Sherrilyn Kenyon NYC Book Signing

I trekked into Manhattan yesterday evening for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Acheron book signing at the Columbus Circle Borders. Sherrilyn is the talented author of the Dark Hunter and Dream Hunter series as well as several other series that I have not yet read. Sherrilyn is not only a talented and successful author, she's also a gracious, kind and warm person. She truly deserves all the success she has achieved in her writing career.

I took the train from my suburban town in New Jersey to New York Penn Station and had my trip planned so that I'd get to the Borders a bit before 7 pm. I didn't check the weather forecast before leaving home and was surprised that sunny blue skies gave way to gray skies and a sudden thunderstorm upon coming out of Penn Station. After walking in the rain for maybe 10 blocks, I found a sidewalk vendor selling umbrellas for $5 (just before a pair of street cops shut him down for lack of proper permits, I might add! Phew for me!). I still got drenched, though. I arrived at the Columbus Circle Borders just moments before 7 pm and Kate got there at the same time. Imagine our disappointment when we learned that the start time for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Booksigning and Talk got changed to 6 pm!

We missed the entire talk and Q&A!!! Yeah, so sadly I have no tidbits or Kenyon news to report on that end.

Here's a picture of me and Kate shortly after we arrived at Borders:
Surprisingly, we don't look like drowned rats. I think my hair was still very damp and I honestly don't think my shoes or jeans ever dried out that night.

I would guess that there were a good 100 readers there to meet Sherrilyn and get their books signed. Shortly after arriving, Kate and I met up with a few familiar faces. We chatted with authors and fellow twitterers Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi, and also aspiring author, book reviewer, and book seller Stacey A. (I'm leaving off her last name, because I'm not sure if she would want her last name revealed). I had met both Liz and Stacey a few weeks ago at a dinner rendez vous that Ann Aguirre arranged when she was on stop over in the NY/NJ area last month, so it was fun meeting up with them again so soon. I also got to see my friend and fellow JR Ward fan, Terri, a.k.a. moonwindt, who is also an upcoming author of paranormal romance. I also chatted with other readers there--it's just so easy to strike up conversations with fellow romance readers.

There was a dude there posing as Acheron, but in my humble opinion, he didn't quite have the stature or attitude to pull off Ash. But really, who could possibly pull that off?
Liz and I decided to he was really a Squire posing as Ash.

And look! I got to try on THE Acheron jacket:
All throughout the signing, author Dianna Love --who is a dear friend of Sherrilyn Kenyon and co author of the novel titled Phantom In The Night -- raffled away a slew of Dark Hunter promotional material. Dianna was great and kept the readers entertained. At the very end, Kate and I each finally won something-- some cool manga Dark Hunter posters that we got Sherrilyn to sign.

Finally, it was my turn to chat with Sherrilyn and get my Acheron book signed. This was my fourth time coming out to meet Sherrilyn in the last year, and I was touched that she remembered me. Like I said in the beginning of this post, Sherrilyn Kenyon is such a warm and gracious person. She makes each of her fans feel special and appreciated and she is truly thankful for all of her readers and adores each and every one.
I don't think I'll ever get tired of meeting this fun and amazing woman. I hope she comes back to the NJ/NY area soon so I can visit with her again.

To learn more about Sherrilyn Kenyon, you can visit her website here. Thanks to Kat at the blog Wit and Sin, who has made tidy lists of her favorite book series, you can also check out the book orders of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series here, and her novels written as Kinley MacGregor here.

Just for kicks, here's a picture of a double decker train. I was on a very very PACKED double decker train out of NY Penn Station heading to New Jersey after 11 pm last night. NYC is truly the city that never sleeps.

Isn't that cool?

The Demonica Series by Larissa Ione

Pleasure Unbound is the first novel in a new dark paranormal romance series called Demonica and was released June 24, 2008. This phenomenal novel is brimming with the perfect doses of all the elements of paranormal romance that I've come to love. It's dark, edgy, sexy, emotional, tense and at times very amusing. The world is unique and well developed and the characters are neither righteous or sinful, but perfect shades of gray. Pleasure Unbound is my new favorite paranormal romance novel in 2008, if not ever.

Desire Unchained (Shade's story) will be released in March 2009 and Passion Unleashed (Wraith's story) will be released in April 2009. I. Want. Them. NOW.

In the meantime, visit The Midnight Moon Cafe blog where Larissa Ione is being interviewed today and enter for a chance to win a copy of Pleasure Unbound.  Also check out Larissa's website here to learn more about the Demonica series and read some excerpts, too! 

Tagged! SF Movies Based on a Novel

I've been tagged by Thea and Ana at The Book Smugglers.

Copy the list below.

Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.

Italicize the that you’ve watched.

Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme. (You may of course play along anyway.)


1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX
13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo(Weapon)
42. The Handmaid’s Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

Contact and The Iron Giant are two of my favorite films.

2010 is my husband's favorite film of all time.

I've watched 18 out of 48 movies (37.5%). That's actually a lot better than I expected when I first glanced at the list.

I've read 0 out of the 48 novels (0%). I thought that George Orwell's 1984 was at least a required reading in high school, but when I went to read a synopsis of the novel, I honestly don't recall ever reading it.

I tag:

kmont at Lurv à la Mode

JenB at The Ginger Kid's Den of Iniquity

Zeek at The Way I See It

Meljean Brook at Meljean Brook

Ann Aguirre at Ann Aguirre

FREE Podcast of DARKFEVER by Karen Marie Moning

Listen to the first book of NY Times best-selling author Karen Marie Moning's Fever series for FREE! You can listen via the really cool DarkFever Podcast widget (see below), or you can download and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes for FREE! I read DarkFever last summer when it was released in mass market paperback and am listening to the podcast to refresh my memory before the second book, BloodFever is released in paperback on August 26, 2008. The hardcover release of the third book, FaeFever will be released on September 16, 2008.

Each chapter of DarkFever is approximately 20-30 minutes. Perfect for the commute to work, sitting in the doctor's office, while you're exercising, mowing the lawn, or just plain trying to tune out your adorable children. ;)

Dark Fever Podcast Widget

Get this widget!

Acheron Book Tour

Fri. August 15th, 7:00 PM

Borders

10 Columbus Circle

New York, NY 10019

(212) 823-9775

Booksigning & Talk

I'm heading into New York on Friday night to see Sherrilyn Kenyon for her Acheron Book Tour. This will be my fourth time meeting Ms. Kenyon since August 2007. That's more often than I've met some of my blogging buddies. Seems almost unfair, don't you think?

The first time I met Sherrilyn Kenyon was in August 2007 when she came to a local New Jersey Barnes & Noble for the Devil May Cry book tour. I was immediately impressed by her warmth and humbleness towards her readers and fans.

Here's a picture of me with Sherrilyn the first time I met her. I am in my Dark Hunter zone--complete with a henna tattoo of the Artemis' Dark Hunter cross bow on my shoulder and Simi Demon horns [... little devil horns stolen from my daughters' dress up box. ;) ]

The second time I met Sherrilyn was several weeks later at the NJ RWA Literacy Signing in October 2007. She was again very kind and gracious and even said she remembered me. By now I had finished reading Devil May Cry and I got to chat a bit with her about the upcoming Year of Acheron. She said she really hoped people liked Ash's story and honestly sounded a bit nervous about it's reception by her readers. I admit, I was nervous, too. Was it possible to deliver a happily ever after worthy of a powerful and complex character like Ash? [...according to all the reviews I've been skimming this past week, I think the answer is Yes! Yay! :) ].

The last time I met Sherrilyn was in April 2008 at the NY Comic Con, which was a really different atmosphere to met her since this venue was so huge and she was clearly not the center of attention.

I'm imagining there will be A LOT of people at this Friday's Sherrilyn Kenyon event. It's New York City. It's Acheron. Can it get any bigger than that! Probably, but I like to pretend not. Embarrassingly, I'll be going to the book signing and talk without having read Acheron yet. How sad is that? I'll probably be the only one there who hasn't read it! Oh, wait! I'm making Kate go with me... she doesn't even read this series. Phew! She'll look sillier than me. :P

Anyone else going?

Hey there, Delilah . . .

This is a picture of our fish named Delilah:

Our sweet little betta fish named Delilah died last Thursday night. We started to suspect she was ill a few days prior, and after a little bit of research we determined she was succumbing to a common betta fish disease called fin rot. Within a day or two, it became clear that she was getting worse very rapidly. The girls were refusing to look into her bowl the last day, as it was so sad to see her suffering so much. I tried to convince the girls that euthanasia was the kindest course of action, but they wouldn't let me do anything violent to her little body. We tried to think of the least traumatic method for both Delilah and us. My husband suggested putting her in the freezer, thinking the cold would actually numb any pain she was in and her system would just shut down. It turns out that Delilah's time had come naturally though, because when I went to relieve her of her suffering, I found she had already expired. Tears were shed, mostly of guilt, I think. Maybe if we changed her water more frequently, fed her more regularly, and so on, she'd have lived longer than one year in our care. Well, we buried her in the yard on Saturday morning and the girls are going to paint a small rock to place over her resting place so that we will always be reminded of our sweet little betta named Delilah. 

And yes, she was named for the song Hey There, Delilah by The Plain White Tees. And everytime I walked past her bowl I would say, "Hey there, Delilah!" Really, I would. I'm going to miss that.

I think its not just the humans who will miss Delilah:

What concentration! Or is it constraint? Or both? 

The cat in these pictures is Mona. Every evening after we finish dinner, Mona would jump onto one of the chairs, put her paws on the back of the chair to gaze into the china cabinet where we kept Delilah and meow like crazy. It ended up being a consistent reminder to feed, Delilah. And every once in a while, we'd bring Delilah out on the dining room table for some supervised visits between the two. Very cute.

Check out my guest review at THE BOOK BINGE today....

Visit The Book Binge and check out my guest review of Jaci Burton's latest category release from Samhain publishing titled Dare To Love.

I really love Jaci's story telling voice. The dialogue is snappy and flows smoothly. The pace of her stories is just perfect. This is a contemporary romance of two people who come together on a dare. They're from opposite worlds--Lucy's a lawyer from a wealthy family with a controlling father and Jake's a self made owner of a construction company and had been a teen runaway years ago. Both Lucy and Jake have to come to terms with their fathers' control over them. Lucy's father wants to control her career and love life with no regard for what Lucy wants in her life. Jake doesn't see his father anymore, but his father's constant put downs and derogatory remarks still haunt him to this day. Dare to Love is a sweet romance that had a surprising amount of depth of character for such a short novel. A great read for the beach or lake or an afternoon in the hammock.

A Book Shopping Spree!

I never got to use my 40% coupon that I was so happy about using on Tuesday. GRRR! Don't you hate that? I like to use those hefty discounts on a trade or hardcover book, so it annoyed me that I didn't get to use it. Anyway, after a few failed attempts at getting to Borders, I finally made it yesterday afternoon and--thanks to my Twitter friends who coached me via my iPhone--I did some serious book shopping! This is what I came home with:

Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. 

This book is like a tome. Seriously. I'm thinking it reads quickly, though. Most of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books do. I can't wait to read this--I've heard some awesome feedback so far. First I'm going to finish Breaking Dawn, though. I'm itching to know the outcome of this series, not to mention I've got a daughter and some friends who are ready to discuss this book.

My Wicked Enemy by Carolyn Jewel. 

Carolyn Jewel is a new to me author, so I'm looking forward to reading this one. Would you believe that of all the places and ways to find a new author, I discovered Carolyn Jewel on Twitter?! In early July I noted Ciara started posting twitter updates on what she was reading on the side bar of her blog and I thought that was pretty nifty. Then two days later author Jaci Burton posted on her blog that she started twittering. Having never heard of Twitter before Ciara, then hearing of second acquaintance joining, of course I had to check it out, and joined.  Now Twitter is part of my daily online routine and I'm keeping up with some fun people--readers, bloggers, authors, and publishers. And that's where I met Carolyn Jewel and how her latest novel, My Wicked Enemy got onto my To-Buy list and now into my TBR pile.  So I suppose no one can say Twitter is a waste of time for Ms. Jewel. She sold a book there! :D 

Into the Flame by Christina Dodd. 

The final installment of the Darkness Chosen Series. I read Into the Shadow in July, and it ended on a cliffhanger that has me very interested in reading this next book. I hope its good.

Kiss of Fury by Deborah Cooke. 

I read the first book in the Dragonfire series and found the mythology of this paranormal world really fascinating. I enjoyed the writing and the storyline very much, although the romance in the Kiss of Fire fizzled out just when it came to its denouement, which disappointed me. But since I loved everything else about it, I'm hopeful that Kiss of Fury will deliver more in the romance. If it does, I'll be hooked on this series for sure. 

Before I Wake by Kathryn Smith. 

I'm a fan of Ms. Smith's Brotherhood of Blood series, which is an historical paranormal series whose vampire mythology is based on the lore of the Templar Knights. Before I Wake is Ms. Smith's first novel in her new romantic urban fantasy series titled the Nightmare Chronicles and I've had this novel on my wish list for quite some time now. I love that Ms. Smith is sure to use the descriptor 'romantic' in front of urban fantasy when indicating the genre for Before I Wake. I love a great urban fantasy novel, but when there's romance in it, too? That's the way to go. 

When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason. 

This is one of those series that I've been glomming before I even read the first novel! I picked up the first two Gardella Vampire novels last summer. I hadn't gotten to read them yet and planned on reading them in the week or two before the release of The Bleeding Dusk in February 2008, but failed. I did buy The Bleeding Dusk during its release week, though. Then I planned on reading the three books before When Twilight Burns released just this week, but practically failed again! I say practically because at least this time I at least read The Rest Falls Away a week or so ago. I really enjoyed it and am now really looking forward to catching up in this series. 

Countdown by Michelle Maddox. 

I love Shomi's line of action romance. The stories are futuristic, fast-paced adventures with romance and this particular novel comes with rave reviews from both Kristie(J) and Wendy. 

My Lord and SpyMaster by Joanna Bourne. 

I read The SpyMaster's Lady earlier this year and absolutely loved it, so of course this novel was on my To-Buy list. My Lord and SpyMaster comes highly recommended from several readers: Katie(babs), Ana, CarolynJean, and Ciara. I'm pretty sure I've read other raves recently, but I can't remember from who at the moment. 

Delicious by Sherry Thomas.

 

This was my impulse buy yesterday. I remember lots of interesting buzz about Ms. Thomas' debut novel, Private Arrangements, earlier this year so when I saw Delicious on the shelf, I instantly decided I wanted to check it out. Last night I saw that Delicious is on the list of August recommended reads at Dear Author, so I'm interested in the story even more so. Let's see if Jayne and Jennie are right about this one. ;) 

I also bought the girls a book, too. Maria really wanted the third book in a series she's been reading called Violet In Private by Melissa Walker--which also happens to be the YA August book recommendation by Jia at Dear Author-- but we couldn't find it. The clerk at Borders arranged to have Violet In Private by Melissa Walker shipped to us directly from the warehouse. I got a kick out of her adamant desire to get Violet In Private on the release date. She's becoming a obsessive passionate reader just like her mom! Of course she couldn't leave empty handed--can you blame her?-- so she bought Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements in the meantime and she's really enjoying it. 

And I caved into the begging for some Twilight merchandise. A Twilight movie t-shirt and the official Twilight Movie Exclusive 2009 Calendar, which I told her she can't open because it's one of her Christmas presents. Hey!!! I started my Christmas shopping! Check. Me. Out. 

Anna chose the first book in the Beacon Street Girls series called Worst Enemies/Best Friends and was reading it nonstop the entire evening. I even saw her sit at the dinner with it on her lap, and saw her sneaking to read it under the table as soon as she finished eating. I knew exactly how she felt about not wanting to put a book down, I couldn't help but let her do it. So cute. My girls the voracious readers just like their mom. 

I would have also bought Nightwalker by debut urban fantasy author Jocelynn Drake, but I think Kate said she had a copy. I also wanted to buy The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox.  I also looked for the first Jaz Parks book by Jennifer Rardin, but it wasn't in stock. Maybe next time. I'm sure Anna's going to want the next book in the Beacon Street Girls very soon and I'm just going to have to go back to the bookstore. ;) 

And that was our $120 shopping spree. Not at the toy store, not at the trendy clothing stores at the mall, but at the bookstore! 

Don't do the math...

By the way, this post is about monthly girly girl personal stuff, so if that topic is TMI for you and you don't want to read it, please click away and come back another day. Thanks.

My husband is very patient and sympathetic to my girly complaints. But just a few days ago we had a brief conversation that got me to thinking that as sympathetic as he is... he really doesn't know what we go through. Surprise, I know. He happened to be with me in the bathroom when I had just discovered it was that time of the month AGAIN. I groaned and complained, of course. This was our conversation:

Me: "Oh maaaan. I just got my period."
Him: "Sorry."
Me: "I hate getting my period. I'm so tired of getting my period."
Him: "Well, it doesn't last too long..."
Me: "What?! I've been getting my period for a long time. It sure feels like its been lasting a long time to me."

End of conversation. I wasn't even mad. Until I started thinking exactly how long it has been that I've been getting my period. And if I stacked all of those days together right in a row, how many days of my life so far have I spent having my period?

So I made the mistake and did the math.

30 years x 12 months in a year x 6 days average per period = 2,160 days.

To be fair, I'll subtract out the days that I didn't get my period because I was either pregnant or nursing, which turned out to be 276 days. I just knew those kids were good for something other than a tax deduction! ;) So....

2,160 - 276 = 1,884 days of cramping, bleeding, bloating, etc., feminine product hell

That's approximately 5 YEARS, 1 MONTH and 28 DAYS! And counting! And let me tell you, for the first 15 years--or 1080 days--of my menstruating life, approximately 180 days were spent in bed with the shakes, cold sweats, and vomiting misery. I used to be very ill that first day until I went on the pill at around 20 years old and then later had babies. Seriously, those first days were worse than the labor pains of both my girls added together--and my second birth was 100% natural as in no drugs, no IV, not even a heparin lock! 180 DAYS!!! The equivalent of six straight months of my life was spent feeling like that. IMAGINE IT'S LIKE I SURVIVED SIX MONTHS STRAIGHT LABOR PAINS WITHOUT AN EPIDURAL OR EVEN TYLENOL! And I'm just an average girl. I'm sure there are countless women who have or will have endured the same and worse than me as a result of something so simple and natural as menstruation.

I should have never done these calculations. Now I'm really pissed. At mother nature, or my husband, I'm not really sure.

I sat down at my laptop this morning, thinking I was going to email my husband the results of my calculations. I'll show him. But he emailed me first and sent me this [bookstore coupon] and told me he also left some cash for me on the dining room table from a camera lens he sold off craigslist yesterday. Awww. Maybe I'm not that mad at after all. Because tonight? I'M GOING SHOPPING!!!!!

And its good to be a girl, isn't it? 

Christmas In July CONTEST WINNERS!

I was so caught up in the excitement of the release of Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn yesterday that I forgot to select the winners of my Christmas In July Contest! I apologize to anyone who checked back yesterday for the results and discovered my negligence. 

I used the nifty list randomizer at Random.org with the names of everyone who participated and have some winners.  The winner of the new book release of their choice goes to.... 

Kris !!! 

Congratulations! Please email me your mailing address and the book that you would like so I can go shopping for you! :)  

The five winners of a gently used book from my prize shelf on Shelfari are ....

Sarai

JenB

Ciara

Sarah

juniper_breeze

Congratulations! Please email me at krauscakes @ verizon . net (without the spaces) with your mailing address and the book from my prize shelf that you would like to recieve and I'll get your prize out to you early next week.   Thank you to everyone for participating in my contest. I enjoyed everyone's holiday shopping answers and even more, I enjoy sharing the love of books with all of you! :)