Book Review: Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon

On the back cover it reads:

Death clapped the tall one on the shoulder.  Nick, meet my two companions, Pain and Suffering.”  Pain was the big one and Suffering the smaller of the two.  “You’ll have to ignore Suffering since he’s mute.”

“Mute?

“Mmmm… you know, you should always suffer in silence.”

Nick would laugh, but he was afraid Pain might hit him for it and since he was Pain, best to leave him be.  “Nice meeting you two…”  He looked around nervously, “Oh wait! I hear my mom calling.  I better go see what she needs.”  He turned to leave, only to find that his legs were locked again. 

Death sauntered over to stand in front of him. “Don’t play coy, Cajun, We don’t like that.”

Yeah, and he didn’t like being stuck in the kitchen with ghouls either.  Sometimes you just didn’t get what you wanted.   

The next book in the Chronicles of Nick.  Nick being a minor character in the Dark Hunter Series but is now in the forefront.  It is amazing how big this story is getting.  Sherrilyn never seems to run out of really cool powers or objects and characters.  To understand this book I advise reading all the other books first.  It took me a while to catch up but now that I am, I'm in awe of the story world.   Each character builds upon the next and the world gets bigger with re-occurring characters that are so fascinating that the reader cannot help but hang on for dear life.   (Sherrilyn is one of my favorite authors, can you tell.) 

More from Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fantasy Lover

Night Pleasures

Night Embrace

Dance with the Devil

Kiss of the Night

Night Play

Seize the Night

Sins of the Night

Unleash the Night

Dark Side of the Moon

The Dream-Hunter

Upon the Midnight Clear

Dream Chaser

Devil May Cry

One Silent Night

Acheron

Dream Warrior

Infinity

No Mercy

The League Series

Born of Night

Born of Ice

Born of Fire

To find out more about Sherrilyn and her books click here.  sherrilynkenyon.com

Book Review: The Good Sister by Drusilla Campbell

Here is what the good reads said about it.

Roxanne Callahan has always been her younger sister's caretaker. Now married, her happiness is threatened when beautiful and emotionally unstable Simone, suffering from crippling postpartum depression, commits an unforgivable crime for which Roxanne comes to believe she is partially responsible.
In the glare of national media attention brought on her sister, Roxanne fights to hold her marriage together as she is drawn back into the pain of her troubled past and relives the fraught relationship she and Simone shared with their narcissistic mother. At the same time, only she can help Simone's nine year old daughter, Merell, make sense of the family's tragedy.
Cathartic, lyrical, and unflinchingly honest, The Good Sister is a novel of four generations of women struggling to overcome a legacy of violence, lies and secrecy, ultimately finding strength and courage in their love for each other.

I read the other reviews and I agree with some and not with others.  One person said she wanted more about the disease.  That is a hard one.  To get into the deep part of depression is to live it.  To write about it is only a small part of the story. 

The depth of despair, the feeling that dying would be better than a life like this.  The feeling that you wish you were someone else, anyone else.  The hopelessness.  If the writer has written about the depression itself the book would have been so depressing no one would finish it.  The story is more than just the disease of postpartum depression; it is a look at how it affects everyone in the family.  It is also a look at how we perceive our family and loved ones.  There is more than one side.  What may look rosey is in reality not. 

I believe the writer did a good job.  She gave glimpses of what a depressed person would feel or how they would react or not react as it goes.  In trying to help another we become an enabler of sorts.  The book is a glaring example of that.  It is human nature at its best and worst. 

Other books by Drusilla Campbell. 

Blood Orange

The Edge of Night

Wildwood. 

To find out more click here.  drusillacampbell.com

The Diligent Writers Critiquing Group. March 2011 Meeting.

Catastrophe happened.  The email I was using at my work was disabled due to a problem I don’t really understand; however I had all the emails for the group stored there.  I should have transferred all the emails to another account just in case, I had it on my mind, but I was too late. 

So now how do I contact everyone to announce the meeting?  (Sigh) I went to Meetup where I have the original Greater Cleveland Writers Group of which I am a member and started my own Meetup group. 

I was scared and worried about this on so many levels.  Would I be able to contact everyone on my list?  Would any one new be interested?  Would I be able to afford it?  Can I handle being a leader?  Will I be a success or failure?  As I said so many levels. 

Once I was able to get the web presence on Meetup going, it has been exciting and interesting.  I have new writers looking for a place to get feedback, 16 at last count, and we had our first meeting on Saturday March 19^th.  Three new people arrived and one person who has been coming since the group started, plus me.  Next month will be bigger I’m sure. 

It was exciting to have new blood there and to discuss our work.  The only problem is when we were giving feedback it can be hard on the person giving and receiving said feedback.  There are lots of things involved. 

Since we are allowing any genre, the writing styles and the techniques are not the same. We had a few ego clashes.  Some of us are fairly new and need to work on our understanding of the writing process and the art of storytelling. 

I have been studying the art of storytelling and writing techniques on fiction writing for some time, however those techniques while good don’t apply to Memoirs, or literary journal papers, or cook books.  All we can do as a group is decide if it reads well and we understand it.  The actually learning will have to be done by the writers. 

I can try to explain what I learned in my books; however there is a fine line between being the writer who knows what is going on and the reader who is coming to the work cold.  Keep in mind of that when new readers, even if they are writers themselves, say they don’t understand what you mean.  Just a few rewrites will make it easy and in the long run better to understand.  We all have

I guess I may have to post the rules of the feedback process for the meeting and then enforce them as the meeting progresses.  This should be interesting.  Hay maybe I can use any conflict as ideas in my future writing.  (Light Bulb going off)  Of course I will twist what really happens and change the names.  But ideas can come from anything.  Until next time.  

To find The Diligent Writers Critiquing Group website click here:  www.meetup.com/The-Diligent-Writers-Critiquing-Group

Book Review: Siren Song by Cat Adams.

Back cover of the book:

Bodyguard Celia Graves plies her trade in a world where vampires roam the alleys of Tinsel town, street-corner psychic have real powers, and cops use memory-enhancement spells.  Celia always thought she was an ordinary human, albeit one with a clairvoyant for a best friend and a ghost for a little sister. 

A recent vampire attack made Celia and abomination.  She finds sunlight painful and must take all her food in liquid form, but she still has her soul.  She’s slowly adjusting to her new “lifestyle” (therapy sessions and all) when she discovers that the attack awakened a hidden part of her heritage:  Celia is part Siren, able to enthrall men… and enrage women… without half-trying. 

Her best friend’s murder is still unsolved: the cops are convinced Celia should be in jail, if not staked; and her old lover, magician Bruno DeLuca, has something important to tell her.  To top it all off, Celia’s been summoned to the siren’s island for what might be a battle to the death—assuming she’s not killed before she even sets sail.

Celia Graves has more than one enemy.  Some of them want her blood.  Some of them want her soul.  All of them want her dead. 

Cat Adams is the same as C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp.  This is my first time reading their work.  Siren Song is the second book of the series.  I hate to read books out of order but I had taken this one out of the Library.  So you guessed it.  Now I have to go back and read the first one, not that I’m complaining, to understand a lot of what was said in the second one.  I just love to delve deep into the books and really get a sense of the world and the characters. 

Siren song is really good.  There is a lot I didn’t understand about the world that Celia lives in, because I haven’t read the first one, but it was interesting. I like the character, but the whole book was done in her point of view.  There was a lot that could have been told about the world had the authors chosen to use an omnipresent view, however they did a beautiful job. 

The story was intense, full of surprises and revelations.   With each chapter I was beginning to wonder how it would end, why it was happening, and who was behind it all.  Those questions were answered only to have more questions come up for the next one.  There was some interesting secondary and third sub-characters that I would have liked to know better.  Now I am compelled to read the first one then maybe read this one again, then of course read the last one.  I just love a good series of book that continue the character and watch them grow.  This was a great read and a new notch on a favorite author.  I’m planning on reading the entire Sazi Series.    

More books from CT Adams and Cathy Clamp.

Sazi Series

Hunters’ Moon

Moon’s Web

Captive Moon

Howling Moon

Moon’s Fury

Timeless Moon

Cold Moon Rising

Serpent Moon

Thrall Series

Touch of Evil

Touch of Madness

Touch of Darkness

Magic Series – Magic’s Design

Blood Singer Series

Blood song

Siren Song

Demon Song

Other Writings

Chicks in Caps

Error 404

And many others. 

To find out more about CT Adams and Cathy Clamp click here:  www.ciecatrunpubs.com

Become a FLYLady: A what?

What is Fly lady? to Fly means to Finely Love Yourself.  One way to do that is to de-clutter your living space and make your life easier.  The website for FLYLady is here:  http://www.flylady.net/

At first I was gung ho and did a lot of cleaning, then life got in the way.  I was slammed with a bunch of things that had me worried and stressed out.  The one thing that I continued to do was read the emails.  I read all the different way that people found to clean up and the way they felt.  It was inspirational. 

One person wrote a comment that just fell into place for me.  Just clean up after yourself right away instead of waiting until later.  

That simple logic made sense.   I started to pick up after myself immediately.  It doesn’t take that long to do it.  So now I clean up and already I can see how easy it would to keep up. 

The next step is to start going thru everything else.  FlyLady had a few tricks to help with the rest of the clean up. They are fun and entertaining.  The family gets involve also.  So check up FlyLady start the steps. Then get the clutter out of your life. 

I find myself wanting to go to a simpler time, when I didn’t have so much to take care of.  My responsibilities and my bills were easy.  I believe that if I get rid of a lot of the stuff I don’t need it might make me feel different.  Only time will tell in that.  I will keep updates on the project. 

Do you really need all of the stuff you have in your resident?  Look around.  Old clothes, maybe newspapers or books, magazines, toys or makeup, just fling them and feel how liberating it is.   So start loving yourself and become a FLYLady today.  Until next time.  

PS.  Last night I went through a box in my office.  I should have thrown the whole thing out but there were a few things I forgot about.  One box out another on the way out.  

Braveheart the Warrior: This arc of the story is over.

Braveheart the Warrior is indeed a warrior.  Today I have a heavy heart at what I must say.  As some of you know I rescued a kitten months ago and have loved, cared, fed him and he was about to be neutered.  Today was the day he was to be fixed and then he would settle into a life of luxury.  But that was not to happen.

Braveheart was very restless as I stated yesterday.  He would fly around the house looking desperately out the windows wanting to go out there so badly.  Me, thinking of his welfare not his heart kept him in doors. 

According to the vet doctors before going into surgery the cat cannot have food or water starting at midnight the night before the surgery.

I have the four cats and not wanted to make the other cats suffer while Braveheart has to go without water I place him in the second bedroom for safekeeping until the morning.  I had prepared his cat carrier and placed it in the room with him. 

I finished all the prep I could think of and made sure the other cats were okay before I went into the bedroom for a final goodnight to Braveheart.  I placed him in my arms and told him that I was sorry I had to put him in here but it was only for the evening and then tomorrow we had a journey to take. 

Braveheart took his very sharp claws and attacked me in the face coming dangerously close to my eye.  I was stunned.  Then he did again.  I felt the blood running down my face. 

I reacted and threw him down leaving the room quickly.  I went to the bathroom to check my face, cleaning up the blood and putting hydrogen peroxide on it.  A scratch from a cat can have consequences.  I was shaking not understanding the veracity of the attack.  I know he doesn’t understand and I know he doesn’t like being shut up in that room. 

My thoughts were:  Okay I have several choices.  I could let him back into the rest of the house and make the others suffer along with him or I could keep him in there and see how he is in the morning.   If he attacked me from being in the room for just a few minutes how will he react in the morning? I cringed. 

Have your heard the term “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.” 

I have been faced with this decision before.  If you try to help someone or an animal and they don’t want to be helped you must let them go.  I opened the front door and allowed Braveheart to make the choice for himself.  He was scared at first but he left the secure sanction of my home to be free. 

I am heart broken by this and wish him well.  I know that some of you who have followed since I got him may be mad at me now.  I understand and believe me when I say nothing you can say to me will make me feel any worse than what I am now. 

I love him and wish I could keep him forever but he made the choice to go.  I checked to see if he was around the next morning after getting very little sleep.  No he wasn’t any where near the house.   I can only hope that God will watch out for him and that he is smart enough to survive.  I will miss my Braveheart. 

So I leave this post having been one of the hardest I’ve had to do and move on.  But I will not forget him.  I have pictures and will remember him the way he was. 

Until next time. 

Braveheart is going to the vets tomorrow:

Braveheart is a rescued kitty that I saved last July, well he is going to the vets to be neutered tomorrow.  He is spraying all over the house.   The heavy musk smell is overwhelming, and driving me crazy.  As soon as I clean it up he sprays again.  Not to mention he is driving my poor girl cat, Juliet, who has been fixed, crazy.   She hisses at him and drives him away.  He has been fighting with another boy cat I have, Romeo.  In fact he is fighting with everyone and sometimes will even attack me.   I think it is time to get him fixed and have him calm down. 

Here is the before and after pictures.   

Braveheart a few weeks after I rescued him.

Recent picture of Braveheart.  He looks so innocent?

Trust me there are times when he is the sweetest thing, like when I take a shower and just as I finish and get ready to step out, I open the shower door, Braveheart hurriedly steps up to the edge of the shower looking up at me, I bend down to pet him and he takes his paw and reaching out lightly brushes my face and meowing.  It is precious moments that he repeats almost daily.   He likes to get up on the counter while I dry off and get ready for my day.  I admit I enjoy this time with him. 

Then there are times when he cuddles with me.  (Of course I encourage him to cuddle with me often, in which he acts like I’m killing him.) During the cuddling on my lap I may have to use the bathroom and will scoop him up and place him on the couch next to me.  Braveheart will get up and come right back and sit in my lap before I get a chance to get up letting me know he didn't appreciate me moving him.   That is when I remain seated and cuddle with him because he doesn’t do it that often.

Then there is when I come home after a long day and Braveheart is standing by the door acting happy to see me.  All the cats are happy to have me home but Braveheart is the one that stays until I pet him in greeting.  How can a person resist when a cat comes to share with you. 

These are moments I wouldn’t trade for anything, but then he starts getting restless and off he goes spraying again.  Hopefully the spraying will change and not his sweet disposition.     

I’m nervous for him, not because of the surgery but because he will be away from me for a day.  I’m sure his surgery will go fine and he will be home being the sweet indoor cat I know him to be. 

Updates will come from his surgery and recovery.  It all starts tonight.  No food after midnight. I have to put him in the other room for the evening, and then put him in a cat carrier in the morning for our journey.   I just hope he doesn’t protest too much.  Until next time. 

Starting Zumba Exercise Classes again:

I have been doing Zumba for several years and stopped for a little bit and now I’m getting back into it.  I attended the class on Monday even though I am posting this today. 

Monday, I attended the Zumba exercise class again at our local recreation center.  Yes I stopped for a while, it’s hard to do Zumba and shovel piles of snow each day, but started up again because the snow stopped.  The class was huge.  There were a lot of new people, at least one hundred women and a few men.  The men were in the back but doing a great job keeping up. 

The exercises were different from before but the movements were the same.  I was able to keep up, and I then remembered how much I loved Zumba.  I really missed it, the music, the fun, the work out itself and of course the women.  I had put it aside because of shoveling snow during the winter and I wanted to put more time into writing, but exercise is one thing I must do, for my health, well being and happiness. 

Before the group started an announcement was done by a man.  He talked about a 90 day challenge, and pointed to the back of the room, where the girls can sign up for a challenge to lose weight. 

I looked to the place where he pointed and sure enough there was a table all set up with a power drink and they were giving away samples and I’m sure signing people up. 

Anyway we have a great Zumba teacher and the hour went fast.  Afterwards we were all sweating and breathing hard.  Since I haven’t been in a while I will make sure to connect with the other women in subsequent classes. 

Check your local recreation center and see what they have available for exercise.  If not Zumba then maybe another exercise program.  Support your local recreation centers by attending classes or sending your children to many of the wonderful programs they have available.   Or start a hobby class and have it at the center.  You never know what great things can happen and how many wonderful people you will meet and how much it will enrich your or your children’s life.   Until next time. 

The picture from pictures.com

A Book Review: “Tandem” by Tracy Bateman, Author of Thirsty.

Six months ago, brutal murders shook the small Ozark town—murders that stopped after a house fire reportedly claimed the killer’s life.  Lauryn McBride’s family auction house has taken responsibility for the estate sale of the victims—the enigmatic Markus Chisom.  Submerging herself in Chisom’s beautiful but strange world, Lauryn welcomes the reprieve from watching Alzheimer’s steal her father from her, piece by piece.  She soon realized that centuries – old secrets tie Abbey Hills to the Chisom estate and a mysterious evil will do anything to make sure those secrets stay hidden.  Even the man who grew up loving her may not be able to protect Lauryn from the danger.

When Amede Dastillon received an unexpected package from Abbey Hills, she hopes it might be the key in tracking down her beloved long-estranged sister.  Visiting Abbey Hills seems the logical next step in her search, but Amede is unusually affected by the town.

Two women brought together by questions that seem to have no answers.  Can they overcome the loss and darkness threatening to devour them—or will their own demons condemns them to an emotional wasteland?

This was my first book from this author.  One of the things that I liked about the book is the author didn’t get really gory when describing certain parts.  However the description of certain scenes was extremely well done. 

My Review: 

She did a good job in explaining the relation ship between father and daughter and the hardships of his Alzheimer’s disease.  There was a Christian undertone in the book.  The story about Vampires and Alzehimers takes up equal parts.  The Author does a great job in maintaining three different points of view.  They were consistent and I always knew who was speaking next.  The ending wasn’t as big as I had hoped but the mystery stayed until the very end. 

I recommend the book to anyone who likes reading about vampires.  To find out more about Tracy Bateman click here. http://www.traceybateman.com/

Book Review: The Ghost King, Transitions III by RA Salvatore.

The Ghost King shook its head wildly, and Guenhwyvar went flying away.  Then the beast swung its head back into the room with battering ram force at Drizzt, a blow that would have killed him had it hit him squarely.

But no one ever hits Drizzt Uo’Urden squarely.

As the head swung in, Drizzt dived over sideways, just ahead of it.  Still, the sheer weight of the glancing blow had him rolling in an attempt to absorb the force, until he ran out of the room, coming up hard into the wrecked chamber’s side wall, a burst of embers flying up behind him.  Stung and a bit dazed, but hardly down, Drizzt rushed back at the beast…

The final book from the transitions series.  The transition is final.  Drizzt and a array of priest and wizards battle The Ghost King.  But the beautiful Catti-brie, Drizzt wife of eight years is lost.  Lost to her world and lost to Drizzt forever, among most of the others.  The world of the Forgotten Realms is forever changed. 

This is the book that I was dreading.  I knew that Catti-brie would be no more, I can’t even say it, passing on.  But life must go on.  I feel for Drizzt and for myself.  I know that he will miss her as I will. 

More from RA Salvatore. (In reading order)

DRIZZT DO’URDAN SERIES

Homeland

Exile

Sojourn

The Crystal Shard

Streams of Silver

The Halflings Gem

The legacy

Starless Night

Siege of Darkness

Passage to Dawn

The Silent Blade

The Spine of the World

Sea of Swords.

THE HUNTER’S BLADE TRILOGY

The Thousand Orcs

The Lone Drow

The Two Swords

TRANSITIONS

The Orc King

The Pirate King

The Ghost King

 

THE SPELLSWORDS

Servant of the Shard

Promise of the Witch-King

Road to Patriarch

THE CLERIC QUINTET

Canticle

The Sylvan Shadows

Night Masts

The Fallen Fortress

The Chaos Curse

I have read all the books except The Cleric Quintet.  Which I will do soon. 

To find out more about RA Salvatore and The Drizzt Du’Urden series click here.  rasalvatore.com

Until next time.