Wednesday Words: Back to Gaiman!

Happy Humpday. :)

On Wednesdays, I use Random.org to pick out a page and a line of the book I'm currently reading/about to read so you can all see what I'm reading!

Yesterday, I finally returned to the library to pick up some books to read. lol I decided to go with Neil Gaiman's American Gods, the precursor to his Anansi Boys, which was my first Gaiman read about a year back. I'm excited to see how this book is, because I loved Anansi Boys.

There are 541 pages (ooh, an interview in the back) in American Gods, so Random, do your thing!

....................................Page 345.

There are 32 lines on that page, so from 1 to 32 I present to you...

....................................Line 14.

"Now, my mom's family were European Jewish," continued Sam, "from one of those places that used to be communist and now are just chaos..."

A very interesting line (my sister was explaining Communism vs. Socialism to me just the other day!). I can't wait to read this and more books by Mr. Gaiman.

Express Yourself: Firefly

Happy Tuesday!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, a weekly meme created by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

This week, they would like us to name one cancelled/retired TV show you'd love to see back on with new episodes.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I saw the movie Serenity first, not knowing it was an AWESOME movie that tied-up some open ends on an AWESOME but cancelled tv series Firefly. It's the perfect Sci-Fi show (that I'm guessing the now SyFy Network didn't take the time to think about picking up once FOX cancelled it? smh), and the cast worked so well together. I couldn't even hate the people I wanted to hate (Jayne), and I absolutely loved the people I was supposed to love (everyone else lol).

There were 14 episodes, all of which were perfect, and if it were maybe 2005 (because of course, now everyone's 12 years older), I would have loved to see this show go on and on and on.

Friday Freeday & Express Yourself Weekly

Happy Friday!

I wasn't really sure what to post about today. I WAS going to do a piece on why Taylor Swift is this generation's Britney Spears, but I lost interest. lol

I've read about 4 books in the past 3 weeks, and if you know me and/or followed my Goodreads challenge last year, you know that is actually a lot for me! I enjoy good reads, but I appreciate fast reads, too! (And maybe if we all send Natalie Whipple some plot ideas for a third Transparent book, she'll cave and write one. *wink*)

If you also happen to be paying me any attention on Goodreads, you'll see I have 2 or 3 books I've been reading since probably the beginning of 2014. I'm going to try to keep reading them, as they're on my Kindle, but I certainly won't make any promises.

And now to express myself. hehe A big thanks to Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books, without whom I wouldn't have had anything relevant to say on here for at least a year.

This week, they asked a hard question about what item we would bring back if we went back in time.

And I honestly don't know! Maybe a traditional Renaissance dress, because I loved the costumes we wore in high school for our Renaissance Feast...OOH! Or I'd go back in time and have Matisse or Renoir paint me, then bring that back. lol Why not?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Wednesday Words: Blindsided

Hello!

Welcome back to Wednesday Words, where I use Random.org to help me showcase a piece of what I'm reading right now! Yesterday, I began Natalie Whipple's Blindsided, the sequel to Transparent. I'm already halfway done this book, and I must express my total love of these books. As I've mentioned before, when I started writing as a child, I wrote based on the TV series X-Men, so I don't say this lightly that these are the books I dreamed of writing when I was a child, and Natalie has done them. I love her!

All right, so hopefully Random.org will be gentle this week and not spoil anything in the next half of the book for me. There are 263 pages in the Kindle edition. Random has chosen Page....128. That is 48.6% of the way in, which is probably 3 to 4 pages ago for me. Hurray!

There are 20 lines on the 48.6% area, so Random has given me Line.....17.

"I was worried something happened," he says as I run for my bathroom to scrub my skin. I don't even want to know what he'd say to seeing me with makeup on.

This was a very interesting and sad scene, because Fiona is desperate to see herself, and it's not the first time she's tried to use makeup to do it (though it eventually absorbs into her skin, so she can't even see that). Beauty is only skin deep, but what if you can see everyone's BUT yours? I feel for Fiona.

Friday Freeday: Poetry Time

(Pretty personal when you get right down to it, but inspiration is inspiration.)

I Want...

You know what I want?
I want to feel love
Not "feel loved" or "make love"
I want to feel LOVE.

There has to be more
Than the ache of empty
The echo of hollow shell
The dark endless hallway

I want that look in the eye
That touch of the hand
The heart, the beat, the song
To end all songs

I want that rhythm
The one that never,
(No matter how hard you want it to)
That never, ever stops

That pulse that syncs
That embrace that doesn't weaken
Where is that hand that
Reaches only for me?

Are you there, God?
It's me, Deborah.
The tree is still standing,
But its branches are crying

I can't always breathe
On my own, by myself
Waiting, waiting, waiting
For whoever has my CO2

Wanting that ache to subside
To be with that perfect fit
To know my better half won't just
"Complete me" but make me twice as great

I don't want to be selfish
But I want to be spoiled
And lavished and understood
In a language only known to one other

I want to be carried away
Without getting carried away
Grounded into the sky and fall
Hopelessly, helplessly, but rationally

I want that love to manifest
So I can reach out, so
It can be felt by my hand, so
The aching can be beaten, defeated, overcome

"To want" means "to lack,"
And frankly, I'm tired of lacking
The most basic of human desires
And that might make me basic

But I want to feel love
My mind is overdosing on wasted
And my heart is drunk on lonely
I want love


(I'm pretty sure this isn't finished, but that's where I stopped.)

Wednesday Words: Vampire Edition

Good morning! Every Wednesday, I am using Random.org to pick a page of the book I'm reading and a line or two and post it. Today, I will be starting Mina Vaughn's How to Discipline Your Vampire.

There are 280 pages in the E-Book edition, so from 1-280, Random has chosen....Page 90.

Never a clean percentage. That's 32% of the way into the story. There are 20 lines in that general vicinity, so from 1 to 20, Random has given me....Line 2. lol Racy.

It felt so good--now it was my turn to moan.

WELL, we shall see what's that's all about, won't we?

Express Yourself Weekly: Steampunk Edition

Welcome back to Express Yourself, created by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests!

This week, they ask: What is one thing Steampunk-ish you find fascinating from books, TV, movies and/or the internet (i.e. fashion, mechanics, idea, etc)?

To be honest, I haven't even read a Steampunk book all the way through. I tried to read some fairytales that were given a Steampunk spin, but I'd never even read the tales they were based on, so I lost interest. The closest I've come to engaging in the genre was Final Fantasy IX, which had a very Steampunk-based setting. And actually, a few of the Final Fantasy games have utilized airships (<--- I finally answered the question. Click the link to see the many airships used in Final Fantasy).

Airships are the coolest concept in the world to me. Like ships but flying through the air like planes? I love it. I was given a model of the Final Fantasy X airship for Christmas or my birthday one year (yikes, sad I can't remember, but I think my little sister got it for me).

Also, someone actually enlightened me on the fact that my story has Steampunk elements, and I didn't realize it. My metal army DOES run on steam and magic, though, so I incorporated a little more steam-powered items during one of my last drafts. I plan on reading a few Steampunks in the near future: Real Girls Don't Rust, A Conspiracy of Alchemists, and Clockwork Angel. We'll see if I'll add Steampunk to my likes. :)

Friday Freeday

Welp, it's Friday, and I don't have anything important-ish to say. Hi. How are you all?

I did start another revision on The Crystal Bearer thanks to a beta partner I picked up during Query Kombat. I didn't realize I still have 200+ nodding heads to decrease in my 300+ page story. lol But the Find feature does not lie!

Tomorrow I have a 3-hour Zumba event to attend with my sister's favorite Z-lebrity (Yes, they call them that, oy), so I have a feeling I'm going to hurt more than I did at the last one.

That's about it...so...toodles! Everyone have a great weekend!

IWSG: Reading More! and Wednesday Words

Happy 1st Wednesday!

Welcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a safe haven for us insecure, self-conscious, often anxious, always nervous writers to vent and voice our issues without being judged. This group was created by the awesomely talented ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh and now even has its own website! Visit either for the list of co-hosts and other group members, and feel free to join!

So today, I realized I actually spend too much time on my phone. Not particularly tweeting, which I do a lot on my non-writer Twitter account, but playing this little game called Pixel Dungeon. I've played over 500 times (you die very easily. Think Rogue or Castle of the Winds, if you're familiar with dungeon RPGs). I can play for hours because the goal is to get to the bottom and beat a demon, I think, and if it's like other dungeon games, go all the way back upstairs and leave victorious. What's more: there are 4 characters from which to choose, so you can play 4 different ways!

Problem with that, not only are my eyes extremely tired, but I could've been reading. *slaps forehead* I have to do more of it. I used to read SO much. My cousin's pop-pop remembered that about me the other day, and I blame college for taking my enthusiasm for reading away. I should've majored in Music. Less reading. lol

That said, today I will begin reading Natalie Whipple's Transparent. Definitely visit her page today, because she's also doing a cover reveal for Trust Me, I'm A Ninja, the sequel to her novel Relax, I'm a Ninja.

Today is also my Wednesday Words, so because I'm vowing to read more, I thought I'd connect my two topics. :) Using Random.org, I will be posting a few random lines from a random page from Transparent, so you get to see what I'm reading, and I get to see what I'm getting myself into.

There are 352 pages in the Kindle Edition, so Random has chosen.....pg. 136.

That's about 38.6% into the book. There are about 36 lines in that vicinity, so Random has chosen.....line 5.

He could be messing with us, and Mom would never recover from that kind of betrayal. She'd never try again.

Having read the sample, I know a little about what this is about. I can't wait to see how things turn out for Fiona.

Express Yourself: Teeny Boppers

A very merry Tuesday, people!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, a weekly meme created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This week, they asked us who are celebrity crushes were when we were teenagers.

Let's see...1999-2003. (GEEZ!) I had a big crush on Taylor Hanson, Florentino from the Latin duo Servando y Florentino...then Howie D. from the Backstreet Boys...Actually, that was it. lol

I had a thing for guys with long hair. I think all but Florentino have cut theirs now.

Friday Freeday: Happy August!

Happy Friday, and Happy August! We're already in the 8th month of the year!

And as my ability to breathe is changing, I believe Fall is just around the corner! Asthmatic tendencies aside, Fall is my favorite season.

I don't really have much to say today, so I hope you all have a great week, get to the beach while you still have time (you pasty writer people), and write, write, write!

And here are some songs that mention the Summer that is (thankfully (GOD, it was hotter than hot, so much humidity)) on its way out of here!