Vampires and Werewolf's oh my! :) Yes thats right ladies and gents.....we have the one and only Alexandra Ivy author of the fabulous Guardians of Eternity series! baaaaaaaaa! [sheep doing back flips]
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Interview with author Alexandra Ivy 12/7/2010
Vampires and Werewolf's oh my! :) Yes thats right ladies and gents.....we have the one and only Alexandra Ivy author of the fabulous Guardians of Eternity series! baaaaaaaaa! [sheep doing back flips]
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
We Love Gini. We love fun. So let's have a contest!!!
Amber, Richard and myself are HUGE fans of Gini Koch. We want to eat her. lol There's just so much tasty lovins we can't help ourselves. SO because we love Gini and because this shirt was such a big hit we are giving you all ONE more chance to win!
The Next Three Days, slow build.
The Next Three Days written and directed by Paul Haggis stars Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. This movie has a slow build, taking viewers on a chaotic ride. Set stoves to medium low and let this one simmer until it boils. :)
Synopsis:
A college professor John Brennan (Crowe) and his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) we're happily married and raising a family when their lives fell apart in the blink of an eye. Lara has been charged with murder, convicted of a crime she swears she did not commit. Despite every effort to prove her innocence, the judge sentences her to an extended prison sentence. Meanwhile, on the outside, John files multiple appeals while struggling to raise their child and maintain his career. Lara's future starts to look especially grim, however, after the final appeal is rejected, and she admits that she'd rather commit suicide than spend the rest of her life behind bars. Determined to save his wife after the justice system fails her, John seeks the advice of an ex-convict (Liam Neeson) who staged his own daring prison escape in order to draw up an airtight plan. Later, John prepares to put his life on the line for the woman he loves, and sets the plan into motion with the knowledge that one false move could be their last.
Anyone with ANY bit of "street smart" will watch this movie and cringe throughout; but that's the whole point of the film. If you're an average guy with an average family living in suburban America, how do you plan to break someone out of prison AND acquire all the things you would need to start a new life? A lot of mistakes are made along the way and it's almost painful to watch. My stomach was in knots repeatedly watching Crowe's character struggle along.
Now cop's in movies almost always get a bad wrap for being the hard nose, law breaking jerks who don't give a crap about legal details. This movie once again plays into that theme. Is it right? No. Will that stop movie makers? No. It makes for a great story that has you wanting the guy on the other end to win, and you do pull for John in this story. Well acted movie that I all around enjoyed, but man oh man is it a ride. lol
Getting 4 sheep from me. :)
KD
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Perfect Love Song--Contest
Blockbuster bestselling authors such as Pat Conroy are already raving about The Perfect Love Song. Callahan Henry, who has been hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction, has a deep fascination with myth, legend, and the power of a story to change a life. She says of writing The Perfect Love Song that she was inspired by the idea that someone would finally achieve a perfect goal, the objective they thought would be “The Answer” to their idea of happiness, only to discover that the perfect thing made life more difficult as they lost sight of what matters most.
In The Perfect Love Song, Callahan Henry tells the story of Jimmy Sullivan, who has been living on the road with his brother, Jack, and their band The Unknown Souls. The road is Jimmy’s only home and music his only savior until he falls in love with a beautiful girl, Charlotte Carrington. Spending time with Charlotte inspires Jimmy to write a love song for her, which becomes an overnight sensation and is dubbed “The Perfect Love Song.”
As Jimmy finds himself caught up in the desire for fame and fortune, the genuine lyrics of the song are overshadowed by his career ambitions. He begins to lose touch with Charlotte and makes a decision to miss his brother’s wedding in Ireland for a chance to put on a show in New York City.
But on Christmas Eve Jimmy comes to a crossroads: Will he finally get the chance to perform on one of the biggest stages of his career?—or will he find his way back to his family, to Ireland…and to the love of his life, Charlotte?
Callahan Henry says of her exploration of love in the novel: “I often find myself writing about injured souls and how they find a way to heal and move through the world in a creative and healing way. Love, I believe, is often the catalyst for a new life and I explore the myriad ways this occurs: love of music, of story, of life, of a person—love at all really.”
In The Perfect Love Song, Callahan Henry gives readers a heartwarming holiday tale about second chances, about the hope for redemption—and about the choices one makes in life that may close one door, but open another…
Monday, November 22, 2010
In the Dark of Dreams... fairytales come true!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Marjorie Liu Contest Winner!
I saw Chuck the Woodchuck messing around with my computer earlier, so I checked and double-checked to make sure that he wasn't tampering with the voting system. Everything seemed to check out... so away we go!
According to the name count, we had 12 entrants, so I broke it out into three groups of four. Those selected by the first round would then be reconsidered by the virtual committee who would then choose the actual winner.
There's been some kind of flu going around, and I guess some of our virtual committee caught it, but they all assured me that it wouldn't affect their judgements in any way.
Finally, the Marutachi were surprisingly not busy, so a bunch of them volunteered to help cheer on the proceedings... so here we go!
In the first group, we had Cassandra, laurier, Erica, and McPig.
Round 1
Cassandra : 7
laurier : 5
Erica : 4
McPig : 4
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Francois champions Cassandra calling upon voters from the NorthEast to consider Cassandra's worthyness
Maria champions laurier calling upon voters from the NorthEast to consider laurier's greatness
Dale champions Erica calling upon voters from the NorthWest to consider Erica's sweetness
Dick champions McPig calling upon voters from the NorthWest to consider McPig's worthyness
Round 2
Cassandra : 7
McPig : 5
Erica : 4
laurier : 4
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Barbara champions Cassandra calling upon voters from the SouthWest to consider Cassandra's mettle
Melissa champions McPig calling upon Female voters to consider McPig's mettle
Katherine champions Erica calling upon Tenured voters to consider Erica's greatness
Vauhn champions laurier calling upon MiddleAged voters to consider laurier's sweetness
McPig : 11
laurier : 6
Cassandra : 2
Erica : 1
The winner is: McPig in 3 rounds!
It looked like Cassandra went into the voting as the favorite, but shrewd debating on the part of Melissa brought McPig through. Clearly McPig's mettle held serious sway over female voters in the committee!
The second group was made up of Gamma, Kelly M, Tanya1224, and Nikiya. After a quick bathroom break, the committee reconvened to decide the fate of this group. Here is what they decided:
Round 1
Gamma : 6
Kelly M : 5
Tanya1224 : 5
nikiya : 4
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Victoria champions Gamma calling upon Female voters to consider Gamma's sweetness
Vauhn champions Kelly M calling upon Male voters to consider Kelly M's worthyness
John champions Tanya1224 calling upon voters from the NorthEast to consider Tanya1224's mettle
Nick champions nikiya calling upon MiddleAged voters to consider nikiya's greatness
Round 2
Kelly M : 6
nikiya : 6
Tanya1224 : 5
Gamma : 3
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Jennifer champions Kelly M calling upon Female voters to consider Kelly M's mettle
Nick champions nikiya calling upon MiddleAged voters to consider nikiya's worthyness
Chris champions Tanya1224 calling upon Male voters to consider Tanya1224's worthyness
Fortunado champions Gamma calling upon Male voters to consider Gamma's awesomeness
Round 3
nikiya : 11
Tanya1224 : 6
Kelly M : 3
Gamma : 0
The winner is: nikiya in 3 rounds!
Between rounds 1 and 2, it was difficult to tell who was garnering favor within the committee, but Nick rallied the middle aged voters for a swift incontestable win for nikiya! I really wish I had the transcripts from that debate to see just what he said!
The final group was van_pham, jmspettoli, Spav, and ... hey wait a minute... chuck?? Ok. Now I understand what that woodchuck was doing near my computer. grrr. Unfortunately by the time I noticed... it was too late. At least chuck didn't win the popular vote... let's see what happened...
Round 1
van_pham : 7
jmspettoli : 5
Spav : 4
chuck : 4
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Victoria champions van_pham calling upon Young voters to consider van_pham's sweetness
Peter champions jmspettoli calling upon voters from the SouthWest to consider jmspettoli's worthyness
Barbara champions Spav calling upon Female voters to consider Spav's greatness
Maria champions chuck calling upon MiddleAged voters to consider chuck's awesomeness
Round 2
van_pham : 11
jmspettoli : 4
Spav : 4
chuck : 1
The winner is: van_pham in 2 rounds!
Based on the way that the committee voted, you could see that chuck's treachery had no real affect on them. He was quickly marginalized and van_pham won in only a single round of debate.
So with the three groups voted upon, we now had our finalists. McPig, Nikiya, and vam_pham!
The Committee once again took a break, this time to go eat lunch... but returned within an hour to provide their valued input as to who the final winner would be. Let's see what they decided...
Round 1
McPig : 9
nikiya : 6
van_pham : 5
Nobody got a majority! The floor is open for debate!
Katherine champions McPig calling upon voters from the SouthEast to consider McPig's awesomeness
Victoria champions nikiya calling upon Female voters to consider nikiya's mettle
Chris champions van_pham calling upon Male voters to consider van_pham's worthyness
Round 2
McPig : 12
nikiya : 7
van_pham : 1
The winner is: McPig in 2 rounds!
How about that! In only two rounds, McPig was declared the winner! Congratulations McPig! You have a week from the time of this blogpost to contact Katie with instructions on where to ship your prize!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1
I'm gonna go ahead and give this movie 4 sheep. I'm anxiously waiting for part 2. Accio Part 2!
Friday, November 19, 2010
It's just me, the vampire freak! Yay!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crave, much better then the first book.
Isaac Rothe is a black ops soldier with a dark past and a grim future. The target of an assassin, he finds himself behind bars, his fate in the hands of his gorgeous public defender Grier Childe. His hot attraction to her can only lead to trouble-and that's before Jim Heron tells him his soul is in danger. Caught up in a wicked game with the demon who shadows Jim, Isaac must decide whether the soldier in him can believe that true love is the ultimate weapon against evil.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Megamind, he's totally awesome!
Megamind directed by Tom McGrath with voices from Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. A fun family movie that everyone can enjoy. :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
*Interview with author Marjorie Liu*
After receiving word that author extraordinaire Marjorie Liu agreed to interview with us, Amber and I had to be entered into the emergency room!
Marjorie authors novel series Dirk & Steele and my absolute favorite series Hunter Kiss. In addition this talented author extends her hand in the Comic realm. NYX, Black Widow and Dark Wolverine just to name a few. Excited yet? :)
Paper bags at the ready, everyone try to stay calm. Sit back and enjoy one on us.
Washington. End of a Pier. 2 Sheep and 1 Hunter meet.
Katie: How did you come up with Maxine Kiss?
I had to write a novella, and the character basically came to me -- full-bodied, with her cowboy boots on and those little bad boy demons covering her skin.
Katie: So she's not based loosely on anyone you know or an actor perhaps?
Nah.
Amber: What is your favorite childhood memory?
Gosh, there are so many. Baking with my mom, going fishing with my dad, all three of us taking long drives up into the mountains outside Seattle, or walking the Great Wall in winter...
Katie: I feel like Grant's full powers have still yet to be shown. Is there more to come from him?
Oh, yes. Definitely. Grant's ancestry and powers will be explored more fully in the next book. There's a
lot going on with him, and his internal struggle to not cross certain lines has only just begun.
Katie: Oh thank the demon gods! I knew there was more!!! Can we get any hints...
His family was important in the old war. Capturing him would be a huge triumph for the Avatars.
Amber: If you could live through one moment in history, during any age, what would it be and why?
I have no idea. I'd rather pull a Methos, and see a lot of it. But if I had to choose, I'd like to hover in space and watch the solar system spin into creation. Or see Mars dry up. Or watch the moment when aliens first landed on earth and cowed our ancient ancestors into believing they were Gods.
Just kidding about that last one.
(sort of)
Amber: I have to agree with seeing the solar system created. How cool would that be?!
Katie: I love Maxine's little boys, they eat everything! I could use them around my house. lol How did you come up these lovable little demons?
Really, they just came to me in one inspired moment, though I can probably guess where that inspiration came from.
I love the idea of tattoos, I love looking at tattoos -- though I don't have one, and probably never will. I saw a documentary some years ago on full-body tattoos, and many of those appeared quite demonic.
Katie: Yeah, same boat. They look hot but I probably wont ever get any. Are you terrified of needles too or am I the only freak here? *looks at Amber* Don't answer that! lol
Amber: Well I wasn’t going to say anything but since you asked…. Lol. Just kidding!
Ha! Not scared of needles. I just get bored with things really quickly. Although recently I did have an idea for multiple tattoos that I might not get tired of. Still, I don't think it's in my future.
Amber: In your newest book, In the Dark of Dreams, which I loved! I was so excited to read something sci/fi that had nothing to do with vampires or aliens; very refreshing. Sorry got a little distracted there, lol, but what made you decide to write about mer-people?
Thanks! I had written about mer-people in a previous book, SOUL SONG, and wanted to return to them. No special reason why. I had an image in my head of a girl on a beach discovering a little mer-boy, and the rest of the story flowed from that.
Amber: Well I’m thrilled that you returned to them! I love the ocean and everything about it so this book was an awesome find in the myriad world of vampires and aliens.
Thank you!
Katie: We know in addition to all your writing that you are also a lawyer, with your busy schedule are you able to practice often?
Never. I don't practice law anymore.
Katie: dang. And I have this pending issue with a vampire and large wooden stake….it's all really a BIG misunderstanding. *nervous laugh*
Amber: In the Dark of Dreams one of the major things that drew me in was the love between Jenny and Perrin. What was the inspiration behind them finding each other at only 12 years of age and searching for each other for 16 years?
I think, sometimes, you have a defining moment in your life that not only sticks with you, but shapes you, too. You meet a person, you live through some tragedy…but whatever it is, you come away changed. In the case of Perrin and Jenny, it's finding each other that changes them…it's experiencing a moment of magic, and then holding on to that magic as a symbol of hope through dark times.
Amber: Wow… that was a perfect answer. Also my new favorite answer to any question we have asked. Would it be weird if I put this on my quote wall? Lol.
Katie: How far is Maxine's armor going to go! I need to know Marjorie!
So do I! Let's just say that it could go all the way. I'm not saying it will. But it could. It did, with her ancestor.
Katie: *shakes fist in the air* Oh now that's an awful tease answer Marjorie lol.
**evil laugh**
Amber: If you had to choose one food that you couldn’t live without what would it be? For example, mine is chocolate. My world would no longer turn if there was no chocolate. Lol
Gosh. I think fruit. Not just one kind of fruit, but fruit in general. I have a sweet tooth, but for juicy stuff.
Katie: You also write comics? Tell us a little about Dark Wolverine.
He's sexy. He's sort of evil. He was a damaged child who turned into a damaged adult, and he's working out his issues by trying to control the world through sex and mind games. Fun!
Katie: Sounds like a lot of fun. Wolverine has been my guy since I was a kid, I love him so much I named my son Logan in his honor. *big smile*
That's love!
Amber: When did you know that writing was one of the things that you wanted to do with your life?
I've known forever. I've got a one-track mind.
Katie: The demon army is rising in Hunter Kiss and battles are brewing, what can we look forward to on the action front?
Crazy action! Inter-dimensional battles! Demonic armies surging over the earth! Maxine Kiss knocking heads together and taking no prisoners!
Katie: See THIS is why I love Maxine so much. A girl who can kick some butt and still look smoking hot…well that’s the key to my own heart! lol
Amber: I ask this in almost every interview but I’m always curious to know what books were your first. Lol. What was your favorite series to read as a kid?
Little House on the Prairie. The Limberlost books by Gene Stratton Porter. The Boxcar Children series. C.S. Lewis. Lloyd Alexander. Mercedes Lackey.
Katie: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
THREE!!!
Amber: I would say four. You have to lick, lick, lick and then crunch! Lol
Katie: You ladies are going to break your teeth! yikes! lol
Katie: In A Wild Light, my romance addiction was finally fulfilled! Can we expect more loving between Maxine and Grant in upcoming books?
YES. A big YES. Hahaha.
Katie: Alright I am very satisfied with THAT answer! *Amber and Katie exchange high-fives*
Amber: Where can fans find you in the near future? Any upcoming events or signings?
No. I'm a hermit. But folks can find me online on Twitter or at my blog.
Actually, now that I think about it, I've got a signing coming up in early December, but details are still being worked out.
And now Marjorie it's time for our ever popular Rapid Fire question round. Sit back….clear your mind…and answer with the first thing that pops up…..ready?………GO!
Katie: sweet or sour
Sweet.
Amber: beach or mountains
Mountains. Bigfoot lives there.
Amber: Yeah, I always factor that in when I make decisions too. Lol.
Katie: captain crunch or coco pebbles
Oatmeal. I hate sugary breakfast cereals.
Amber: Coke or Pepsi
Coke.
Katie: hahaha Coke wins AGAIN Amber! Marjorie I love you even more now. This is an on going battle with us so don't mind the victory dance I am about to do in Ambers face! lol *shakes booty and flaps arms like a chicken*
Amber: Clearly I’m the more mature one here. I would NEVER flap my arms like a chicken… my happy dance would consist of happy feet and the sprinkler move. See? Much more mature… lol.
Katie: Ice cream sundae or cinnamon bun (they have those right next to each other at the mall and I can never decide lol
ARGH! I CANNOT DECIDE! YOU HAVE HURT MY BRAIN WITH IMPOSSIBLE CHOICES!
Katie: See. Now you feel my pain. lol
Amber: Ice cream. You always choose the ice cream.
Amber: online shopping or store
Online.
Katie: snake or lizard
Snake.
Amber: spicy or mild
Spicy.
Katie: 007 or Die Hard
007. But only if he promises to love me forever while the song 'If You Asked Me To' plays in the background.
Amber: antique or Ikea
Antique. Unless the antique is haunted.
Katie: ski or snowboard
Winter lodge with hot chocolate and a snow stud.
Katie: Niiiiice
Amber: Passion or Stability
Jeez. I'm a romance novelist. I want both!
Katie: Ninjas or Zombies
Ninjas.
Amber: Sharks or Dinos
Dinos.
Katie: Rice or Potatoes
Rice.
Amber: Sheep or Goat
Sheep. Because they remind me of poodles.
Katie: Portmanteau or Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia, because it lets me use 'SNIKT!' when I write.
Thank you so much Marjorie for taking the time to sit down with us, this is a day we will both remember. You are officially one of the sheep! Go forth and spread the sheep love with all!
Baaaaaah!
While Amber and I breathe heavily into our paper bags lets move on to the prize giveaway. In the comments box below enter two things to be automatically entered to win the Marjorie Liu gift pack.
1 Your email address
2. If you could create any shield of armor what would it look like?
Contest ends November 21st at Midnight.
Good luck everyone!