So I had the neatest little surprise this morning when I got up. I checked my twitter (I follow a lot of authors, some Supernatural tv show people & a few family members) and discovered a tweet to ME! It read as follows:
bodyguard4jandj
If anyone knows Karen from Bridgewater, please let her know that her duck now resides on our exec producer's office desk, he stole it ... lol
My sis, who saw the tweet last night had already tweeted him back, but of course, I did as well this morning because....well because its freaking cool!
See, Clif, (aka bodyguard4jandj) decided to ask fans to send ducks to the Supernatural set. Not real live ducks (I hope no one did that!), but rubber ducks. They're calling the collection of ducks "Duck Nation". I thought it was a really clever idea, and since I was still high on my trip to the Supernatural Tour, I hurried out to find me some ducks.
Can I give a shout out to Newbury Comics, who have the best selection of rubber ducks this side of heaven?
Anyway, I bought 3 ducks. The first was a little cowboy duck - the reason behind it, at the convention Jared was talking about wanting to do a western episode and joking about how he looks in a cowboy hat. So, I had to include that one.
The second duck was a red devil duck. Yes, I know, the odds were they were going to get a billion of those. So this is what I did... I got out my trusty sharpee pen and drew all over it. I made the wings angel wings. I gave it a moustache and bigger eyebrows. I decorated the head. I wrote "I (heart) Supernatural" on its breast. I drew Dean's necklace around it's neck, put the Impala's license plate on its ass and added my two favorite quotes to its body ("Man, you fugly!" and "I lost my shoe.")
It was a mess - lol - so on the bottom, I wrote something to the effect that its really hard to write on a rubber duck. Which, by the way, unless you're a gifted artist - it is.
But that's not all - I found a 3rd duck. A Red Sox duck! It was so freaking awesome, I had to get it. On the bottom, I wrote that we loved having the guys visit Boston and hoped they'd be back next year. Then I packed the three ducks up and shipped them off - in of all things, a duck mail box (seriously, there was a picture on the box with a duck delivering mail - how perfect is that?!)
A lot of fans took pictures of their ducks. They've been posting them online. I was a total dumbass and in my excitement to get my ducks off, neglected to do that. But Clif has been posting pictures of some of the unique ducks that have arrived as well as daily group photos. As expected, there were a lot of red devil ducks and there were plenty of cowboy ducks....but every day I looked and I didn't see my ducks. I figured the red devil duck would be hard to miss in a picture because its crazy bad (and I don't mean bad in a good way - my artwork was .... let's just say ... kindergarten art). Nothing. I was beginning to worry that maybe they got held up at customs, but then I saw the tweet!
Not only did my ducks make it, but one of them now resides in the exec. producer's office! How freaking awesomely cool is that?! (Okay, I have no life. My husband and son were like "meh...and?...") I'm hopping around and laughing like I just won the lottery. I'm assuming its the Red Sox duck, although maybe he found my devil duck a magnificent piece of art. (I highly doubt that, but hey, stranger things have happened.) So go Red Sox! And rock on Duck Nation!!
Thanks for the tweet mention Clif...
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Books Read in August 2011...
This has to be the lowest number of books I've ever read in a month. *heavy sigh* It, of course, does not bode well for me considering the number of books I bought this month (ummm...74 *cough* hunh? I didn't say anything....shhh...O-o)
To be fair, I found an AWESOME website that sells books dirt cheap. So, about 25 of those books cost me no more than $1.49!! BookCloseOuts.ca They're out of Canada, so the shipping is thru UPS and its UPS expensive, but still, for my stack it was $16.95, I think). All in all, it was an amazing deal. And I picked up some books I've been trying to find forever.
And then there was the 50%-60% off at Borders. The rest came from Amazon (13 of them - and I have Amazon Prime, so no shipping cost). So in general, I spent a whole lot less than you might think.
Yes. I'm making excuses. I need therapy. Is there a book lover's anonymous?
Anyway, I read all of 5 books this month, which was a month filled with shopping (apparently), getting kiddo ready for college, parties, and cleaning house.
First up? Basilisk by Rob Thurman - which gets 5 stars! I love so much about Rob's writing style and this book didn't disappoint. Second in her Chimera series, its told from Michael's POV. Michael is...genius, sociopathic (but knows it and tries to compensate), and sneaky. I love his interactions with Stefan, his older brother. Stefan is so patient for a seriously bad-ass dude.
Next is Backstage Pass: Sinners on Tour by Olivia Cunningham (3 stars). This was a recommended book that I downloaded on my e-reader. It's not urban fantasy - more, hmmm, erotic smut? Still, there's a nice little storyline there, so that all the sex isn't just that. I actually liked it, and I think I've mentioned before I'm not a big fan of long raunchy sex scenes. The author takes the time to create a connection between the characters (even if the first hookup is a little contrived and cheesy). Sooo, for an e-reader purchase, I enjoyed it enough to be willing to buy more in the Sinners series. (*blushing*) My only advice, don't let your kid pick it up and look at it...and you might not want to read it while they're in the room. I got a little flustered by some of it.
Magic Mourns: A Novella by Ilona Andrews (4 stars) Oh jeez, does this even count as a book? Screw it, I need numbers! What can I say? I love the Magic series. This short story is from an anthology and is about Andrea and Raphael (ooh, I love me some Raphael). I downloaded this one, too, even tho I own the anthology. Definitely worth the money.
Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock (3 stars) I think this is the book that killed my reading this month. Its the third in her series about a vampire turned tour guide. I'm going to try to be fair about this brief review because I honestly really liked the first two books. This one - well it was not my favorite. I still love the characters, and if there are more in the series I'll definitely buy them. This book lost its way a little, I think. My problem with it was that the story kept getting bogged down by the descriptions of places and people. I felt like it was all filler and very little story, which is disappointing. But because I like the series so much, I felt obliged to slog my way through it. For about 2 (yes, TWO) weeks. Finally, I just said screw it and started skipping chunks to get to the end. I HATE doing that with a book. I feel like I'm not giving it a fair chance to enchant me. But if I'd kept trying to read it, I think I'd still be reading it now.
And last, Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding (4 stars) This is also part of a series. And I was torn as to whether it should get 5 stars, but I think I'm sticking with 4 stars. Why? DON'T READ PAST HERE, BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE A BIT OF A SPOILER!!! Evy takes a lot of abuse in this book. A lot. The torture is difficult to read because she's suffering so much. And a lot of what happens, happens while she's being tortured. She loses huge amounts of time where things happen. I don't like that. I want to know what happens. (Maybe there's going to be a short story to explain it? I dunno.) But it frustrated me a little. OKAY. YOU CAN START READING AGAIN HERE! Still, I love this series. Evy, Wyatt and Phin (who I adore) are great characters. Kismet and her team (I want to know more about them - hmmm maybe there needs to be a breakoff series?) are a nice addition to the storyline. And heck, this book ended with a very serious turn of events. So I most definitely want more.
So....that's it. Sad, hunh? I guess I didn't do much reading at all this month. (I think I missed a book - I was so crazy that for a while there I wasn't keeping my logs...) Right now, I'm reading Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead, the final book in the Georgina Kincaid story. It's wonderful so far although I'm terribly worried about Georgina making bad choices that could doom her (I don't think she will tho). And I'm loving that Carter is in this one. (I love Carter.) When I'm finished I may blog about this one.
So, over and out. I have some serious reading to do. Serious. Oh my God. How am I supposed to read all those books? ACK!!! (Need caffeine and 72 hours in each day.)
To be fair, I found an AWESOME website that sells books dirt cheap. So, about 25 of those books cost me no more than $1.49!! BookCloseOuts.ca They're out of Canada, so the shipping is thru UPS and its UPS expensive, but still, for my stack it was $16.95, I think). All in all, it was an amazing deal. And I picked up some books I've been trying to find forever.
And then there was the 50%-60% off at Borders. The rest came from Amazon (13 of them - and I have Amazon Prime, so no shipping cost). So in general, I spent a whole lot less than you might think.
Yes. I'm making excuses. I need therapy. Is there a book lover's anonymous?
Anyway, I read all of 5 books this month, which was a month filled with shopping (apparently), getting kiddo ready for college, parties, and cleaning house.
First up? Basilisk by Rob Thurman - which gets 5 stars! I love so much about Rob's writing style and this book didn't disappoint. Second in her Chimera series, its told from Michael's POV. Michael is...genius, sociopathic (but knows it and tries to compensate), and sneaky. I love his interactions with Stefan, his older brother. Stefan is so patient for a seriously bad-ass dude.
Next is Backstage Pass: Sinners on Tour by Olivia Cunningham (3 stars). This was a recommended book that I downloaded on my e-reader. It's not urban fantasy - more, hmmm, erotic smut? Still, there's a nice little storyline there, so that all the sex isn't just that. I actually liked it, and I think I've mentioned before I'm not a big fan of long raunchy sex scenes. The author takes the time to create a connection between the characters (even if the first hookup is a little contrived and cheesy). Sooo, for an e-reader purchase, I enjoyed it enough to be willing to buy more in the Sinners series. (*blushing*) My only advice, don't let your kid pick it up and look at it...and you might not want to read it while they're in the room. I got a little flustered by some of it.
Magic Mourns: A Novella by Ilona Andrews (4 stars) Oh jeez, does this even count as a book? Screw it, I need numbers! What can I say? I love the Magic series. This short story is from an anthology and is about Andrea and Raphael (ooh, I love me some Raphael). I downloaded this one, too, even tho I own the anthology. Definitely worth the money.
Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock (3 stars) I think this is the book that killed my reading this month. Its the third in her series about a vampire turned tour guide. I'm going to try to be fair about this brief review because I honestly really liked the first two books. This one - well it was not my favorite. I still love the characters, and if there are more in the series I'll definitely buy them. This book lost its way a little, I think. My problem with it was that the story kept getting bogged down by the descriptions of places and people. I felt like it was all filler and very little story, which is disappointing. But because I like the series so much, I felt obliged to slog my way through it. For about 2 (yes, TWO) weeks. Finally, I just said screw it and started skipping chunks to get to the end. I HATE doing that with a book. I feel like I'm not giving it a fair chance to enchant me. But if I'd kept trying to read it, I think I'd still be reading it now.
And last, Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding (4 stars) This is also part of a series. And I was torn as to whether it should get 5 stars, but I think I'm sticking with 4 stars. Why? DON'T READ PAST HERE, BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE A BIT OF A SPOILER!!! Evy takes a lot of abuse in this book. A lot. The torture is difficult to read because she's suffering so much. And a lot of what happens, happens while she's being tortured. She loses huge amounts of time where things happen. I don't like that. I want to know what happens. (Maybe there's going to be a short story to explain it? I dunno.) But it frustrated me a little. OKAY. YOU CAN START READING AGAIN HERE! Still, I love this series. Evy, Wyatt and Phin (who I adore) are great characters. Kismet and her team (I want to know more about them - hmmm maybe there needs to be a breakoff series?) are a nice addition to the storyline. And heck, this book ended with a very serious turn of events. So I most definitely want more.
So....that's it. Sad, hunh? I guess I didn't do much reading at all this month. (I think I missed a book - I was so crazy that for a while there I wasn't keeping my logs...) Right now, I'm reading Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead, the final book in the Georgina Kincaid story. It's wonderful so far although I'm terribly worried about Georgina making bad choices that could doom her (I don't think she will tho). And I'm loving that Carter is in this one. (I love Carter.) When I'm finished I may blog about this one.
So, over and out. I have some serious reading to do. Serious. Oh my God. How am I supposed to read all those books? ACK!!! (Need caffeine and 72 hours in each day.)
Friday, September 2, 2011
The Good The Bad and the Ugly...
The good news: at some point today I will be putting up a book blog about what I read this month.
The bad news: it was another slow month.
The bad news: thanks to Hurricane Irene (I will never ever EVER pray that a storm hits us again) we had no power from Sun. at 10:38 am to Tues. at 11:23 pm. Some people in town still don't have power.
The good news: we have power, cable, internet and phone service!
The ugly: lost everything in fridge/freezer, kid went a little mental without computers (withdrawal is a bitch).
The good news: kid got notice he is accepted to college as a commuting freshman late monday evening.
The bad news: there was a computer glitch (or a hack) that messed up all the late enrollments & registered them for testing/orientation at non-existing times.
The ugly: he missed orientation, without orientation he can't register for classes, registration is over so he must now do add/drop first week of school which begins sept. 7th, BUT he can't do that without orientation either, welcome week starts sunday BUT he can't attend that without orientation, and he can't attend school without welcome week, and ..... suffice it to say, I called the president of the college this morning (who had no idea any of this was going on) and we finally got some action BUT still haven't talked to a human being who can resolve anything.
The ugly: stress and aspergers do not mix well.
The good: I have a cold 12-pack of beer in my fridge. lol
The bad news: it was another slow month.
The bad news: thanks to Hurricane Irene (I will never ever EVER pray that a storm hits us again) we had no power from Sun. at 10:38 am to Tues. at 11:23 pm. Some people in town still don't have power.
The good news: we have power, cable, internet and phone service!
The ugly: lost everything in fridge/freezer, kid went a little mental without computers (withdrawal is a bitch).
The good news: kid got notice he is accepted to college as a commuting freshman late monday evening.
The bad news: there was a computer glitch (or a hack) that messed up all the late enrollments & registered them for testing/orientation at non-existing times.
The ugly: he missed orientation, without orientation he can't register for classes, registration is over so he must now do add/drop first week of school which begins sept. 7th, BUT he can't do that without orientation either, welcome week starts sunday BUT he can't attend that without orientation, and he can't attend school without welcome week, and ..... suffice it to say, I called the president of the college this morning (who had no idea any of this was going on) and we finally got some action BUT still haven't talked to a human being who can resolve anything.
The ugly: stress and aspergers do not mix well.
The good: I have a cold 12-pack of beer in my fridge. lol
Friday, August 26, 2011
In Honor of Irene, Let's Talk Books...
Specifically, Rachel Caine's weather warden and djinn series.
First up, the weather warden series, which consists of 9 books - Ill Wind * Heat Stroke * Chill Factor * Windfall * Firestorm * Thin Air * Gale Force * Cape Storm * Total Eclipse. There are also short stories on her website.
The series follows Joanne Baldwin, a Warden. What is a Warden, you ask? They control nature. Or try to control it. Contain it, maybe - if they're good at being wardens. They have help, though - djinn. The djinn are elementals, captured and owned (think really pissed off genies in bottles). So when an earthquake happens, or a hurricane is coming, the wardens with the djinn's help can keep them from being complete disasters.
Joanne is called into action to deal with a serious problem. Along the way, she meets David, a free djinn (A really HOT djinn!) and they fall in love. That doesn't exactly please most of the djinn.
In addition, the earth mother is waking up, the contained djinn want their freedom, there are weather wardens who aren't exactly good guys (okay, they're super bad guys), and the old djinn are at war with the new djinn. This all builds through the series until it comes down to a final showdown where choosing sides doesn't necessarily mean good vs. evil.
The characters are well developed, including bit characters, and each has their purpose to propel the story forward. The storyline is smart and exciting. The world is brilliantly conceived. The books are fast paced with tender moments where Joanne has to stop and deal with the shit in her life. Her happiness with David is constantly challenged. There is no guarantee of a happy end for her or any of the characters that you will grow to love.
In addition, there is an offshoot series - the Outcast Season series - from Joanne and David's story. Cassiel, an old world djinn who makes an appearance in their story, gets her own story in trying to deal with the earth mother and Pearl, a really bad djinn that's transformed into something else. Cass is turned human and is forced to learn to live as a human, tho she still needs to draw energy from a warden. Enter Luis. As they race to save the world and Luis's niece, some disastrous, awful stuff happens. The last book in this series isn't out yet. The 3rd book ended on one of those WTH cliffhangers that have me horribly worried for the characters.
So, in honor of Hurricane Irene, which is going to cause *cough* death and destruction in eastern MA *cough* (seriously that's how they're portraying it as they say we're going to have 60 mph winds - whoop dee doo)....anyway, in honor of that, today I am recommending both the Weather Warden and Outcast Season series. Of the two, I'm far more drawn to Cassiel's story because I think her POV is so well written. But, that being said, I highly recommend both. Go. Buy. Before books die out forever or the apocalypse happens....
First up, the weather warden series, which consists of 9 books - Ill Wind * Heat Stroke * Chill Factor * Windfall * Firestorm * Thin Air * Gale Force * Cape Storm * Total Eclipse. There are also short stories on her website.
The series follows Joanne Baldwin, a Warden. What is a Warden, you ask? They control nature. Or try to control it. Contain it, maybe - if they're good at being wardens. They have help, though - djinn. The djinn are elementals, captured and owned (think really pissed off genies in bottles). So when an earthquake happens, or a hurricane is coming, the wardens with the djinn's help can keep them from being complete disasters.
Joanne is called into action to deal with a serious problem. Along the way, she meets David, a free djinn (A really HOT djinn!) and they fall in love. That doesn't exactly please most of the djinn.
In addition, the earth mother is waking up, the contained djinn want their freedom, there are weather wardens who aren't exactly good guys (okay, they're super bad guys), and the old djinn are at war with the new djinn. This all builds through the series until it comes down to a final showdown where choosing sides doesn't necessarily mean good vs. evil.
The characters are well developed, including bit characters, and each has their purpose to propel the story forward. The storyline is smart and exciting. The world is brilliantly conceived. The books are fast paced with tender moments where Joanne has to stop and deal with the shit in her life. Her happiness with David is constantly challenged. There is no guarantee of a happy end for her or any of the characters that you will grow to love.
In addition, there is an offshoot series - the Outcast Season series - from Joanne and David's story. Cassiel, an old world djinn who makes an appearance in their story, gets her own story in trying to deal with the earth mother and Pearl, a really bad djinn that's transformed into something else. Cass is turned human and is forced to learn to live as a human, tho she still needs to draw energy from a warden. Enter Luis. As they race to save the world and Luis's niece, some disastrous, awful stuff happens. The last book in this series isn't out yet. The 3rd book ended on one of those WTH cliffhangers that have me horribly worried for the characters.
So, in honor of Hurricane Irene, which is going to cause *cough* death and destruction in eastern MA *cough* (seriously that's how they're portraying it as they say we're going to have 60 mph winds - whoop dee doo)....anyway, in honor of that, today I am recommending both the Weather Warden and Outcast Season series. Of the two, I'm far more drawn to Cassiel's story because I think her POV is so well written. But, that being said, I highly recommend both. Go. Buy. Before books die out forever or the apocalypse happens....
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Hurricane Irene
Do I prep for it? Do I not prep for it? Do I batten down the hatches or not? Geez, weathermen, make up your mind where it's going. I want to know whether I'm going to see a real hurricane or not.
Yesterday, the track showed it going directly over my town & level 2. Then it showed it slightly to the left. Now it's somewhere out past Worcester & level 1. Come on!! I already stocked up on batteries, dry foods and water. WTH?
(And what's the deal with everyone and their brother buying up every last D battery in Massachusetts??)
Yesterday, the track showed it going directly over my town & level 2. Then it showed it slightly to the left. Now it's somewhere out past Worcester & level 1. Come on!! I already stocked up on batteries, dry foods and water. WTH?
(And what's the deal with everyone and their brother buying up every last D battery in Massachusetts??)
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rob Thurman
If you're a huge fan of Rob Thurman, you've probably already heard the news. It's not good. Rob was apparently in an accident sometime last week. She's been in critical condition ever since & has developed pneumonia in both lungs. There is a post from Jayda on Rob's official blog and Lucienne Diver has tweeted that she spoke to Rob's mother. Since these are both reliable sources, it is obviously true.
My stomach is in knots over this. I've blogged about how much I enjoy Rob's books. In addition, I regularly visit her blog. She's a very funny, snarky woman who loves her pets and loves to write. She talks to her fans and has even given us a name - Reavers.
Please, whatever your beliefs, keep Rob in your thoughts and prayers.
(And if you've never read her books, you really should. She is a brilliant writer.)
My stomach is in knots over this. I've blogged about how much I enjoy Rob's books. In addition, I regularly visit her blog. She's a very funny, snarky woman who loves her pets and loves to write. She talks to her fans and has even given us a name - Reavers.
Please, whatever your beliefs, keep Rob in your thoughts and prayers.
(And if you've never read her books, you really should. She is a brilliant writer.)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Stacia Kane's Downside e-books on sale!!!
Quick! While the promotion is on!! You can pick up Unholy Ghosts for 99 cents, Unholy Magic for $4.99 and City of Ghosts for $4.99 on Amazon or B&N. (I recommend Amazon, since B&N is the nemesis of UF lovers like me.)
That means you can pick up all three books (which usually cost $23.97) for $10.97! That's a huge savings.
Stacia's asking fans to spread the word. I've already swung over there & purchased my copies (since I already own them in paperback, I figure they're one of the series I must have on my e-reader for everywhere reading).
Go. Buy. Chessie, Terrible and Lex are some of my favorite characters. Her books are smart, the world is dark and gritty, the characters are unique and amazingly complex, the storyline is nothing short of brilliant. And I dare you not to love Terrible and lust a little for Lex, right along with messed-up Chessie.
That means you can pick up all three books (which usually cost $23.97) for $10.97! That's a huge savings.
Stacia's asking fans to spread the word. I've already swung over there & purchased my copies (since I already own them in paperback, I figure they're one of the series I must have on my e-reader for everywhere reading).
Go. Buy. Chessie, Terrible and Lex are some of my favorite characters. Her books are smart, the world is dark and gritty, the characters are unique and amazingly complex, the storyline is nothing short of brilliant. And I dare you not to love Terrible and lust a little for Lex, right along with messed-up Chessie.
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