Or both. But these services require a little more effort, real work, and if I'm going to take time away from writing and other promotions to put time into these things, a little donation to the Ashley is Broke Fund wouldn't kill you. Not like I'm asking for your firstborn child or anything. 

So, paid services will be available when they get posted to the "For Authors" tab and I'll post on here to let y'all know. But you can expect the option of creating a book trailer, mini-book tours, creating and maintaining social media profiles, and editing services. Others may be included, but this is just to give you an idea of what may be offered soon. 

If you're interested in any of the services we offer, feel free to click the "Contact Me" tab and fill out the form. If you want something not listed as an option, just explain what you're looking for in the message field, and I'll get back to you as quick as I can!

Thanks for reading this far, and for your patience, I give you...








Saturday, January 19, 2013

Checking In-Still Alive!

I did it again...I went missing for a couple of days. My bad, yo. It's been a busy week. Wednesday was my 4th wedding anniversary, and I had to plot a scavenger hunt all around the city and into the next county for my hubby to find me. It was really a lot of fun, because he ended up picking me up where we first met...in the driveway of my childhood home, where he picked me up for work over 10 years ago. The massive layer of ice that fell the night I put all the clues out put a bit of a damper on the plan (I suppose I should have checked the weather, then maybe I would have known there would be ice falling from the sky for several hours later that night...) but it all worked out in the end. Except the part where I stood outside in 30 degree weather for, like, 20 minutes, just because he's slow. Let me tell you, it was cold as can be out there!! I thought I was gonna pee icicles!!!

So, now that that's over, I was expecting to hop right back into a normal pattern. Wrong again!! Woke up yesterday and again today with what felt like a tapdancing elephant on my chest and more mucus in my face than humanly possible. Oh, how miserable I've been!!! I feel fine now, and I felt fine last night, but come morning...I have no idea how much worse it could get, but I really don't wanna find out. I did manage to get some writing done, and at SOME point this weekend, I need to read 2 books. YIKES! Lol, I got this.

Oh, and new development, we're getting a puppy!! As long as the guy still has them as of tomorrow morning, anyway. I texted him today and we talked a bit, he knew I had to talk to the hubby, but we didn't come to the decision until about an hour ago. Kinda late to be texting a near-total stranger, so I will send my text off tomorrow morning bright and early, and then cross my fingers that they're still there. Oh, and I suppose you're wondering what type of dog? Siberian Husky. Full-blooded. BEAUTIFUL.Pics when I get him, which probably won't be till Monday. 7 weeks 3 days old as of 1/18, and precious as can be. I'm so incredibly excited!!

Well, that's all for now, I just wanted to check in and make sure y'all knew I hadn't fallen off the face of the Earth! I'll have more updates when I can wake up and get out of bed before noon, which hopefully will be tomorrow. Then we can return to our normal level of insanity. :)

Cheers till then!!


Friday, January 11, 2013

To Be Comfortable In My Own Skin

WARNING!! Today's post features scantily-clad female celebrities. Tasteful, but scantily-clad.



I wanted to preface this with the warning, because I don't want any hate mail saying, "Oh my GOD, you had the audacity to post pictures of half-naked women on your blog? How dare you?! You should be so ashamed of yourself! And to think, I was actually going to read THIS post..."

Yeah, to those who want to get angry, go ahead, but I warned you, so your anger is misdirected.

Now, on to the reason I am posting this. Anyone who knows me or has even seen a picture of me knows that I am not a size 2. Or even 12. Or even close to either of those numbers. Never have been. I've never felt comfortable in my own skin. But I decided that starting Monday at midnight, I'm going to begin the journey to lose weight and for once, I'm going to be the size I should be. It's going to be a long long road, and I refuse to post my "before" picture until after I've lost a significant amount of weight, but I want to make my journey public so I'm less likely to fall behind and less likely to not meet my goals. If I know I'm going to embarrass myself, I have the determination to do it.

Why am I waiting until Monday? Because all I have in the house right now is unhealthy food, and I can *hopefully* go grocery shopping Monday.

So here's my motivation. As I mentioned before, I'm not going to post my own "before" pic yet, but I will post a dramatization. And here it is:


Minus the boobs. I have no boobs. Lol, okay, so that's an extreme dramatization. Here's me (fully clothed):


This is me with my husband right around Christmastime. Please note, I was laughing and my head was leaning back a little, so it's a pretty rough pic of me. But clearly, I'm two of my hubby and the fat rolls are plentiful. 

So, my shame is out there for the world to see. Now, another part of my motivation are the bodies I frickin want like none other:









Yeah. I'm going to get there. It's gonna take me a while, but please, by all means, feel free to motivate me, cause I can use all the encouragement I can get!

I figure if I put this out there where people can haggle me (and encourage me!) then maybe-just maybe-I'll actually stick to it. I really want to be happy with my body for the first time in my life, and it's going to take a whole lot of really hard work to get there.

Also, anyone who wants to join in on this weight loss journey, jump on board. Comment on here and let me know, we'll motivate each other!! 

Cheers to the new goal to be comfortable in my own skin!


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Weirdo Wednesday

We all find things that are weird, strange, and unusual everyday. But on Wednesdays, you can now count on me posting something that I've found online that not only crosses the line between normal and weird, but takes that line and replaces it with a banana. Yup. Gonna be one of those. :)

First up...

Dude, I think ya got somethin' on your face...

This might be the strangest face paint I've EVER seen. Like, EVER. You have to look closely to see it, but this dude doesn't even have his mouth open. This is painted on from his upper lip down his chin and neck. 

My first reaction was, Dude, WHYYY??? I mean, seriously, this is disturbing and pointless. Sure, you get a few strange looks, but you're a grown ass man, and you have painted your face to look like an idiot licking an ice cream cone. Very messily, too. And I'm sorry, I'm not decorating my double (or triple) chins to draw attention to them! I want people to pretend they're not even there!

Now, my second reaction was, Dude, this is freaking hilarious! Once the initial shock and questions wore off, and I was able to get past the idea that this clown is really drawing attention to his imperfections, I realized that this is GENIUS. I would totally do this if I had no shame and didn't care to have people looking at my fat. It would be a great way to scare small children, and let's face it, that is the ultimate fun in life. :)



So, creepy ice cream face dude aside, I found something else to tickle your weird bone. 


Now, I understand that no one can foretell the future, but how ridiculous is this idea?? Seriously, this article ran in a 1950 issue of a publication called Popular Mechanics. I mean, I would LOVE this. Turn on a hose, spray the hell out of everything, then open the windows and doors and allow it all to air dry. Unless it's raining. Which means rainy days equate to no cleaning days. 

Still...what a concept. Ridiculous. But could you imagine?


Monday, January 7, 2013

My Taste in Books, According to My Nook





Pesky migraines have had me incapacitated for a couple of days. Hopefully, though, today will prove to be headache free!







Onward to newer, better things!!

So, I was sitting here trying to think of an awesome post that people might actually care to read about, and I realized something. This is a book style blog with a weird name. Had I stumbled across a book blog with a name like Drunken Space Penguin, I'd be expecting weird randomness and stuff about writing and about books. Well, my lovelies, I can share with you a wealth of information about all of the above. But we'll start with books.

I have a Nook, and on that Nook are a bajillion books, maybe more, I haven't counted recently. And a lot of those are lesser-known books that are either self-published or were put out there by a small, possibly independent publisher. I have just as many books on my Kindle app of the same variety. So why, then, don't I tell you a little about what I like to read?? Just to finally introduce myself to you properly. :)

So, for starters, I have the required books, such as The Hunger Games trilogy, some Vampire Academy and House of Night, all of which are pretty popular. (This alone should tell you I'm deeply into Young adult novels. If you didn't already know it, that is.) I also have the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, and I'm still working on reading Rapture. Love the series, but I'll admit, it's going on far too long, and it's increasingly unbelievable...

Moving on, I found a bunch of books by Terry Spear about the fae. Oh, these are wonderfully written books!! Look for The Dark Fae, The Deadly Fae, The Winged Fae, and The Ancient Fae. I think they're all part of The World of Fae series, I know the first 3 are. But they're very good, and they all tie in together nicely.













Another great series (I like series, btw...) is Slave Empire, by T.C. Southwell. They're futuristic books that are simply wonderful. I had never really gotten into the whole sci-fi/dystopian style novels, but this series made a believer out of me. I was reading these books at warp speed, and they're not short books. I had purchased the first one just because it was either free or dirt cheap, and I needed new stuff to read. Well, I was hooked from the first chapter. LOVED it. I had the series completed in about a week only because I was working at the time and I wasn't able to answer phones and read at the same time. Plus, eReaders weren't allowed except in designated break areas. Which I took full advantage of and read as often as I could. But if you're looking for an interesting, young sci-fi/dystopian series, this is an excellent choice. Even if you're not looking for something new or aren't into sci-fi, give this a shot. It's worth it.



When I was in middle school or high school (I don't remember which) I was told I had to read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I refused, stated it was against my religion because it involved encouraging children to have sex as toddlers. Well, that part still weirds me out, but as an adult, I figured I'd give it a second shot. While it was far more tame than I remember (or perhaps I'm far more freaky, it could go either way) it was also far less interesting and literally painful to read. It was poorly written, lacking in descriptions, skipped around far too much, and downright insulting. Yes, yes, I know this book was written in the 80's and it was a completely different world back then. Don't care. It is not a book that should be recommended or required for a child or teenager to read, and once you become an adult with the ability to judge a book by the quality of its words, you won't want to read it.



Ah, I forgot I had The Mortal Instruments series on here until I was scrolling through my library. Oh, I won't spend much time here because it's so commercialized now, but this is one of my favorite series. Although, I cannot lie, it too seems to be go on a bit longer than it should, and unless something spectacular happens, the series should really stop soon.



The Gwen Sparks series is another great find, including Craved and Deceived, and hopefully an upcoming third installment that completes the series. This series centers around (tada!) Gwen Sparks, a witch living among her kind and other paranormal beings in a world outside our own, veiled by magic, but, well, Stephanie Nelson explains it way better than I can in the books. So she falls for a vampire, vampires are killing witches for their blood, eventually the witches decide to go to war with the vamps, and it's just a fun read with lots of great twists. I loved the first two, I can't wait for the third.








There are a few books in my library NOT part of a series, and Daniel's Gift is one of them. Oh, I cried. This book is a tear-jerker, but it's SO good. I can't tell you more of what it's about, because I'm already fighting the tears thinking about it. But seriously, get this one. It's good.














Oh, The Immortals series, by Alyson Noel, is another treasure to read. Lots of good plots, well written, not indie but still an amazing journey. The Immortals includes Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night Star, and Everlasting. It follows a girl named Ever (weird name) as she meets Damen, and her world gets flipped upside down. She can hear people's thoughts, and he is, well, immortal. There's a fight between immortals, there's a bad bad curse, there's a world called Summerland where you can talk to dead people and go into this massive library that holds more than just books...there's so many things to take in, but the author does a great job of making it all tie in and make sense. I really enjoyed the series.







So, there's this high school, and it's overrunning with demons that are possessing young girls to make them powerful and well-off. Sounds almost bittersweet, right? Well, it's quite the adventure for the girl coming from a broken home who goes to live in an orphanage in Peachville, especially when she joins the cheerleading squad and gets inducted into this special sorority that gives her abilities and powers that she had never even dared dream about. It's all fun and cheerleading until she learns the terrible truth-everyone in the sorority ends up playing host to a demon when they hit 18. Sure, the demon gives you a great life, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay the price for that great life. I kinda like my soul. I recommend the Peachville High Demons series, Beautiful Demons, Inner Demons, Bitter Demons, and Shadow Demons. Very good, liked them a lot!





Amanda Hocking. Now, here's a girl I aspire to be like in the short-term sense. Her series, My Blood Approves, was good. It wasn't GREAT, but it was good enjoyment. It wasn't poorly written, I didn't want to claw my own eyes out...but I didn't jump up and down with excitement. Still, she has become quite well-known in the literary world, and she's an indie author. Now, THAT is something I could handle. I'd absolutely love it if my books sold as well as hers. Right now, I need more exposure, but eventually I have faith that my books will sell like hers. Better even. So go buy my books. :)








Beauty and the Beast meets the new world in Beastly. I really loved this book, but I have to warn you, the book and the movie are NOTHING alike. Sure, they both have the same concept, but the book has so much more to offer, and it's just a far better story. Okay, the movie had Neil Patrick Harris and one of the Olsen twins. Fine. I'll give you that. But the book...oh, it's a literary treasure with more scenes, more description, more insight, and more quality. Read the book. Don't watch the movie.









There's a book in my Nook Library called The Blood That Bonds. Holy crap, now THIS was good. It was still young adult, but the vampires don't sparkle. They don't become your best friends. They're fierce predators and they're dangerous. And a girl named Two (again, weird name) finds herself being saved from working the streets for heroin only to be condemned to an even more terrifying fate. I loved the darkness of this book. Even thought the vampires in my story are nice and friendly, vampires really should be thought of as monsters. Horrible and fierce, dangerous and scary. Definitely a good book. Read it.








The last one I'm gonna talk about (though there are many others, some of which not worth mentioning) is Glamour (Rae Wilder #1). This was a good book. Now, granted, it's been a couple years since I read it, so I don't remember everything about it, but I do remember it's about a girl living in a world where humans are nearly extinct, courtesy of the numerous demonic creatures roaming the earth. Including fairies. And she happens to meet one fairy who claims that she is just like him. She faces a lot of dangers, and I actually just learned there are several books in this series that I have to now go buy. Great. More stuff to read. Because, you know, I don't have enough books to read or anything, right???






Well, this is a short list of books on my Nook. It doesn't even come close to the number of paperback books I have (many of which are written by Stephen King or Nicholas Sparks) nor is it all the books I'm interested in, but this should give you an idea of what I like to read. This is going to prove especially important when it comes to book reviews. PLEASE please please do not ask me to review a non-fiction book. I'm sure it's great, and you'll make a ton of money selling it, but as you can CLEARLY see, I don't read non-fiction. 

Know of a book I might like to read?** Leave me a comment below! I love good books, and I love suggestions, especially from others who read the same things I do! 

(**NOT your own book, please, unless you really truly think I'd absolutely LOVE it. I'm willing to review many types of books, but I also like to read stuff that I really dig, like the ones mentioned above, and I'm always on the lookout for new good books. Contact me with the contact form if you want me to review your book!)

Friday, January 4, 2013

Remember When...??

First of all, I have an announcement...

Good news!! With the new year, comes a new format for doing promotions. Check out my For Authors page, and read up on the author promotions. (Yes, there is a lot to read. I want to be thorough and clear, because I really want to do a good job for the phenomenal authors out there.) Then, when you're done, click on the Contact Me tab and drop me a line, if you're interested!!


Okay, now that THAT's out there, here's something else for you.

So, do y'all remember what we all did before video games, way too many kids TV shows, iPods, smartphones, tablets and eReaders, and Facebook? I miss the good old days.



Remember Oregon Trail? That amazingly awesome game we played in grade school with the kick ass graphics. You'd name all your characters in your troupe after all your best friends and try like hell to get everyone safe and sound to Oregon. Oh, how I miss it!! I used to all look forward to computer day when we got to play it, and all it's advanced technology at the time made it one helluva fun time. Even if I did kill off all my friends with Typhoid Fever and Dysentery...



OH. And we can't forget grabbing a pen and playing MASH. Omigosh. Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. You'd list four guys as potential husbands, always including your crush and one guy that it would just never happen with, then four cars-mine always included a Limo, cause I just knew one day I'd be rich and famous. Of course, your friends always had a say in who your prospective husbands and cars would be. Next, you would pick four different numbers that represent how many children you'd end up having. Some more creative groups (like my friends and me) added lists to the game, including jobs, what city you'd live in, the color of your wedding dress,  Lastly, one of your friends would start drawing ticks or a swirling circle type thing, and when you said stop, they would count how many ticks or swirls there were, and that would be how many times to count before crossing something off the list. Gosh, by this game, I was supposed to be married to Jonathan Taylor Thomas, living in a house, driving a Lamborghini, in Hawaii, with a magenta wedding dress and a penguin for a pet, and we were supposed to have six kids. Hmph. Well, they got the house part right...



Let's not forget the Fortune Telling Origami. You know what I'm talking about, with the folded paper that you put your fingers in? You'd ask a yes or no question, and you had to pick a color, and whoever was manning the almighty fortune-telling device would spell out the name of the color and move the paper with their fingers (yeah, this is starting to sound naughty, but I swear it's not!!). Then you'd have four more options that were typically numbers, and you had to count and move your fingers again. You'd then be presented with four more options, and which ever you picked the fortune-teller would lift the paper and read you the answer. Holy crap, we'd waste DAYS with this one. I can't even fold it anymore. :(



Red Rover, Red Rover, we dare __________ over!! Yeah, we didn't need video games or even paper to amuse ourselves. We had Red Rover, where one person would be "dared" over to the other side, and you would run as hard as you can and fling your body in between two people holding hands. If you broke the chain, you "busted through" and got to steal someone from their side to take back over with you, but if you didn't break through, you had to stay on their side. It was a neverending struggle for power and supremacy. Then there was the hours of Hide-N-Seek, well into the dark night, until our parents called us inside for the night. A game best played at dusk with all the neighborhood kids. We also had Freeze Tag, where if you got tagged, you had to freeze until someone unfroze you, by crawling between your legs. Not quite as easy for me as a fat kid, but I managed. Then there were the hours we'd spend playing on the swingset. Did you know that if you sat in one swing, put your feet in the swing next to you, then someone else sits in that swing and puts their feet on either side of you in your swing, that's called a milkshake? I have NO idea who decided the name of it, but it was wicked fun to see how long it took before the pain of the swings digging into your flesh cause you to beg for mercy.



As children, we 80's and early 90's babies had a frickin imagination. We had class. When I was 11, I didn't have an iPod, iPad, iPhone, I had a brain. Seriously, today's youth is spoiled and far too reliant upon technology. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if all those scary sci-fi predictions of the machines rising up against us and the Matrix and all that other stuff actually comes true. Even as I type this up on my laptop, listening to the big screen TV playing an old movie in the background, literally having the world at my fingertips, I fear the worst will happen during my lifetime. I just hope it happens when I'm in a deep sleep so I don't feel it coming for me.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Pointless Randomness...

It's January 3rd, and I've already screwed up at least 4 of my resolutions. Christmas decorations are still up, still drinking too much caffeine, no closer to losing weight...I don't remember all the rest offhand, but I'm off to a rocky start.

Oh well, nothing lost, nothing gained. In other news, I may have either gremlins or the Chupacabra living on my roof. Both of my cats were napping (I did mention I'm a Crazy Cat Lady, right?) and I suddenly heard heavy footsteps. On my roof. Awesome. Now I'll be fending off Zombies during the Zombie Apocalypse AND taking down a Chupacabra. I'm amazing, but that might be a bit much even for me.

Ah, hell.

Oh, by the way, I've been working on crocheting an awesome scarf, and it looks really good so far. Except for the part that I get bored way too easily. Stupid ADD...

Well, this post was not the most interesting and riveting post I've ever written, but if you check back later tonight, I might just have a super awesome secret surprise for you.

Or not.

But you'll never know unless you come back later... ;)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Obligatory New Years Resolution List

It's no different than any other year, or any other adult in the free world. I'm making New Years' Resolutions. Ones that I will probably never keep. But then again, I rarely try to keep em for more than a day. So here's my super short list that I decided on. Feel free to comment below with your own resolutions!!



Resolutions 2013



  1. Keep at least 1 resolution for longer than a week.
  2. Craft 1 new item per week on average.
  3. Open my Etsy store before June 1st 2013.
  4. Publish a minimum of 6 books in some format.
  5. Lose 10 lbs
  6. Lose 30 lbs
  7. Lose 50 lbs
  8. Do at least 6 random acts of kindness
  9. Donate a minimum of $100 to charity
  10. Volunteer somewhere
  11. Have more than 1 working vehicle
  12. Cut soda intake by half
  13. Drink at least 20 oz of water every day
  14. Complete 3 items on my Bucket List
  15. Take down the Christmas Decorations before next Christmas
  16. Take down Christmas decorations before January 2nd
  17. Get my cat Luna spayed (dear lord, let me complete this one!!!)
  18. Sell enough books to pay my monthly mortgage
  19. Eat fruit twice a week
  20. Try a new restaurant
  21. Pick up a new crafting hobby
  22. Keep my house clean enough to not have to clean super fast if I have company
  23. Learn and understand basic German
  24. Learn to shoot a .38 pistol and a rifle
  25. Read 12 books

There they are, in no particular order. Please feel free to share your own resolutions below, and Happy New Year!