Priceless by Shannon Mayer

All right, I found a new addiction, as in author I love and stay up too late reading…

Those of you who know me, know I am very disciplined as far as my schedule goes. I am a cranky bitch when I’m tired or when I need to eat. It’s just one of those annoying things about me.  I would like to be one of those people who can forget about eating until dinner. Me? I would either keel over from low blood sugar or rip your eyes out. Both options suck, therefore I eat at least six times a day and make sure my ass is in bed and lights out before midnight.

I started reading Priceless by Shannon Mayer mid-last week. I picked it up through BookBub (which if you’re not subscribed to, I recommend highly).

And couldn’t put it down.

Bad Lisa! I forced my kindle down on “school nights” but Friday and Saturday? Stayed up. Needless to say, I bought all the remaining books in the series. I burned through Book 2 (Immune) between yesterday and today and started Book 3 (Raising Innocence) today. Sigh. So good. [What chores? Oh, you wanted dinner? What’s wrong with cereal? Damn, do I have any clean underwear?]

If you like books like the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs or the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, then I really think this series will be up your ally. I’m not going to explain what it’s about, you can check it out here though and then go buy it at Amazon.

Further, Mrs. Mayer inspires me to be a better writer. Have more fun with my characters. And a lot of other things. I even followed her blog which I rarely do. So go now. To Amazon and get a hold of Priceless. And enjoy the ride. xo

Driving Ramble

So the other day I was on my way home from work and out of the corner of my eye this spanky black car cruises by and I swear it’s Edward Cullen driving. Then he pulls in front of me to avoid the super slow MF in front of him causing me to break (barely) and then he squeezes in front the slow MF and zips away.

Normally I would have thrown a verbal tantrum containing many curse words that may or may not equal complete sentences. But there were two reasons that I did not.

1) My car sucks. Actually it’s a Nissan Xterra. And it has the guts of a wall flower. I miss my little Acura.

2) Because the guy looked like Edward Cullen and on the off chance that it was indeed a vampire than far be it for me to be upset about someone who can clearly drive more adeptly than I.

So I smiled instead and felt pretty good about it.

That ramble out of my system brings me to another point. I keep noticing people texting WHILE driving. Like holding their phone above their steering wheel while “steering”. It doesn’t take but a moment of your eyes on that phone to miss that incompetent A-hole who breaks fast and hard while the light is still two miles in the distance. Or for that stumbling drunk woman on the side walk to fall smack into the road directly in front of you (yes, this actually happened while my hubbie was driving his monster of a Ford 250 and someone must have been watching over this chick as there was no one in the lane to our left and my husband managed to swerve around her without killing her or anyone else).  Or the guy in the lane to your left who suddenly decides he needs to get to the gas station on the oher side of the right lane next to you and doesn’t seem to mind that you are there in the center lane minding your own business. I braked hard on that one and fast. No one was hurt but if I wasn’t late from my lunch break, I coulda pulled into that gas station and given someone a biatch slap. Coulda happened. Yeah.

Okay, my point is that there are a ton of numb skulls driving and it behooves you and everyone around you to keep an eye out for them and keep the road safe. In my house we never say “Drive safe”. We say “Pay attention.” Unlike the texting-while-driving folk.

Well, I think that about says it.

I’m going to go do something fun like write. About people from Caelum. Who have wings. And maybe a half breed or two. And some pixies. And maybe write some more about shape-shifting gargoyles. [sigh] okay I feel better now. xo

Publishing and writing and stuff

I am glad that I am able to say that I have been writing and publishing recently and that is why I haven’t posted lately which is much better than the alternative of being a lazy fuck. No – I have actually done a few things recently and I can honestly say I’m pretty happy about it.

Because of my passion to write, publish, help others with that and basically have fun with anything having to do with books whether they be digital or something I press to my nose and smell that lovely scent of paper and ink…sorry got lost in the moment there. Um. Right okay, so as I was saying because of that passion, I started Witching Hour Publishing a while back. It started out as a way to publish the anthologies that my writers group, the Ink Slingers Guild (ISG), decided to make in 2012. Then we did another book last year and this year we have two already lined up. One is our third anthology coming out in November and the other is a super fun book called ‘The Death of Jimmy’. It is a book of really short stories and in every story there is a guy named Jimmy and he dies. You can read more about it here if you like. That one will come out in 2-3 weeks.

I also published my first book in the Gargoyles Den series called The Guardians. I love the characters and have a ball writing them so that was of course a ton of fun and book two is halfway there.

Three of my friends from the ISG and I have started a round robin story where we each write a paragraph or five minutes worth and pass it on to the next person who has a week to do the same and pass it on etc. So far it’s pretty fun so I am expecting something epic as an end result there.

I have also started a fantasy novel collaboration with my good friend Rhiannon and we have had a ball setting the stage for it. The first book is mostly set on Earth but part of it is on another, more advanced world and a good chunk of book two will likely end up there too. The characters are coming together nicely and the first chapter that Rhiannon laid down is awesome. Sooooo having fun with this one.

I also have been working on another friend’s book release, designing her book covers and helping to figure out her online presence. Nicole DragonBeck will be coming out with her first published novel pretty soon here and look out because NO ONE at my writers group wants to read their stuff after Nicole. She’s really talented and I am really looking forward to helping others find that out too.

So there you go! That’s been my world for the last many weeks. Somehow I have managed to fit the reading of quite a few books in there as well and I am long overdue for some well deserved kudos so that too is coming soon.

To a wonderful 2014! <clink>

That said,