Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

Interesting Tidbits & News Worthy:
Amberkatze's Book Blog has moved. Check out her new website, nice colors & new site header. While your there check out the Revamped Interview & Contest to celebrate her new website with two characters from J.F. Lewis' book Revamped. The winner of this contest will receive a signed copy of Staked or Revamped and a 2008 Welcome to the Void t-shirt. This contest is open U.S. residents, if you live elsewhere you can still enter if you are willing to pay the postage. For the Revamped contest you have until Sunday, May 3rd @ 4pm CET.

I discovered this book trailer for Lori Handeland's Doomsday Can Wait over at Beyond Her Book.







Temple Library Reviews is conducting a "Reviewer Time" event, in which he will interview review blogs, here is the list of review blogs he will be interviewing. First up is SQT (Theresa) from Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin’ News and Reviews. I myself will be following along on the reviews in hopes I can learn a thing or two. Since, I'm a new to the blogging world, I think this might help me out where I've been stumbling on my posts.

Check out the video that John over at Grasping for the Wind found: Legend of Drizzt Live Action Movie Trailer. It's something you shouldn't miss for the entertainment value.

Fang-tastic Books is looking for an eBook reviewer. Roxanne is looking for someone who is an experienced book reviewer that loves to read paranormal eBooks. If that's you, go check out the details.

Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews has the new book cover of The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore, the latest book in the Drizzt Do’Urden’s series due to release on October 6, 2009.

Mulluane has compiled a super list of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors & Bloggers that are on Twitter, you need to check out this comprehensive list.

Contests/Giveaways:
Darque Reviews is giving away win a signed copy of Starfinder, the first book in the Skylords series. The winner will be announced on May 5th, 2009. The giveaway is open to readers worldwide!

SciFiGuy.ca has guest urban fantasy author Diana Rowland and will be giving away a copy of Mark of the Demon. You have until Monday to stop by and ask question or leave comment.

SciFiChick.com is giving away a copy of Flood, by Stephen Baxter. Contest is open to everyone and ends May 29.

Amberkatze's Book Blog has an interview & contest with Marla Mason from T.A. Pratt's books. The contest prize is you get to choose which Marla book you would like to have. You have until Sunday, May 3rd @ 4pm CET.

Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' News & Reviews is giving away an audio book of Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (read by James Marsters "Spike" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). This contest is open to everyone and the winner will be picked on Monday, May 4th.

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is giving away a copy of Lane Robins' newest, Kings and Assassins. Not sure when it ends, so if your interested head over there, and while your there check out the other posts, interesting reading & book cover art.

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review is giving away a copy of Maximum Offense by David Gunn. The contest is open to all and you have until May 3rd to enter.

Author J.R. Ward is giving away a complete set of Black Dagger Brotherhood books personalized! Contest ends May 17th. Awesome contest to enter if you haven't read this sizzling series yet or you just want to have a signed set for yourself to showcase but no one can touch!

Author Ann Aguirre is having a Big-ass contest, she has several books up for grabs: 4 copies of Lauren Dane’s Relentless, Angie Fox’s The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, and Beth Kery’s Daring Time. Head over to Ann's for the details.

This post is cross-posted at the Geek Girls Network Blog also.

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I’ve seen a lot of articles and blog posts on how people should use Twitter but most of them are geared towards those trying to market themselves towards monetary means and how to get as many followers as you possible get. I would like to talk about how and why I use Twitter because it has nothing to do with those two common goals.

When I first heard of Twitter is was about year ago but I didn’t jump on the band wagon at the time. It wasn’t until September 2008, that I started using Twitter for work because they wanted the web development group to test our toes in the Twitter waters before the marketing folks did. They wanted us to share the in and outs of what we found. To be honest, I didn’t really like it, I thought it was boring. This was because I wasn’t really using it like I should and I was following the wrong people. On top of that, my boss and the marketing department was following me on Twitter, so this made me worried about saying something I shouldn’t and/or be a bad reflection on the company, etc. Then in January of this year, I had an epiphany. It occurred to me to create another account for myself that didn’t have anything to do with work. Now, the fun begins.

At first, I just followed authors of the books that I enjoyed and then a few followed me back. This made me over joyed, for obvious reasons. Then I started following the book bloggers and this is where I find out that quite a few of them are actually in the technical field like me. So this dominoes over to me hooking up with technical people of like interests in my field. That’s how I discovered the founder of the Geek Girls Network blog @geekgirls.

My Twitter following and who I follow is a mixture of a lot of different interests. Because of this I am now really enjoying Twitter now, where I am finding and sharing with people with my many interests. As you can see I’m not on Twitter for monetary means nor am I there for as many followers as I can get.

Some people I’ve noticed are on Twitter to meet people plus get as many followers as they can. I’m cool with that and have no problem following these people as long as they tweet things I’m interested in. Here is my list of the traits of Twitters who I will not follow on Twitter:

• All tweets have to do with getting more followers. I don’t want my Twitter feed full of people begging for followers and not have anything of value to say besides getting more followers.


• The avatar is a picture of a couple; their hair and clothing are perfect and smiling at me. I’ve seen a lot these lately. They creep me out, reminds me of the Stepford Wives. Too perfect. I know this has no fidelity besides my own bias.


• No bio. Speaks for itself.


• For the most part, using the default Twitter avatar equals no follow. The exceptions, I can tell they are sight impaired or they are someone I know.


• The person’s tweets are about earning an extraordinaire about of money in a short time or telling me how I buy a laptop next to nothing.


• No tweets at all.


• Their tweets don't have anything to do with what I like to see in my Twitter feed.

Who will I follow? Plain and simple, those with tweets of value to me or can just make me laugh.

What tools do I use to manage Twitter?

• TweetDeck: I group people into groups by interest, create searches, has a ton of functionality built-in to it. The groups function is the only reason I use this not just the Twitter's Web Interface. By grouping I can see tweets in their area of interests.


• Firefox with Twitter's Web Interface, Greasemonkey and Troys Twitter Script: Same functionality as TweetDeck with the exception of groups. I found Troys Twitter Script through @g33kgurrl.


• Twitterfeed: To publish blog posts from my blog.


• last.fm: To post songs of interest to Twitter.


• Google Reader + Twitter: This is a Greasemonkey script that will put a Twitter link at the bottom of the post you are reading. If I decide what I'm reading is worth sharing, I can tweet it from my reader.
  

The how and why I use Twitter will continue to evolve over time. Twitter has also made this geek girl more socialable. If you want to follow me or just check out my tweets, look me up @FantasyDreamer. So, my question to you is how and why do you use Twitter? If you are not using Twitter, why not?

Book Blurb:
Cursed by God, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel... All in a day's work.

For Evangeline Hollis, a long-ago fling with a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks just became a disaster of biblical proportions. One night with a leather-clad man of mystery has led to a divine punishment: the Mark of Cain.

Thrust into a world where sinners are drafted to kill demons, Eve knows her learning curve must be short. A longtime agnostic, she begrudgingly maneuvers through a celestial bureaucracy where she is a valuable but ill-treated pawn. She's also become the latest point of contention in the oldest case of sibling rivalry in history...

But she'll worry about all that later. Right now she's more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she'd never quite believed she had.

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Eve of Darkness is the first book in the new Marked series by S. J. Day. The author has created a world where Cain and Abel, yes the same brothers from the bible, still exist in the modern times, working as bounty hunters for God. This is the world Eve, an agnostic, suddenly becomes a part of, not by choice, as one of the Marked. The Marked are sinners, branded with the Mark of Cain, who are given a second chance by working off their penance by acting as God’s bounty hunters.

Werewolves, dragons, water demons, gargoyles and other supernatural creatures are the Infernals, which are hunted by the Marked when their number comes up. But Eve instead finds herself being the one hunted by the Infernals. She needs to learn quickly how to defend herself against the Infernals and how the hierarchy of the angelic's justice system works from the Archangels down to the lowly Marked. In the process of learning all this, she suspects all is not calm and serene in the celestial's justice system.

Eve is attracted to both brothers, Alec (Cain) and Reed (Abel), she has conflicting emotions in regards to the both of them. One is assigned as her handler, the other as her mentor. One brother is the definition of the refined, sexy gentleman who she just meets, while the other is the wild, bad ass, hot biker type from her past. There is high-wire sexual tension between Eve and each of the brothers, while they go about trying to figure out the reason why some of the Infernals are after Eve.

On top of everything else, throughout the story, Eve tries to figure out how she can work the celestial justice system so she can get back to her quiet, normal life – minus the Mark of Cain.

Eve of Darkness is a good read, a page turner that starts out sizzling hot and heavy from the get go. The book definitely puts a different spin on the typical Urban Fantasy story with the references to biblical figures intertwined into the modern world. I enjoyed the fact that the heroine, the main character was of Asian ethnicity, this is one the reasons I wanted to read this book. I’ll be there to pick up the next book in this hot, steamy, action filled series.

Future Releases in the Marked Series:
Eve of Destruction - June 2nd
Eve of Chaos - June 30th

Buy Eve of Darkness at Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble

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Other Reviews:
Bitten by Books
BSC Reviews
Darque Reviews

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Other Reviews:
Amberkatze's Book Blog
Anna's Book Blog
Darque Reviews
Patricia's Vampire Notes
Tez Says

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Here are my results for The Castle Personality Quiz at Blogthings. There's a link at the bottom to take your own. Have fun!

You Are a Practical Realist

You are a bit tentative when it comes to new experiences. You have to push yourself to try new things, but once you do, you love the adventure. You like to think that people see you as intellectual and wise. You consider yourself to be very smart. You are a very realistic person. You see the world as it is, flaws and all. Right now, you feel like the whole world is open to you. You see lots of possibilities. Overall, your life is dramatic and unpredictable. You life in interesting times. You aren't optimistic about the future. You worry about what will happen to the world and if we'll be able to clean up the messes we've made.

I decided, I'm going to start listing contests/giveways and links I find interesting that I come across on the web or during blog reading on a regular basis, Links of Interest & Giveaways Around the WWW.

Over at Racy Romance Reviews there was a big discussion on whether authors should post comments on book reviews and what the impact their comments may have on others commenting. This post was based on a comment made by an author on a his book review over at The Book Smugglers. Very interesting: Do Author Comments Have a Chilling Effect on Review Discussions?

Here's another heated discussion on a book reviewer's reviewing style over at Babbling About Books, and More: Reviewer Beware! No Books For You!




Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' Blog is giving away a copy of Dead & Gone by Charlaine Harris. This contest is open to everyone. You have until May 6th to enter.






Something tells me that WoW is pretty popular, beside my son playing the game all the time...

Fantasy Book News & Reviews has 10 copies of World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden, to give away. Contest open to US & Canada residents only. The winners will be announced on April 27th.

Bookspotcentral(BSC) also has 10 copies of World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden, and 3 sets of MARVEL X-MEN (Vol. 1 & 2) on DVD to give away. Deadline is April 28 for both contests.

Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews also has five copies of World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, by Christie Golden. Contest is open to US & Canada residents only, ending on Thursday, April 30th.



Graeme's Fantasy Book Review has two giveaways. One is for four copies of The Bone Factory by Nate Kenyon to four lucky winners. The other is for five sets of Courage and Honour/The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill to five lucky winners. You have until April 26th to enter both of the giveaways.





Author Lori Devoti's Full Moon of Werewolves contest is wrapping up on this Saturday, April 25th at midnight. Lots of cool prizes, hurry over.



Novel Reads has a ton of prizes: signed books, Kiss My Asphalt Tee Shirts, Cover Flats, and signed galley pages from, The Dangerous Book For Demon Slayers by Angie Fox. Not sure when it ends. Angie Fox also has a couple fun quizzes on her website you should check out: What's Your Biker Witch Name? (mine is Candy Knickers Wheelie-Gig, lol!) and Are you part demon slayer?





Glue Genie is giving away a $365 iTunes Gift Card. That’s 1 song per day for an entire year! The contest ends on April 24th at 6 pm ET.

BONUS GIVEAWAY: Glue Genie will be giving away an additional $25 Apple iTunes Gift Card to the twitter who tweets the most 2cent comments about Albums from Glue to Twitter.




Darque Reviews has a Guest post and giveaway with Jocelyn Drake. The giveaway is set of Dark Days: Nightwalker and Dayhunter! Giveaway is open worldwide, winner will be picked on the morning of April 28th.






RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talks is giving away three copies of What Happens in Vegas...After Dark anthology, signed by Lauren Dane. Winners will be announced this Saturday or Sunday.



Bitten by Books has an Interview and Contest with Author Anton Strout. Anton Strout is giving away a $80 Amazon gift card. This contest is open to all world wide until April 26 at 11:59 PM PDT.








Bitten by Books will also have an Interview and Contest with Author Lori Handeland starting on April 24th-29th with five copies of Doomsday Can Wait to be given away and is open to US & Canada residents only.







The Bizarre Library is having a motherload of zombie stuff giveaway. The contest ends at midnight central time on Monday, April 27th.



Author Rachel Vincent is giving away a copy of Devon Monk's new book Magic in the Blood, which releases on May 5th. This contest is open world wide, until 11:59 pm (central time) on Sunday, April 26, 2009.









SciFiChick.com has a giveaway for a paperback copy of Shadowplay by Tad Williams. Contest is open to everyone and ends on May 15th.






Patricia's Vampire Notes has an Interview and Contest with Alex Bledsoe. One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of Blood Groove. The contest will end tomorrow, Friday April 24th at 11:59 PM ET.

Book Blurb:
Right now, I’m a redhead. I’ve been blonde and brunette as the situation requires, though an unscheduled color change usually means relocating in the middle of the night. So far, I’m doing well here. Nobody knows what I’m running from. And I’d like to keep it that way…

Eighteen months ago, Corine Solomon crossed the border to Mexico City, fleeing her past, her lover, and her “gift”. Corine, a handler, can touch something and know its history—and sometimes, its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—and that’s why people never stop trying to find her. People like her ex, Chance…

Chance, whose uncanny luck has led him to her doorstep, needs her help. Someone dear to them both has gone missing in Laredo, Texas, and the only hope of finding her is through Corine’s gift. But their search may prove dangerous as the trail leads them into a strange dark world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic…

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I really enjoyed reading Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre, it was a nice mixture of the supernatural and the real world blended together to create a very realistic Urban Fantasy world. Corine Solomon, the lead character, is someone that most people can relate to, with the average person's doubts and dreams with a good sense of humor to boot.

This story is fast moving with many twists and turns that lead Corine and Chance, her ex-boyfriend, on a race against the supernatural from Mexico to Texas in search of a loved one. Even though the story is based for the most part in Texas, you get a true feel for the different ethnic characters in the story, from Korea to Mexico and on to England in this unique Urban Fantasy novel.

The relationship between Corine and Chance keep the pages heated and complex. And end of this story leaves you with some questions that you will want the answer to.

I am really looking forward to the next book in the Corine Solomon series. Hell Fire, will be the second book in the Corine Solomon series to be releases in April 2010 and Shady Lady, the third book, will release in April 2011, according to Ann Aguirre's website.

Buy Blue Diablo at Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble

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Other Reviews:
Fantasy Cafe
Lurv à la Mode
The Book Smugglers
The Discriminating Fangirl

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I found out about Harper's Island, a new TV show on CBS, over at Bookspotcentral.com. I haven't really been excited about a TV show in awhile but this one looks like it might be worth watching. Harper's Island looks like it will be a dark thriller with a lot of twists and possibly some paranormal elements. CBS has already aired two of the episodes, so I have some catching up to do on CBS's website before the third episode airs on April 23rd. Yeah, I'm syked about it!

Updated - I added this so quickly, I didn't mention why I am doing this: I absolutely hate censorship of any kind and resent others trying to decide what I can read. Which is what Amazon is doing when they omit certain books from my searches on their web site. This is a form of censorship. #amazonfail

I've seen this book meme on a couple of blogs, Literary Escapism and Anna's Book Blog. It looked like something fun to do and wanted to give it a go. As I was going through these questions, I realized just how tough some of them were to answer. You'll be able to tell by my vague answers. Also, I did add one question, "Favorite Fantasy?" The question list just didn't seem complete without it for me.

What author do you own the most books by?
Sherrilyn Kenyon. I have every one of the books on the Dark-Hunters and Dream-Hunters series, including anthologies and guide. Also, have all of the Drizzt Do'Urden books by R.A. Salvatore.

What book do you own the most copies of?
Two copies of Gena Showalter's Heart of the Dragon, one is autographed by Gena. I usually do not have more than one copy of a book. I don't collect multiples of the same book, one copy is good enough.

What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
I wouldn't say I was ever in love with a character, I would call it a crush or puppy love. That being said, I'm a "book du jour girl" when it comes to the fictional characters in a books, a book hussie.

What book have you read more than any other?
I really don't like to reread books because I am so enthralled with the aspects of the unknown/not knowing when it comes to reading.

What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I really don't remember what I was reading at that age. But I will say The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis to this day, is a bright spot in my childhood reading.

What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
I pondered this question for a good while but came up with nothing.

What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
In urban fantasy, it's between Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris and The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein. I really liked both. In Fantasy, The Pirate King by R.A. Salvatore.

If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
I would be real hard put to pin down just one book. I like so many books, it almost seems like I would be cheating on one book for another. So, I plead the fifth here.

What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler, I had to read this for work. The difficult part of reading this book, wasn't understanding it, because I did. It was rereading sections because my mind would wander. Yawn.

Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Concerning books neither, because I can't read either languages. Not sure why this question is here. o_O

Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
I pick Shakespeare because I've had more exposure to his works.

Austen or Eliot?
Honestly, neither.

What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I don't have one. I don't read to impress anyone, I read because I enjoy it.

What is your favorite novel?
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, has earned this spot since it's the book that introduced me into the world of paranormal/urban fantasy reading.

What is your favorite play?
I don't have one but if I ever got the chance I would love to see Cats.

What is your favorite poem?
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

What is your favorite essay?
I haven't read an essay since college. And I don't recall what any of them were.

What is your favorite short story?
I just drew a blank here, none come to mind.

What is your favorite non-fiction
Since I don't read non-fiction unless it is a requirement of some sort, I don't have one.

What is your favorite graphic novel?
I haven't read any but I do have The Watchmen on my TBR list.

What is your favorite science fiction?
I haven't read any science fiction in sense of Star Wars type books but I love to watch it. Growing up, Star Trek and Buck Rogers were some of my favorite shows, later as an adult the X-Files. Now a days, it is the Stargate series. I plan on reading Grimspace by Ann Aguirre, which is a space opera.

Who is your favorite writer?
I have too many favorites to name just one. But if the favorite writer question was plural, I would say R.A. Salvatore, Anne Rice, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jeri Smith-Ready, Barb & J.C. Hendee, Margaret Weiss, Tracy Hickman, Charlaine Harris, Jeanne Stein, Anne Bishop. Should I stop now?

Who is the most over rated writer alive today?
Before I answer, I'm putting up my force field shield because I know there are many who would stone me for this answer. Stephenie Meyers, her books are okay but I do not think they are all that and a bag of chips.

What are you reading right now?
Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

Best Fantasy?
The Dark Elf Trilogy, Collector's Edition (Homeland, Exile, Sojourn) by R. A. Salvatore

Best Memoir?
I've actually never thought about reading one.

Best History?
History is not a favorite subject of mine, so no books come to mind unless you want to count The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. :D

Best Mystery or Noir?
The Descent by Jeff Long

This month long contest is going to be fun! Hence, my pimpage for Anya Bast's Super Contest:

Grand Prize: $100 GC to Amazon.com
Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies (like chocolate, bath goodies, ect). This is going to be a NICE prize!
Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies. (same as above)

Plus chances to win books (almost) every day for a month!

Go to http://www.anyabast.com/blog/ for details on how to enter.

Slumdog Millionaire is a love story, of meeting one's destiny against the odds, told from the guy's point view. Jamal, a Mumbai teen, played by Dev Pate, grows up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" The game show host has him arrested under the suspicion of cheating, and while Jamal is being questioned, we are shown the important events from his life that lead up to the 20 million dollar question.

I loved this movie, through out it I was devastated, happy, grossed out and amazed. I had a silly grin on my face when the movie was over, with that feel good feeling in the belly. After the movie ends, there is a dance scene that I just loved. I have included a video of that dance scene and the movie trailer below. If you haven't seen this movie, it is now available to rent or buy. I highly recommend people watch this movie.

Mishel at mis(h)takes has giving me the Let's be Friends Award. I am honored to receive this award and the fact Mishel thinks of me as a friend. Thank you, Mishel!

"The Let's be Friends Awards stands for this: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers."

These deserving bloggers are my recipients for this award because they are all spectacular friends:

Wow! I'm really excited about this. I have been awarded the ever prestigious Zombie Chicken Award by the wonderful ladies over at Shapeshifter Romance & Kimberly Swan over at Darques Reviews! Thank you! :D

About the Zombie Chicken Award: “The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all…”

Well, I certainly don't want any bad juju coming down on me so, I am with ceremony, passing this honorable award onto:

1. The Discriminating Fangirl
2. The Old Bat's Belfry
3. Romance Book Wyrm
4. Anna's Book Blog
5. Musings of Rehor
   

What My Blog's About
I try to write reviews about the books I really enjoyed, I don't have time to write a review about every book I read that I liked. Maybe I can one day, when my two full time jobs, work and family, slow down a bit, at least the work part. I also post my reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.com.

The type of books you'll find me writing about on my blog, will in the Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk, Paranormal Romance, and YA Fantasy genres, pretty much most anything with a paranormal twist to it. Every now and again, I will blog about music or movies that have moved me enough to say something to the world about.

Reviews
Not accepting any books for review at this time due to time constraints.

My Reading History
I've pretty much been an avid reader most of my life. Notice I say most? Well, for a time, while my son was younger, it just didn't seem like I could find time to read plus the fact I didn't really find much I wanted to read during that time period. Things like the internet were available to help find books, at the time. Wow, do I feel old saying that!

When I was a teenager, I read a lot of historical romances by authors like Victoria Holt, whatever I could find at the library especially if it involved ghosts or witches. Then I moved on to horror books, like Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Eventually I found Anne Rice, I fell in love with her work. Periodically, I would read mysteries that had a supernatural spin to them, like Dean Koontz. I stumbled upon Kelley Armstrong's Bitten, when it was first published in the early '90s, I loved that book. But I couldn't find more books similar to it nor had any of the other books in the Women of the OtherWorld been published yet. This is when another one of my reading hiatus ensued.

I started reading again several years ago, my son talked me into reading a Dragonlance novel. Soon, I was lost in the worlds that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman created. Of course, the Forgotton Realms was next, Drizzt Du'Orden is my hero! I stayed in the fantasy genre for awhile reading authors like Kate Elliott, Michelle Sagara and many more.

While searching on Amazon.com one day, I came across Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy and bought it. Oh, my gods!!!! I love that series. This was a major turning point in my reading. I found I really liked the steamy romance mixed with paranormal. But I never came across another series like Bishop's though I searched, it wasn't until the end of the summer of '08 that I really found out what the PNR and Urban Fantasy genres had to offer me. I've been playing catch up every since.

My Blogger Profile

Has the cover of a book alone attracted you to it and make you want to buy it? Even though you hadn't read the synopsis yet, you still want to get it? I do. Sounds dumb or weird? Well, every now and again, I'll come across a book cover that just captures my attention totally. I just want to grab it and treat it like it's my pretty. Of course, I do end up reading the synopsis, to decide if I want to read and buy it. I know, don't judge a book by it's cover. But sometimes that book cover can be so compelling.

Gardens of the Moon By Steven Erikson is one of those books. This book cover, illustrated by Michael Komarck, reminds me of the R. A. Salvatore books on the dark elf Drizzit. Of course, this book is a limited edition and costs $125.00. Bummer.

Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready is now also available in mass-market paperback! This is the first novel in the awesome urban fantasy series WVMP Radio. The second novel in this series is Bad to the Bone, which will be available on May 19, 2009.

My thoughts on this fun, original read are here, plus a review by Charlaine Harris you can read on Charlaine's website and a review over at Darque Reviews.

You can purchase Wicked Game by clicking on one of the links below or click the Order button on any of the Wicked Game widgets on my blog.

Links to purchase Wicked Game:

• Mysterious Galaxy (independent science fiction/fantasy bookstore)
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Powell’s Books
• Simon & Schuster
• Booktopia (Australia)