Monday, July 29, 2013

Minion Monday

...and I got nothing! Seriously, it's been a long, exhausting few weeks for me, and this weekend was the WORST. I'm too tired to think, but I have so much I need to get done.

On the plus side, the Boss Lady and I are trying to work up some ideas for a couple of giveaways, with one of them possibly including a blog tour. So, watch this spot!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Release date change

Just a quickie drive-by blogging to let y'all know (I'm allowed; I'm Southern) that this lovely specimen here:


...won't be out till the 6th. Which, if you're keeping track like I'm NOT, I swear! is the day before my kids, affectionately known as The Barbarian Horde, return to school. Bless their pointy little heads. Now, it's time for me to either read smut or watch cheesy old musicals. Or possibly both. I can multitask, right? Right. *nods*

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

BOOOORED on Hump Day

For some reason up until just now, I was thinking today is Thursday.

My boys have a friend over, and DinoBoy (the elder of the two) has an earache -- pretty sure it's Swimmer's Ear -- which is making it extra-fun.

They made me watch an episode of the current revamp of TMNT, which, frankly, is orders of magnitude worse than the original, which I watched as a kid. I should note that I was not actually a fan of the original back then, but my younger brother was, which means I watched it way more than I would have chosen to (which means, I had to watch it EVER AT ALL, and I would have chosen to watch it NEVER AT ALL).

Sooooo... I thought I'd come entertain myself at the Boss Lady's expense (as it were) after having randomly rambled somewhat vaguely rantingly (but not really) over at my own personal blog.

Since it's Hump Day and I'm distracted, I'll share some of what normally entertains me when my kids aren't being irritating...

I have this playlist on my iPod which is, no joke, composed nearly entirely of multiple versions of the same song. Sometimes, it's the album cut plus the acoustic/live version/s. Sometimes it's original artist and whatever covers I didn't totally hate. Sometimes, it's two (or more) different cast recordings of the same soundtrack songs. And I have really random taste in music, so the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack rubs shoulders with Hank Williams and Aretha Franklin and Gaelic Storm and Weird Al Yankovic. I usually leave all my playlists on shuffle, because sometimes it can be weirdly prescient, in the same way that Pandora can.

Here's a song I love: Something Stupid, sung here by father/daughter duo Frank & Nancy Sinatra


And here's another version I love, by the Secret Sisters (who have this very vintage-country sound and look, singing covers of the likes of Hank Williams, Sr, and Patsy Cline & doing it VERY WELL.)



I love the way the voices blend on this song. It's very mellow, but the lyrics are heartbreaking -- the singer is in love with someone who doesn't love back. There's unrequited love, and, frankly, the object of that love seems undeserving -- he might not leave the club with the same person he came with. But I can't help but listen with the unsubstantiated hope that maybe it's a case of In Love With the Oblivious Best Friend, which is one of my favorite romance tropes.

SO, how about you? Favorite tropes? A song you love, for itself, or a mood it evokes? A cover that you really like, as much as or more than the original? Share!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Now Available! Quality Control





Quality Control is now live on Goodreads! Click the title for linky!

Also, Incongruent Angel should be available on Friday, 26 July.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

BONUS LATE-NIGHT COVER ART

Boss-Lady just emailed me with cover art.

First is Incongruent Angel, book one of the Liquid Sin series:




Next comes Quality Control, written for the M/M Romance Group on Goodreads for their Love Has No Boundaries event:


This is the cover that will appear on AllRomanceebooks as book one in the Accidentally Yours series, and....



This version of the cover is for the Goodreads group. :D

Pretty pretty!

They will get their own posts with release dates, blurbs, links, etc. when those things are available to me!

Naughty minion!

The Boss-Lady hasn't been communicating much Minion-ward this week. Also, my little corner of teh Interwebz has been relatively quiet (I think about a quarter of it is in Atlanta for RWA and the rest of us are all feeling jealous & wishing we were there....)

Sooo... perhaps I should just find something pretty for us to look at?




Not your thing? I can offer something a little... naughtier!



Anyway, have a fun weekend! I'm planning on cleaning!






Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth!

There's a lot that's wrong with our country right now, but there's also a lot that's RIGHT!

So on this day of celebration of our Independence as a country to make our own mistakes, here are two videos!

Flash Mob!



And what holiday is complete without the Muppets?


Everybody have as much fun as you can, and I may be a bit scarce until this time next week as I will be having family visiting and my hubby will be leaving for three weeks.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Yuckiness

It is Minion Monday, ostensibly.

I am simply apologizing. My sinuses like to think they are barometers, and we have been having RAIN lately (I think there has been ONE day in the last two weeks that did not feature at least one thunderstorm, and most of those also included torrential downpour). My sinuses finally rebelled and went full-on swollen and congested. We have moved on (forgive me if this is TMI) to post-nasal drip. My throat feels swollen, scraped, and glued together. It feels fine as long as I don't swallow, talk, or breathe too heavily.

I am trying to avoid decongestants as they (a) don't seem to help significantly and (b) leave me drowsy -- even the purported "non-drowsy" type. So right now, there is a LOT of hot tea happening, as much of it as possible with honey. There have been a number of naps, but I try to limit them as they make it more difficult to get to sleep at night and then get up at a reasonable hour of the morning afterward. I am considering chicken soup, as well.

And in order to distract myself from feeling miserable, I have immersed myself in reading Gail Carriger's  Parasol Protectorate series. I have previously read (and loved) books 1 & 2 (Soulless and Changeless) and owned but had not read #3 (Blameless). I am not not only caught up, but had to stretch my food budget to make room to buy  #4&5 (Heartless and Timeless). Also finally read, loved, and shared with the Girl-child book 1 in her newest series (book: Etiquette and Espionage, series Finishing School). Steampunk + vampires and werewolves = love.

I am particularly rooting for Lord Akeldama and his beloved Biffy (a vampire and his werewolf).

It's not overly descriptive in the adult relations, so the books are even appropriate for, I think, teenagers of a *slightly* older vintage than my own Girl-child. Maybe once she's read all the Finishing School books (which are only just now coming out -- book 2 is slated for, I believe, this November).

Also, the Boss-Lady informs (via FB) that she has been struck down with her own ickies in the form of EVIL MIGRAINES -- I sympathise; I get comparatively mild migraines myself on occasion! SO, let's get better soon all around; & enjoy your reading! What have you glommed lately?