Undead and Unappreciated

Most women would love to live as royalty, but Betsy has found that being vampire queen has more problems than perks, except for always being awake for Midnight Madness sales. It may be easy to find blood (yuck) in the dark of night, but try finding a strawberry smoothie. And employees at her nightclub Scratch have been giving her nothing but grief since she killed their former boss. Some people...

But Betsy's "life" takes an interesting turn at a baby shower for her wicked stepmother, who lets it slip that Betsy has a long-lost half sister. Now twenty years old, this woman just so happens to be the devil's daughter...and destined to rule the world.


Yet another book to add to my To Be Bought pile; Undead and Unwed is first up TBB. (Gotta have a system if it's a series, people.)

Anyone? Anyone?

Has anyone read books by these authors:

Dorthea Benton Frank

Martha Grimes

Gregory Maguire

Susan Carroll

Anita Shreve

These authors have been recommended to me (or I've stumbled across them in book stores). They look interesting.

Crimson City

Can I just say how excited I am about this book and series? All of them are on my Wish List (which just keeps growing and growing). I like to read books in series so I may have to wait until the series is completely published (Liz's Crimson Rogue is due in April 2006).

What I find really interesting (and very enjoyable) is the blog by Crimson City residents. It's like a sneak peek into everyone's lives, even if we don't really get to meet everyone yet. How cool is that?!?

Identity Theft

Deidre Knight's identity has been stolen!

Someone pretending to be either her or affiliated with The Knight Agency has sent a mass e-mail. Read more about it at The Knight Agency's blog.

Carpe Demon!!!

I've just got a mention a book that's on my Wish List. It sounds absolutely hysterical, and I cannot wait to own a copy! (And the rights have been bought so CD could be a movie soon!)

Carpools. Crabgrass. Creatures from the depths of hell. Suburbia has its problems too...

Lots of women put their careers aside once the kids come along. Kate Connor, for instance, hasn't hunted a demon in ages...

That must be why she missed the one wandering through the pet food aisle of the San Diablo Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, he managed to catch her attention an hour later-when he crashed into the Connor house, intent on killing her.

Now Kate has to clean up the mess in her kitchen, dispose of a dead demon, and pull together a dinner party that will get her husband elected to County Attorney-all without arousing her family's suspicion. Worse yet, it seems the dead demon didn't come alone. He was accompanied by a High Demon named Goramesh who, for some unknown reason, intends to kill off the entire population of San Diablo.

It's time for Kate Connor to go back to work.

Also on my Wish List (and also by the lurvely Ms. Kenner) - The Givenchy Code. And I'll give ya a scoop: both books have sequels. *squeal*

Unmasked

One of the first books I recently added to my TBR pile was C. J. Barry's Unmasked.

To the merchants he plunders, he's the Ghost Rider of the Dead Zone. To sector law enforcement, he's a wanted pirate. To the slaves he rescues, he's the savior, laghato. To one determined female, Qaade Deter is serious trouble. Torrie Masters had heard of the legendary raider, but she'd never expected to encounter him. Nor would she have expected that beneath his black mask lurked an enticing man destined to challenge her in ways she couldn't shoot her way out of. But a great threat has emerged-one that's left no choice but for them to join forces. Entrusted with the fate of thousands, Torrie has discovered Qaade's impossible dream. Only she has the power to help him. Only she has the power to see him UNMASKED.

Since I'm a sucker for a series (and pirates), I asked the lurvely and talented Ms. Barry if I needed to read any of the other "Un-" books first (Unearthed, Unleashed, Unraveled). She said I didn't have to have read the previous books to understand the world Qaade lived in. Now I just have to get to readin'!!

Master of the Moon

I don't own this book (yet) because I feel compelled that, when there's a series of books, I like to start with the first one. That way, I have a clear view of the setting and characters. And boy, are Angela Knight's characters clear.

I'm a sucker for Arthurian legend so this entire series greatly appeals to me. I cannot believe I haven't discovered it before! Here's a snippet:

Diana London works hard in her day job as the city manager of a small South Carolina town. Yet she still finds time to moonlight for the Verdaville Police Department.

As a werewolf.

But while helping the police investigate a brutal murder, Diana discovers she’s not the only magical creature in town. A female vampire has also decided to make Verdaville her murderous playground. What’s worse, she has powers even Diana can’t match.

Fortunately, Diana is not the only one determined to stop her. Llyr Galatyn is the king of the Cachamwri Sidhe – a seductive otherworldly warrior with fantastic abilities. He’s sworn to hunt down the murderer, and he’s more than willing to give Diana any help she needs.

And not just with the case. Diana is in her Burning Moon, a time of sexual heat, when need rides her hard. Llyr is delighted to be the answer to her erotic prayers.

But as they hunt the vampire while desire runs hot between them, a deadly enemy urges the killer to turn her sights on Llyr. It seems Llyr isn’t the only king of the Sidhe – and his brother wants him dead.

I'll be heading to my favorite local used bookstore to get all of the books of this series. Master of Wolves is already on my Amazon Wish List.

Can time travel be a curse?

I know in the The Time Traveler's Wife, Henry thought time traveling was a curse but in actuality, his ability to time travel was a disease (a genetic one).

I wonder if someone can be cursed with the ability to time travel.

I should just write it and stop worrying about the logistics of it. I guess I wonder if it's a stupid curse. Of all the things to be cursed with, the ability to travel through time just doesn't seem that bad (considering one could be cursed with no memory, warts, a tail (or two)). But then again, there's a twist.....

So....

The marathon of posts will continue momentarily. I was busy at work yesterday (after I wrote and said I'd be making more posts), and my internet network connection was screwy last night so....

I made a comment on Shanna Swendson's Live Journal just a moment ago because apparently her air conditioning is in the fritz. I said that I could live without air conditioning (though it would royally suck) but what I couldn't live without was deodorant. This lead me to think:

If you were a contestant on Survivor, what item would you declare absolutely essential to your month away from civilization?

I pick deodorant.

Catching Up is Hard To Do

I've been bad. So this is a catch up post.

Okay. Actually, I'm going to do this right, and not take the lazy way out. Several posts will follow.

Here are some brief observations:
* I'm reading the 3rd Merry Gentry book (almost finished -- and the 4th is waiting for me --- I LOVE the public library!). I'll be honest and admit that I'm a little disappointed with it. Every page I turn, Merry has to sleep with more men. To some, that might be great, but quite frankly, I'm getting tired of it. Adding more potential fathers to Merry's potential child is advancing the plot; it just seems like some of that could have condensed. Last week, I even skipped ahead and read the last paragraph (which did nothing except confuse me so I was forced to pick back up where I'd left off). I had thought about purchasing the series from the local used bookstore but am now rethinking it. [It's like when I read the Dune series last year; I liked it until all the core characters died then I stopped reading.] I read about Andais' spree last night, which made me want to finish. Action - I like it!
* Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is waiting for me too (as is an entire stack of books). There's just not enough time to do all the things I want to do in a day!
* I've been typing my handwritten historical novel. (I wrote the novella over 10 years ago and, as I am prone to do, I expanded it into an entire universe.) I've decided that (1) I'm switching titles for the books, (2) making the second book entirely about a character introduced late in the first book, and (3) that I stunk as a writer. Dialogue - good; prose - bad to nonexistent
* I came up with the idea for a series of novellas about a fictional town/community. They were all separate ideas I'd written and stored in my writing box underneath my bed but now I'm combining them (and possibly expanding them into full length). Would an agent read a book where the only thing the characters have in common is where they live?
* I placed a hold at, ta da, the public library for the 1st Sookie Stackhouse book. I'm really excited to read it.

[Okay, this wasn't very brief at all.]

Eureka!

LITERATURE! - You have a story... Oh yes you do!
You are not quite sure what it is, but it
burns! It burns to be poured onto the page!
Write! Write I say! And thrill us with your
unique view of the world. YOU are your own
inspiration!


What Kind of Novel Should I Write?
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Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends. And to my Canadian friends, Happy Monday!!