Win a copy of Alexander Death by J.L. Brayn!

Ok guys, it's been a while since I've written something on here, but I'm really trying to win a first copy of J.L. Bryan's last novel in the Paranormals Series, Alexander Death. I wouldn't really call the series a Young Adult series. There's sex, lies, and death as well as some pretty graphically disturbing images Bryan paints related to the "Jenny Pox." I can't express how excited I am about this new novel.

I heard about Bryan from Amanda Hocking on twitter. I read her My Blood Approves series and fell in love with her writing style. When she suggested that people should check out J.L. Bryan I did. I've read all but two of his novels and I'm telling you. I really like his style. The first novel in the paranormals series is Jenny Pox. Jenny is a girl who has a talent for infecting people with pox by touching them. If she touches them too long they die. If you want to read Alexander Death on it's September 30th release I'd suggest you start from the beginning.

Also J.L. Bryan is a pretty cool guy. He lives in Atlanta like me and he's pretty awesome to tweet with. Look him up. Promise he won't disappoint you. He's giving away three copies of the final novel in the Paranormals trilogy called Alexander Death. He's giving them out on the 25th of the month so if you'd like a chance to win go to his blog and enter! I tweeted the information a little while ago. Good luck and check him out!

P.S. he also contributed to the Glass Heart Chronicles which is pretty great as well.

Que?

Brian: Hola, me llamo es Brian ... Nosotros queremos ir con ustedes.. uhhhh ...

Bellboy: Hey, that was pretty good, except when you said "me llamo es Brian," you don't need the "es," just me llamo Brian.

Brian: Oh, oh you speak English!

Bellboy: (sigh) No, just that first speech and this one explaining it.

Brian: You .... you're kidding me, right?

Bellboy: Que?

Hello there world, where have you been?

P90X.  It's a great workout.  My husband and I started P90X a couple of weeks ago and while I haven't lost a ton of weight (I've only lost 2 pounds), I feel better, I'm stronger, and I have more flexibility.  We've been doing P90X every night after our daughter goes to bed so I haven't had time to read or to write any blogs.  In case you didn't know, P90X is a 90 day workout routine.  At first I had to drag myself up to my bed.  Now things are better and I've gained a nice balance between working out and having down time for myself.

As stated previously, I love Young Adult Paranormal Romance novels.  I think they're great.  I'd always been a horror fan, but Twilight opened up an entire genre that I had no idea about.  I've gotten back into reading over the past week and I've read a couple of Horror novels and a couple of so so Paranormal Romance novels.  I think my new Kindle total is 31 novels and novellas.  

I'm an instant gratification person.  I want to discover a series of novels once they are done.  It's the same thing with TV shows.  I hate waiting more than a day to see what happens next in the series.  Sadly I've discovered several series of books that I really enjoy but they won't be out for the next few years.  Example, My Blood Approves, awesome books, but there is one more novel that has yet to be written.  It's the final in the series, and I can't wait to read it, so I twitter and blog stalk Amanda Hocking waiting on her to give up any information she can about when it'll be out.  

Next example Immortal.  A lot of people didn't like this novel because they said that it was too closely related to Twilight.  I can see some of their points but I didn't read it and automatically think Twilight.  I think that those are just twihards who have nothing better to do that to be obsessed with world of Twilight.  I'm not knocking Twilight at all.  I love the series and I have two Edward Cullen shirts, but it seems that Twilight has become the standard that all vampire novels are compared.  I enjoyed the book and was pleased at the end of the novel that there was an excerpt from the next.  I was PISSED to find out that it's not really an excerpt.  I blog stalked the author and she's no where near done writing the novel.  It was set to be released in Spring 2011 and from what she's said it's not even close to being done.  I got my hopes up for nothing.

Last example, Fallen.  The Fallen series is without a doubt one of the best series I've read.  I've been absolutely obsessed with vampire novels, but this novel opened up an entirely new obsession.  Fallen Angels.  (Think about it, an Angel thinks you're so awesome he'd give up heaven for you.  Wow.)  I love the story just as much as I did Twilight when I read it.  Twilight, My Blood Approves, and Fallen are all excellent series if you're looking to read a series of books.  The next two novels in the series haven't come out yet.  I'm dying to read them and I have reread the first two several times.  I was happy to see that the next one is set to be released in June but the last novel in the series won't be available until Spring of next year.  

In know this has been a bunch of random crap, but I haven't blogged in a while and thought that I'd catch you up on everything.  I won't be blogging again until I find something worth your time to write about.  Have a great weekend everybody.  It's my birthday so I'll be having a nice tropical drink somewhere.  :)

Fluctuations

Today's word is fluctuations.

An Asian lady was trying to exchange yen for dollars in a bank. It was obvious she was a little irritated.

She asked the teller, "Why it change? Yesterday, I get two hunat dolla fo yen. Today I only get hunat eighty? Why it change?"

The teller shrugged his shoulders and said, "Fluctuations."

The Asian lady says, "Fluc you white people, too!"

Awards Shows

I don't know why I watch Awards Shows.  I don't watch them for the fashion.  I watch them hoping that people I want to win do.  And of course, they never do.  The Oscars snubbed Christopher Nolan in the directing category by not giving him a nomination and then Hans Zimmer doesn't win Best Original Score.

I don't understand why people are so taken by the Social Network.  I haven't seen it and I don't have a desire to.  I have a feeling that it'll be like Avatar was for me.  The concept was cool and it looked amazing, but I thought that the story was stupid.  I don't care enough about how Facebook got started and the struggles that went along with it becoming the largest social networking site.  I'd be happy with any other film winning over it.  Sorry that's how I feel.

I thought that Inception was the best movie I had ever seen.  It was spectacular.  I guess I have a certain taste in movies that NO ONE ELSE has.  It's sad really.

Austin, everyone will know your name one day

My nephew Austin has a type of dedication that no one else in my family has ever had.  There's nothing wrong with that.  We were all dreamers, but we never knew quite how to execute ourselves to make our dreams a reality. 

Austin speed skates, indoor, outdoor, where ever you can, and he's good at it.  He just turned 14 but he works harder than anyone his age, anyone my age, to be good at what he loves and his hard work has paid off. 

I just got a message from my sister-in-law that Austin finally got sponsored!  Austin is now sponsored by Pinnacle Racing!  It's very exciting!  I can't imagine being 14 and being so good at something that people notice and want you to represent them.  And he takes it in stride.  He's humble and I can't commend him enough.

I know that his goal is speed skating on ice in the Olympics.  He wants to be the next Apolo Ohno and I don't doubt that he could be.  He works hard at it.  I know that they've been talking about him moving to the ice.  I'm just not sure when they're going to do it or if that something he still wants to do.  But talking about the Olympics when you're 13 has to be mindblowing.

Austin, I'm very proud of you and I'm here to support you!

Happy Valentine's Day

In Bruges

I mean basically if you're robbing a man and you're only carrying blanks and you allow your gun to be taken off you and you allow yourself to be shot in the eye with a blank, which I assume that the person has to get quite close to you then, yeah really it's all your fault for being such a poof, so why don't you stop wingeing and cheer the fuck up. ~ Harry (Ralph Fiennes), In Bruges

Disgruntled Worker

Samantha:  Another day, another half dollar, since we're working for free

Just Because the Movie's Awesome

My Blood Approves: The Best Things in Life are Batman

My Blood Approves: The Best Things in Life are Batman: "Last night, I dreamt that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and I got a really cute dog. Some kind of pug mix, and it was super cute. So I woke up toda..."

Beta Reading

I got my first copy editing gig today and I'm pretty excited about it!  I've been reading a lot of ebooks lately and I stumbled across one call Lost, a Vampire Romance by Lori Devoti.  It was a short story which left me wanting to know what happened next.  I was wondering if the next installment had been released so looked at Lori's page and at the bottom they have a link to her latest blog postings.  Her most recent post requested Beta Readers for an upcoming vampire romance.

I've posted on here before that part of my job is copy editing and that I'd love to do it professionally.  It's a dream job of mine.  Well I contacted Lori and to my surprise she e-mailed me asking me if I'd be interested in reading her next novel.  Of course I told her yes and she told me that she'd send me something to look at next week.

I'm not doing this for money.  It's something that I enjoy and I'm doing this purely for the experience.  I'd love to do it professionally one day, but I need the practice first.  Emory University is holding a copy editing class here next month and I want to enroll.

That being said, if anyone has anything they would like critiqued, I would be more than willing.  I'll not only look for typos, grammatical errors, continuity issues, etc., I'll critique and comment on plot issues, characterization, believability, and overall feeling.

12AM Sophie wake-up call

Right when we got settled into bed, Sophie started screaming for me. Since I had already been in her room twice I sent Bob in to check on her. From our room I heard her scream

Sophie:  I don’t want you. I want mommy. I don’t even like you. Go away.  

Now before you think man…that’s harsh, Sophie and Bob have this volatile relationship. It’s like a love hate thing.

 

So I got out of bed to relieve Bob and she was crying like she had had a nightmare. I laid down with her and Bob gave me an evil look. He said that all of it was my fault because

Bob:  You create these divisions you know. It’s always you guys against me.

I ignored him and when he left I tried to calm Sophie down. She sat up and said

Sophie:  Mommy where’s my water?

Me:  Sophie I didn’t give you one tonight. Do you really need one?

Sophie:  Can you ask Daddy to get me a water?

Me:  Sophie, you really hurt Daddy’s feelings. You should be nicer to him. I think you need to apologize.

Sophie:  Okay mommy.

So I yelled for Bob and told him that Sophie wanted to apologize. He grumbled about how he had just gotten comfortable and I told him to get into the room because his daughter wanted to talk to him. When he walked in Sophie started sniffling gave him a hug and said she was sorry.

Bob:  It’s ok.

Sophie:  Daddy, can you get me a water?

Bob:  You know what?  You guys really beat up on me.

Me:  Move out of the way and I’ll go get it.

When I come back Sophie is laying there crying. We both keep asking her what’s wrong and she won’t say.

Me:  Get up and I’ll lay down with her.

Bob:  Ok. Good night baby.

After he left the room I asked her

Me:  Sophie, what’s wrong baby? Why are you crying?
Sophie:  Daddy snuggles with me too much.
Me:  You're crying because daddy suggles with you too much?
Sophie:  Yes.

So I slept in Sophie’s room last night. At 6 in the morning she woke up and said

Sophie:  Mommy, let’s go snuggle with daddy.

Me:  You can go, but I’m tired and I’m not moving.

Sophie:  Ok Mommy. I’ll be back later.

Me:  Uh huh

Not 5 minutes later she climbs back in bed.

Sophie:  Ok Mommy. I’m back. I want to snuggle with you now.

And she went peacefully back to sleep.

Daddy needs to quit being a douche.

I needed to run some errands this morning so the family got together and went to Target.  When we got back Bob told Sophie to get all her stuff out of the car.  I went to help her and she looked up at me with serious eyes and said:

Mom.  I think dad's being a douche.

Bob and I looked at each other over the car and busted out laughing.  I need to watch what I say around her.  I know it wasn't right, but I couldn't help but laugh.  She even had the pronunciation right.

I LOVE my Kindle

I got a kindle for Christmas and I already know it’s going to be the most used Christmas present I’ve ever gotten.  I love to read and sadly I don’t do it enough (at least that’s how I feel, though my husband wouldn’t agree).  When I want to read something really badly, I get frustrated because I can’t get it fast enough either from the library or the store.  I’ve also gotten so many books my bookcase can’t hold anything else and I was starting to worry about where I was going to put everything since our office is fairly small.  This solves all my problems.

I’ve already read several books on the Kindle and the transition has been so nice for me that I still attempt to flip pages every now and then.  Since Christmas I’ve already read 18 books.  I know that sounds like a lot, but I read really fast.  It’s a blessing and a curse.  I always hurry though because I want to know how the story ends, but then the book is over and I have to move on.  That’s why I love reading series of novels.

If you’re an avid reader like me here is the list of books I’ve been reading.  All supernatural thrillers or romance.  What can I say, I think life is pretty boring, and this gives me an escape.  I also have a habit of falling in love with fictional characters like Peter Townsend (my current love), Mr. Darcy, Edward Cullen and Percy Jackson.

So far I've read

• Lost, a vampire romance
• Immortal
• The Trylle Trilogy
• Camille
• The My Blood Approves Series
• Reaper
• Don't Die Dragon Fly
• House of Dark Shadows
• Hollowland
• Darkness Under the Sun
• What the Night Knows
• The Lost Hero

I had grown tired of all the classics I had been reading and this was a change of pace for me.  Believe me, you read the Iliad and see if you don’t want a change of pace too.  I'm looking for some new books to read now.  I like Paranormal Romance, Thrillers, and Horror novels.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

New Soul

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take.
But since I came here
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake.
But why all this hate?
Try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make.

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

This is a happy end
Cause' you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong

This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take your far away.

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take
But since I came here
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la....

Music I miss

There are a lot of bands that I loved and haven't heard a lot about recently or have completely disappeared. I loved watching a lot of these bands at Warped Tour. The greatest music festival EVER.

Bush
Story of the Year
Taking Back Sunday
The Starting Line
Dashboard Confessional
Yellow Card
The Ataris
Sum 41
Lit
The Offspring
Sublime
New Found Glory
Yellow Card
My Chemical Romance

There are a couple of bands who have withstood the sands of time...and I thank you

Blink 182
311
Green Day

Since Feeling Is First

"since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis"

~ E.E. Cummings

You mean you're ASIAN???

Bob:  Leroy (a guy he works with) and Kioko (Leroys girlfriend) went to an Asian market the other day and he said that he was freaked out because they had whole frozen pigs there.  

Me:  Ok...

Bob:  Why aren't you laughing?  It's funny.  It's a whole pig with a barcode on it's back.

Me:  It's not funny.  It's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of.

Bob:  Don't you want a frozen pig?  It's a Korean thing.

Me:  Just because I AM Korean doesn't mean I want a frozen pig!  Other than the way I look, I'm about as Asian as you are.

Favorite Films

Top 10 Favorite Films (This started out as 5, but the list grew. After the top 5 they are in no particular order.)

1. Inception
2. The Departed
3. Lucky Number Sleven
4. Rocky Horror Picture Show
5. Inglourious Basterds

The Usual Suspects, Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Se7en, Memento

Guilty Pleasures (These are films that aren’t necessarily good movies, but I love to watch them.)

Transylvania-6500, Howard the Duck, Moulin Rouge!, Pride & Prejudice, Twilight, The Phantom of the Opera, Nacho Libre, Office Space, The Royal Tenenbaums, Waxwork, Boondock Saints, Zoolander, The Notebook, The Lookout, 500 Days of Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Braveheart, The Dark Knight, American Psycho, Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption

Movies That Scared Me Shitless
Pet Semetary, The Haunted (It’s a made for TV movie from the early 90s.), The Shining, The Grudge, The Ring, Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers, Nightmare on Elm Street, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist