Wednesday Reads and a Hi-Jacker

I’m having fun at RT so far. The trip to Dallas was almost uneventful. No bad weather (thank God), just a hi-jacking spider. The black, hairy kind. Ugh! Do I have to tell you I freaked out when I saw that thing while I was driving Sunday night? After checking the car on Monday morning and not finding it anywhere, we felt pretty safe until I started driving and the hairy beast stared at me from the rearview mirror! (Oh, and I cracked up my friend because of the way I said it: "He's. On. The. Mirror.") I quickly pulled over to the side (when I say quickly, I mean quickly; I was driving in a 75mph zone.) so my friend could squish it. But of course, it dropped to the floor and skittered under the console. I continued driving after that (a miracle in itself) while my friend kept staring at the floor. We made it to Dallas without another appearance by the monster and parked the car, hoping the sucker would die. But no. I saw him again yesterday just before he crawled under the seat! I may have to buy some bug spray before we leave here on Sunday!

Now…on to what I read this week:

May 7: “Enchanter’s Echo” by Anise Rae, the second book in the Mayflower Mages series, a paranormal/fantasy romance at 275 pages long. Blurb from Goodreads: Aurora Firenze lives a quiet life hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for gadgets and gizmos before they get tossed onto the trash towers. Fortunately, Aurora can fix almost anything, including mages, though repairing people with metal enchantments is highly illegal. Edmund Rallis, heir to the Rallis senate seat, has spent months hunting down his errant enchantress. He’ll play every game he knows to win her back and entice her to share the secrets she hides. But he’s inadvertently put her on the frontlines of a new game, one with an opponent who’s determined to destroy Rallis Territory and drive the Republic toward war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in time, Edmund will lose his enchantress again—and this time there won’t be another chance. Started a little slow, and read like a historical at times (formal dialogue), but once the action started, I had a hard time putting it down. I still can’t tell WHEN this story is. Now, in an alternate universe? Future, in how things will end up being? There are vehicles and such, so I assume NOT in the past. Whatever, I enjoyed reading this story.

May 12: “Kiss of Crimson” by Lara Adrian, the second book in the Midnight Breed series, a paranormal romance at 387 pages long. Blurb from book: He comes to her more dead than alive, a towering black-clad stranger riddled with bullets and rapidly losing blood. As she struggles to save him, veterinarian Tess Culver is unaware that the man calling himself Dante is no man at all, but one of the Breed, vampire warriors engaged in a desperate battle. In a single erotically charged moment Tess is plunged into his world—a shifting, shadowed place where bands of Rogue vampires stalk the night, cutting a swath of terror. Haunted by visions of a dark future, Dante lives and fights like there is no tomorrow. Tess is a complication he does not need—but now, with his brethren under attack, he must shield Tess from a growing threat that includes Dante himself. For with one reckless irresistible kiss, she has become an inextricable part of his underworld realm…and his touch awakens her to hidden gifts, desires, and hungers she never knew she possessed. Bonded by blood, Dante and Tess must work together to thwart deadly enemies, even as they discover a passion that transcends the boundaries of life itself…  Loved, loved, loved it! I can see now I’m in deep trouble with this series, because I want them all!!! If you love J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books, you’ll love these books, too. I read this book with pure enjoyment.

No question today since I won’t be around to comment. Have a good day and…

Happy reading!

Stacy

No Wednesday Reads

As I sat down to write this, a spider landed on my arm. Yuck! My heart is still racing. But yes, the thing is dead. Squished by my shoe. Man, I hate those things!!

I really thought I’d have at least one book to talk about this week, but hosting the Sizzle and Sass Facebook page really put a crimp in my reading. Heck, just keeping a Facebook presence put a crimp in my reading. And writing. Well, it’s only one week every 17 weeks (or so). Don’t know if it’s doing any good, but I suppose it isn’t doing any bad.

Man, I’m jumping at every little thing right now. Real or imagined? I can’t tell. Feels real.

So…what makes you jumpy?

Happy reading!

Stacy

 

Updates

The internet is down as I write this (so is our phone). Good thing it's not indicative of the day I've had!

Writing is going well. I passed the 50,000 word mark AND the ending is starting to gel. Can I say PUMPED? Okay, I will! I'm PUMPED! I've just been forcing the writing out, hoping something would come to me, and it has. Talk about relieved.

Sitting butt in chair and writing something, anything, is soooo true! Eventually your mind (or muse) will figure it out. I'm having fun now.

I finally got the instructions I've been waiting for to submit my short story for an anthology contest my chapter is putting on for chapter members. They are looking to publish by November 1, so I shouldn't have to wait too long to find out if I made it. And if I make it, I expect you all to buy a copy of the book.

Ah, just kidding.

Well, not really.

Spider update: Yep, he's still alive. I assume it's a he, since I don't see any eggs. If I did, then I might have to do some slaying. So far he's just been busy catching moths and rebuilding his web. And so far, I refuse to open the back door. Ain't having him in MY house. How do you like this picture? I finally got one of him being active.

This Friday, I will be doing my husband a HUGE favor and will stand in line at the AT&T store so he can get the iPhone 5. His iPhone 3 died back in early August (the phone part broke, not the rest of it) and when he heard the 5 was coming out soon, he decided to wait. I know it's been killing him. He bought a cheapie phone, one that did not require a plan, just to get by. He's been barely getting by, too. I'm tired of hearing him whine about it.

So, yeah, I'm going to be good and hopefully get him one of the 5s. I figure it will be no different than when I had to stand in line at Dragon*Con to wait for a panel (or at the RT Con when I had to wait for a meal). I'll have a book. It'll be good.

 

 

Spider!

Wednesday morning I was greeted with this creature. Thank goodness he was OUTSIDE!

Needless to say, I will NOT be opening the door until he's gone.

And no, he hasn't left yet.

For some strange reason, I don't mind staring at him as he goes about building his web. Of course, I'd be feeling a whole lot different if he were inside the house. I'm not called the spider slayer for nothing, you know! Then again, this guy is big, and he would be messy. I don't think I have a shoe big enough to squish him.

I'm glad he's outside.

We're both safer that way.

So, what's keeping your door closed?

 

Spiders - Ewwww!

I don't know about you, but I hate spiders.

Oh hell, why limit it to spiders. I hate bugs.

Still, spiders are up at the top of the hate list (just under those bugs that sting) and when I find one in my house, I get a little freaky.

On Sunday, one blonde spider happened to show up in my bathroom. It was up where the ceiling meets the wall. Too high for me to reach. Sure, I could have gotten a step stool, but I tend to be unsteady on those and I didn't want the thing to fall on me. And I know that would happen, because that's what always happens!

Better the spider stayed away from me. So as long as it stayed up there, I was okay with it.

Sort of.

On Monday morning, it was still there. As long as I could see it, I was fine.

On Monday evening, it was gone. I looked on all the wall space. Nothing. I looked at my cluttered countered and worried.

Could it have climbed into the vent on the ceiling? Could it have shimmied behind the mirror? Or did it crawl into my Kleenex box, or my jewelry box or any other open container I had on the counter (I said it was cluttered!).

I wanted to think it had left. I knew better.

This morning I flipped the switch and looked around the ceiling. My eyes were blurry, still getting used to the light, but no sign of the bugger. I looked at the walls. I looked at the floor. I looked everywhere. Nothing.

Once I finished doing what every other person does when they wake in the morning, I went and grabbed the previous day's towels to put in the hamper. As I walked by the light switch – there it was!

Yee gads! Did I almost touch it when I turned on the light? I could have sworn I checked that wall. But I can't imagine that spider moved that quickly. I shudder to think how close I came to touching it!!

I had towels in my hand, but I wasn't about to soil them that way. I grabbed the Kleenex box and squished the monster.

I am the spider slayer!

I can now breathe easier.