Monday, March 28, 2011

Rainbow Book Fair

I think it was a success!

AMR had a table for the first time. MANY people stopped by to say hello to our authors. There were books for sale, many leaflets and flyers, and a CD for free pdfs. A wonderful friend stopped by-- thank you Damon :D  Your company was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all!!

Hopefully this will be on the to-do list for next March!

Did any of you stop by? Did you enjoy the fair?

xoxox

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Inspiration

Where do you get yours?

I often think of the movie Finding Neverland. In that, the script has JM Barrie musing over things he notices and lines he hears. In one scene, the grandmother is scolding the children and in his mind he envisions a hook. So this mean grandmother's chastisement would become the basis for which he wrote a very memorable foe. (IF you take the movie for what it symbolizes.) JM was a writer that saw things, every thing, through a writer's eye.

Do you?

I think of so many things in my own life and how they can manifest through creativity and imagination. I could see writing a pirate with a hook from that very scene JM Barrie witnessed. It is different than writing a harsh grandmother. That would be too straight forward. A writer, a good writer, doesn't have to be direct. They take life as it comes to them and they can twist it into any shape imaginable. Especially the paranormal writers...

Ones like JL Langley. (Yes, I'm writing about her again)
I read With Abandon today. I loved it. completely loved it. She seems to get better with each passing book. I was originally saddened that she was writing about Matt. I, like so many other fans, longed to read about Sterling. (LOVE Sterling.) But this book blew me away. I think it is my favorite by far. The chemistry between Matt and Aubrey way breathtaking. I hated that the story ended. I wanted more pages. But, also true to JL, she wrote just enough. There were twists and turns and things going on I didn't expect and then the story came to a pleasant end. I don't know about you, but I HAVE read stories that didn't know WHEN to end. It is bad when the reader WANTS the story to end already!

With Abandon was awesome. Totally worth waiting for! and of course now I have to wait for Without Fear. (I hate waiting JL)

but during the wait... JL is an inspiration. Her language and description are so vivid. She is a master at her art and I hope we can all be inspired by her wonderful writing. She makes me think. She makes it so easy to SEE the story played out. Isn't that what writers want to give their readers?

My advise for the day... Go read With Abandon. You will thank me.

all for now. I know it is short :s

~T

xoxo

I also wrote on my goodreads page:
3720445 I think With Abandon may be may favorite m/m romance book. I'm not sure. I may have to read it again soon to decide. So hard to say for sure because it runs against some really awesome ones.Def in the top 5! So if I had to live on a deserted Island I would take...

With Abandon
Crossing Borders
Love Means... no Boundaries
Willow Bend
and.... ? Tin Star? With Caution ? Collision Course?

AHHHH! I can't decide.        

Monday, March 14, 2011

Revisiting an old Favorite

In light of the newest review of Sculpting Clay, I decided to write a short blog about one of my favorite books.

Sculpting Clay by Linda Reilly

It is a very cute story and I gave it 5 stars on goodreads.com

Like MizLove (link to her blog below) I truly fell in love with Taran AND Clay! Taran is a very sweet, innocent, and endearing character. Definitely one of my fav characters of all time. I would LOVE to read more about him! *hint, hint, Linda*

I have read this book several times. It is an easy read. Linda is not the most complicated of writers. In my opinion she plots well and has a soft voice. There are some grammatical errors and a HUGE faux pas when spelling "Greenwich Village". (I'm sure she feels bad about that one.) But all "mistakes" aside, it is a wonderful story and pleasant read. I highly recommend it! If you've read it, leave a comment on goodreads OR below this blog!

So when DO you re-read a book? What makes you so drawn in that that ONE (or several) has to be read again and again? For me it is memorable characters, hot sex, or a book that grabs my emotions and won't let go! Sculpting clay really had my emotions AND I loved the characters! On goodreads I have listed books I've read more than once. (I also have a "favorites" shelf.) Among the repeats are Light of The Body by Mark Alders, Love Means... No Shame by Andrew Grey, Love Means... No Boundries also by Andrew Grey, Without Reservations and the sequel With Caution by JL Langley, Str8 Boys by Evangeline Anderson, Crossing Borders by ZA Maxfield, Willow Bend by Ally Blue, Drawn Together by ZA Maxfield, Altered Heart by Kate Steele, Tin Star by JL Langley, Custom Ride by KA Mitchell, and Hot Ticket also by KA Mitchell.

I like reading books more than once. It is like watching a movie over again. YES, you've seen in and you generally know what is going to happen, but it is also new. I say NEW because often times you pick up on details you never noticed before. Many times I read fast. Like super fast, almost skimming. I lack time to read often so I breeze through to see if it is worth a second read or SLOW read. (being honest here, this is partially why I do not really "review" books on goodreads.) When I notice fun "secondary characters" I definitely slow down. I want to know why they are special? Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy has some great secondary Characters! So does Bareback by Chris Owen. (I really liked Elias and wanted more from him!)

Hot Sex... What makes it HOT for you? How they "do it", how they FINALLY "do it" (in the case of friends become lovers), or who they do it WITH? (like 'manage-a-trois') ... Although I love sex scenes, I do find some books over do it. Sorry if that disappoints :( I have read a couple books, and I will not name them as I hate to "put down" a book, but I just got tired of reading because it was all sex and no plot. I like PLOT! There has to be a reason they are having the sex. I am in it for the story. I want the romance, I want the heartache, I want fights and breakups and make-up sex, but what I personally do not like is sex scene after sex scene and nothing in between. Give me a reason they keep going at it like rabbits! (other than testosterone.) What makes it hot for me is if I can feel it. (I know, that sounds so dirty.) But if the characters bring a scene alive, or the whole book for that matter, to where I can experience what they feel, then I am going to get hot when they do! That is what I like in a good writer. Make me HOT in the right spots, and sob buckets in others.


What marks a re-read to me? A book that can make me cry, laugh, roll my eyes, yell at the character, and when to need arises--change my underwear!


(Perhaps I need to set this blog to 18+? What do you think?)


Miz Love Books reviews lots of things. Check them out. And while you are there read their review of Sculpting Clay.


Ciao for now,
Tristan


http://mizlovelovesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03/sculpting-clay-by-linda-reilly.html