MY EXPANDING TO-BE-READ PILE

I'm working on getting through my to be read pile. This picture is of the books I have waiting on my dresser: ORIGIN by Jessica Khoury, THE GOLDEN LILLY and THE INDIGO SPELL from the BLOODLINES series by Richelle Mead, BITTER BLOOD and BLACK DAWN from the MORGANVILLE VAMPIRE series by Rachel Caine.

I have ten e-books in my Kindle. I can't stop buying books, even when I know I don't have time read them because writing comes first.

Total addict behavior, I know.

There is something comforting about having a book I really want to read waiting for me. It inspires me to get my work done so I can relax. I'm not an indepth reviewer. You won't see me picking apart a book or movie. Taste is so subjective in my opinion. What one person loves another might hate.

Much like my husband's aborted attempt to finish GRRM's GAME OF THRONES, and my refusal to touch his history books unless it's for research purposes. We do come together for other books. You know the saying, "Try it. You might like it." Well, that's all anyone can ask for.

So if I like something I'll tell you. If I don't, well, I also follow the wise advice my mom gave me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

My opinions are my own. I'll leave you to make your own decisions.

GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 2

The dragons are coming.... Sunday, April 1, 2012.

Needless to say, I'm excited. I hope I'll be able to enjoy the premiere without a repeat of last year's Game of Thrones Experience with the Kids in the House.

As a huge fan of the books, I thoroughly enjoyed last season. I got a huge kick out of the reactions from my friends who had never read the books, but were totally enjoying the series. They had no idea of the twists awaiting. As the last few episodes aired, it was tragic.

 I'm trying to be cryptic, no spoilers. But, maybe I'm going overboard and confusing everyone. So I'll stop here with a final warning.

Since the series appears to follow the books faithfully, be prepared. War is coming. It'll get nasty. And nobody is safe.

YEAR OF FUN- JULY and OPERATION AWESOME Interview with Kathleen Rushall

So you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in a while. Yeah, I know, bad Angie.
Okay, no! SCRATCH THAT. Not bad. Good. Very, very good.
This is the year of fun, and I promised myself that would enjoy my summer to the fullest.
And I am. Believe me. I've been a pool sitting, George R.R. Martin A Dance with Dragons reading, Trueblood watching, luxuriating in pure unadulterated laziness. And I love it.

However, I had to come out of my self-imposed isolation to give a shout-out to an amazing blog, OPERATION AWESOME and  Katrina L. Lantz for her interview with my equally awesome agent, Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Kathleen was their July Secret Mystery Agent (lucky her, I'm so jealous), and she got to read some wonderful pitches. I have to say there were a couple that had me salivating with the desire to read these manuscripts--all hallmarks of a spot-on pitch.

My congrats and warm wishes to the winner and runner-ups. And to everyone who had the guts to put their pitches out there, ya'll are some brave souls. If you haven't checked out the pitches and interview, you're missing out so hop on over and prepare to be impressed.

My Game of Thrones Experience with the Kids in the House

After much anticipation the night arrived. I popped a bowl of popcorn, arranged my drink within easy reach, ushered the kids into their bedroom with the threat of losing all internet privileges if they stepped outside of the room, turned off the lights, and sat down to watch Game of Thrones in HD on our new flat screen. Decadent in the extreme.

So, wow! I loved Game of Thrones. They did a fantastic job of remaining true to the integrity of the book. I lost myself in the world HBO brought to life, and it didn't disappoint. The only thing that kept this from being the best series premiere watching night ever--my little angel.

Please, Lord. Help me survive the preteen years. I know it gets worse once they reach high school. I know, and I accepted this fact. But why didn't anyone warn me that the preteen girl-child can be just as stubborn. I know she gets it from someone--I blame my husband.

I'm pretty sure I forbade her from coming out of the room. I distinctly remember--upon pain of losing internet privileges--do not come into the living room. So why may I ask did end up yelling at my daughter (then feeling guilty when she looked so hurt, poor baby) when she came out of the room during and uncomfortable *cough* moment in the show to pet the dog.

                                          Catcher at 3 months old-2007

Really! Pet the dog. The show's only an hour, watch Netflix, play on the internet, entertain your little brother, read a book. Pet the dog after my show, please (because I don't want you scarred for life seeing people getting their heads chopped off and gutted. Let alone the graphic nudity).

Sigh. I took the kids to the park for the five hours to wear them out so I could have peace and quiet for one hour. Kids, love them to pieces, but they'll try and break you if they sense weakness. Guess they know which parent is the pushover in our family.

Wishing I could blame the husband for this one.

GAME OF THRONES

The wait is almost over. 2 Days, 11 hours, and 18 minutes until the season premiere of George R.R. Martin’s HBO series Game of Thrones. My hands are tingling, I’m giddy… so excited I can barely hold a thought that doesn’t pertain to how excited I am. I don’t think I’ve been this anxious about a series since the premiere of Trueblood (Season 4 begins June 26, 2011, and is loosely based on Charlaine Harris' book 4, Dead to the World).

So, my fellow George R.R. Martin fans--hang on. The dragons are coming.

April-Year of Fun

March is over--YAY!!

Between being sick and the constant rain, I spent most of March being stuck in the house. I used the opportunity to take a self-imposed vacation from writing and focused on reading some really excellent books instead.

This is my March reading list:

Every year, prior to the release of her newest book coming out, I reread Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. I started with Guilty Pleasures and ended with book nineteen, Bullet. My favorites are Blue Moon and Incubus Dreams.

After learning that George R.R. Martin’s long awaited book A Dance with Dragons is coming out on July 12, 2011 and the HBO series A Game of Thrones airs April 17th, I decided to reread a Feast for Crows, the last book out in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I think the last time I read the book was in 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into Mr. Martin’s world. Once I finished, I didn’t want to leave Westeros. The storyline is so intricate that I realized I had forgotten what happened in the preceding book, so I then read a Storm of Sword…etc. Yes, I ended up reading the entire series again—backwards. DOH. Craziness.

Next I read Jim Butcher’s Alera Codex series.
I’ve read all the Dresden books and love them. Of course. I happened to find book one Furies of Calderon on my book shelf. Maybe I bought the book or my husband did. I’m not sure, but I had never read it before. And like a surprise birthday party, WOW, loved the book and went through the entire six book series in a week

I’m a fast reader. Most books, I can read in a day, which drives my husband crazy. The above author’s have nice thick, meaty books that take me a couple of days to finish. I love that. Oh, and if anyone loves Charlaine Harris' books (my favorite is Dead to the World) and have been watching Trueblood, I found out some good news. This season will follow the book four plot in which Eric gets amnesia. I sure hope we get that shower scene!!! Check out this link. YUMMY.

Technically, with April, my self-imposed vacation is over. I’ve started working on my new YA story. It’s outlined and started a few pages, but I’m taking it slow. I don’t want to make the mistake I made last year, and spend my whole summer shut up in my office writing. I bought a laptop and I’ll use it to write at the pool instead.

Happy April, everyone.