Celebrate the Small Things!

               
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This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

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This week I'm celebrating:

• Submitting my entry to this months Write .. Edit ... Publish. Check it out here.

• Seeing my best friends this weekend that I haven't seen for ages. The only down side to it is that they'll make me watch The X Factor :-( Ah well, there'll be wine at least :-)

• Getting started with my new OU course. My free writing is coming along nicely.

www.funscrape.com

Book Thoughts on Friday: 1305 & 1306 The Oracle and the Vampire, Christine Rains

Book Thoughts on Thursday is somewhere for me to share with you some of the books I've been reading and really enjoyed. I'm a day late with this edition due to feeling under the weather this week, so for one week only (I hope!) it's Book Thoughts on Friday!

 

This week:

1305 & 1306: The Oracle and the Vampire, Christine Rains

A friendly warning: Although not intentional, I may give away some aspects of the story that you may not want revealed. I know I hate it when spoilers ruin my experience of a story, so feel free to halt your reading here until you've read it for yourself.
Then you can come back to see if you share my thoughts!

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Having fallen for her gorgeous neighbor might not be so bad if Harriet McKay wasn't in her hideous banshee form every time Kiral saw her. Such is her curse. True, he's a vampire struggling with a drug addiction, but he's a good soul. Yet no one could love a cursed witch, especially one not even her cats respect.

After having a vision of Kiral's death, Harriet makes it her mission to save him. Never before has she attempted to change fate, but so strong is her love. 

Kiral Ozdemir struggles to make it through every day. The craving for blood laced with drugs directs his every thought until he tastes Harriet's potent blood. The magic immediately addicts him, but she disappears. He's desperate to find her, racing blindly out into a city in chaos.

How can Harriet convince Kiral to see past her vile appearance and return her love? If only she can force him to listen to reason coming from a raving crone, perhaps she can save him from the demons hunting him and from himself.

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I was looking forward to reading this installment of The 13th Floor, particularly as Kiral featured in The Marquis and managed to escape from the roof and the sun. I was itching to find out how that happened!

One of my favourite elements in this book is that Harriet and Kiral each have a huge attraction to the other and as a reader I was rooting for them to be happy together, but it seemed like something destined to elude them forever. He is a vampire so can't go out during the day, and at night she turns in to a wailing crone. It certainly doesn't make for an obvious match.

When Harriet first has her vision about Kiral's death, of course we as readers know what happens to him and that he escapes, which makes it interesting to watch her work through the puzzle for herself. Whenever she had doubts about whether or not she could actually save him, when she didn't believe she could make it in time, I was willing her to know that it would all turn out alright and to just keep going.

Of course she did, and had the added roller-coaster of listening to Kiral reveal his feelings for her 'granddaughter' Harriet. On the one hand she was obviously elated to know his feelings, but she had to hold herself back to protect him from whatever was after him.
I was wondering when and how she would reveal herself to him, and thought it worked wonderfully when she changed in front of his eyes as the sun was coming up. This is how I hoped it would happen and wasn't disappointed. It was a truly uplifting scene for me when he finally realised her truth.

Immediately after though when they were both working to release him, even though I knew the outcome I still had my own doubts about whether he would actually make it. It made me wonder if I'd misread something in The Marquis and that he'd actually perished, but I was filled with relief when he made it inside in time.

There's is truly going to be a difficult relationship, with many things out to test them, but I hope they last together. They'll make a good team using her visions to save those they can.

Another great read in the series.

The Oracle and the Vampire is the fifth in The 13th Floor series of novellas, and the author Christine Rains will be on tour in October to celebrate the release of the series as a collection. Make sure you check it out!

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What's Up Wednesday - 18th September

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What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Erin L Funk and Jaime Morrow . It's a brilliant way to tell the bloggy world what you're up to, in both reading and writing and anything else that's going on for you.

It's broken down into four headings:

                    1. What I'm reading
                    2. What I'm writing
                    3. What else I've been up to
                    4. What inspires me right now
 

What are you waiting for? Head on over to join in!
                                              

                  

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What I'm reading:

 

I'm currently re-reading my way through the wonderful 13th Floor Series by Christine Rains.

She's having a month long blog tour in October to celebrate the release of her stories in one collection, and to join in the celebrations I've been giving my thoughts on each story in the series as part of my new 'Book Thoughts on Thursday' feature.

 

http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.co.uk/

 

What I'm writing: 

 

writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.co.uk

 

I've been working on a piece of flash fiction that will feature in the next installment of Write ... Edit ... Publish. 

This is a monthly hop with a different theme each month. This months theme is 'Moving On', and those of us already signed up will be posting this Friday, 20th September. 

It's not too late to join in, so head on over to sign up yourself! 

 

 

 

What else I've been up to:

 

notboxed.com

 

 

My new course materials arrived last week for my first creative writing course with the Open University. I've enjoyed having the rest from study over the summer and I'm now ready to get back into it. 

As soon as the parcel arrived I sat straight down with my books, schedule and diary to mark out all the important dates for the assignments and End of Course Assessment. No exam this time! 

 

 

 

 

 

What inspires me right now:

 

I know the start date isn't officially until 5th October, but I've made a tentative start on the course book. It's kick-started my freewriting habit and introduced me to clustering as well. Clustering is a lot like mind maps, with a key word in the middle of the page, from which you branch off different ideas as they present themselves.

I've never tried this technique before, but I find I'm quite liking it, and I'm having more ideas than I thought I would. It's definitely inspired me in the writing stakes.

 

 

What have you been up to this week? Read any good books? Have you tried clustering?

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

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Released today! Alex J Cavanaugh's CassaStorm!!! Woot woot!!!

Today I'm super excited to be involved in the release of the final book in the Cassa trilogy, CassaStorm, given to the world by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Can I get a woot woot!

To celebrate this little milestone Alex is having a giveaway, and all you need to do is head on over and comment on his blog this week for a chance to win a Cassa mug, mousepad, magnet, and swag! 

But before you get to the good stuff, I'd like to share with you a question I posed to Alex in the run up to this release:

If you could live in any sci-fi or fantasy universe, which would you pick and why?

 

And his answer: 

 

The Stargate universe! 

Exploring new worlds with Jack O’Neill, Teal’c, Samantha Carter – that would be epic.

  

CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

“Cavanaugh creates such an unforgettable world, and these characters will stay with you long after their story is over.”
- Cassie Mae, author of Friday Night Alibi and How to Date a Nerd

"Cavanaugh makes world building on the galactic scale look easy. The stakes affect the entire known universe and yet Cavanaugh makes it intensely personal for our hero. The final installment of this series will break your heart and put it back together."
- Charity Bradford, science fantasy author of The Magic Wakes

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera

Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Find CassaStorm:

 

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1116848619?ean=9781939844002

Amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/1939844002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378484337&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-ebook/dp/B00F2O9QMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378811366&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17670532-cassastorm

Book trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Umm2l0XdHc&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Alex J. Cavanaugh -

Website – http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh  

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4287922.Alex_J_Cavanaugh

Express Yourself - Which character are you?

                     

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The Express Yourself meme is a weekly jaunt brought to you by Dani at Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books. At the beginning of the month the girls will post a gadget with a list of topics, something different for each week. Make sure to head on over to either of these blogs to check out the details more fully and see who else is taking part.

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This weeks topic of conversation: Name a movie characters personality who is you to a tee.

 

I don't really know about movie characters, but one TV character that I can definitely relate to is Monica Geller/Bing. 

www.businessbee.com -

I have an unnatural obsession with keeping things clean and tidy, which has been very hard to keep control of since having my daughter.

She is now five, and between her and my husband they make sure that there is always something to be tidied.

A lot of the time I can just about deal with it, but it does stress me out sometimes and has been known to make me cry.

My daughter has even said to me that those two are the 'flingers' and I am the 'tidy-uperer'. Charming!

Who are you most like from either TV or the movies?

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Friday Celebrations - Cover Reveal Edition!!!

Today's Friday Celebration is all about one thing, a brilliant cover reveal from one of my favourite writers in the blogoshpere.

For the six weeks leading up to October I am featuring a very special novella series from the one and only Christine Rains.

She has put so much work in this year to get her six novellas out into the world, and I have enjoyed everyone of them. They have just the right amount of action, thrills, suspense, and best of all romance.

To celebrate she has put together all six of these stories together in one collection, available next month, and I'm privileged to be able to reveal to you all her fabulous new cover!



Ta daaaa!!!!!

  

Title: The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: Paranormal romance

Release date: October 13^th, 2013 !!!

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Author Bio:

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.

Website: http://christinerains.net/

Blog: http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorchristinerains

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@CRainsWriter

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4017568.Christine_Rains

 

  

Isn't it fantastic?

Well done Christine on another great cover, it really captures the essence of The 13th Floor.

I'm definitely looking forward to October when Christine will be on tour. See you there!

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This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

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Book Thoughts on Thursday: 1304 The Harbinger, Christine Rains

Book Thoughts on Thursday is somewhere for me to share with you some of the books I've been reading and really enjoyed.

 

This week:

1304: The Harbinger, Christine Rains

A friendly warning: Although not intentional, I may give away some aspects of the story that you may not want revealed. I know I hate it when spoilers ruin my experience of a story, so feel free to halt your reading here until you've read it for yourself.
Then you can come back to see if you share my thoughts!

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Meira Harper loves both her jobs: talking about beautiful shoes and fetching souls for Zeus. But the Thunder God threatens the harpy's loyalty to her job when she receives the call to bring the soul of gorgeous Sam Wright. Meira pleads with her boss to let him live. Zeus agrees, but Sam must fight for his life. If Sam can win three challenges, he can keep his soul.

The gods never play fairly, though, so Meira needs to find ways to help Sam with the challenges. She cannot outwardly cross her master, but she refuses to let the man she loves lose his soul. They haven't even had a chance to start a life together.

Sam's soul is on the line. Meira's will be too if she's caught, but that's a risk she's willing to take.

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1304 The Harbinger is quite different to the first three installments of The 13th Floor series, taking the action away from Carmine for most of the story. This is by no means a bad thing though, and I was totally captivated by the setting of Olympus.
The relationship between Meira and Sam was already established as the story began, and it was clear that they were both fully invested in the other. I was already rooting for them when the crushing message comes through from Zeus, that Sam is next to be taken.
I've never read much about gods and mythology, but this was a great take on all of the major players. I loved that Hera was such a nasty character, conniving to turn Meira into a poodle. I was all ready to get in there and give her a slap!

For me, the beauty of this story was that both Sam and Meira were fighting to save each other, selflessly without any expectation that they'd end up together. The love they each had for the other was all they needed to justify their own sacrifice so that the other would survive.
Meira, in particular, had no real reason to carry on other than to save Sam, she certainly wasn't facing any kind of happiness but she would do it for him.
My favourite scene is definitely when all the goddesses step forward to offer her their mark so she could live freely, safe from the gods who fight over her. Hera's response was totally unexpected, but was a great way to show her more compassionate side.

I'd love to read more about what these gods and goddesses get up to up there on high, as they watch us mere mortals muddle through our ordinary lives.

The Harbinger is the fourth in The 13th Floor series of novellas, and the author Christine Rains will be on tour in October to celebrate the release of the series as a collection. Make sure you check it out!

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