Book Of The Week!

I truly love books. Reading is my all time favorite hobby. So, I am starting a new feature here on my blog called Book of the Week. Every Friday, I will feature a book I have read and totally loved. I am starting this segment with the book that got me hooked on Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. Up first is Dark Needs At Night's Edge.

Now, I had been visiting Gena Showalter's blog for a couple years and she was always gushing about Kresley Cole and how good her books are. But, I never broke down and read them. Then, Dark Needs At Night's Edge came out and once again Gena was gushing. I finally said what the heck and got it from my library to try. I LOVED it. I totally worship this book. It's book five in the series even though the first story about Myst and Nikolai is a short story included in an anthology. I immediately had to get all the previous books and read them. I have since purchased every single book except for book 2 which I will be buying on the 1st of August.

Dark Needs At Night's Edge is a fantastic story and such an original concept even for the parameters of this series. Conrad Wroth is a fallen vampire claimed by madness. Unlike the Forbearers who abstain from drinking directly from people, Conrad not only has but he has also killed while doing it. He is considered by many to be irredeemable, but his three brothers who are generals' in the army of the Forbearers believe he can be saved. Risking being imprisoned for defying their leader, they kidnap Conrad and lock him up in a spooky old house to try and cure him of his blood lust.

Neomi is a ghost. A former burlesque dancer turned ballerina, Neomi was brutally murdered by her jilted fiance and is now trapped within the walls of what was once her beloved manor. Unable to be seen, she questions her own existence until the day a madman vampire is imprisoned by three other vampires in her home. He alone can hear and see her. But the question is can their forbidden love save Conrad's sanity and give Neomi new life before her spirit anchor is destroyed, thus destroying her?

Dark Needs At Night's Edge is my absolute favorite of this series. It was the first of the Immortals After Dark series I read and it holds quite a special place in my heart. Therefore, Dark Needs At Night's Edge by Kresley Cole is my very first Book of the Week! See you all next Friday for the next installment.

Relaxation!

We all need things to do to unwind or to cheer ourselves up after a particulary difficult day. Everyone has different ways of coping with stress or just relaxing after a hard day's work. I used to take long hot bubble baths. That was before I started getting grand mal seizures on a regular basis. Seizures and baths don't mix. I have no desire to drown in my bathtub. But, I have other ways of unwinding.

I love to read. A good book can take you away from reality for awhile and spirit you off to new places. Some of my favorite authors are NJ Walters, Lynsay Sands, Christine Feehan, Charlaine Harris, Alyssa Day and Kresley Cole, just to name a few. In fact, I am currently rereading Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. And sometime this week, the next Alyssa Day novel, Atlantis Unmasked should arrive. I can't wait. Christine Feehan's current release Hidden Currents just arrived today and I am looking forward to it even though it's the final chapter in her Drake Sisters series. And NJ Walters has a new ebook release out today from Ellora's Cave called Amethyst Dreams that I am so eager to read.

I also play video games on my computer and my Playstation 2. I love mystery solving games and hidden object games the most. I also love diner and bar type games where you have to serve wacky customers as fast as you can. Those games are both challenging and extremely funny. I also like watching tv shows on DVD. I love True Blood as you know, but I'm a big fan of shows like Hogan's Heroes, F Troop, NCIS, CSI NY, Gilligan's Island and Burn Notice. I also like a lot of the shows that come out of England such as The Vicar Of Dibley, Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Inspector Lewis. Lot of really neat shows from England.

I like movies too, everything from kids movies to the adult action stuff. I'm a big fan of both Garfield films, I love all the Shrek's, both Ice Age movies and am looking forward to the third, all 3 Lord of the Rings, all the X-Men films, anything with Robin Williams, Iron Man, the secon Hulk film which totally outshined the first, Dante's Peak, Poseidon Adventure and other such movies. I love classic movies like Harvey, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I'd Rather Be Rich, Tootsie, Some Like It Hot and A Night To Be Remembered. About the only type of movies and books I don't like and will neither watch nor read are horrors. There is enough horror in the real world that I don't find fake horror entertaining.

I've also recently discovered a great docudrama called Paranormal State about a group of paranormal investigators who attend Penn State. It's awesome and season three just finished. I can't wait for September when season 3 comes out on DVD. I don't watch much in the way of actual tv programming anymore because to be frank, I HATE so called reality tv. It's all a bunch of horse pucky as far as I am concerned. But I do watch Rachael Ray every morning. I love that show and she has gotten me hooked on cooking which I never used to enjoy. And I watch the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson every night. He's hilarious. I used to watch The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but since they brought in Conan O'Brien I have stopped watching. He can't compare to Jay. Sorry but he just doesn't measure up.

So that's what I do to relax, besides hug my kitties.:-) I can't forget the cat hugs. That's my most favorite thing to do. And right now, my youngest cat, Spatz, is currently trying to get into the catnip canister. I swear she's a little druggie. I love the little imp. So what do you guys do to unwind?

Goddess Of The Written Word!

As promised the Goddess of the Written Word segment is back and July goes to Alyssa Day! Alyssa Day writes the Warriors of Poseidon series and it rocks. Justice's story was just released last month and it was amazing. It was supposed to be released last year but Alyssa was in a car accident and didn't finish the book. But, to make up for the very long gap between books, three are being released one after the other. June was Justice's story that we have been waiting over a year for. This month, July will be Alexios' story. Alexios was tortured and scarred by the vampire Goddess Anubisa and opening his heart is not something he does with ease. And next month, August we will get Brennan's story. Brennan was cursed long ago by a God to not feel emotion.

Alyssa Day's Warriors of Poseidon series is spectacular and I highly encourage you to read them. If you wish to read them in order, book one which deals with the Atlantean Prince Conlan is called Atlantis Rising. Thus far Conlan's story, Bastien's story, Ven's story, and Justice's story have been released. Bastien's sister's story is part of the anthology Shifter and takes place after Ven's story and before Justice. Alexios story will be released this month and Brennan is next month.

Alyssa Day is July's Goddess of the Written Word and she totally deserves to be. Congratulations to her and I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday weekend. Have a wonderful Independence Day everyone.

I Don't Understand It!

I don't understand all the hoopla over the death of Michael Jackson. Ok, he was relatively young at age 50 and his death was sudden. But people are treating him like he was a god or something and his death was the equivalent of the death of Christ. Give me a break.

Ok, he was a very gifted musician. No one can take that away from him. Without a doubt, he was extremely talented. But, that does not make up for the fact that he was very perverted. Twice, he was charged with sexually molesting young boys. The first case, which probably would have put Jackson in prison, was settled out of court for millions because Michael did not want to risk a jury's verdict. The second case was marked with inconsistencies from the boy and his family so Michael was found not guilty.

But that doesn't mean he wasn't really guilty. Michael Jackson is a man who has said publicly that there is nothing wrong with sharing a bed with children. He said that it was loving and there was nothing wrong with that. Obviously, Jackson couldn't distinguish between healthy relations with children and sick relations. Michael has stated in the past that his father abused him and I do believe it. Too many of the Jackson children have acted out in crazy ways for it not to be believed. But, as is so often the case, it looks like the victim of abuse became the abuser.

I'm a victim of extreme abuse as well at the hands of my father. My father is currently in prison serving a sentence of 3 to 20 after having been caught in an internet sting trying to solicit sex with kids. His exact words that were used against him in court was that it was just good old fashioned family fun. It still turns my stomach. I have had nothing to do with my father since I was 9. I am 33 now and obviously my father hasn't changed. But just like Michael Jackson, my father doesn't believe there is anything wrong with having sex with children. I was only 5 years old the first time I was forced to do that kind of stuff with my father.

It is wrong. It is sick and it is disgusting. Having been a victim myself, it becomes easier to spot the kind of people who are abusers. Not always but it is easier. I suspected, even before the first headlines of his arrest for the first boy, that something was wrong. He surrounded himself too often with young boys. It just wasn't natural. And now people are acting like a hero has died.

All weekend long, the major networks have been running tributes to him and will continue to do so into this week. Bluewater Comics is planning to run a tribute comic book. And everyone is acting like they have been told that their best friend has died. Give me a break! Michael Jackson was a great musician. I totally give him credit for that. But he was also a very sick man who's erratic behavior has lead to trouble even before the stories of sexual molestation arose. Michael Jackson is no hero and it is time to stop treating him that way.

Season Two!

First off, I'd like to apologize because there won't be a Goddess of the Written Word this month. I have been away and it's not fair for the author to get a brief moment. It will be back next month, I promise. Moving on, as you may have discovered, I have become a True Blood fan. I LOVE that show. It's awesome. It's based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

Alan Ball, the man behind the show, has made changes to the storylines. It doesn't follow the books exactly. For instance, season one is based on book one of the series. In the show, Hurricane Katrina, which ripped through Louisiana has already happened. But, when Charlaine was writing the books, book one was written several years before Katrina. She works the reality of the hurricane into her books, but not until book 6. Also, in the show Lafayette and Tara are cousins. In the books they are not. In the show, Bill is the one who stakes Long Shadow and because of that is forced to make a new vampire as punishment named Jessica. In the books, Eric is the one who staked Long Shadow and his punishment was just a fine.

Season two starts this Sunday on HBO and follows the course of book 2. Again, there are some major differences between the book and the show. At the end of Season 1, Jason joins up with the fanatical anti-vampire group the Fellowship of the Sun. In the books he never did. In book two, Jason has almost no part and in order to bring him into season two Alan Ball chose to do this. Although it wasn't a part of the book, this change does fit in with the way Charlaine wrote his character. Jason is a stupid, arrogant, narcissistic moron who believes the world revolves around him and it would be just like him to get involved with a group that was planning to murder his sister. Jason is no prize believe me.

Another difference is Jessica, the vampire Bill made in season one. There is no Jessica in the books because again, it was Eric who staked Long Shadow. She is gonna cause some serious problems between Bill and Sookie. These problems culminate in Bill yelling at Sookie very nastily causing Sookie to exit the car they are riding in and go into the woods. In the book, Bill and Sookie do have a nasty fight that has her storm off into the woods, but the fight was over something else. And, as anyone who has read the book knows, Sookie gets violently attacked by a monster in the woods. And I do mean violently. Plus, her blood is poisoned so she is dying when Bill finds her. This attack remains the same in the series as it is in the book.

Another change is the reason they go to Dallas where half the book takes place. In the book it is because Eric rents Sookie out to another group of vamps for her telepathic abilities. In the series they are going in search of Eric's missing maker. Alan Ball says the reason for this is to start showing the deeper side, and even the more fun-loving side of the powerful Viking. It is also setting up the real groundwork for the Sookie/Eric dynamic. For those of you who have read all nine books, you know that the Sookie/Eric relationship is the actual heart of story. Many who haven't read the books think Sookie belongs with Bill, but trust me, by Season 3 you will start to understand why they just won't work as a couple. The first of several very serious betrayals are revealed. Actually, in book 3, Bill not only betrays her, but he does something much worse to her at the end of the story.

Trust me when I say that, of all the supernatural men who have already fallen, and will fall later for Sookie, Eric is the ONLY one who has never betrayed her. So it's very important to start setting up their very intricate relationship. Of course there are other differences as well, but if you want to know them then read the book and watch the second season of Trueblood. The second book is titled Living Dead In Dallas.

The picture I am posting is of Evan Rachel Wood who has been cast to play Sophie Anne, the vampire queen of Louisiana. She will make her first appearance in the series towards the end of Season 2. That is another difference. We don't meet Sophie Anne in the books until the anthology Bite is released which takes place just before the release of book 6. But I have to admit, Evan Rachel Wood does fit my idea of a sleek, powerful vampire queen. What do you think? Season 2 of True Blood begins this Sunday, the 14th on HBO. Check your local listings for times. Season one of True Blood is out on DVD right now and I can say without a doubt you will love it. For those of you who haven't read the books, all I can say is don't take Bill at face value. He is up to far more than you realize and his motives are nowhere near as pure as they seem. Read the books if you wanna know what I mean.