Same Old Song and Dance

I have been very aware that I'm boring you all to tears. No, no, let's not lie to each other, I'm sitting here and yawning is all I'm doing. Well it turns out there are some archives around here and I wondered what I was up to at this exact same time last year.

I was much worse.

I don't know how you all stuck in there but, wow. The good news is I'm not having any anxiety issues like I did last year at this time, taxes turned out to be a snap and I already live in my new house. Who'd a thunk it? Amazing what a year will do.

So, some stupid questions and general nonsense about to commence. Hey, you must be bored also or you'd be off somewhere else. Or doing your taxes.

1. Over at Dear Author there are two women named Jane and Jayne. I thought they were the two women who ran the site. So my question is who are Jan and Janine? I noticed when I filled out my Rita ballot that four names were at the bottom and suddenly I'm wondering who everybody is. Then I was all tickled that their names all started with J and then I realized they could be akas. Sorry, I don't get out much.

2. How many forums are you signed up for in the romance world? And can I just say, I must be getting old because when AAR switched over to the new setup I was all, 'I'm out!'. I see how they work and stuff but I liked being able to pick into a thread at certain levels. Let's not get into the signature lines that can have oodles of graphics flashing at me (not at AAR). I don't know if there are as many discussions going on now or not. I used to be able to flash in and see everything in one shot. I knew where I had left off so I could see all the new stuff in one shot. Now, you have to click back into the area, page through till you find your post and then read on from there. Yes, there is the 'new posts while I was away' feature but they only lead you to the beginning thread. I'm just saying. Not so conducive for the lazy.

3. How hooked into the reading world are you? I mean, if you are a romance reader are you at the forums and boards often? If you are more along of the lines of fantasy, are there other places you hang at besides Twisted Kingdom? I guess I'm asking if there are sites like AAR for fantasy and sci-fi and chicklit cause, seriously, those would be the places to go to if I wanted to start reading in another genre. I *think* I'm becoming more of an isolationist without meaning to. I like my blog hopping way too much and it's like visiting friends but I am less likely to hang out where there are tons of comments. Probably because then someone has already said what I wanted to only better and well, that sucks.

That's enough for now.

I decided to pull down Summer Breeze by Catherine Anderson after Holly suggested it in the comments. (The heroine is agoraphobic - squeeeee!) I'm thinking I need to go book buying also.

This will come as no surprise to anyone but I'm of the mind that if my copy of Claiming the Courtesan doesn't show up in the mail tomorrow I may have to go out and buy it.

I'm so predictable.

OH!!! Who's the other Nathan Fillion fan? Did you watch the new show Drive!? It the Amazing Race only hard core! I'm going to be so pissed if they cancel this show!

I'm an EEEdiot!

Have I mentioned I'm sick?

I am one whiny grumpy sick person as a rule but I sometimes pull this 'mind over matter' crap outta my arse and power through. Monday through Wednesday were the 'lay around moaning in ill frustration'.

Then I get an inkling of 'hey, I think I feel a tad better!' and I go bat shit crazy.

No really.

I take on extremely physical tasks although at least this time I didn't wash any floors on my hands and knees. (When my mom said she no longer did stuff like that I was all 'hell yeah! I'll never get down on my hands and knees again!) So I kind of ran around the house yesterday getting stuff put away and then I posted on the blog saying I was off to bed soon.

Uh, no.

I decided I had to learn how to use a label maker that I just bought and then I decided to re-label all my files to get myself even more organized. In my brain this took all of 10 minutes.

THEN, I decided to take a run at the TBR pile by looking for To Have and To Hold by Patricia Gaffney (I don't think I've ever read it before but you never know - thing is it's a used copy and now I want to see if it's ever been re-printed. Smoky smells really get to me lately and my best friend is a smoker! OMG - It's was re-released - gotta run!). I knew it was there but again, I don't like to sort stuff so I ended up moving all the books around and yes, it was in the last place I looked. Okay, I had already looked everywhere and was starting again when I noticed it sitting face out at eye level all along.

I hate that.

Finally, I give Cody a tap to let him know I'm leaving to go to bed (he's stone cold deaf now - ohhh, I have to tell you a silly story!) and off I go only to glance at the clock as I'm climbing into bed.

10 am.

I thought Bob had maybe hit the wrong button when he got up so I double checked with the TV. Nope, I had stayed up an extra 2 hours. Ugh.

I go to sleep but for some reason wake up at 4 pm. That's six hours people!

I got up and then Bob came home and I wanted out of the house (bad, bad, bad idea) so Bob took me out and then he went to the reno house and I gallivanted around a few stores, tried on some shorts and scared myself stupid, decided that fat is so not the look for me but, I'm lazy. So, yeah, I'm out and about and stuff.

I go to Chapters and leave with NOTHING. I told Bob and he went to get a thermometer. So far no fever but Bob's looking worried.

Oh, before Bob got home I decided to spend time trying to get the horrendous squealing noise to cease on our garage door opener. This involves me getting on a ladder and farting around with tools and such in a cold garage. Again, felt like 10 minutes but I'm thinking it was longer.

So why the run down on my day?

I'M SICK!

I friggin' made it worse. Headache, achy all over (which gets me thinking about the flu and how I'm terrified of it) and painfully tired. I took Tylenol and Bob gave me a head rub and yikes, I feel crappy. I even tried to go to bed and nothing.

Cody, meanwhile, is being supportive by laying full out on the couch and snoring up a storm.

Lucky bastard.

Crazy Side Trip:

So Cody is now deaf. Okay, he's deaf but if you are really, really loud he either hears something or the movement of soundwaves in the area lets him know something is going on.

Now, I have mentioned that Cody loves Bob to itty bitty bits. He will race to the window when Bob leaves just to make sure he is really going to work in the morning. Bob has thrown him off a few times by driving away and discovering he has forgotten something. Cody will then stand at the door for an hour not trusting that Bob has really left.

Anyways, the other day Cody crawled up on the couch with me and was snuggling. I don't know what came over me but I wanted Cody to know that I loved him and I thought if I yelled it really, really loud he would get a sense of it.

So I yelled. And I'm loud naturally so it was no soft holler.

Poor guy knew something had happened but he must have thought it was Bob returning home. Ears up and staring at the front door. I felt so bad, I got him all excited because he thought his 'love' was coming home.

Now I make him look at me when I talk to him and hope he is learning to read lips.

Blue River

I'm sucking wind over here!!

I am so bored I don't know what to do with myself. Bob has suggested helpful shit like clean the house, vacuum, laundry, you know fun stuff that makes your toes curl with glee.

Meh.

I did de-clutter my kitchen which means a ton of crap was carted to and fro since the kitchen is our 'dumping' ground. Heaven forbid I can actually get to the cleaners under the sink, it takes me an hour of sorting and moving stuff.

And why is it I have a bigger house and less storage?

Maybe I'm collecting way too much shit.

Hey, I did our taxes too. That's progress. Course, if I do it the way it's been set up by my father in the past few years we would get a ton of money back but we'd have to pay it to them again next year when the house finally sells. I tell ya, taxes. Blergh. And Bob's helpful in a 'you don't have to do anything with that stuff because we didn't have or sell a house next year'. Uh, yeah doo-fie, you still need to put the numbers in there and that's a huge pain in the arse when there is a partner who hasn't sent me any financials. Bob does taxes in his head but not in real life. Two thumbs up.

Mission for you:

Give me some of your best reads from 2007. I have 40 bucks in gift certificates burning a hole in my pocket but I'm afraid to pick out anything. It all looks like romantic suspense and those aren't working for me lately.

I even went to Amazon and looked at my recommendations and I swear they are all rom/susp. All because I said I love Anne Stuart and I do, I really, really do!

I'm currently tip-toeing through my TBR pile but the 'sickies' are still hanging in although I think I'm handling it way better than poor Bob did. The first three days were killer but hopefully I'm on an upswing.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself!

Oh and the weather has turned crappy again.

WTF?

And, I'm back on nights. Being a sickie sent the clock into overdrive. It's 8am and I'm soon off to bed.

Okay, I'm going to let you go on to bigger and brighter things. Go find something cool and shiny and share with the class!

Love Is Blind by Lynsay Sands

I'm pretty sure I have to count this as a DNF even though I read through to page 182 and then skimmed to the end.

Bored.

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.

This so isn't an author for me. I think I picked up this book because I saw this book in the interim results at AAR and I had been hearing about it a lot.

My example of what went wrong:

Hey, look at that flower.

This flower?

No, not that flower.

Oh, this flower then.

Why would that be the flower, no the other flower.

Ah, this flower, I see.

Isn't it a pretty flower?

Yes, it is a pretty flower.

Hey so and so, look at this flower.

What flower?

This flower.

OMG with the friggin' flower already!!!

There was no actual flower in the book but holy crap, the dialogue was atrocious.

THEN, there is the evil crime of telling. The whole first part of the book is the hero finding out what the 'scandal' (that is attached to the heroine) is about from his cousin and mother.

Talk, talk, talk, talk...UGH!!

The heroine talks about all the little mishaps she has had since not having her glasses. The hero tells his cousin and so the reader gets a second telling of said incidents. Then the hero has to go over all the mishaps because, dum-dum-duuummm, they may actually be attempts to kill the heroine but that damn cousin is there going 'Wha??' so the reader is beaten to death with the reasons why they aren't mishaps.

Geez Louise, I figured it out the minute she turned up in the friggin' fountain.

I started to skim when there was some sort of misunderstanding about where everyone was supposed to meet for tea.

Here?

No, there!

Oh, right, there. I remember something about there, but then why are you here?

*stabs self repeatedly with knife*

I survive the self mutilation and skim to the end. Okay, I actually can flip ahead 20 pages at a time and still get the gist of what happened.

Okay, I should be a little more truthful, I made it to where the hero is hiring an investigator to look into the 'accidents' the heroine is having. This is where my brain exploded as the investigator now gets the rundown on the whole story and I mean WHOLE story. Therefore the reader has now been subjected to listening to dialogue that has happened three times before this.

Ding, ding, check please!!

This is why I sometimes find my TBR pile overwhelming.

I'm terrified all my books will turn out to be like this and then I will be a weeping, sobbing mess of ugly goo.

All I wanted was a simple romance without any paranormal stuff (weird, cause I love that stuff but, I don't have the brain power going on right now) or Rom Sus or anything else to detract from a simple love story. Like the last book I finished. Yeah, I just want a wonderful romance with some heat.

Actually, I'm impatiently waiting for the Anna Campbell book to arrive - I know it has left Australia but hey, slow boats and all that!

Anyways!

I'm pretty sure that my reaction to this book has nothing to do with me being sick but I figure this little rant has been brought to you by the letter B.

Bitchy, blechy and blergh!

Sicky McSick

Here's a picture of the chocolate monkey I got for Easter and yeah, I'm pretty sure he's hollow. How well my family knows me.

I'm in Sicklandia, pop. one at the moment. Bob's feeling tons better (the bastard) and merrily goes on his way. I slept for 20 hours today, round about.

Things I must remember not to do.

1. Blog hop when sick. Grumpy Cindy shows up and begins angry rant - we'll see if there are consequences later. I'm sure everyone will ignore the angry woman in the corner. If I'm lucky.

2. Don't try and review a book when NyQuil has been injested. Probably not a good idea to do anything while on a healthy dose of NyQuil.

I have a regular Doc appointment tomorrow at 4pm so my only hope is that I'm not comatose. Today I woke up at 1pm, took another hit of NyQuil and woke up at 5pm. I then got up for 2 hours and crawled back into bed for another two hours and now I'm just up and miserable.

Yeah. I didn't quite think it through.

I can't seem to decide which book to try and read next.

How I deal with the stress is beyond me!

His Secondhand Wife by Cheryl St. John

I picked this little gem off the TBR pile in desperation.

There is nothing new in this story and reading it is like putting on an old cozy sweater.

I'm giving this book a B- because I enjoyed reading a romance that had nothing to do with anything other than a budding relationship. It was a nice change of pace from the frenetic reads I normally indulge in.

Keep in mind, this book probably wouldn't be rated very high in the sensuality level - maybe subtle - and there is a baby. I mean, really, if this wasn't a recipe for disaster then I don't know what is?

Cindy Blurb: Katherine Cutter is a woman of no means, living with her bitter mother after her husband of a few weeks ups and leaves to find a job. When he doesn't come back after a month Katherine tries to keep the faith even though she has discovered she is pregnant. Terrified of not having enough to raise her child she holds onto the hope that her husband will come back to her.

Noah Cutter is a man who keeps away from everyone due to the scars marring his face and body. Believing he was an abomination to look upon he isolated himself alone on his ranch until word came that his brother had been killed. Discovering Katherine, Noah offers to take her to his home so she can be safe and raise her child. Eager for a new life Katherine leaves her known life behind for a better chance at happiness.

So, we have a man who doesn't know he can be loved, a woman who doesn't flinch from the sight of him and only wishes to make him happy and an oppressive and evil step mother who only wants to ensure than her grandchild, her last connection to her beloved son, be within her grasp.

Really, we've all read this story before but in this one there wasn't any real drama. No one got overly upset or yelled or well, anything. Kate is a woman who can talk from sun up to sun down about anything and everything and has a positive look on life. Noah, having closed himself off from people is charmed by her love of life and her willingness to she everything as a blessing. Thus, when they marry, Noah is surprised that Kate offers her bed to him but then realizes that she feels obligated.

And that is how the rest of the story progresses. Kate and Noah begin to believe that the other is a saint who couldn't possibly want anything to do with themselves.

What intrigued me was the Noah was a virgin but really, this didn't play into the romance as A) he never tells her and B) this book is not explicit with the sex scenes except that I know the second time they make love, Noah has found a way to make Katherine orgasm twice. I wish I knew how he learned that so easily because DUDE, there are men out there who still don't have a clue and they've been 'slinging hash' for far longer!

Side Note: I just took some NyQuil so I'm not too sure of what I am writing as it's starting to take it's effect.

So, if you are looking for a romance that is set in the west and you have read an Harlequin Historical before and enjoyed it then I would suggest giving this one a try.

Okay, I'm going to stop with trying to review but will now update you on me. Aren't you just tickled?

1. My anti-bodies threw up their little white flags of surrender sometime yesterday and today I am a full fledged sicky.

This blows. Literally and well, however, else I mean.

2. I love my Aunt to itty bitty pieces but she cooked our turkey dinner the day before our scheduled dinner to make it easier for her. Here's the thing. It's like eating leftovers without the benefit of eating a great Turkey meal with all the fixings. I'm feeling totally ripped off so Bob suggested I go and get a turkey and make one. I have to wait and see how I'm feeling because I will be pissed if I do up a turkey and then can't taste anything because of this cold!!

So, I'm not sure how 'up and about' I'm going to be so hold down the fort for me 'kay?

Okay, I have to go to bed now because my eyes are already drooping from the NyQuil.

Man I love NyQuil!!!

Edited to Add: Sorry, I forgot to tell you how good the Easter Bunny was to me! My puppy and kitties got me book gift certificates and Bob got me some too!! I don't know how they knew what to get me. Meanwhile I only got Bob some Laura Secord Dark Chocolate Eggs which he has said are wonderful (I will take his word for it since I can't do dark chocolate). Did the Easter Bunny leave you guys anything special?

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Luckily, I found a picture of a dog all dressed up in an Easter costume so we can save Cody the embarassment!

Hope the Easter Bunny is good to everyone! We did out celebration with our family tonight and Bob and I managed to get out of the house with the smallest amount of chocolate. I couldn't leave the chocolate monkey my cousin bought me behind!! I'll have to take a picture if I remember before biting it's head off.

Ice Blue by Anne Stuart

I have no words.

You all know I'm a fangirl but - Oh. My. God. - I loved this book!

This book is the epitome of all that is Anne Stuart and holy crap I'm happier than a pig in shit, if you don't mind me saying.

The hero, Taka was perfect and sure Summer has those TSTL moments but it just doesn't matter when you get such a great sexy romance.

So, yeah - KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!! but I would also say this one is an A. I'd throw a plus on there but hey, TSTL moments have to have some sort of consequence but then, without those moments you would have a completely different story.

I just want to grab all my Stuarts off my keeper shelf and re-read every single one. Just to relive all those moments that make me sigh.

*sigh*

I'm really too happy to talk coherently about this book and I'm really trying not to gush.

Hey! I'm trying here!

Okay, I'm going to tell you this but you can't use it against me at a future date.

Pinky swear.

See, Bob is now in Burlington, Vermont (I guess it's just a few hours over the border) on business and when I got to the end of the story I flipped through the rest of the pages, you know, looking for a hint of what would be coming next. Nothing. I then see Stuart's picture at the back and start to read the little bio.

Anne Stuart lives in Vermont.

I think I know what I want Bob to bring back with him.

*dreamy sigh*

Right. Sorry. Snap out of it!

I'm just not that crazy.

Okay, I flirt with 'that crazy' but really, I'm not that bad.

Shut up.

So to recap, I think this book is one of the best Ms. Stuart has to offer (so of the three in the series this is my favourite), I'm wondering if I can claim TSTL as a defense for kidnapping and I'm trying to remember I'm not that crazy.

*chants* I'm not that crazy, I'm not that crazy, I'm not that crazy...

*sigh*

The Great Book Blues are going to be KILLER!!!

Currently Reading

I am reading Anne Stuart's Ice Blue.

I know, I'm so predictable!

Bob's now in Montreal on business and I'm going to try and get to bed - I don't sleep well when Bob's not home, especially at night. It's 2:30am already so I'm definitely screwing up my friggin clock!!

Ah, well.

So far, I only have a slight cough and it's nothing compared to what I know Bob is going through and I do feel bad for him. I get really whiny when I am sick and I am shocked that I have managed to keep this one at bay! Still, poor guy.

Other than that, all is well except I think I may have just been bit by the painting bug. I found some old pictures of our home on a disc that I had forgot we had. I saw our kitchen (which I miss horribly) and the colour on the walls and I realized that even though the colour was far from beige (grey/purple) it was also like a neutral. So, if I paint similar colours here it's okay. I just have to stop worrying that I'm going to put up a colour from the old house and then get sick of it. It's not like I like the colours on our new walls (the living room has a weird burgandy and I'm so over burgandy on walls!!). If I at least put colours up I like then I'm one step further than I am right now. Walking into rooms and not able to relax cause all I can think about is the fact that the walls need to be painted! I figure if I really mess up, I can paint again.

Also, the fact that we don't plan on moving again frees me to do whatever I want and it's okay if it's to my taste (with the reno homes we paint strictly neutral colours and I have forgotten how to put colour in a home!!). I don't think I'm an odd duck as one of my TV shows had a designer on who told us to stop being afraid of colour. I just can't believe that when I go to pick colours I naturally go towards the more purple/greys. I keep thinking I'll move on but nope, I love my purply colours.

I think I may go to Home Depot by myself which is a totally different experience - I last about 5 minutes before the hives break out and I bolt from the store. As long as it isn't raining I think I'll dash into the store to look over the colour chips.

Picking the colour is the easy part.

It's the painting that can be a pain!

I'll post before and after pics if I get around to it.

Until then, what are you reading right now? Are you enjoying it or are you thinking of putting the book down and never picking it up again?

Right now, I'm plum tickled with the book I'm reading ;)

Da Nile

You may have seen me out and about in blogland talking about my TBR pile every once in a while. There are a few people who have what I would call a little ant hill of TBR books and then there are people like me.

I had estimated my TBR pile at about 200 books but that was back at the old house. I only had two bookcases that were tall so I only had about 150 books in the towers. Sure there were a few laying around in odd piles but I had rounded up the 150 to 200 so it was all good.

Turns out I have been swimming in Da Nile. Now, I'm not suggesting that I have bought a ton of books since we moved but uh, I did a loose head count and uh, yeah.

400.

Shhhh!!!! Bob'll hear you!!!

Yes, you're right, he can count and I'm sure he has a better concept of just how many books I have since he was the one who unpacked them all. I'm just not about to tell him how many books I haven't read yet. I mean, someone might impose a budget or some such atrocity!

Still, I haven't really stepped into the room and done a real count. There is an Anne Stuart shelf in there that I counted and a few shelves aren't full but they are wider than the rest so yeah, I'm thinking 400 is probably close to accurate.

I'm beginning to think I have to do an Ames and read 50 books strictly from the TBR pile.

*can't breathe*

*grabs paper bag*

Okay, let's not lose our heads. I mean, it's not a crime to have a big TBR pile.

You know I'm not good with authority!

Next!

I got the stickers! It's the little things in life that make me happy.

I also bought Bob a boatload of chems to put in his sicky body. Now, Bob never takes medicine - hates to for some reason. So there I am with a bottle of NyQuil and I'm laughing to myself because this stuff should knock him flat on his ass. I mean, I take sleeping pills and NyQuil will still take me from awake to drooling unconsciousness in seconds.

Bob's little sicky germs laughed. Course, he may not wake up with the alarm tomorrow but I was shocked that the meds did nothing. He sounds bad and we think he's going to lose his voice.

Meanwhile, I keep dodging the kisses. Poor guy, I don't even want to snug!

I figure if I get out of this I'll be mincemeat next year - managed to not get sick once this year, means I have no antibodies for next year. I have a tickle in my throat and a bubble in one of my sinuses but I'm using that Oprah thing about 'The Secret' where I just think myself healthy. *snort* While I'm doing that I'm thinking I'm thin, rich and 20. So far, no good. Thanks for the good vibes being sent my way - hopefully if it hits I won't get it as bad as Bob!

Tomorrow I'm going out with my best friend to get the Easter stuff for the Godchildren - I don't want to be running around last minute so I figure if we go tomorrow I can get it all done!

Bob took me over to the 'other' house tonight to show me the progress. Looks real good but I know there's at least another month of work. Bob says as we're leaving 'I thought you would freak because it doesn't look like a lot got done'. I just looked at him. The first two houses took 9 months each and that was when they (Bob and Dad) worked every weekend and three nights a week. This house, they(Bob and Cam) didn't really get into the house until Jan because no one else can do the work if Bob's not there. Basically, it's a clusterfuck and what gets me every time is that the men always say shit like, 'as long as we break even'. Fuck that! If we only break even I will tell Bob he's done because I lose lots of time with him and I won't even get into the hassles of getting him out socially!

Nuts, I'm going to.

This weekend is Easter weekend so I told Bob he has to go to his parents (I'll bloody well go by myself if he bails) which I want done on Good Friday and then of course, my parents will have us over for dinner either Saturday or Sunday. Again, I don't do well when I have to *be* somewhere but as long as I feel like I have some control I'll be okay. So Bob only gets one day in this weekend to work on the other house.

Yeah, I'm all teary eyed.

(Have I found my sarcasm button lately or what!?)

I have started Ice Blue by Anne Stuart but I think I'll wait now until Tuesday because Bob leaves for three days and I'll have my obligations out of the way so it'll just be me, Cody, Amber and Emma.

And one great book.

Where Am I?

I'm up during the day.

By that I mean my eyes are open but I'm plagued by that hazy dopey feeling of not quite being in the room.

Yesterday was 'run Cindy ragged' day. Okay, there were a few hours where I had to make it to appointments and well, I don't do well with structured time lines.

Up here in good ol' Ontario Canada we have this @#@!# thing called the Drive Clean whatchamacallit. Basically, every year I have to go to the mall and stand in a line to get the renewed licence plate stickers because Bob works or some such bullshit. Anyways, every two years you have to have your vehicle run through a garage to test the crap coming out of the exhaust. It's 40 bucks a pop.

Well, I wasn't paying attention - I know, quelle surprise - and discovered sometime earlier this week that we needed the trucks to have the DC thing done. The trucks. Or as I like to call them, the toolboxes on wheels.

The stupid stickers expire the last day of March so I have to get the friggin' trucks into the auto shop pronto and lucky for me they had two openings, 9:15am and 10:30am. The thingie takes 15 minutes so I have to sit in the waiting room while very loud men talk on phones and to each other. I never look forward to this because I don't like feeling trapped. Then there is the whole 'it's not over yet' feeling after picking up the first truck.

Did it end here? Nope. I realized Cody was slipping a bit with his sinuses and decided the vet needed to see him to understand why Bob and I wanted him on anti-biotics till the end. Basically, on anti-biotics he can breathe. Not on anti-biotics his sinuses fill up and he can barely breathe. Appointment is 11:45am.

Now, I set the appointment because Bob misheard something the vet told him. That was a $100.00 mistake. The vet has no problem with Cody taking the meds and is happy to accomodate his needs and doesn't even need to see him. Uh, hi. A vet visit costs money! She will even prescribe him pain meds without a visit if we notice he is starting to feel pain.

Bob almost felt some pain.

After all that running around I allowed myself to just sit and veg in front of the TV. I was tired but I knew I had to stay up to complete the crazy 'beat the clock' game my body likes to play.

Today I got up at 11am and started out to pick up health insurance for Bob because he is traveling this week. This usually has me standing in a line for more than 15 minutes but today no one was at the CAA - phew. I was right across from the mall where I had to get Bob's stickers but he called on my brand stinkin' new cell phone (I knew there was a reason I didn't carry one before) and asked me to come home for lunch because he was back from the other house.

So I left without going to the mall (it would have taken me an hour to find a parking spot) and came home to find a sick Bob mad at the world and most especially the printer which never works for him. After telling him to leave the room I got the printer working so he could get his electrics diagram he needed and he was off to the other house again.

Somehow this threw my day off and I ended up sitting and vegging. Well, I did have to do a write up for the AAR mini-poll that just wound up. It took me two hours to write that puppy up.

Tomorrow is sticker day. Stupid stickers.

Oh, and Bob the sicky is taking the afternoon off tomorrow to be with me. He has been sick for 3 days and I haven't fallen ill yet, I'm guessing tomorrow is D-day because he leaves on Tuesday and isn't back until very late Thursday night. I was getting all geared up to paint a room while he was away but I know that life loves to play jokes on me.

If I am truly blessed I will not be a hacking, coughing, sneezing, nose blowing mess by the end of this weekend.

I feel the need to do some prayer.

Squeeeee!!

I tell ya, there are days I should not be allowed to run amok in blogland.

Meljean would concur.

I was over at Sybil's the other day when Anna Campbell was the guest Author. I happened to see the Contest post because Sybil is super crafty and bolded up the contest so even I, someone who never sees anything right could tell that I had a chance to win something.

This is what I read:

The next three funniest comments win signed coverflats. Sorry, you’ll have to buy Claiming the Courtesan to see what should have been in between the covers.

Me, being the dipstick I am read this as the first three comments with jokes would get the coverflats. There were already three jokes posted but, I so love to share the funny so I posted a link the The Bunnies and since it's almost that time of year again, here they are.

I know you know what happened.

I WON A SIGNED BOOK!!!!! Cause see there was a whole other part to the post I hadn't read about there actually being a book for a prize.




I'm such a nob.

But I'm a nob with a signed book by Anna Campbell heading my way!

Visions Of Heat by Nalini Singh

KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!!!!

Nalini Singh, welcome to my auto-buy list!

I analysed quite a few things after finishing this book and discovered that there is something warm and comforting about Singh's writing.

There are so many things to explain but most of all, what I love about this story is how the hero and heroine fall in love. There is no great angst like in Ward's series and I am somehow comforted by that. Singh reminds me of how Julie Garwood's (holy new website!) historical romances used to make me feel. The hero and heroine were always partners instead of being enemies. Even when they come from a background of misunderstanding and hate, it is never focused on the person they fall in love with. It is this direct conflict that catches them up, trying to understand how someone they could love is from something they have learned to distrust.

Cindy Blurb: The Psy are basically beings that have forcefully striped themselves of emotion. They have cognitive abilities that far surpass those of any other creature but somehow they came to believe that emotions could cause them to go insane or worse, become monsters who could carry out acts of unspeakable horror. In order to cull the evil impulses they instituted the Silence which is a way of erasing the emotions that they are born with so that by the time they reach maturity they are ruled by logic only.

Faith Nightseer is a foreseer who forecasts for businesses and is one of the most accurate foreseer of her generation. She was given over to the Psy at the age of three because it became clear that she had the ability to see the future. From then on she was trained to only see visions dealing with business and she is so strong that she has kept her family in the foreground and made billions of dollars. Family, however, is not like what we think of. Foreseers have a higher rate of insanity and Faith is monitored almost every minute of the day to make sure that she is always able to meet her business requirements. In essence she is an asset.

Asset or not, Faith thinks she might be on the verge of a mental break because she is starting to have visions that have nothing to do with business. In order to find out what could be happening she decides to seek out the only Psy she knows that would have no reason to lie to her to keep her forecasting. Thus, she finds a way to escape the monitoring to go into Darkriver territory where the Changelings reign supreme.

Vaughn D'Angelo, a jaguar changeling has been drawn to a section of the city where he believes a Psy lives in almost relative isolation. He is surprised when he sees a woman Psy climb over the fenced in compound to start into the forest. He realizes that the woman must be seeking out his pack leaders' mate Sascha (book 1) who was formally of the Psy and knows he must intervene.

The fact that this story isn't ripe with misunderstandings is a great gift to the reader. I mean, really, couldn't you just see the whole 'you are mine enemy, must hate you but, day-am you're fine' thing happening?

Not even remotely with this story. It's about people from completely different backgrounds wanting to be together and learning to trust things that had once terrified them. Having Faith basically removed from any kind of physical contact at a young age makes her brain overreact to any kind of touch. Vaughn, whose survival is based on touch can only push at her so much before instinctively knowing she can take no more. It is a really beautiful dance to watch and the threat to Faith is very real and yet, both are willing to take a chance on the other.

Mini cut-off: Knowing what I do about the basic need for physical contact in humans (especially in the first year of life) I had a bit of a struggle with how fast Faith was able to overcome her fears. Then again, Faith isn't removed from the 'family' until she is three so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to assume that she would have been handled as a normal baby in the real world. I find this highly doubtful in that the adults are emotionless and don't seem inclined to touch. So I did struggle with just accepting that Faith or any Psy for that matter could overcome their upbringing. (I can talk about this in another post if anyone is confused)

I find it hard to summarize books that have so much world building going on but this is a world that is comfortable and for all it's unfamiliarity, easy to navigate. Again, kudos to Singh for this because I feel like I can actually see the parts of the world that only manifest in a Psy's mind. Vaughn and Faith get to the point where they are connected but Vaughn can only feel through the link whereas Faith can close her eyes and see the links. I like that there are facets of each other that their mate can not experience exactly like their mate. It makes their connection all the more powerful in that they still remain individuals and are expected to be able to take care of themselves. Sure, there is the need to protect but there is also respect for the other's ability.

Huh. So I could go on and on about this book and still, you would have to read it to understand the world. I guess it comes down to where I started. I love the way Vaughn and Faith fall in love.

I think others have mentioned that they liked the first book just a touch more than this one and I think it may be the hero. I can't put my finger on it but Vaughn seemed more insular than Lucas but since Lucas is Alpha, he had to be more open with his relationships.

What I am excited about is that the next book in the series has the hero as the Psy. I think it would become a bit redundant to have the heroine always being the Psy so I look forward to the next in the series. The snippet at the back guarantees that I'm gonna love it too!

Side Trip! I mentioned that this book had me thinking about many things and one of the things that occurred to me was that the world Singh has created is much more organic than many of the other series paranormal books I have read. In particular, my love of J.R. Ward's series is completely different from that of Singhs'. Ward's stories have these finite rules that make everything so structured that the reader knows there are certain things that can never happen (unless someone magically turns into a Brother - just saying). Singh's world has endless possibilities and doesn't seem as black and white as Ward's world. Even still, there is a logic that has to be followed in Singh's world so it's not like she is breaking any rules. Contrast both these world's with Kresley Cole's world and yet again, it's something completely different. I think in Cole's world anything is possible but it is the protagonists themselves that create the conflict - rival species etc.

I just found it an interesting contrast considering I have read books in all these series and had keepers from all three. Makes you wonder what it really is that can make a series click cause three more different story paths I don't think you would find.

What do you guys think?

Me Thinks You're All Very Funny

I love how some of my dear friends clung to the hope that I did not leave the house after getting that urgent message from Kristie.

I have let you down.

Duh!

Of course I left the house and ran my ass (I mean, really, I drove my van because the idea of me running anywhere is just way too funny) over to Chapters only to discover that the book was not on the shelf.

It's okay. I'm an old hat at this. No worries.

I manage to flag down (and by this I mean I walked up to one of the employees and got in their face) one of the helpful and told them my dilemma. You know, the store shows you have 5 books on hand but none are on the shelf.

Turns out the person I picked sucked at math.

Either that or the desperation in my eyes made the male employee fear I would tear off his jiggly bits and cram them down his throat.

Nah. I'm too much of a princess, must have been his math skills.

Let's not dwell on the fact that said employee had obviously never heard of the Great Stuart and spelled it twelve different ways while I hovered in the background saying helpful things like 'there's no 'w' in the name. Stuart, S. T. U. A. R. T. No! Don't hit enter you left the ...' It was then I realized I may have also tracked down the only employee who couldn't hear. Three screens later he finally had the screen that I could have had up in 10 seconds if he had just moved but, I'm okay! We're getting somewhere. I felt like saying, 'See!! 5 copies, now run back into your stock room and get 'em'.

Turns out he felt the need to go to that special inner screen that only the employees know how to get to (yeah, yeah, it's to let them know when the last shipment showed up, whatever) and I'm pretty sure by this point he was just showing off because DUDE! Where's my book!!!

Sure enough it too says there are five books in the store. Geez. Wonder where they could be?

IN THE BACK ROOM????

And breathe.

Finally the gentleman (I let him live) decided that the books might still be in the back room (holy shit, why didn't I think of that) and left to go and see. Keep in mind that if this poor man came back without my book I was going to unleash C-Rex and then track down a new employee to repeat the drill.

Okay, who are we kidding, I would have went into the 'employees only' door and shown the SOB where the book was.

Police may have been called but, I knew I could call Kristie to come and bail me out.

Now that the search party (one guy) had been sent forth to find my book (and yes, it was mine!) I decided to peruse the romance section because some of you may remember my rule of never buying only one book at a time. Against my religion it is.

I drew a complete blank while staring at the now 32' romance section (when did it get so big?). What the hell else would be out right now? After giving myself a minute to think I realized that no new information would be entering my brain for the next bit so I just went with what I could see on the shelves.

Without further fanfare (shut up) I give you the books that I bought:

If you will recall I recently watched a romance book documentary and Kathryn Smith was one of the authors profiled. I know that she has turned now to paranormal historicals but I have a bit of a high threshold for an author to succeed in that genre. I picked up the books and read the backblurbs but knew I wanted to read her earlier books to get a good representation of her voice. I read the backblurb on this one about a ruined betrothal and how the hero will now have to win the woman back. Hmmm. Maybe he will have to grovel. All I know is that she was described on the documentary as writing sexy and emotionally charged romance. I'm in!

I really wish I could remember, OH! Nath wrote about this book when posting about her "Ten Books She Couldn't Live Without". I'm going to link to her post so you can read what she wrote. I'm thinking I have read Patti O'shea before and really liked her but I get her confused with Susan Grant who pushed all my 'I can't stand this!!' buttons. Now, I would suggest that Nath and I read at different spectrums but we seem to spark on the odd author so this one jogged my memory and I decided to run with it. I also knew I didn't own it because I never liked the cover of this one. So it was a safe buy.

Like Kristie I do enjoy a really well done historical western. This cover in no way says 'historical' to me but Kristie set me right when she blogged about buying this book a few weeks back so this one was also a no brainer.

Not only that, it also came with a 'special value' price which always looks cheaper than it is because it shows the U.S. price first and in huge letters. Heck, you can read the price off the little picture I've posted! Can you read the Canadian price? Hey, did you just blow the picture up!? It's okay, it was 5.99 and since books are about 10.99 up here it was still a deal.


Now, at this point I should mention that I had picked up all these books and was walking around. Just when I was beginning to think I had scared the 'helper' into running for the border he comes out of the stock room. The poor guy just about walked by me because he obviously forgot what I looked like but I once again stepped right up so that he would notice me standing there. I just managed not to snatch the book away from him and I guess I finally smiled because he felt compelled to ask if there was anything more he could help me with.

Sure, there was a bead of sweat, a nervous tick and a crack in his voice but, I thought it was real sweet that he had the guts to ask.

I thanked him, held the book to my chest and felt all aglow.

Thanks Kristie ;)

KRISTIE J - Dang, it doesn't work without a middle name!

First I would just like to say that Rosie left me a wonderful comment on my last post (so very happy that your son is feeling better because WOW! those pictures) about how she just happened across Anne Stuart's latest release Ice Blue, which, if you are not an avid fangirl (get out!), is to be released the first of April.

Upon seeing this news my heart leapt but I tamped it down because really, it's just way to early for her book to be out here - many, many miles away from Rosie and well, I'm in another country.

Just to set the scene let's all remember it's Bobby Week so the minute Bob got home, my arse was dragged out of bed to go to a plethora of building box stores.

I know.

I'm living the life.

Now, you may recall that we had to fit our Godchildren into a three day span because everyone has jobs, church, swimming, well, you get the picture. So tonight I suggested we stop in so Bob could get his birthday hugs. He lasted 20 minutes before a breeze from an open window hit him perfectly across the face and whispered to him that it was time to sleep. (It was at this time that I reminded him as he pryed me from my Godchildren that on Sunday when he dragged my butt out of bed after 4 hours of sleep that I too would hit that perfect point and would need to be driven home - Yeah, I make my points where I can.)

We load back up in the car and we get home where we both change into our jammas since we are in for the night and we can snug on the couch. Okay, really, Bob watches some weird shows so I tend to play on the computer while he watches re-runs of Corner Gas. Don't ask.

I open my e-mail and see that Kristie, my dear pal has left me a HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!

I spin in the chair and declare that I had to get dressed and go back out again immediately.

Bob: What!?

Me: Anne Stuart's book is at Chapters and I have to go and get it.

Bob: It's nine o'clock and I don't want you out by yourself.

Me: You could drive!

Bob: *points at his jammas*

Me: *pout*

Bob: Tell me which store it's at and I'll buy it in the morning when I'm out and about and you're asleep.

Me: Listen, I know I'm not going to read it right now or maybe not even this week but you know what I'm like and I need to have the book under our roof.

Bob: I'll get it in the morning.

Me: IT'S ANNE FRICKIN' STUART!!!! You know I need to hold the book and call it George!!

*pause*

Bob: Take your phone.

I jump out of the chair until Bob asks how I knew the book was at the store.

Me: Kristie told me! She wrote this taunting post about how the book was at my store and that she wanted to see if I would go nuts and how I would end up with two copies.

*pause*

Bob: You mean there are still people who doubt you are nuts?

Me: *growl*

Bob: Ho-kay then. Wait, why would you end up with two copies?

Me: *whistles while counting the ugly tiles on the ceiling* Seriously, we have to do something about the ugliness of this room.

*sigh*

Me: I pre-ordered it.

Bob: *groan* Quit pre-ordering books!

Me: HEY! Why isn't the book on my doorstep as we speak, huh? I mean, they were able to ship it to the store which is still open and only a hop-skip and a jump away, so why isn't it here!?

Bob: *realizes Bobby week is in jeopardy* Take your phone.

So yes, I am Kristie's dancing monkey.

In return for such kindness I have ordered a taxi for my boy Cody and told them your address. Even though he is extremely gassy and has, in fact, broke glass with his odoriferous self, he just wanted to see you so very badly and knowing how oh so fond you are of puppies I knew you would be delighted. Now, you have to feed him the right food or that gas issue will get even worse.

If only I could remember which brand it is we buy for him.

OH! And I made a special lasagna with extra tomatoes cause I know how much you love them.

No, no. No thanks necessary.

Isn't Anybody Out There!?

Hello!!

Has everybody moved on? Cause like, I've seen nothing about a little show called LOST or even Grey's Anatomy - SO

LOCKE ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!!

Yeah, he does!! And yes, I think he is crazy sexy and by that I'm sure it's the character. There, I'm out.

I went mental watching the show. I was making noises out loud and even though I knew it was the story of how he ended up in the wheelchair I still freaked when it happened!

And THEN!

OMG!

The dialogue between Ben and Locke - classic!

Paraphrasing about to commence:

Ben: I've been here all my life, how is it that you think you know more about this island than I do?

Locke: Cause I'm not the one in the wheelchair.

*does the wave, followed by fist pump - YEAH!! Take that Mofo!!*

Ben: What if I told you there was a box on the island that you could wish for anything you wanted and when you opened the box it would be there, what would you think of that John?

Locke: I think the box better be big enough to wish yourself up a new submarine.

*YEAH!! victory dance, fuckin' A!!*

Uh, if you missed this episode because you decided LOST had lost it's edge, well it's back baby!!

I mean, I know it's not obvious but I was a tad pumped up by this episode. I've kept it on my DVR so I can re-watch it cause Locke ROCKS!!!

Ho-kay.

Grey's Anatomy.

The scene in the linen closet was crazy tense and I loved every second of it. George's expression when Izzy touched his face? What a brilliant actor and I swear that guy steals every scene he is in. And he didn't even say a word. Not a word.

Brilliant.

(This picture is from a scene later but I wish I could find a still of them in the linen closet)

There!

I feel better.

Thanks for the B-Day wishes for Bob - I let him know and even told him about the burying the body line and he was greatly offended cause, like, he's a prince ;) It's a good thing we love each other.

We had a great night, the lasagna turned out excellent if I do say so myself - everyone except me had seconds (cause of my tummy I try not to eat too much of the foods I know can cause me problems and well, cheese. Although so far, so good), Caesar salad was great - OH! turns out the little lemon cake that I bought for my mom's birthday which was the only cake in the bakery case that *didn't* have a sign saying 'made with real cream' had the damn sign when I went to buy it for Bob's birthday. (I'm telling you, I'm surrounded by people who would prefer something other than chocolate cake. I know. The mind boggles) This is only a problem for me because it turns out anything marked with those pretty little signs that say 'made with real cream' become a nightmare for my tummy.

It's one of the foods I've isolated as a problem.

I bought it anyways but my Dad gets vocal if you don't eat a piece of cake cause it's bad luck or whatever. I think he just likes to see me twist. I had a sliver and it was really wonderful and again, so far so good! (Maybe they put the signs on the wrong thing)

I usually buy this Orange Creamsicle Cake which is basically a ton of real whipped cream with some orange zesty stuff and the smallest amount of white cake known to man. That cake has proven vera, vera, bad. I promised Bob I would get that cake for Saturday night and that way I could eat the left over cake that doesn't seem to have a bad effect. *fingers crossed*

Also, I have to say that apparently I bought my man a great gift.

I was so sucking wind I tell ya.

Everything I thought of was house orientated and felt like it wasn't something geared specifically to Bob. THEN I saw the Canadian Tire flyer and they had these 21' go-go-gadget ladders and I thought, hell, why not. I figure Bob can return it if it's not what he wants. (Just so you know, I don't do ladders so yes, this gift is strictly for Bob)

Turns out he's thrilled. I told him we could take it back and he could find a brand name that he loves but apparently the brand I bought was excellent quality and 'OMG' he can fit it in the back of his truck.

Exciting no?

I should really tell you the story of me getting it home in my mid-size vehicle because I was so happy to have found the bloody thing in the 'frickin store that is being remodelled to the hilt so nothing is where it is supposed to be and even the teens didn't know where the thing was'.

And breathe.

So I bought it when I found it and then got to my car and realized I was in big trouble. The kind of trouble that would need a pick-up truck. Still, I'm way too lazy for all that so I jammed the thing into my car (really the story gets way longer) only to get home to try to find a place to hide it. I notice that Bob has a few pieces of 4' X 8' sheets in front of his work bench and when I move them I find an empty space that I can get the heavy object into. I get it all put away with lots of grunting and groaning but I'm pretty proud of myself.

Then next day I open the garage door and see 10 more sheets in front of the bench.

As in the man has just buried his gift. It took a lot of brain work for me to figure out how to get the damn thing out while not waking up Bob - turns out that some of the sheets on one side were only 4' long and thus I could move those without breaking my back or having to open the garage at 4 in the morning. Then I disguised it so it wouldn't have that funny ladder shape to it (I put a box at the narrowest part so that it looked like a rectangular box - had to use the scrabble dictionary to prop that up too. In case you're thinking I'm a nut, 9 times out of 10 Bob has been able to guess what it is that I have bought him before he even opens the gift. Our first Christmas together almost had me in tears! Now, I'm crafty ;))

He guessed a lounger for the backyard. HA!!! I win!!!

*ahem*

Seriously, I deserve an award.

Good thing I'm a cheap date because a great book would be just the thing.

Soon, my precious.

We're At Defcon Four People!

You know, I could never figure out why defcon four would be worse than defcon one - like a countdown but maybe I'm totally confused.

Anyways!

Today is the anniversary of the blessed day that Bob arrived on planet earth.

Okay, maybe that's harsh but 'came out of his mom' seemed gross and I seem to have a brain block lately with words. They're always 'just' there and then poof, I have no clue.

So, it's Bob's birthday or what Bob and I like to call The Beginning Of Birthday Week.

Now, when it's my birthday, birthday week rocks! When it's Bob's birthday week things revolve around what he wants instead of me saying 'deal with it'.

Which means, that when he found out my parents couldn't come to our house on Saturday night, instead of moving everyone to Friday he decided to have half the family on Saturday night and now my parents are coming for his birthday dinner (Thursday night). Dinner I had to cook because ordering in pizza two nights in the same week seems piggish and lazy. So those two beef tenderloins I bought today to cook on Bob's new indoor BBQ (our stove top) couldn't be done on his birthday - he says we should do it on Friday night.

I'm thinking he'll be lucky to be alive by Friday.

In my world, Bob and I have dinner and then basically have a relaxing night. Friday night more of the same, Saturday the entire family with pizza and goodies and then Sunday comes and my hair is still attached to my head.

Bob's way has had me running around all night making up a lasagna and picking up in general cause hey, the parents are coming - still have to vacuum even though I did that yesterday and making a list of things Bob needs to pickup at lunch because my sleep is a mess and I'm already bitchy.

Friday night - granted this should be relaxing but I have a feeling Bob will come up with something to throw my evening off - Oy vey!! I didn't tell you about last Sunday morning - Bob wanted to visit he parents but it had to be in the morning - IN THE MORNING - and he needed to be there and back within a specific time and blah, blah, blah, by 3 am I had a stress tummy and thought I was going to throw up so I woke Bob and said I couldn't go and the bastard cancelled on his parents - I'm like - just go!!! I'm pretty sure that's when bitchy Cindy showed up and she hasn't left all week.

Where were we? Right!

Saturday - have to get up before everyone gets here - I'm sleeping later - I think my body has become used to me always pushing it around the clock and now it thinks that's normal. Stupid body.

During all this his Godchildren would like to see him.

So if I go missing for a few days it's because I'm hiding the body.

Am I Still A Reader?

When is a slump not a slump?

When I first started reading romance I couldn't really afford to buy many but I did borrow from the library. I seem to recall easily reading three books in a week. Now I didn't do that during school because I knew myself enough to know I would pick reading a romance over reading my history text book and I already had enough procrastination issues.

So I remember my summers off from university as very much romance reading packed. I used to get annoyed because I would have to go in to work and all I wanted to do was sit and finish my book. I remember laying on my bed for hours and reading well into the night - Hey! Does that mean I can blame romance books for my nocturnal ways? Nah. That's pushing it. - I didn't know I was a slow reader at the time, I thought every one took a good eight hours to finish a typical book.

The Kinsales that I read back then nearly did me in time wise!

Then I got out of university, and landed my first full-time job which turned out to be a nightmare of epic proportions. During this nightmare I met and fell in love with Bob. Why he fell in love with a weepy mess of a woman I'll never know but I'm grateful! I cried all the way into work and all the way home and reading time? Forget it. I barely had time to eat with Bob before I had to go home and crawl into bed so I could get up at 5:45 in the morning.

Every spare minute of my weekends were spent with Bob. I'm not sure if I told you guys this but my parents refused to meet him the entire first year we dated. Bob was still married although he and Sue had filed for divorce, he was 12 years my senior and my boss (for a time). My mother said it was her Catholic nature that wouldn't allow him to come into her house (I don't know, something about divorce). Amazingly I hadn't seen anything Catholic about her in my 23 years but okay. So basically, I woke up, showered and left the house and didn't come home until I was ready for bed.

Also, not so much time to read when you are being courted ;)

Finally a year and a half after meeting we got married and we started our life together.

Anyone who tells you the first year of marriage is bliss is LYING!!

Having never slept in the same bed as someone else, I was shocked to find this very big heat sink rolling over every ten minutes onto what should have been my side of the bed. I barely slept for the first three months of marriage and no, it wasn't for a good reason! Then there was the worry that I wasn't a good wife. Luckily I outgrew that. Poor Bob.

Anyways, I hadn't read a romance in about 2 years when I finally found time to pick up a book again. I didn't have as much time to read as I did when on summer break but I probably read a book a week in between work and home. I think also, I am more mobile than when I was younger. Bob and I like to get out and go shopping and sometimes we go out for an hour, come home for an hour and then out for another 3 hours and then home.

Then the panic attacks got out of control and I couldn't sit still because I was always thinking that I should be forcing myself out of the house. That was three years of whoop-de-doo and I only read auto buy authors during that time. I had also discovered AAR and if a book got lots of buzz I would pick it up usually to a good result. Still, maybe a book every three weeks.

Then the slump hit and I'm pretty sure I didn't read anything except Anne Stuart and Suzanne Brockmann, oh, LKH and Janet Evanovich for two years. Nobody else. So Stuart and Brockmann maybe have 4 books released in a year, and LKH and Evanovich had one each about? So 6 books in a year. Yikes.

So how is it, 18 years after reading my first romance book I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to call myself an avid reader anymore?

I'm definitely above 6 books a year so it's not like I'm at my worst. (In all honesty, I'm glad that I had someplace like AAR to go to because it was there that I found out there were such things as slumps. I mean, if I hadn't had a word to put to what was happening I'm not sure I would have done well)

I think part of my problem is I go to the 16' romance section and while browsing the books I'm thinking 'have it, read it, read her and ain't going there again, never heard of her, really bad grade at AAR, I know the name but was the book panned or recommended by bloggers?'

I definitely have a 'been there, done that' kind of feeling when I go to the bookstore nowadays. Nothing like when I first started reading and the bookstore had maybe a 4' section of romance books. Every book was shiny and new and a potentially great book. Now I have had my share of 'meh' books and 'crap, I really wish the author hadn't done that' books and then there are the authors who decided to move on.

Maybe I've become jaded. Maybe it's a world of too many options.

How can I walk into a bookstore with the biggest selection of romances available and find nothing new that peaks my interest? Why am I not making the time to sit and read instead of plunking myself in front of the TV to watch the latest and greatest? Course, I'm having a hard time sitting still for any length of time lately so half hour shows on the DVR keep me amused for a length of time before I have to pop up and do something my brain won't stop going on about.

On that note, I have been renting movies and then not watching them which is not like me either.

Hmmmm.

I don't know. I thought maybe my readership card needed to be revoked but maybe something else is going on. Let's hope I figure this out so I can sit and read like the book lover I truly believe I am! I mean, if I'm not a romance reader, then what the hell am I?

My Dog is Killing Me

Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack - lyrics changed by CindyS

Killing me softly with his gas,
Killing me softly with toots,
Killing me softly with deadlies,
Killing me softly,
With his gas,
Killing me softly,
With his farts.
Killing me softly
With his flatulence.


I heard he was a good dog,
I heard he had some gas,
And so I sat with nose plugs
And still my breath couldn't last.
So now I've left the building,
Yet the stank still lingers.


Killing me softly with his gas,
Killing me softly with toots,
Killing me softly with deadlies,
Killing me softly,
With his gas,
Killing me softly,
With his farts.
Killing me softly
With his flatulence.

Your welcome.

FYI Part 2

I'm going to start with covers because that is something near and dear to many romance readers hearts!

Claire Zion, Editorial Director for New American Library Penguin US, talked about that time in romance cover history when covers were mostly flowers. The flowered covers were selling because women were not embarrassed to be seen reading the book on the subway and the publishers ran with it. However, after a while the flowers weren't telling the consumer enough about the book because almost every book had a flower on it. Now publishers try to have covers that are author specific and have more to do with what the story is about.

This trend is very apparent to me when I think of J.R. Ward and her covers. They are very similar in style and the font and titles almost let the reader know that these books are by one author. Nora Roberts books have also been revamped with new covers that are softer and even have the NR on them to let the reader know if it is a new release. Not only that, but if you look at the last trilogy that was published her name is in much bigger font than the title. Christine Feehan is another author whose covers let me know that the books are paranormal with their moodiness and that they may be related to each other.

Aside: I wanted to get four covers of each of the authors to put up but I wanted it to be in one line for each author. Turns out I don't have a clue how to do that and if I put 12 covers up on this post it will be all pictures ;) What I found interesting was going to Ward's site and seeing how her first book cover is different than the rest - her name was not as prominent and obviously the art department decided on a 'standard' way of setting up the covers - I do have to say that I am especially enamoured of them. Turns out Christine Feehan's covers do run the gamut and yet, there is something about them that when I see them I *know* whose books they are and I haven't ever read her. Maybe I will see if I can figure out some basic photoshop skills and do cover analysis for different authors. Then again, maybe I should leave that to the pros!

Lucia Marco, Executive Editor for Morrow / Avon tells us that editors know how crucial the cover is. She tells us that there are about 5 seconds (if that) in which a consumer decides whether they are going to pick the book up off the shelf and read the back copy. In the case of well known authors, their name will sell the book but for new authors or new-to-the-reader authors it is the cover first, the title second and the back blurb that will ultimately sell the book. Also, when dealing with a new author the tone or voice is not yet established so the cover can be hard to pin point.

Eloisa James touches on how a cover can make all the difference to a mid-list author. An author can languish on the mid-list for years even though she is "writing great prose" (sorry, you know I wouldn't say anything like that, those are Ms. James' words) only to end up on the best seller list when they get a great innovative cover.

This was telling for me. We complain about covers and yet we are drawn to something new or eye catching but then it truly is the publishers job to keep trying to get a readers attention.

What was universal among the writers in the documentary was that they could only control what was between the covers of the book. Every thing else is decided by the editor and publisher so I imagine that at times it can become very frustrating to mid-list authors to see new exciting covers for other authors while they end up with the same fuzzy historical embrace of the scantily clad H/H.

Then the show went somewhere I couldn't really follow but then, I am different in seeing man cheeks on the covers of my books.

Raelene Gorlinsky, publisher with Ellora's Cave talked about the 'hunky men'. When asked why there are 'hunky men' on the covers of their books she said "well, they sell better than women on the covers" and I would imagine EC would know. She said that male chests help sell books. Sometimes butts can help too. (I love how candid and straight shooting this woman was about the covers of EC) It was mentioned that EC now sells 80 000 books a month world wide which is astonishing when you think that they are a print on demand publisher (am I right in this or did I hear this wrong?).

Where I broke off was when Ms. Gorlinsky talked about being at a signing where the cover on the right was blown up to poster size and how she would watch the women walk up to the sign and stroke the man's chest. It's okay, you can out yourself here if you have been known to stroke a book cover. I mean, I've never felt the need to stroke a book cover or a poster for that matter but I have been known to hug books that I have been waiting for to my chest and growl at anyone who would dare to snatch it from me. So maybe I'm just a little different.

Finally, I just wanted to mention Harlequin's approach to the erotica market with their covers. They have gone the opposite route of Ellora's Cave who puts 'naked' on their covers without flinching. Harlequin Spice, on the other hand, are going for more subdued colour tones on their covers while being clean and contemporary. I like that there are two different marketing techniques being used right now and it would be interesting to know how Harlequin's Spice line is doing in sales. (On that note, I didn't know these were erotic books and now that I know I may start with these and I love the colour on that cover - I believe this book is available this month - yikes, it's in trade size!)

And now a few tidbits that made me want to stand and applaud.

First, I have never seen nor met Nora Roberts but I'm telling you, you do not want to mess with this woman. As a romance reader I was proud to see a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind and won't take any crap.

While at book signings:

A woman: 'Oh, you're Nora Roberts, you write that smut!'

Nora Roberts: 'I do not write smut and that's incredibly rude, what's wrong with you?'

I'm sorry but I love that response. At that same time, Debbie Macomber is not above giving it back.

A woman: 'Oh, you write those kind of books'

Debbie Macomber: *laughs* 'What? No pictures?'

I heart Debbie.

I will wrap up with how Nora Roberts started writing as J.D. Robb - I couldn't get it down word for word so this is the gist.

People ask Ms. Roberts why she doesn't go on vacation and she is hilarious because her response is 'I like being at home, I don't want to go anywhere else'. Her editor at one point called her and told her she needed a hobby. Her response? 'Ew, no, I don't want a hobby.' The editor then said, how about a pseudonym and Ms. Roberts said no, I do the work, I want to see my name on the cover (with her there!). I think it was two years later when the editor finally said, "Nora, there is pepsi, diet pepsi, cherry pepsi..." and Nora Roberts said it clicked.

She could be two top selling brands!

And thus the birth of J.D. Robb.

Just FYI

I was alerted to a documentary on romance books by one of the people on my book trading group. I was unable to tape it for Alyssa because I don't have a VCR but I do have a DVR which is like a Tivo.

The documentary is called Who's Afraid of Happy Endings? and was broadcast on Bravo!

I had the DVR tape it thinking maybe I would watch it but since I'm pretty much an avid reader of romance I wasn't all that concerned. (Really, what could they tell me I didn't already know?)

It's an hour long show and well, surprise, surprise, there were a few moments that had my eyebrows raising into my hairline. I haven't seen anyone talking about it so I decided I would re-watch the show and try to take notes and do a documentary review.

Turns out that's like work.

Five pages of notes later I decided that I would kind of hit the highlights.

Basically the documentary follows two published authors, Kayla Perrin and Kathryn Smith and an unpublished hopeful, Kelly Boyce.

Kayla Perrin has 25 books published and is an African American romance writer who took a leap at Harlequin in order to advance her career. Ms. Perrin openly talks about being an African American writer and how there is a niche market. Knowing that love is something everyone strives for she decided to write a book with two black heroines and one white heroine.

Interestingly enough, I had one publisher say why is there a white girl in this book. You would think that in this day and age you wouldn't get those kind of comments. I think they are absurd.

Her editor sent the book to Harlequin and they loved that she had both black and white couples in her story because they felt it reflected reality. They asked her if she could 'up it' sexually so that they could launch their Spice line with her story. Wanting to grow her career and knowing that Harlequin does great launches she signed on and entered the erotica market.

What was interesting was the approach that Harlequin took to the cover. They deliberately made the hand squeezing the peach more mocha in colour so that looking at the cover it could be any one of the heroines in the book holding the peach. They also did this in hopes of getting new readers to pick up Ms. Perrins' book.

Kathryn Smith is the author of 12 published books and has been in the mid-lists for the duration of her career. At the time of this documentary, Ms. Smith decided to make a change. Up until this point, she was a writer of regency historicals but as she said, there are many authors at Avon who are already successful in regency romance and she felt like a little fish in a big pond. So in the hopes of moving her career forward she made the switch to paranormal romance. They will still be set historically and she's hoping to bring a fresh voice to the genre.

What was interesting was hearing that for the previous 2 years, paranormals had increased sales of 30% for each year. Even though us romance reader groan at the glut of paranormals, it seems that they have provided a cross over audience and thus a wider market is open to them. Let's just say that I see why some authors have made the move!

Next, I'm beginning to understand the 'Avonization' argument. (Seriously, I didn't understand it until Kristie explained it to me and I thought 'oh, I knew that, that's why I don't read historicals much anymore)

Kelly Boyce is an aspiring author and we get to follow her to the RWA conference where she has a chance to pitch her book to Avon.

Kristie, I can't believe what I saw!!

Kelly Harms (with Avon) is the woman that is hearing the pitch. Ms. Boyce is nervous and starts her pitch off, basically her story is not earth shattering but her heroine is a widow.

So, you have a widow, did Julia (I have no idea who she is referring to here) tell you I always complain when there are widows?

The first thing I always send her or any of my pros is to try and envision the book with The Virgin.

I'm telling you she drew out The Virgin as if it was the magic and she says that it absolutely sells. Not only that she mentioned that the story being pitched was a stand alone and that there were no opportunities for a series.

So there you have it, straight from the publishers mouth. Virgin. Series.

In the defense of authors (and really, this documentary definitely brought this across), if you are told that a Regency set Vampire romance with a virgin heroine will fly off the shelves, you're going to want to write that book.

Each of these authors have a dream and that dream is to be the next Nora Roberts and quite frankly, I can't fault them for that.

I'm going to stop here cause this is getting long and you guys can let me know if you want to hear about the issue of covers and some anecdotes from authors like Nora Roberts, Jennifer Cruisie and Debbie Macomber.