Happy New Year!!!

Song of the day: “Where have you been” by Rihanna. Who’d have known that I’d ave Rihanna in my head so often, eh? She’s got some good songs, though, so it was inevitable, really.

Well, the new year. What’s it going to bring, eh? That is the big question. The negative side of me is thinking, the shaite of last year is going to go on, things will get worse until there is nothing left (at least not emotionally) and I’ll just wither. Not a strange thought, considering the social worker is still trying to make trouble, despite the fact that the two ladies are no longer in the country. *sigh* Inept, I tell ya.
The positive side of me agrees on all of the above, strangely enough, but this part of me thinks that it will just be change, nothing else. I’ll adjust, I’ll adapt, and will find a way to live on and be happy on whatever path I will travel in the end.
I’m leaning toward going with the second option, what do you think? Hah.

So, what’s been going on?
As you will have noticed, I’m busily reviewing new/indie published authors, which is fun…though I recently read one that was sooooo bad, that I am afraid I’m going to have to write my very first negative review. Seriously, I hate doing that, and I am not entirely sure if I want to go that far. I might end up only posting that particular review here on the blog, rather than on the customer reviews for Amazon.com and Goodreads. I dislike having to fall back on criticizing grammar, context, dialogue and all those vital aspects that make a book important if you want to tell your story to the reader well. *sigh* I hate it when a wonderful concept is not brought well. Such a waste.

There have been a few garbage runs still, and soon we’ll be taking a big load of metals to the local recycling facility again, paying for some of the fuel at least. Also there were some trips to pick up donations, which included a nice big load of one-day expired meat for the dogs. They are loving it through their food, I tell ya. The other day they even had their first round with ribs, which had our mountain oddly quiet for a full fifteen minutes, hah.

Work’s work. Nothing much to tell about it without giving too much away, so you’ll just have to keep on being curious in that regard. Can’t be helped.

Edit is going well. We finished the paper edit, and are now going through the changes we made with that. Not bad. Just a few days into the read, and we’re almost at half, so the changes are working, which is all that matters right now. One week, maybe two, and we’ll be able to send it. With a little luck we’ll have it done in time and then still have a month and a half for “A Taste of Life” which I’m planning to throw into the ABNA competition this year. Who knows, maybe fantasy romance will work better over there. Wish me luck. I really hope we’ll get it done in time, because I’m curious if we’ll be able to get through the first rounds again. I think I’ll be entering as Samantha Night, by the way, seeing as I think that name would be more suited for a fantasy romance. What do you think. Too tacky? Or just right?

We have been doing some building. Nothing huge, mind you, just setting some poles so that we can set the old metal gate in the middle of the property, allowing grandpa to let his dogs run free too. It meant doing some masonry with rocks, which was both nice and saddening, because they were rocks of stuff that had to be broken down during the entire mess. Still, the weather was sunny, and it all worked out (which made grandpa happy) so it was a good day.

Did another workout this past week, which was splendid for this creaky old bod. Went better than the last two times, in particular since the joints were a little more limber this time round. Am looking forward to the next time, which will probably be round my birthday. Yep, just a little more than a week and then I’ll hit my mid-thirties…where or where has the time gone? Just yesterday I was thirteen pretending to be sixteen so I could get a babysitting job, and now…now I’ll be thirty five, which still astounds me. Is one supposed to be this wobbly in the head at thirty five, I wonder? Ah well, whatever. I’ll pretend to be wine and get better with age. Hmmm. Does that sound like I mind getting older? I don’t, not at all. I’ve always hated being young and all the insecurities that came with it. I’m getting to be the person I want to be, and that is more important than something as insignificant as age, right?

What else. The Knight is doing well at the moment. I’m getting to his paw in time (or have until now) and the skin has been unbroken for about four weeks now. I should celebrate that by getting him a bone, or something. It sure is awesome.

On the other hand, Labhana isn’t doing all that well. Her walking is getting more difficult, and she really needs a daily dose of anti-inflammatory, poor darling. The flesh is willing to follow me around still, and going UP the mountain isn’t all that bad, but down is getting to be pretty hard for her. Poor girl.

I experimented some with sweet potatoes the past few weeks, and have come up with some rather nice combinations that worked really well. Ain’t it grand to have meals that are nutritionally perfect, and still absolutely yummy? That is definitely the goal. Hah.

The weather has been off and on lately. We’ve had some wonderfully sunny days. Cold, yes, but sunny which makes up for a lot. There’s also been cold and rainy days, which were less fun now that there’s so little space. I’ve had moment while I was standing by my bed and felt a genuine panic attack at the idea of not being able to turn without bumping into something, and that everything was wet and dirty. Then, of course, I got past the panic attack and laughed at myself for being such a drama queen. Nothing I hate more than that. Panic never helped anyone.

So, that’s about all I can think about now. Another blog, another few weeks gone…another year gone, in fact.
Let’s see where this year will get us, shall we, I for one am most curious where the path of life will lead, but more importantly, I will darn well enjoy the ride.

Review of "The fire King"

Remember that rather nice interview a little while ago, author C.S. Marks. Well, I finally got around to reviewing one of her novellas. So here it is:

The Fire King by C.S. Marks

On my own Star system of 1-7 this one rates a 5

* * * * *


With the Fire King, Marks managed quite well to captivate this reader's attention, despite the fact that due to its historical significance there was little in the tale to remind me of the original Trilogy, which was a bit of a pity.
Still, Marks' ever eloquent prose swept me along in the tale, like before, and even though Aincor, the main character, wasn't as likeable as I would have liked, it was accurate in regard to references I remember from the series.

The lead was a powerful character, consistent--albeit frustrating at times--and led me toward a climax that was satisfying, yet sad in a way.
I regretted that some of the other characters in the story weren't as fleshed out, but allowances have to be made for novellas, I fear. There are only so many pages after all. Also, a lot was descriptive prose, rather than actually being there, which took some from the experience. Still, since it is basically a historical story that provides the reader with background information for Alterra, it is easily forgiven.

Violence was mild, and tastefully done, as always.

Conclusion:
A solid installment into C.S. Marks' Alterra series, and a must have for the diehard fans and fantasy lovers.

If you want to check it out for yourself here is the link to The Fire King

Or the old fashioned way: http://www.amazon.com/The-Fire-King-Alterra-Histories-ebook/dp/B00AIBCBJE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388340082&sr=8-1&keywords=C+S+Marks+fire+king

I hope you'll check it out.