Thursday, September 29, 2011

Two Posts, One Day, At no Charge!

OK, so I am thinking I better change the settings of my blog to adult, simply because here in the Underworld? We drop the  F-Bomb on a regular basis, and even though I don't go around chanting Fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck, there's probably pretty good odds that I am gonna drop it, and people should be forewarned so they don't run screaming, horrified, and flag the crap outta me. What do you think?

I would hate to get upset about that, because then Hades would get pissed, and when he is mad, on my behalf, bad things happen. One time, one of the four horsemen- never mind, that's probably not a good story to tell here.

So, this morning, dropping my kids off at the high school, we were listening to the radio, and mind you, I adore torturing my teenagers, so I listen to one of the local country stations, where they use ya'll instead of yo in songs, and when they say hoe, they mean the tool to garden with.

Anyway, while dropping these tortured children off at the high school, Jason Aldeen's Dirt Road Anthem comes on, and I realize that step son in the front seat is singing his heart out, and daughter in the back seat is harmonizing beautifully. It was so good that I stopped singing, just so I could listen to them. Then step-son turned all country-twangy with "We like corn bread and biscuits, and if it's broke round here we fix it." And ruined the spell they had woven, and then they dissolved into hysterical laughter.

Now, these two of the six we call a brood are musically inclined. I don't mean like Erinyes who spent six years with her ipod headphones in her ears, I mean Zagreus (Step-son) is teaching himself the electric guitar and can play a few songs so far, and Macaria (daughter) plays trumpet and alto sax for the high school band, and is stumbling her way through learning the acoustic guitar in the privacy of her own bedroom. They each have talent musically, and out of the six, they can appreciate music that is not just their favorites, even though they both can rap right along with Lil Wayne, scream along with Disturbed, and even be-bop to Miley Cyrus.

They may not be huge fans of country music, but today's performance in the car was amazing. Zagreus has a fantastic voice, and can sing wonderfully, and Macaria actually has the voice of an angel (even if she looks like a demon with all that died black hair and thick black eyeliner.) I wonder if I can force them into singing Christmas carols this year at the family get together?

Thursday Morning

OK, so if you people haven't taken a look around and realized it yet, I am back home with my husband for the time being. I need a rest and I am soooo happy he came to get me. I know he wants me to get my butt back to work, and help him with souls and crap, but you know what? I need a break. So he can just bite me.

I have a huge stack of books to read. Our local bookstore went out of business, and I scurried my butt over there and bought a Stack, and I'm talking STACK of books. I paid like $30 for $120 worth of books. I also have about 100 books downloaded onto my kindle that I still haven't gotten around to reading, and my wishlist on Amazon just keeps growing as my favorite authors continue to put out release dates for their upcoming books.

And when I have my nose in my Kindle at night, and Hades is sitting on the other end of the couch, he wants me to put down the Kindle and pay attention to whatever inane comedy he has on tv. Which translates into a whiny, "Pay attention to meeeee."

So, I just finished reading Gena Showalter's last installment in the Lords of the Underworld series, and yuuumm. Fabulous book all around. But let me tell you, I am in the Underworld, and let me tell you the truth? No hot men running around here with quirky demons in them...nope. And Pandora? She opened that box, oh yeah she did. Curiosity killed the cat so they say. I think that witch has nine lives...human, my ass. She's still running around causing trouble.

So then I went cruising on Amazon and Smashwords. Yes, I did say earlier I have a stack of books I need to read and enough downloads to last me forever, and I have my favorite favorite authors that I read religiously, but I am always in search of that fantastic new and upcoming author. I want to be one of the first fans..lol. I want to say, "Oh yeah, I read her when she was struggling and publishing her own books, and I downloaded her first one for free. No, I'm not kidding, it was before everyone realized what a great writer she is."

I have found some fantastic authors this way, CL Ellison and the Vampire Inn tales are fantastic, Lizzy Ford and her Rhyn Trilogy are to die for, and J.R. Rain and the Vampire for Hire series, just to name a few. But I went cruising as I said, and I found a freebie called Reckless Magic, written by Rachel Higginson. So, I downloaded it, sat down on the couch, propped my feet in Hades' lap and started reading. And didn't stop.

Now, Reckless Magic (Book One in the Star-Crossed Series) is a YA book. I will read anything if it's good, anything from YA to Erotica. But, if you want me to buy say the second book in a series you've written? It better be good.

Good doesn't even begin to describe this book. The characters are fantastic, the book flows wonderfully, and the plot is full of twists and turns and surprises. It's a good solid story. So I go to search for number two, and yes, I find it. It's written, it's available, and with a push of a button and a small charge on Hades' credit card, I have Hopeless Magic.

Here's where I got mad. I read it. In one sitting. It was even better than Reckless Magic, and I stayed up until like 3 am to finish it. Laughed, cried, fell in love with all of the characters again. And then it ended. I needed sleep, and Hades was snoring, so I put down the Kindle and crashed. So I signed onto Amazon today, and....the third one isn't out yet? What? I almost popped up to Olympus to smack some Muses around, but refrained. I haven't been back for long and if I take off, Hades won't be happy with me.

So, I'll wait. But if you want to read some fantastic YA books. Grab them. I think Reckless Magic is still available at no cost. And when Stephenie Meyer is asking for Rachel Higginson's autograph, I'll be able to say I read her first book for free. ;o)