The Best Things in the World are Free!

What are two of my favorite things in the world? Free stuff, and books! My lovingly witchy friend over on Pagan Culture has published her book, AlmaMia Cienfuegos on Amazon. Today it is a free download for Kindle!

Magaly says:

“AlmaMia Cienfuegos” tells a story where blood deceives, nightmares rot, and sisters wage war on each other.

Click here to go to Amazon and download!

 Now if you do not have a Kindle, fear naught! For the Amazon Gods have provided for you. Kindle for PC is available here.

In Readers La La Land

Sorry I've been so quiet this week. It's not that I haven't had thoughts about writing. Actually I've been thinking about various topics all week. I was listening to one of my favorite book series all week long. Ever get so into a book that the rest of the world just falls away? Well I'm like that when reading or listening to a book. I get irritated when the world encroaches and I have to stop reading for awhile. I'm still not done listening, but the oldest kiddo is here and some of the scenes aren't for tender ears so I'm taking a short break. I'm listening to the Meredeth Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton. I absolutely love this series. My favorite leading man is Frost. I'd love to have his silver hair cover my naked body!

I've been thinking about my own novel and my hunky men. When I first began the story I called them Gods, and indeed they have some God-like powers. It didn't seem to fit so I began to call them Guardians for a lack of a better term. Eventually I hope I find the right term so I can replace it. But so far nothing better has come to mind. I mean they do Guard humanity from evil. But that's not all they do. Their kind of like the spiritual police. Eventually I'll figure it out. I'm just horrible at writing with any kind of deadline. Thankfully I don't do this for a living! Though it would be awesome if I could.

Speaking of books, have you entered my Blog giveaway yet? NO?! Why not? The book is awesome. Find out the details in my Giveaway post. I have decided that I will sign the book before sending it on to its new owner. I do hope that it can make its rounds in the bogging community. It would be lovely to see how far it goes.

How has your week been? Anything exciting or productive to report?

Blog Giveaway! And The Winner Is....

Welcome to my very first blog party giveaway! Yay!
*Happy dance* 

A few months ago Magaly from Pagan Culture gave away Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I was the happy winner of that giveaway. I've read and loved this awesome book. But I know there are a lot of other readers out there wanting to read more of Ms Kenyon's lovely Dark-Hunter series. So I've decided to pay it forward.

To win this book you can enter by:

1. Blogging about this giveaway. Make sure to leave a message in the reply below with your blog link. 
2. Visit my Review of Retribution and leave me a message.
3. Like my Facebook page and share any of my posts you like on your personal Facebook page or group. 

Make sure you leave me a message on this post letting me know you've completed all three entries!

Giveaway ends in two weeks (April 22nd)

Good luck!

 The winner is...

Sandi! Please Email me your shipping details. :) Congrats and thanks to all who entered.

Book Review: Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon

So its taken me longer to read this book than it normally would have. That's not to reflect on the book but rather my busy life chasing around a newly mobile baby. I finally was able to finish it today and of course like any good book its left me wanting more.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series is one that's been on my top list of favorites for a few years now. When I was employed doing Data entry for EDS I always checked out audio books from my local library. Upon discovering this intriguing series I rented, borrowed and bought every release, starting from the beginning.

Retribution didn't let me down and I'm happy to see that Sherrilyn diverges from the Greek pantheon for this book to focus on Native American mythology. Some of it is her own creation, other parts are stories she was told from her family, which I would love to read more about!

If you have not read the Dark-Hunter series I highly encourage you to do so. You'll fall in love with each dark-hunters story and jump for joy each time they find happiness in a woman's arms.

Macmillan audio has graciously provided this audio clip of Retribution just to entice you with Jess Brady's sexy voice. Click here to listen.

If you would like to purchase the complete audio book, visit Macmillan's website.

I'd also like to thank Magaly from Pagan Culture for sending me this book! In the words of the Tsalagi people (Cherokee) Wa-do (Wah doe). Thank you.

Welcome to the New Year

Hail fellow and well met to the New Year and to my readers. It's 2012 and that means new beginnings. I'm really needing a new beginning so I hope January will be our month for moving forward in our life. Last year was about big changes and a lot of them were hard on us. Now that were over the shock, were trying to settle down into our new life. With a lot of positive thinking and maybe a bit of luck, hopefully soon we'll have a place of our own.

I had applied for housing many moons ago, but never received a reply other than we were on the list. Well last week we did get a reply that we are on the top of the list. The problem we've had in getting housing is that our ex-landlord isn't too happy with us. So he's not giving us a good reference. So I hope we can overcome that.

I've also decided that I need to do something about my teeth. Growing up poor meant I only saw the dentist a handful of times in my life. I'm sure it was no more than maybe 4 times until I became an adult. And then I didn't have insurance or money for the dentist so the only time I went was when I had a toothache. Needless to say my teeth are bad. I needed braces as a child and never got them. I don't smile because I hate my teeth. Many are broken and just plain nasty. I went to the dentist the other day and he confirmed what I already knew. Most are not worth saving. And even if we could save them, the insurance I have right now wouldn't pay for it. But it will pay for dentures so that is what I'm going to do. I feel a bit scared. I've always had a phobia of dentists. It resulted from a very bad experience with the first dentist I ever saw. He was just plain mean.

OK enough of that topic. I have made a few changes to the look of my blog. I've also changed my button though you shouldn't see much of a difference. I've changed it from a JPG to a PNG and made the background transparent so you don't have that ugly white background behind it. I've also got a new banner and background on my blog. I think it looks nice. Tell me how it works for you? 

Well I spent my New Year like usual. Sitting here playing on the Internet and half paying attention to the TV. I am so boring! lol

I also joined Pagan Cultures 2012 book challenge.

I got books for Christmas so I've been reading them. Right now I'm reading "Once Touched, Never Forgotten" by Natasha Tate. It's not one of my favorites, but it is a romance and if you've learned anything about me over these past few months is that I'm all about love. *wink*

But I can't wait till I can dive into the book I won from Magaly's giveaway. I won Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon. And it's a testament to my strength of will that I haven't devoured it already. But I didn't want to start another book while I'm reading the first.

So what did you do for New Years? Did you kiss your honey? Dh quickly gave me a smooch and then went to bed. He's not a night owl by any means. lol But I stayed up till 3 am this morning. My son certainly takes after me because he hates to sleep!

Today's Writing Quote

Beating Down the Devil is about Reine Kincade. She is a divorced woman starting over her life in another town. She's one sassy woman who doesn't trust men because of her past experiences and takes no shit from anyone.

I hope you enjoy today's quote.

A red dodge dually truck pulled up at the house. Oh, Ye-haw, I thought, rolling my eyes as I watched the cowboy step down from his shiny, tricked-out truck that screamed " PENILE COMPENSATION!"The man looked tall, with dark wavy hair a little shaggy for my tastes. He looked at me standing on the porch, and if I’m not mistaken a slight smile tugged at his lips; such full lips too. Why do men always get the features a woman craves for herself? If a woman had lips like that she would be accused of botox.


 

The cowboy held out his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Garret Hamilton - and you are?” Taking his hand I glanced at his cloths. He has on simple jeans, t-shirt, and cowboy boots. Nothing looked particularly fancy or stuck out to indicate how hard up he was for cash. Though the truck certainly cost a large chunk of change.

 

“Reine Kincade, its a pleasure to meet you.”

My Fictional Writing

So I don't talk a lot about my fictional writing. I do have some stories in the works though. I thought I'd maybe share a few quotes and see what you think.

Humanly Goddess is my main story. It's about a young witch named Scarlet who meets Liam, a Guardian of Humanity. Scarlet is on a journey to becoming a Guardian, but she's met with moral challenges along the way. Liam is torn between his Guardian duty and the love he develops for Scarlet.

Here's my quote for today.

Gary ran out of the alley as she watched with part horror, part awe as the younger thug blackened. Now that her attacker is dead, Scarlet surveyed the scene. Joey lay curled in a pile, his body burning the trash that surrounded his corpse. No evidence could remain for the police to investigate. Scarlet called to the heavens, again summoning her will to bring a downpour of steady rain. The flames died and all that remained was smoldering ash. She called to the winds to carry the ash away.

    Scarlet left the empty alley on autopilot as she pondered what exactly she just did. As she turned toward home she remembered the unwavering feeling of her will and how she wielded more power than ever before in her life. If required, she could do it again. If she did, would she still be a good witch?  Or would this new found power corrupt her very soul?

Faerie of your choice.

I don't discount their existence, but haven't made up my mind if I believe faeries exist or not. I suppose its possible. One of my friends use to say there were Faeries in her store. I certainly felt a different energy in the area she was talking about, whether it was the fae or not I cannot say. I am fascinated with any Scottish Lore, so perhaps I should do more reading on faeries. I know they are mischievousness and certainly shouldn't be taken for granted. I also love faerie artwork. See my signature for proof. My art files have at least 10 different faeries.

One of my favorite fictional books are about the fae. The Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton is about a faerie princess related to both the unseelie and seelie court who must fight to stay alive and possibly one day rule. Its a wonderful story full of twists and turns and of course sexy hunks! My favorite is Frost or the Killing Frost. Dole is another favorite of mine. Don't you just wish these kinds of series could just go on forever? One day I hope they will make a movie out of it. Wouldn't it be the next great Harry Potter type series! Oh but Hollywood would ruin it by making all the sex scenes PG-13. Those are my favorite parts. *Wink*

So there you have it. They are something I should probably research better. Until then, its never a bad idea to set a potted plant beside the door just in case.

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What are some of the witchy books that influenced you?

My husband has a library full of metaphysical books. They aren't all witchy, but they are spiritual. I've either read through or skimmed all of them. Some of them were just too dry for me to really read in depth. But my favorites were:

The Celestine Prophesy by James Redfield and sequels - Though these are fictional stories they discuss synchronicity and all of the different insights the author has. The author talks about twelve insights.

1. A critical Mass - This is about society having a spiritual awakening. I think we can already see this. According to the American Religious Identification Survey (Aris) in 1990 only 8 members of those surveyed were Wiccan. However in 2008 342 said they were Wiccan. That is a significant increase! Now if we look at other religions we see a slight drop from previous years to 2008. I think as the years go by we are seeing that people are either frustrated with organized religion and are identifying themselves as agnostic or atheist, or we see them entering Pagan society.
2. The Longer Now - This insight talks about coming together as a global society. I don't see that yet. But its a positive goal.
3. A Matter of Energy - This insight has taught me a lot about how energy works and our own aura. Every single action we take involves energy. When we interact with others we are sharing energy. I think this insight is the most important lesson this book teaches.
4. The Struggle for Power - This insight talks about the different ways we struggle for power and how we can avoid doing that. Ever have someone your around that just leaves you feeling drained every time you talk to them? Well this insight teaches us why, and how we can avoid this draining feeling. Or doing the draining ourselves!
5. The Message of the Mystics - This talks about the inner connection with the divine.
6. Clearing the Past - This discusses how we can stay connected to the divine even under stress.
7. Engaging the Flow - This insight teaches us about synchronicity and how we can keep the flow of positive energy in our life.
8. The Interpersonal Ethic -This insight talks about increasing the frequency of guiding coincidences. Of being able to uplift each person in your life because you are living your lessons.
9. The Emerging Culture - This insight talks about ending the cycle of birth and death and becoming fully our spiritual selves.
10. Holding the Vision - This insight tells us that our common goal is to hold the vision for the future in working toward becoming spiritual culture.
11. Extending Prayer Fields - This insight teaches us how we can attain our goal by the power of prayer, positive thinking, religious scripture, etc...
12. The Hour of Decision - I admit, I haven't read this last insight! If you have, do share. :)

To learn more about his books visit The Celestine Vision.