Enjoy the Night!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!



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I've posted this one before, but I love this AMV. Very well done and everything fits.

48 Hours of Halloween Event

For those wondering about the blue banner on the right, the details are below:

Halloween Internet Event!!

It's time to read about bumping the things in the night.

48 Hours of Halloween
and
The All Saints' Day Event

***Where:
D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters
http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapters.blogspot.com/

***When:
30 Oct, 12:01 AM EST - 01 Nov, 10:01 AM EST

***What:
Every hour, one minute past the hour, starting 30 October at 12:01 AM EST the D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters blog will drop a new romance first chapter. Vampires, shapeshifters, witches, demons, angels, and other such Halloween creatures are the theme of this event.

***Prizes:
- Book Cover posters
- Free books/e-books

***GRAND PRIZE (only ONE winner for all three days):
- Those who comment on all 59 posts are entered to win a $50 e-gift card to Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, or All Romance eBooks (winner's choice).

***How to Win:
- Leave a comment. The more posts on which you comment, the more chances you have to win. (Note: Multiple comments on one post from one person only count as one entry.)

- Include your name and/or email on each comment for notification purposes.

- All comments received PRIOR to 02 November 12:01 AM EST are entered to win. Winners announced 02 November ON THE BLOG -- that means you have to check back to see if you won.

- Winners have TWO (2) days from the date of notification to claim their prize (deadline - 04 November, Thursday).


*** Permission to forward granted ***

Tuesday Is Distracting Me

That's it! I'm going to bed so tomorrow will get here faster.

I don't know why I'm getting all anxious since I'm pretty sure I already know what will happen. But, there's that small part of me that is holding on to hope as hard as she can.

Movie Review: Secretariat

Secretariat


Basic Premise:
Penny Tweedy has inherited a failing horse breeding ranch that she is determined to make grand once more. With the help of her family, friends, colleagues, and a very special horse, she will make her dream come true.

Movie Review: My Soul To Take

My Soul to Take


Basic Premise:
On the day a schizophrenic serial killer died, seven babies were born. Each baby holds one of the killer's personalities. 16 years later, one of the personalities is out to eliminate the other six.

Manga Review: Mysterious Love

Mysterious Love by Taishi Zaou


Publisher: DMP Doki Doki
Price: $12.95
Genre: Drama, Romance, Yaoi
Themes: High School, First Gay Love
Rating: Mature 18+
Volumes: 1 Volume
ISBN: 978-1-56970-079-2



Basic Premise:
Masafumi Tamura is an average, high school heterosexual male. He'll tell anyone who will listen and even prove it if needs be. His need to reaffirm this fact stems from his recurring dream of having sex with man... and enjoying it. Masafumi is sure this will never come to pass until he meets Narumi Seiwa, the man in his dreams. Masafumi is determined not to give in to what everyone around him says is fate, but he may not have much choice in the matter.



Sex Shown:
Kissing, pressed bodies, hugging, suggestive positions, heavy fondling


Review:
Taishi-sensei is one of my favorites. This book only reaffirmed that fact. It was hilarious the way Masafumi was trying so hard not give in to the inevitable. Usually it's the straight guy having to be "coerced" into being gay. In this story, it's sort of the opposite. Everyone around Masafumi is ready for him to accept his homosexuality, except him. His family is supportive, his friends cheer him on, even the supposed object of his interest is game. The hilarity comes of watching Masafumi fight it so hard.

This is a cute, quick read that I will revisit time and again. I only wish Taishi-sensei hadn't run up against her deadline with this one (as stated in her author's note). She could have explored the relationship a little more. I would even like to see a sequel since Narumi and Masafumi are so cute together.

Me Update: 22 Oct 2010

I went into Wally World and told ONE person that I shall be quitting their fine establishment (read that with a LOT of sarcasm). That one person was the lady in personnel so I could find out what I needed to do to make it official and all of that fun stuff.

I'm sure by the time my shift starts tonight, that ONE person will have grown to be half of the store. I'll be fielding the same questions all night long:
- You're really quitting?
- When is your last day?
- Why are you quitting?
- Are you all moving? Is that why you're quitting?

I'm really quitting. My last day of work is 15 November 2010. I plan to celebrate... somehow. Have to discuss that with the hubby. The following weekend is PhilCon, so that should be interesting.

No we aren't moving. Andy still has one year left on his do-not-move status. I'm hoping they don't move us, but this is the military we're talking about. It will happen. Not could... WILL.

I'm quitting because I want more time to write. I'm quitting because I want to do something with my house besides lament over the fact that I never have enough energy or time to do anything with my house. I'm quitting because the hubby and I want to do the baby thing and that job isn't conducive to that plan. I'm quitting because I am sick of missing holidays and family get-togethers and life in general just because I work nights and weekends.

There's a bunch of little petty reasons too:
- I don't like driving out there (15 miles from my house) and people in MD really did get their licenses out of a crack jack box.
- Gas is too high to be driving 30 miles round trip when there is a Wally World five miles up the road (though they aren't doing any transfers at the moment so nuts to that)
- I hate the current place I work. I'd go into the many and varied reasons why I hate that place, but this is a public forum. :P

I'm not too worried about going back to work should I need to because there is always AAFES. They are always hiring simply because they usually hire military dependents, which means their staff is never permanent. As a military spouse, I get preferential treatment. And I've worked at the Ft. Meade AAFES before. But, I don't anticipate wanting to jump on that boat any time soon.

Writing Update: 20 October 2010

Well, I've been lazy the last few days with posting. What can I say? I got de-motivated, but at least I'm writing... except it's on a book I'm not supposed to be working on just yet. *droop*

Update #1
ERIS is now available for the Nook at B&N


Update #2
RITE MEN FOR MAYA now has a price -- $4.49. There is also a buy link now at Changeling Press.


Hopefully more fun news to come.

Movie Review: RED

RED


Basic Premise
Frank Moses is a retiree with a price on his head because he's been tagged RED -- retired, extremely dangerous. Now he and his former co-workers must come out of retirement to solve the mystery behind who wants them dead.

Misc Blah

Try as you might to seek change and/or to succeed, it is the people that continually do nothing or turn a blind eye that impede your progress the most rather than the people who place stumbling blocks in your path.

This profound truth just came to me after reading my email from various authors' loops. Ahhhh my lovely brick wall... my forehead has missed you so much.

Got Mine!

"This is Burke. It's twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have... DRAGONS!"

How to Train Your Dragon

I got the Blu-Ray DVD combo. The double DVD comes with all of the special features of the Blu-Ray combo, including the new adventure, "Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon."

This was my #1 movie of the summer. See the review

Writing Update: 14 Oct 2010

I finished the first round of edits for Rite Men for Maya and turned that in yesterday morning. I added a whole chapter. I felt it made the story flow a little better.

The release date has been announced and it is 12 November 2010. Quick, huh? I'm happy about that. I'll be an official Changeling Press author before the end of the year.

Now that my edits (first round) are out of the way, I can go back to my WIPs.

Chugging right along.

Cyber Launch: Eris Print (Contest)

My cyber launch of the print release for ERIS is today (13 October) at Cyber Launch Party - http://www.cyberlaunchparty.blogspot.com/

Stop by and leave a comment and you're entered to win a signed print of ERIS. This is time sensitive and today only.

Good Luck

Movie Review: Monsters

Monsters


(In theaters 29 October 2010 -- limited release)


Basic Premise:
Andrew Kaulder is a photography. Samantha Wynden is the daughter of Andrew's boss. Andrew has been tasked with getting Samantha home, after an alien attack leaves her stranded in Mexico. They only have a few days to get across the border before everything shuts down and they're stranded for six months.

Need More Time (Or Clones)

I have had so much going on in the last few days that I haven't had time to do anything (namely write). It also didn't help that my sleep schedule got all out of whack over my weekend so I was constantly tired. I'm about to go to bed but I felt the need to post since I hadn't in a while.

Thankfully movie day will be at home tomorrow. We're planning to see My Soul To Take, just for the Halloween ambience, but I'm all gung-ho to stay home and get my equilibrium back.

Verizon FIOS has this lovely little thing called Magnolia with their OnDemand package that let's the hubby and I watch new-to-theater movies at home for less than the price of one box office ticket. SCORE!

It's not all movies, though that would be nice. I'm assuming it's the movies that the industry doesn't think will do particularly well in theaters so they are trying to make money off of them any way they can. Tomorrow's plan is Monsters. Magnolia also has Freakonomics. We might watch that one at a later date as well.

Writing Update: 05 October 2010

Zenobia Renquist (the other me -- you know, the one with the angel wings) is now a Changeling Press author.

The contract is signed, sealed, and delivered just this morning. Rite Men for Maya is the title signed. It is an interracial, urban fantasy (mermaids), menage (m/m/f). Yup, I did another menage (I warned you that I would) and this time the guys are hot for each other as well as the heroine. *eg*

Hopefully, it'll release before the end of the year.

This story has a funny history. Flash (Stephanie Burke) made me do it. Yup, when you read it remember that it's all her fault. :P

Waaaaaaay back in 2008, Flash challenged me to write a story for the "gayest tattoo ever" (if the link doesn't work, just do a search and you'll find it). I took one look at that photo, said hell no, and got back to writing Eris. Meanwhile, my muse had ideas of her own. Suddenly I was writing and ended up with 15,000+ words on a story I didn't even mean to write (ain't it always the way?).

After ignoring the story for a while to focus on other stuff, I gave it another look this year. I pulled it out, dusted it off, tweaked it a little and sent it off to submissions. Changeling Press said yes, so I have joined their ranks.

I'm happy to be there and can't wait to see what you all think of my latest piece of mischief.

Interview at Becca Dale's Place

Check me out. I did an interview at Becca Dale's blog -- Becca's Retreat.

The questions aren't ones you would find in a typical interview. Stop by and take a look. You might learn something new about me. :D

B3 Starts Tomorrow

Becka's Birthday Bash

It's Rebecca Goings birthday and she's celebrating all week long. Join her on her chat loop, her facebook fan group, and on Twitter (also her boys' twitter) starting 04 October for a week of fun, excerpts, contests, prizes, and all around craziness.

Random Previews: October 2010

I missed this in September. Not sure how that happened. But, I'm here now and I've booted up Apple/Quicktime and IMDB to check out the new trailers that are available.

Let's see what the future holds for me and the movies:

- The Warrior's Way (3 December 2010)
Ninja Assassin meets Sword of the Stranger (anime -- very good, I recommend it) set in the Wild West. I LOVE IT! I had to giggle through part of this trailer just because it really is Ninja Assassin set in the Wild West. Plot is almost exactly the same. This time the Asian guy is a with a white chick (woot red hair rocks!) instead of a black chick. And it looks like there will be more than longing gazes going on in this one. Looking forward to this one.

- Monsters (29 October 2010)
Cthulhu's kids have come to Earth and taken up residence. Now it's time for the humans to adapt. It looks interesting. I at least want to go so I can see what the monsters really look like. This promises to be a "human nature" movie more than anything else.

- True Grit (25 December 2010)
I loved the original of this movie with John Wayne. I don't remember much about it now except John Wayne's character yelling at the heroine a lot. :P I'll have to watch it again before I go see this and I will be going to see this just so I can compare it to the original.

- For Colored Girls (5 November 2010)
A Tyler Perry written, directed, and produced film from the hit play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf". First off, Tyler Perry and Janet Jackson must have one hell of a contract together, because she keeps popping up in his movies. Second, this looks powerful and tear-jerking and not like something I want to watch in theaters. This will probably be one of those movies I only watch once. I'm not saying I won't like it, because I probably will but there are movies that I can only watch once because they are just too depressing.

- Hereafter (22 October 2010)
This looks like another powerful, tear-jerker non-movie theater movie. I want to see it, but I want it to be from the comfort of my own home with the good stuff surrounding me so I come back in one piece. I know that sounds silly to some of you reading this but that's just the way I am.

- I Am Number Four (18 February 2011)
Covenant meets Jumper. Looks like the typical teen angst paranormal. Hopefully they'll give a better reason for wanting these kids dead than the one they gave in Jumper. I want to see it, even if it is a February movie.

Summer Movie ReCap

Summer is over (if all this cold air blowing through my house is any indication) and it's time for my summer movie recap. I have a Movie-o-Meter on this blog so people can keep track of my fav movies during a season.

Here it is for the last time before I switch it over to fall/winter:

Top 5 of Summer 2010

#1 - How to Train Your Dragon
#1 - Easy A
#2 - Prince of Persia
#2 - Just Wright
#3 - Iron Man 2
#3 - Toy Story 3
#4 - Karate Kid
#5 - Predators

There were a ton of movies this summer but, for me, those eight led the pack. Who knows, I might actually be able to have an actual top five this fall/winter. We'll see. :D

Power Optional

A storm blew through MD last night and now I have no power. I'm typing this post from my car where my mini is plugged into my power converter and getting internet through my laptop connect card. Where there's a will there's a way. :D

Estimated time of reconnect is some time tonight. The hubby and I are hoping for sooner. While I'd like to say I'll probably get a lot of writing done thanks to this, I'll more than likely end up going to bed early.

Current word count on Yolette is 97,480.