I just finished watching Wives & Daughters, the miniseries. It was so good! The actor who played Roger Hamley? Scrumptious! Yum, yum, yum! :) Wives & Daughters was the last book written by Elizabeth Gaskell before she died. She actually didn't finish it, but she'd left enough stuff behind that a person could make their own assumptions. What's really funny though, is how many actors I recognized. There was the guy who played Mr. Collins in the P&P version w/ Keira Knightley, the lady who played the grand dame in the P&P w/ Colin Firth, the lady who played the aunt in...well, you get the idea. I definitely give it a solid A! :)



I stopped at Fred Meyer to pick up some ginger ale for my dad. He had a bad case of acid reflux that came back to bite him and he needed some relief. I saw my neighbor walking towards the store as I was leaving and I asked her if she wanted a ride. She went inside to get her bus pass and then we came home.



My head is super killing me. The weather has gone from cool to warm to cool again and my poor sinuses just don't know which end is up. *sigh*



My only plans for tomorrow are to clean my little room and make it presentable. Maybe that'll keep for awhile. Here's hoping. :)

I'm So Bad!!!

And I should be punished. Okay, not really, but I honestly have no will power. None, whatsoever. Why? What did I do now? Um...I bought another book. *ducks for cover* I blame Stacy for this one though. She has a review of this book up on her blog and it looked...hot! The book is Trial by Fire by Jo Davis. And it is scorching! I reviewed it over on G&BB. I really enjoyed it. The relationship made sense, the sex was hot and...well, the sex was hawt! LOL!

I had a LONG day today. I blame it all on Nalini Singh. I read and finished Hostage to Pleasure. Yup, it was a book. I'd promised myself I'd be in bed by no later than 10, because I needed to be up at 6:15. *snort* Um, went to bed at 1:15 this morning! Argh!

Work was a bear. Way beyond short-handed, stupid customers and my obnoxious coworker was at it again. We have racks of samples; clothes that we are selling that we keep on our floor to help us describe colors, etc. to customers. The obnoxious coworker was the one who opened this morning and she pulled all of them out onto the floor. No biggie. After my last break at 2, I took all of the samples back to their room and went back to my desk. When she left at 2:30, she demanded to know why I'd put the racks back. I told her that the 2 who needed them were leaving and I didn't want to do it at the end of the day. She goes over to one of the supervisors desks and grabs the keys. She goes back and starts messing with everything. I had not locked the door because the day wasn't over and I knew myself and my other coworker might need them later. She storms out of the sample room and marches over to me. I held my hand out for the key, which she slapped into my hand as well as a piece of garbage which I handed back to her and told her "I'm not your servant. Throw away your own garbage." What a witch.

So after that debacle, I just wasn't in the mood for any nonsense. After work I stopped at the library to pick up the DVD copy of Wives and Daughters. I've been waiting for it for months! So looking forward to it. It was the last book written by Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote North & South. I'm hoping I love this one too. :)

I'm tired enough I might just go to bed. *yawn* I've been up for a long time & I definitely did not get enough sleep last night. Have a great night, everybody!

Hello, There!

So should I start with the good news or the bad news first? Since I like getting negativity out of the way, I'll start with the bad. And it's not bad as in awful, just bad as in crappy day at work.

I worked from 11:30 until 5:30 today because...I don't know why. I have to be back at work by 7:30 tomorrow. This does not make me a happy camper. Anywho, whilst I was slaving away (snicker) I noticed something odd. This was about 4:30 so I was excited because my day was almost over. A customer called in to order something and when I put the item number into our system, it told me that we were 100% sold out of this item. Um...no. Told the customer I would call her back on Tuesday, we could do the order then and apologized. Not even 5 minutes later, a 2nd customer called in, asked for a different item and that one was sold out too. Say what!?!

Spent the next hour calling multiple people trying to get it resolved. Not sure what happened, but was glad I was leaving and wouldn't have to deal with it for the rest of the day. Yay me!

Checked email before I left for the day and saw a message from B&N. My copy of Hostage to Pleasure was waiting for me! Whoot! So, went to B&N. Bought HtP, Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre and Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein. Whoot-whoot! Read Legacy already. It was really, really good. Will be reviewing it over on G&BB soon. Whee!!!!

Seriously looking forward to my vacation. It can't come too soon. *sigh*

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Ciao!

*sigh*

Hi, all! First of all...just wanted to say right up front that I'm sick unto death of politics. *ahem* There, I've said it. I'm done now.

I have a horrible migraine headache and should just go to bed, but I'm not tired enough to sleep. *eye roll* I seriously hate it when this happens.

Work was a bit nutty today. We weren't what I would call busy, but 2 of our closers called in sick leaving us super shorthanded. So, it was just me and another person. We had a good time though, joking and stuff. It's funny, because when he first started working there as a temp I couldn't stand him AT ALL! Now, we get along great. I think what I like about him the most is that he's not afraid to say it like it is. If he doesn't like you, he doesn't like you.

I'm horribly bummed out. I want to get Hostage to Pleasure so bad on Tuesday, but I'm so broke I don't know if I'll be able to buy it. *sniffle* I love Nalini's books so much. This is almost tearing me apart! Wah! Maybe someone will be nice and lend me the money. *sigh*

I didn't get any reading or writing accomplished at work at all today. I hate it when we're shorthanded. It all comes back to haunt me (so to speak).

I have no plans at all for this weekend. I start work at 11:30 tomorrow, get off at 5:30 and then I'm back at 7:30 on Saturday. The Oregon State Fair is this weekend and one of my coworkers who works on Saturday volunteered to host my work's booth there. So we're shorthanded again. If my headache persists in the direction it's heading to, I might not get to work tomorrow. It's one of those ones where my head feels like it's been jammed full of tiny shards of glass. I hate headaches.

The Sims 2 Apartment Life came out today. I can't get that either. Grrr!!! My birthday is in about 3 weeks. I'm hoping I can get a friend of mine to get it for me. Is that bad of me? LOL!

I'm also hoping that my vacation will actually work. I'm so broke right now that it's a struggle, but I really need to get out of town. I'm thinking if I use my next paycheck to pay all of my bills thru September, I can use the paycheck I get before my birthday to fund my trip. *sigh* I hate juggling finances. It really sucks.

Anyone have any plans for Labor Day weekend? I never do anything on major holidays. For one thing, traffic will be a bear and for another, traffic will be a bear! LOL! I'd prefer to just stay home. I'm hopeless.

Lessee...anything else? Nope! I'm boring! Hope everybody has a good night. I shall leave you with another pretty picture. Enjoy!

Bwahaha

Okay, so I decided to change my background. How coincidental that it ended up being exactly the same background as my myspace page. Hmmm. :)

One of the Coolest Photographs I've EVER SEEN! :)

Your Thoughts??? :~D

Hmm...

First of all, I wanted to thank those of you who commented on my last blog entry. Your thoughts are much appreciated. *hugs*

I was going to talk about random stuff per usual, but after reading the comments and stuff, my thoughts turned to friendship. So, this is going to be another post delving into my psyche and my past. You poor people. :~)

When I was a little girl, I had a best friend. This girl and I were friends from the time we were babies until we were 12. Growing up, I was the quintessential tomboy. If I could've worn jeans and been a boy, I probably would've fit in just fine. Anywho, this friend was a total girly girl. I think 99% of the reason we were friends was because our moms were friends. We grew up, we grew apart and we moved on.

Throughout my latter childhood and into my teens, I had a "best" friend then. She was 3 years older than me and it was great being treated like an older person. All of her friends accepted me (not realizing I was still a kid when they were teenagers...the joys of looking older than I was) and I felt like I was super cool. *eye roll* That friendship ended BADLY. That's an understatement, but BADLY is the best word to use.

I went for quite a long time without a best friend. I was relatively content, though high school was a literal hell for me. I had no one to lean on, so I turned to food. Therein lies the fatness, but that's a totally different story.

I became friends in my later teens with a girl I'd known most of my life. She was best friends with my cousin when they were girls, but that friendship had died a nasty death. I think she turned to me because I had a calming influence on her and didn't let her mother run roughshod over me. We were friends for quite a long time and I was basically an aunt to her little boy. Walking away from her friendship was the best thing I ever did, but losing that little boy is one of the most devastating things I've ever gone thru. He's 11 now and I haven't seen him since he was 2. In my mind, he will always be that darling little boy who would choose me over his mom for comfort. *sniffle*

After that friendship died, it took a lot for me to even think about letting someone be close to me again. See, I am the world's biggest introvert. I have this layered personality that allows me to act one way in public, but my real inner me is a totally different person. I can be super friendly and outgoing in a social venue, but get me in my comfort zone and I'm not. In truth I don't like people that much and would much prefer hanging out alone. To let someone see the real me is something I've struggled with for years.

The woman I consider my best friend became my friend through some very bizarre circumstances. We worked together, but I didn't know who she was. One day, while at work, she sent me an email asking me if I would consider being her roommate. To say I was surprised by this would be an understatement, but I took it under advisement and decided that it was time I left the nest (so to speak). It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but also one of the best (certain aspects of it anyway).

We moved in together, lived together for 8 months and when I finally moved out (due to financial issues) I didn't like her much at all. Our personalities are so totally opposite (she's a control freak and I'm extremely laid back) and there had been a lot of strife while we lived together (mainly because the reason we moved in together ended up being a moot point). But, after a few months of cooling off, we reconnected again and ended up finding out that we were really friends after all. I know just about everything there is to know about her, but I don't think she knows as much about me as she thinks she does.

Even with someone I consider a close friend, I still have a difficult time revealing all of me. It's almost impossible to show the deep, deep interior. Scary, even. It's not that I don't trust her, because I do. It's just that I don't like having someone know everything about me. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the real reason why I wanted to write this post was because of the comment Jana left. It actually made me a bit teary eyed (in a good way). I find it easier to be friends with people I've never met before than I do with "real" people. I've known Jana for quite a long time now (and Michele too). We may not talk as often as we should, but there's still a friendship there.

There are also the DIK ladies. I'm not close friends with them (though it doesn't mean we can't be), but we are all connected in some way, shape or form, mostly because of our love of books. We go out of our way to do nice things for each other (Lisabea) and always have encouraging words for each other. I don't think you have to really "know" a person to be friends with them. Sometimes it's easier to just be allowed to email or twitter or blog and get to know someone that way. Then you can think about what you're going to say. Absorb what the other person has told you and give a real, solid answer.

Does what I'm saying make sense to anyone? I hope so. Honestly, I wasn't trying to ramble. I did have a point in here somewhere, but what was it? Oh yeah...it's that friendship isn't something that is tangible and something you can pull out of a hat. It's something deep and intricate and crazy, but it's what makes life worth living. Without friendship, life is nothing.

Thoughts & Stuff

I know, I'm writing a lot tonight. Sometimes I just feel like writing more often. :~P More to entertain you with. he-he

I've been thinking about self-image tonight. Well, image period. I've always had a horrible time dealing with my perception of myself. It's not that I'm ugly or anything, but I don't think I'm the prettiest woman in the world. Confidence has never been my forte.

As a kid I was slender and athletic, but because I was so tall I had a very skewed view of my looks. I felt like a freak and refused to have my picture taken. As I hit puberty, my self esteem issues got worse and I got fat. I got very fat.

Pictures became a nightmare and the thought of anyone seeing me gave me the heebie jeebies. I didn't want anyone to see me. I didn't want my image out there for anyone to see. I hated seeing all the little things about myself I hate. Just ew!

When my brother got married, as a bridesmaid I was required to be in multiple pictures. I've never been so miserable in my life. To me I look like a giant, fat pink balloon. As I was walking down the aisle, I overheard someone asking someone else who I was. I heard the answer and the person who'd asked originally said "Man, she is huge! What a cow!" I know they didn't realize I could hear them, but I was so humiliated.

I wallowed in self-pity for a long time. It wasn't until last year that I finally decided to lose weight seriously. I'm still way behind, but I'm losing it slowly but surely. I still look at myself and think about how horrid I look, but I'm working on it. Will I ever think I'm attractive? Honestly? Probably not. I have too many body issues. Maybe with years of intensive therapy...maybe.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm whining or anything. If I do come across that way, I apologize. I'm just realizing as the days go by that I have an issue. It's a big one and it's something I will be fighting probably until the day I die. We shall see just how well I handle it as time progresses.

Sleepy!

That is definitely me. Didn't get anywhere near enough sleep last night. *sigh* I hate nights like that! :~P

Had a good weekend though. Sunday I was a lazy bum, but yesterday I hung out with Best Bud. We met up at her place and I took her out to dinner at the Chinese buffet my brother introduced me to. After that, we went back to her house and chilled out for awhile. It was so nice to catch up with her. Haven't had a chance to do that for a long time.

Got home, read some, and went to bed. Sleep didn't come, so I contented myself with coming up with goofy story ideas. Can't remember 99% of them, but some of them were completely off the wall. I never said I was the sanest person I've ever met. LOL!

Today work was okay. Had this crazy customer call in about something I have absolutely no control over. I told her to send in a letter, because nothing I told her would make her happy. She continued to rant and rave, but I got my forceful voice out and told her to write a LETTER! Sheesh. People are so stupid and annoying sometimes. *eye roll*

Not much going on in my little neck of the woods. Finally got my internet woes over with, so that makes me happy. Yay me! *happy dance*

Trying to decide if I want to go to bed early or wait until I'm tired enough to sleep. Does that make sense to anyone or is that just me? :)

Can't wait until Tuesday! Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini comes out! I've got my copy reserved. I wish it'd been an ARC, but I'm not complaining. She deserves my hard-earned dollars. There's no hatin' on my end. :)

So many great contests out there in the blogosphere. I'm not even going to list them, because there are too many & I'm sure I'll miss the super biggies. I'm not organized! Shame on me! :)

The weather has cooled off significantly! Yay! No more melting! Yay! Raining instead! Boo! Yeah, beggars can't be choosers. I never said I was easy to please. :)

Well, I'm off. Going to go reread Cry Wolf again. I know I missed stuff the first time I read it. Just finished rereading Blood Bound for the bazillionth time. I *heart* Patricia Briggs. :~D

Nalini Singh Contest!!!! :)

I love Nalini! There, I've said it. Shame on me! :~P I love her books and I love the fact that she's so connected with her fans. She's got a pretty major contest going on at her blog. Here's the 411...

What's up for grabs?

The winner, chosen at random, will receive a US$75 gift certificate from the online bookstore of your choice :)

What do you have to do to enter?(a) Do a post on your blog, livejournal, myspace, facebook or website etc, where you answer at least one of the questions below. You can do all three questions if you like!

* Which fictional hero (from books, tv, movies...) would you most like to hold hostage? Oh...this one is fun! :) I think I'd love to kidnap Cadeon Wode from the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. He'd be fun to torture.

* Which fictional hero would you most like to be held hostage by? Same as above because he'd have some creative ideas, I'm sure. :)

* Which fictional world would you most like to be held hostage in? Nalini's Changeling/Psy world. I'd totally want to be a Changeling...or maybe a Psy. So hard to decide. :)

(b) link back to this post & mention the contest

(c) post the cover of Hostage to Pleasure if possible; and

(d) leave a comment here with a link to where you've posted your entry (if, for some reason, you can't comment, email me the details at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com (without the spaces))

*NOTE: If you're leaving a Myspace link, please leave a link to your profile - the direct links to the blogs aren't working.(e) do all this before midnight September 5th, 2008, PST.

'Tis Sunday!

And I had plans to get stuff done. *snort* Yeah, right. Got home from work yesterday, ate dinner and went to bed. *sigh* I am hopeless! I dunno if it's a horrible case of PMS or just a lack of sleep, but these last few days I haven't been a very nice person. *sniffle* Snappish and growly. Not a pretty picture.

Slept like the dead and woke up at about 8:30 this morning. Had a super yummy breakfast of peanut butter and jam on toast with fresh strawberries on the side. Yum! Watched some TV and have basically been hanging out since then. I'm a lazy, lazy bum. Shame on me! :~P

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. I don't know why I'm so stinkin' lazy on my weekends. I usually have so much to get done, but if I'm being totally honest I just don't care. *sigh* It's honestly really pathetic.

I think I'm going to go take a shower and maybe go to Starbucks to write. I might...no promises. :) I'm thinking Chinese sounds to good to me, so I might go get some later on tonight. Haven't decided yet. :)

What About Love?

This is a post written by my mom. My parents have been married for 34 years and are still very much in love. Sure, they can get snippy with each other and there are days I know they want to smack the other upside the head, but the love is always very much present. It's what I grew up with, so I always knew that REAL love existed.

My buddy Jana wrote this blog about her fears of what if she did find the right one. Boy, how I empathize with her.

As I said, I know real love exists. Growing up, I would ask my parents when I grew up would I find a love like theirs. The answer was always of course and that God had the right man for me. Um...okay. I'm almost 32 years old. The closest I've ever come to marriage is when I caught the bouquet at my aunt's wedding. And a couple of friends too. I thought catching the bouquet meant I was next in line. Obviously that is a big fat LIE!

It's funny though. I totally understand where Jana is coming from. When I was a teen & even in my early 20's, the thought of marriage was such a big thing for me. I wanted to find the right man, get married, and spend my life with someone. Now that I'm getting a bit older though...well, I'm afraid I might be getting set in my ways. Oh, the horror!

I don't know if I could handle having someone around all the time. I love having my own personal space (which is difficult when I live with my parents) and I don't know if I really want someone I'd have to share that space with. In fact, my mom and I were talking about it earlier today. I kept thinking "Maybe I could just find someone to have sex with, move on and be happy being single?" I dunno, maybe I'm insane.

And the really goofy thing? I'm a total romantic. When my first boyfriend and I started dating, I was a complete and total innocent. I'd never even kissed a guy and had no idea what a guy's expectations would be. Thankfully, Paul was super patient and supportive. He understood and he was more than willing to be my teacher. We had so much fun together. Most of the time, we just hung out at his apartment watching movies or talking. He was a great kisser and I'll never forget my first kiss. Sometimes I wonder about him. Wonder if he ever thinks of me or if I'm just a memory that's been erased forever? When we broke up...well, it was stupid. I was so young and immature. I sometimes think that if we'd met a bit later, we might have ended up getting married. I could see myself with someone like him. Patient, funny, intelligent, and fun to be with. Maybe if I could find someone like that now?

See, it's all supposition. It's been forever and a day since I was even in what I would consider a real relationship. It's really embarrassing to try to explain to someone that I've had the dating experience of maybe a 12 year old. Sometimes I think 12 year olds have more experience than I do. Man, how sad is that?!?

Women seem to understand why I am the way I am. Men? Not so much. Maybe if I was 21 it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm a woman! Sheesh!

When I think back to when I was 16. I was convinced that I would be married young, like my parents. Ha! My parents were married for 10 years by this point. It's really sad. Maybe if I hadn't grown up with what my parents had, I wouldn't be quite so particular. I don't know. There's really no way to say one way or the other.

I just wish I could figure out where I went wrong and why I am still so sadly...well...me.

*Sigh*

I'm writing this while at work, so it'll probably not get done until tonight. These last few days have been pretty insane. I'm still having issues with my laptop. Stupid program. Totally screwed things up! :(


I was a super bad girl & stopped at B&N last night. I've been wanting to find books on writing. I found 4 really great ones. One is all about dialogue, one is about plot, one is about characterization and one is about writing romance. All 4 are things I need help with. Is it just me or does anyone else agree that there should be a book on writing love scenes? I think that is one book that definitely should be written. :) Idiot's Guide to Writing a Great Love Scene. If it exists, I haven't found it yet. *sigh* Maybe I should write it? :~P


It's been pretty rainy & blah this week. I'm not complaining though. Last week was horrible with the hot weather from hell. I don't do so well w/ the hot weather. It makes me act like I've got a chronic case of bad PMS. I hate acting like a shrew. Grr...



It's 5:15, so I'll be back later after work. Gotta get home and eat dinner, you know. :~P





So now it's Friday. I didn't get online at all last night. I got home from work, ate dinner and pretty much did nothing but reread the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. I love that series, especially Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, which is Colin & Penelope's story. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance cliches. :)



I'm actually doing okay. I've had better days, especially with psychotic coworkers, but I'm learning to just blow them off and enjoy myself (so to speak). I have to work for six hours tomorrow and then I'm off for the weekend! Whoot! I plan on cleaning (for real this time) and hopefully seeing my best friend. I haven't seen her in quite awhile and I miss her. We need to have a good day of nothing but girl talk. :)



My birthday is in exactly one month. What do I plan to do? Drive to the beach & then sleep the whole time I'm down there. :) Yay!


Now it's 9:30 on Friday night. I had to keep saving. *sigh*

So just to give you an idea of how talented I am, last Thursday, on one of the hottest days of the year, I got into my car, put my hands on my steering wheel and promptly gave myself 2nd degree burns on both of my thumbs. The one on my right hand ended up being pretty severe and is still not 100%. Still can't believe I did that. *eye roll*

Work has been super busy this week. Supposed to be that way next week too. Oh joy. :~P I don't mind it that much though because it makes the days go by 10,000 times faster than when it's really slow. :)

My writing sucks. There, I've said it. I dunno what I'm thinking. Me, a writer? Pshaw! Sorry, had to get that out of my system. *sigh*

So, I think I'm done now. Yay! Later!

To Make Myself Feel Better

Mmm....the V-Taper....my favorite part of a man's body. I love this picture. It's at the beach! How can you not love that? :)

ARGH!!!!

So this whole internet thing is getting on my last nerve. Grr. Seems like every time I turn around, something else is falling apart on me. *sigh*

Had a super craptastic day at work. I am so tired of stupid people who just can't seem to get over themselves. Two of those stupid people are people I work with. Saturday I got to work, sat down, signed into my computer and this coworker who is one of those people who think they're funny but 99% of the time their humor falls flat says to me "Well aren't you just little miss negativity this morning?" I said Excuse me? I haven't even said anything to anybody yet." She said "Well, you're always so negative." *snort* This is from the person who tells me on a regular basis how stupid my choices of reading material is, etc. So, today, when I got to work, I asked my manager if I could talk to her. I told her about this & said that I hate being a tattletale, but that I'm sick of dealing with the snark and the constant negativity from this person. The other coworker, whom I've talked about before is a constant thorn in EVERYONES sides. I wish she would just go far, far away. *sigh*

And to top it all off, customers were crazy today. You know, there are times I wonder why I even bother getting up. :~S I'm just so sick of dealing with negativity all the time. I was doing really good there for awhile. Happy, dealing with what life had to throw at me. I'm trying really hard not to have all this negative nonsense get me down, but I'm just so sick of it! If these 2 people would just go away, life might not be so annoying. Argh! Sorry, had to get this all off my chest.

Other than work and the stupidity, things haven't been too awful. It was really, really, really hot up thru Sunday night. Thankfully a storm came thru and has cooled things down considerably. It's actually raining right now. :) I can hear water dripping from the eaves and it's such a peaceful sound. I know a lot of people can't stand the rain, but I've always loved it. I know, I complain about it after 6 months straight of the stuff, but most of the time it really doesn't bother me.

I've been rereading books again. Now that I'm all caught up on books I've bought recently, it's on to rereading again. Yay! :) I love rereading books. I do it so often, half the time I wonder why I bother buying any new books!

I went on to amazon earlier today looking for books on the writing craft. I'd love to find something that'll help me get my brain in gear. It's been kind of going stagnant lately. I've got 99% of the world my characters live in mapped out, but it's getting the story & stuff put together that is causing my brain to...basically stop dead. Sad. :~(

Well, I think I'm off for now. I've got some reading to do before bed. Ha! I just want to go read. I just finished rereading the Wallflower 4some by Lisa Kleypas. My very favorite book (actually it's a tie between this one and Dreaming of You) is Secrets of a Summer's Night. There's just something about Simon Hunt that totally does it for me. Maybe that's why I chose him to be one of my DIK heroes. :)

Night everybody!

First of All...

This is really cool!

Book Bloggers: You work hard. You read books, you write reviews, you maintain relationships with your readers, publicists, and authors. You are constantly running to the post office to mail your giveaways and participating in carnivals to help boost traffic. You sometimes want to faint when you see the size of your TBR pile, but faithfully you read. And you do it because you love it. Book blogging is for most a hobby. But it’s a hobby that takes a lot of work and time. It’s a labor of love.


I’ve been blogging for three years but only really got into book blogging in the last year. I have found, without a doubt, that book bloggers are the kindest, most open minded, and supportive group of bloggers on the internet. With book blogging, it’s about community and a love for the written word.


The Readers: We love you! You don’t have a blog, but you read our reviews and share your thoughts with us. You enter our giveaways and click on our Amazon associates link. We do this for you and appreciate your readership. We hope you’ll join in the fun and festivities of BBAW! (we’ll have a special contest just for you!)


Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Acknowledging the hard work of book bloggers and their growing impact on book marketing and their essential contribution to book buzz in general, I am excited to announce the first Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Think of it as a retreat for book bloggers and a chance for us to totally nerd out over books together. And of course, shower each other with love and appreciation.


Register: In order to experience the maximum impact of the week, I invite you to register your participation (just like a retreat)!To register, just send an email to bookbloggerappreciationweekATgmailDOTcom with your blog url and what you consider your niche…i.e, general book blog, classics blog, personal blog with a healthy dose of books, YA books blog, etc. Then, add one of the two buttons at the bottom of this post to your sidebar. If you are a reader (no blog) just send an email announcing your plans to follow along.Why bother? If you register, you will be added to a book blog directory which will exist long after this week is over. Additionally, you will receive one raffle entry into the daily giveaways during BBAW here at My Friend Amy.


Awards: Oh yes, there will be awards. The Oscars of Book Blogging. Nominations start next week.


Spread the Word: If you are excited about this idea like I am and the other book bloggers who are helping, please consider writing a post on your blog announcing this event and inviting other book bloggers and readers to join.


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Internetz How Ize Missed You

I haven't been a very happy camper lately. *sigh* My internet got eaten somehow and now I've got to take my computer in to have it checked. *sniffle*

Thankfully, my mom took pity on me and is letting me use her computer to catch up on everything. *sigh*

So, what have I been up to since I last wrote? Um, not all that much. I did do something completely asinine the other day though. It was about 100 on Thursday. Went out to my car after work, got inside and placed my hands on the steering wheel. Ended up giving myself 2nd degree burns on both of my thumbs. The one on my right was the worst. Ended up being a huge blister that popped! Now, it's at that weird callous point where the skin is all dry and there's no real sensation around the area. I feel like such an idiot. *sigh*

Other than work and the like, just been dealing with hellish heat. It was about 100 for three days straight. Thankfully, we had a storm come in and cool things down consiserably. Yay! Here's hoping it stays that way.

I haven't been keeping up with the Olympics. It's weird...for the past who know's how many Olympics, I've watched them faithfully. I'm a huge fan of gymnastics and love watching swimming, so the Summer Olympics have always been my favorite. I watched a few, but they were all taped on the DVR. So, I already knew about Michael Phelps and everything BIG that had happened. It's been kind of a letdown. :(

I've read some great books, but haven't reviewed them due to my internet issues. Makes me very sad. Suffice it to say that Robyn Carr writes some amazing books. :)

Well, I'm off. Going to see if I can catch some of the Olympics live. Have a great night everybody!

Huh...

Ya know, I think I could start a blog specifically just for dating woes. I'd invite all my single friends and we could moan & groan about men and their fickleness. *sigh*

Dating has never been a friend to me. Every guy I've dated obviously wasn't the right one, we figured it out before emotions got involved and moved on. Does this make me a heartless person? I don't think so. I think it makes me a realist.

There are times when I wonder if dating is EVER going to happen. It's not like I'm sitting here waiting for my prince to come find me, but I just can't seem to find a guy that I'm even remotely attracted to. Of course, this brings up the "Are you sure you're not gay?" question all the time which is just a joke. No, I'm DEFINITELY not gay. I can look at a woman & think she's attractive (I think most women can do that), but I don't look at a woman and want to take her to bed. Ew!

The reason I brought this up is because I did a dumb thing. I blame it on sleeplessness and boredom. I was on craigslist, which is always...not sure of the word I'm looking for but I'll go with eye-opening. For some reason, I thought it'd be a hoot to write a personal ad & see what happens. I guess men aren't looking for a tall woman, because I didn't get very many responses. Either that or they found me too smart or something. *sigh* I don't know. Don't care.

The few men I did get emails from have been interesting. One of them is quite a bit older than me. When I told him I wasn't really looking to date a man who was quite that old, but wouldn't mind friendship, he emailed me back with a very nice email.

I guess the thing that fascinated me about this whole experiment was this: 99% of the guys who get on there whine about finding a good woman, but when a good woman actually gets on there, nobody responds. Hmmm... So, at this point, I just roll my eyes and move on.

But, this does bring up a good point. If you're looking for love...don't go on craigslist. It's a total waste of time and not worth it. At least, it wasn't for me. And if I did find a great guy on there (not sure as of yet), I'll come back and eat my words. At this point, not all that excited about the whole prospect. I'm thinking being single isn't so bad after all.

Whew!

It's a bit hot here today. Me no like hot. Boo! And you can totally tell it's going into fall because it's 9 and already dark outside. The summer goes by so quickly. *sigh*

I'm doing good though. Work was slow and I almost got to go home, but they let someone else go instead. That wouldn't have been so bad if he'd gotten to work at the same time I did. Argh! Aw well, whatever.

Read Storm Born by Richelle Mead. I know a lot of readers are really big on her Succubus series, but I've got to say I really wasn't all that impressed. My review of the book is here.

So, I know I asked for your help by sending in pictures of guys you thought were hot, but only 1 PERSON RESPONDED! Argh! So, I'll do my own thing (with that other person's entry). *sigh* It'll still be cool, but not as cool as it could've been. *sniffle* I'm a bit disappointed. :(

Not much else going on. Work. Home. Eat. Sleep. It's a never-ending cycle. :~S

*headdesk*

I'm a big, fat, stupid moron! *sigh* Got that out of my system. Did something really stupid today and now I'm totally smacking myself in the head for it. It's easily rectified, but I'm still an idiot.

Bought new books! Whee! I bought The Elevator by Angela Hunt (Mira Imprint). It was...weird. Definitely not what I expected. Will blog about it momentarily.

I also bought Storm Born by Richelle Mead, Thunderbird Falls & Coyote Dreams by CE Murphy (Luna Imprint), Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr, and Never to Late by Robyn Carr.

Had to train a new trainee today. Wasn't bad. He was not totally hopeless, which was nice for a change.

Tired, bored and need a vacay. Can't wait for September! :)

Blah!

Again, blah! I'm tired, I'm hot, I'm a bit grumpy and I need a vacation. There, that's better. :~P

Just finished reading Gale Force by Rachel Caine. It was super, super good. I love Rachel's writing and w/ the Weather Warden series, it's non-stop action and crazy insanity. My favorite. :~D

Not much going on. Didn't do much today. Now I'm watching Pride and Prejudice (A&E version) again. Watched it last night. Now it's just kind of background noise. I *heart* this movie. :)

How's everybody else doing?


Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRISTIEJ! :)

Hiya!

Okay, so I know I freaked a couple of people out when they came here and saw my blog was on private. I switched earlier today because I was working on a project and was having issues with it screwing up my blog. I've since taken it down and will try again later.

If you came by and saw the privacy thing, I do apologize. I'm back! Really & truly this time! :)

Lazy Day Sunday!

Not doing a whole lot today, other than cleaning like a fiend. I've been procrastinating for months. Yes, you heard me correctly. I did say months. If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's cleaning. Drives me crazy! If I'd learn how to pick up after myself, this wouldn't be an issue. *sigh*

I had a nice night last night. Worked yesterday. It was a long day, but whatever. Got home, ate dinner, read for a bit and then got online. Slept like the dead last night. I didn't realize how tired I was until I fell asleep. Had a bit of a headache last night, but am doing much better today. Must remember to take allergy meds BEFORE I start cleaning. :~S

Got paid on Friday, but 90% of it goes towards bill. Ugh! The rest? I really need to save up for my annual birthday trip in September. :) I go to the beach every year and I'm seriously looking forward to it. I was going to go down to Sacramento, but decided I just wasn't in the mood for visiting. Maybe I'm weird, but when I go on vacay, my biggest want is peace and quiet. I hope to get the same hotel room I had last time and just relax. I can hardly wait! And this time, I'll take much better pictures. :)

I'm still looking for those pictures, people! I've had one response! Come on now, I know y'all LOVE hotties. What's going on? :)

My poor dad has a cold. He sounds all growly and stuff. Poor baby. I've been striving so hard NOT to get sick this year. Last year I got hit with a nasty bug and the year before that I got so sick I had to be hospitalized. *sigh* I'm totally crossing my fingers that my health will stay good. *knock on wood*

Well, I should go start cleaning now. Wish me luck!

Oh....Here's a Treat! :)

Now I can understand why Suzanne Brockmann is so obsessed with Navy SEALs. Um...Go Navy? :)

*YAWN*

I am really, really tired. I had to be at work at 7:30 this morning. Yeah, it was a nightmare. I'm so not a morning person and since this isn't my usual schedule...well, I'm dragging a bit. *sigh*

Boring day. Tiring day. I'm not functioning. Going to go run away now. Nite!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Okay, so I'm in a super-duper, fantastical mood tonight! Why? Because I just can't seem to help it!

Last week while the rest of the blogging world was in SF for the RWA conference, I was going 'round the blogs that were doing the LB&LI. Alison Kent, Jaci Burton, Lynn Viehl, just to name a few. I won a copy of The Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance by Alison Kent on Jaci's blog. Found out today that I won something over on Alison's blog. What might that be? *jumping up and down with glee*


A COMPLETE SET OF WORKSHOP RECORDINGS FROM THIS YEAR'S RWA CONFERENCE! Is that unbelievable or what?!? It's like the writing gods knew I needed this or something. :) So, super happy me! :)

Lessee...what else? Finished reading Dark Warrior Unleashed by Alexis Morgan. It was okay. Some odd things, but the pacing was fast and stuff. I'll be reviewing it in a minute. I was going to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, but I kind of forgot they were on. Yes, I'm that oblivious. *sigh*

Have to be at work at 7:30 tomorrow. Wah!

Eating Smartfood White Cheddar popcorn. I love this stuff. It's like crack. Good crack. Yum!

Going to finish cleaning this weekend. Going thru books. Katie(babs) and I will discuss who gets what. :) She has book to share. Yay! *happy dance*

Um...that's it. Going to go away now. Nite everyone!

Is This Guy Hot or What?

Yummy, yummy, yummy. I love his dimples and his smile. *sigh*

This, That, & Other Things

First of all, Welcome Danielle! :) Thanks for the email, by the way. :-D

Oh, where to start? Got up this morning, took a super hot shower ('cuz I'm crazy like that), got ready for work and took off a few minutes early. As I was leaving, looked down to see a package sitting next to the front door. It was addressed to me, so I took it to work with me. Turns out it was my copy of Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance that I won on Jaci Burton's blog. It's a great book, even for someone like me who probably won't write full-blown erotic romance. Never say never though. I love reading the super hot sex scenes, so I really honestly can't say I won't. :)

Got to work. Tried to get a project done. Didn't happen. Has to wait until tomorrow. *sigh*

Got an email from my mom while at work telling me I had a package waiting for me. I was 99% sure I knew what it was, but had to wait until I got home from work. *sniffle* Sure enough, it was my package from Lisabea. Honestly, I got a little bit teary-eyed when I saw what she'd sent. It was unbelievably thoughtful of her and I still can't believe she did what she did. So, thank you, Lisabea! An email is on its way to you too. :)

Tomorrow I'm training, on top of finishing my project. I think my head hurts. *sigh*

I'm still looking for emails, people! Hot men. Why do you love them. Shouldn't be that difficult, I don't think.

Busy weekend planned. Might actually hang with BB this weekend. We shall see though. Her idiot boyfriend is making life difficult for her. I'd shoot him if I wouldn't get arrested for it. He's the epitome of immature and asinine. :-S

I realized today that I bought books 2 & 3 in Robyn Carr's series. Now I've got to figure out what book 1 was. I seriously hate it when I do that. :-(

Well, I'm off. Going to work on characterizations and world-building. I've always been a pantser when it comes to writing. I'm trying to see if I can actually plot out a book before I start. I have no idea what I'm doing. Save me?

Your Help

Is desperately needed! Did that catch your attention? Okay, so I'm not desperate for help, but I'd appreciate it. There, that sounds better.

I am looking for hot pictures of men, however the pictures need to be 2 things: The man must be fully or mostly dressed and the picture needs to be a relatively close-up picture of the face. It is for a special project I'm working on for a later date.

I'm looking for a range from blond, brunette, bald, auburn, etc. Different ethnicities, etc. My biggest request is it must be someone you think is attractive. I'd also like you to tell me why.

Please email me at bridgetlocke @ gmail . com (no spaces). I'd love to have your responses no later than next Weds.


Thank you in advance!

Grr...

For some reason, my blog feed isn't updating, so I have no idea when anyone has posted anything. I hate it when that happens.

I'm in a good mood though. I do have a bit of a headache, but it's because of the weather. It was very warm, overcast and muggy all day today. Ugh! I was in and out of airconditioning all day, so my sinuses don't know which end is up. Grr...

Read and reviewed Kiss of Fury by Deborah Cooke. I have to say the woman is blessed in the cover department. Mrowr!

Most of my coworkers were freaked out today when they realized I finished reading Acheron last night. They still haven't quite grasped the concept of just how fast I read. And the fact that I grasp what I've read shocks them even more. :-D I even went and changed my grade for the book. I wrote my review write after finishing the book, so my brain was a bit fragile. It's definitely a solid A. Honestly.

Let's see...what else? Got home from work, ate some pasta for dinner, finished reading Kiss of Fury, got online, wrote my review and now I'm here. Oh, how exciting! :-P

Still waiting for a couple of packages (*Lisabea*), but I'm hoping they'll be here soon. I also won a book! The Idiots Guide for Writing Erotic Romance. I won it over on Jaci Burton's blog during the LB&LI extravaganza! Whee!

It's still hot, my head hurts and I'm tired. Not a good combination. *sigh* Here's hoping everybody had a great Hump Day! Shall talk at y'all tomorrow. Nite!

Ack!

Finished, Acheron. Read the first 1/3 at work. Hated the phone calls and interruptions. Evil job. LOL! All I can say is...whoa. My review is here. Warning: Major SPOILERS. I know, I just couldn't help myself. I didn't give away a lot, but the points I did...you'll hate me if you haven't read it yet. Part 1 will rip your heart out. Part 2 isn't as strong, but is still great reading. I gave it a B.

I went a little crazy on the book buying. *sigh* I bought Kiss of Fury by Deborah Cooke, Gale Force by Rachel Caine, Down by the River and Just Over the Mountain by Robyn Carr (2 books), Dark Warrior Unleashed by Alexis Morgan and Nightwalker by Jocelyn Drake. So, I'll be busy reading for the next day. :-P

It is stifling hot here. I'm sure it got up close to 100 and it's been humid all day. Ugh! I hate weather like this.

Not much else going on. Hope y'all are having a good night. Nite!

Random, so very random

Really, really tired. And very hot. It's supposed to get up to 100 tomorrow. Ugh! Thank goodness I'll be in air-conditioning for most of the day. Never thought I'd say that. :-P

Today was nice though. I spent most of it playing with Dylan. He's at that stage where rough-housing is a big deal, so he kept trying to tackle me as I was sitting on the couch. It got to the point where he was giggling hysterically. :)

I also took him outside at one point. My dad was working on his truck and Dylan wanted to see, so I put on his monkey harness and off we went. He's so stinkin' cute. He loves to ooh and aah at everything he sees. He about had raptures when a squirrel went running the powerlines directly overhead. :)

I chose a winner for the Colleen Gleason book. Kim was super excited. It was actually kind of funny, because when I was choosing the winner...somehow Colleen's name got in there and I chose her first. Doh! LOL!

Tomorrow it's off to go buy...a gazillion books. Acheron, etc. *sigh* My pocketbook is wailing in agony. *sigh*

Off to work tomorrow. Blah. :-(

Heat is killing me. I hate being hot. :-S

Anyone have anything fun going on? Save me from my boring existence?

Things & Other Things

My weekend has been extremely laid back and I LOVE it! :) Last week, though slow, was pretty intense. There's a lot of stuff going on at work right now, so that was kind of sucky. Tonight there are fireworks going off somewhere. Blah.

I didn't finish cleaning my room, but I did get about half of it done. I've been laying here looking at all of the books that I own and wondering how in the world that happened. LOL! I've got books piled almost to the ceiling and that's not even half of them. When did I think this was a good idea? :)

This coming week should be interesting. I've got a gazillion books coming out. Oh noes! And I'm too poor to buy any of them. Oh noes again! Wah!

This weekend is Lisabea's anniversary, so HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I'm not sure of the exact date, so I'm just being vague. :)

I've been enjoying all of the reports from the online community that went to the conference. I'm still wish I could have gone, but I'm glad that those who did go had a fabulous time. :) Me? I stuck with LB&LI. I figured at least I'd get some sort of education out of the deal. :-D

I've got a sinus headache. Stirred up lots of dust and now my nose hates me. *sniffle*

Reviewed all 3 Gardella Vampire novels by Colleen Gleason here. You still have until Midnight to comment. :) She'll be over on the DIK ladies blog starting tomorrow. She's a busy lady.

It was a gorgeous day today. Went & had Taco Hell for dinner. Yum! I love their caramel apple empanadas. It's a sickness.

Yesterday was actually pretty funny. My parents cellphone finally died and they asked me if I'd be willing to stop at the T-Mobile store down the street to get it fixed. Got there and the lady said that the phone was so old, it wasn't worth saving. So, I ended up buying them a new one. They didn't even have to pay for it since they've had theirs for so long and have never upgraded. Sick. So, I got them the simplest one I could find. It's nice, with big letters and number pad. Easy for them to read. Much better than the other one. Got it all taken care of. The things I do for my parents. :)

I don't mind though, because they're great parents. I couldn't ask for better.

I'm really bored tonight. Nothing to watch. *sigh* I'm working on a blog project though, so that's fun. It'll probably take me a couple of days to get it ready, but I think my readers will enjoy it.

And I've become hopelessly addicted to Twitter! Argh! Evil Sarai! :) J/K. Nite!

Okay, Peeps! You have until midnight PST tonight to get your chance in to win a signed Colleen Gleason book. Don't delay! Go here.

Just a Quickie

Okay. I suck. Well, I don't, but whatever. I'm trying to clean. Ha! Got sidetracked by a good reread and now I"m online. Pathetic. *sigh*

La-li-la-li-la

Okay...let's see where to start? Oh, I finally signed up for twitter. *eye roll* Yes, I succumbed. I blame the DIK ladies. LOL!

The Today Show did a segment on the RWA conference! Whee! Here's the link. Most of it is La Nora, but there's also a snippet of Sarah from the Smart Bitches and also Katie(babs) and KristieJ. So cool!

Today I had to work, but it was a slow day. And you know how I've said in the past that all of my story ideas hit me at the weirdest times? Well, last night, just as I was drifting off to sleep, an absolutely brilliant idea smacked me upside the head. I've been having a hard time understanding just what my heroine's past was. I knew she had a sister, but the way I'd explained it to myself wasn't making enough sense. This lovely idea I came up with not only gives me better history, but also explains why my heroine is the way she is. Of course, now I've got to change her age and tweak a couple of things, but I think this will now make the story sound fresher. Yay! *happy dance*

My dad got home from his cross-country trip yesterday. He brought me home postcards from Wyoming. :) What a sweetie. He had a safe journey, which is the most important thing. :)

My mom isn't doing so hot. She's been dealing with a killer bladder infection for the last few weeks. Well, it's gotten worse. So, say a prayer for her, would you? She's pretty miserable.

Um...not much else going on in my little neck of the woods. I'm mostly just hanging out. I'm tired and cursing being a female, but whatever. I'll survive. I have for the last 21 years. Yeah, and I'm 31. Do the math. *sigh*

Well, I'm off to go write. Cross your fingers that I can get some writing done, huh? :) Nite everyone!

Fan Girl Squeal!

Colleen Gleason is on my other blog! *happy dance* I *heart* her! :) If you'd like to try to win a signed copy of one of her books, please comment. Leave a question. Whatever. You have until Midnight PST Sunday August 3rd. :)


Go HERE and be merry! :)