Will you look at that!

It's there, yes! Rather than letting it gather the proverbial dust on my computer bookshelf, "Doing It the Gangster Way" is published on Kindle! I spoke of it often, I complained, I raved, I...well, I nagged, but it's finally available to readers.

Yay!

Amazon Kindle

Do let me know what you think, if you decide to get it, and if you can, post a review, which seems to really make a difference these days. I hope you love it!

Thanks a million!

What do you think???

Song of the day: “Who wants to live forever” by none other than Queen, of course. You’d think that’s depressing, but it’s not, actually. It feels like there is change in the air, might have something to do with spring, or the fact that our one week notice at work is almost at an end, or something else entirely. Whatever the case, I’m ready for it. Let it come and…well, you’re guessing my next words, I’m betting: We’ll see. Hah

So, what’s been going on? Not much that I can tell about, I fear. A lot of it involved work, so that’s off limits, as you know. Dontcha just hate it when there are parts of life that one can’t discuss on a perfectly respectable blog? Ah well, no matter. Let’s see what else I can talk about.

The mess of what used to be the yard is basically cleaned up. Now we’re fully in the waiting game of when town hall comes to check on us. I do hope that they don’t dawdle. The waiting is friggin’ killing me. I want to be put out of my misery for once and for all, for crying out loud.

Knight II is back home, still very weak and skinny, but as of yesterday eating well again, thank gawd. He is still hacking up slime through out the night, which makes sleeping mighty interesting, and during the day he sleeps a lot. Like right now, he’s stretched out on my old porch, in the full sunshine, really enjoying himself. Big lug just loves sunbathing. Went in for his checkup today and the vet was pleased to note that his lungs sounded a lot better. Far more capacity than the last time, which is a vast relief.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous at the moment. The sun is out, the clouds at a distance, and the wind still nicely fresh. For as far as I’m concerned, it can stay like this forever…weather wise anyway. Hah.

Considering it’s my free day today (the way things look right now, my last free day before actual unemployment) I spent part of the morning making pattie dough. Did three varieties, lentil, bean, and chickpea, because it is just an easy thing to have when you don’t have a lot of time to cook. They’re healthy, nutritional , and, well, just jummy. Will be making some sort of veggie mash to go with it tonight. Something with peppers and zucchini I’m thinking. Maybe some sort of ratatouille. Hmmm. I’ll have to think on that some more before I decide. I also still have a beet salad in the fridge, might have to go for that one. We’ll see.

Like I mentioned the other day, the competition is now in full swing, I’m so curious what these reviewers will think of it. Might be they hate it, but I’m trying to maintain a positive attitude and will therefore maintain that they’ll think it splendid. Hah. The 18th will the date when we know.

Still haven’t heard from the cooking competition people. Whether that is a good sign or not…you’re guess is as good as mine, on that one.

A bit of sad news is that our oldest dog, Sama, a 16 year old husky that has been with us since 1998/1999, is doing worse these days, and is in pain, so we will have to take her to the vet one of these days, and if it turns out that her many ailments are too far gone for anything to help much, the dreaded decision will have to be made again. Gawd, I just hate it when that happens, but her life is now becoming a question of quality, rather than longevity. For a little girl with various cancers through her lifetime, an awful viral infection in the blood that almost cost her her life, she held out a real long time with relatively little trouble. Now she is blind, however, almost deaf and losing what was left of her mobility. Also the large cancerous growth in her stomach is rapidly progressing. She eats like a mammoth, and yet she is losing weight, and the pain is getting to be so that she’ll cry out every now and then. The time is drawing near, that’s a fact. Sadness…heck any emotion, should not cloud this decision, this about what is best for her.

Some nice news, we’ve decided to just go for it, and publish the book that was recently declined by a publisher. Sure, very disappointing and everything, blah blah, but that doesn’t change that I think some folks out there will enjoy reading it, so it’s going to happen one of these days. Big brother and I have been working on the cover and came up with this one:

1st option:

But there has been a word or two about the color, Big Brother included. I love this color, but this is not only about what I love, but also potential readers. Here are the other options:

2nd option:

3rd option:

4th option:

5th option:

6th option:

7th option:

Let me know what you think. Which one would totally draw your eye if you were looking for a lovely romantic gangster story set in the roaring 20s, in Chicago of all places?

I should probably be offering some sort of reward for the one that picks the “winning” color…a free book when it comes out? You let me know if you want one. *wink*

What else? Drawing a blank here…well, most of the dogs got rid of their cough. There’s some hacking going on every now and that, but that too should disappear in a few more days, a week at most.

Again I’m blanking out. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Finally I’ve got a moment to write this week’s blog, and the stupid head decides to forget most of anything remotely interesting to report. I mean, seriously, you don’t want to hear about the bill paid for Knight II (although, the vet, gotta love her, didn’t ask payment for his hospitalization, which would have been a mint seeing as he was there for almost a week.) or how I had to go to the bank four times this month because ever since the changes with the bank being bought by another, none of the automatic payments are being paid. *sigh* Very aggravating, that, by the way. Also, there’s nothing interesting about having to rush to our insurance broker because we were late paying our medical insurance, also due to the bank messing up. *double sigh*

No big news about Sally and tenant. The first is still alive, just barely, although she apparently suddenly did respond to cousin Ed, which had been ages, so maybe she’s still there somehow. Tenant and cousin Ed are both enjoying their dogs. Already there are plenty of stories about Sammie and Julia needing to get used to city living, which they had never done before. Can you imagine, always in the country, and then suddenly you have to behave. Hah. It’s good for them, I think. Change is vital to keep life interesting. Tenant did have a little bit of a scare. She and cousin Ed were swimming the other day, and she got a dizzy spell after which she wasn’t able to come up from the water, scaring the both of them out of two months of their lives…I can imagine. But apparently it is not unusual. The doctor said that it probably had to do with water in her ear, throwing her of, so to speak.

Oh, I had a work related road trip the other day. I got to see the area near Almogía, which was very different from here. Very bare, and remote, even though I was no more than twenty minutes away from Málaga. Always nice to see new places.

Well, this is going to have to be it. That’s all she wrote, as they say. Let’s hope I’ll be back same day next week, and remember a little more of the things that have been happening.

Review of "Winter's Heart"

Well, I didn't have time for a blog again this week, so y'all will have to do with a review space-fill. Did warn you the other day. Hah. Stuff is happening at the moment, so there might be some change in the near future. Hopefully that will mean more time for writing. Yay. Oh, and just as an FYI: the ABNA competition is now running, and we'll know whether we're through the first round on the 18th. Keep yer fingers crossed...better do your fingers too, just in case. Hah.
Here's the review...and cover.

Review of “Winter’s Heart”
by A.C. Warneke.

By my own 1-7 star stystem

* * * *

A wonderful story, but…

I have to say that I was wonderfully surprised by the writing style of Warneke from the moment I started reading her Winter’s Heart. Flynn, the heroine, is a wonderful girl, with witty dialogue, a quick smile and a sweet character that won me over immediately. Winter, the hero, is similarly impressive from the moment I met him and was nicely complex in his character. Perfect counter points, I would say.

To give you a small outline, it is basically “Nottinghill” in reverse, with a normal girl falling for a big handsome movie star, and him falling just as hard. Then there are the pitfalls of fame, the backstabbing and corruption of “the Bizz” and then love conquering all.

Nice. A perfectly respectable story line that had me at the get go…in fact, I was really getting into the story when suddenly, out of the blue (shows me for not checking out reviews of this then freebie, I suppose) I got slapped in the face by a sex scene that had me agog for a several lengthy pages. I mean, I guess I could have seen it coming with the occasional rather liberal mentions about the hero “helping himself” and the virginal heroine having this obsessive fear for STDs, but I dismissed those as the story just being very modern.

As it turns out, it might just be a bit too modern for me. Both in language (no pretty wording when it got serious) and actions. A pity, too, since except for those sex scenes, which went on endlessly and were totally unnecessary to make these characters interesting (they were!) I loved the story. Heck, I even shlogged my way through the supposedly hot spankings, the toys, the submissions, the bodily liquids, the endless varieties of A and B, and C, and D, and…gawd knows how many appendages and orifices coming together, just because I wanted to know what happened to these characters.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read my fair share of sex scenes, I even enjoy them if they fit the story, but I really found myself getting that “icky” feeling from the complete lack of inhibition displayed by both characters whenever sex came into play. Which was often. And long. And I hope not too realistic in most cases because, yikes! A serious case of TMI for me, I fear.

Story wise, the characters, dialogue, talented descriptions (even during the sex scene *shivers*) humor and nicely fast-paced prose, this story would have gotten the highest marking from me. Regretfully, I’m going to stick to four stars only.

Conclusion: For some this could definitely be the perfect read. It’s hot, it’s modern, and…creative. For others, like myself, who’re more into old fashioned romances where it’s about the characters just falling in love, rather than girth, speed, and some serious exhibitionism, better steer clear.

You want to check out Winter's Heart yourself. Go Here

Poor lug.

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Train and Ashley Munroe.

Well, it’s been a while since I wrote a blog, isn’t it? Seems like an eternity, but it couldn’t be helped. What with the latest deadline from town hall, I haven’t had a day off until now, and every spare hour that I did have was spent on finishing that edit for the ABNA competition, and then a few days ago, after finally finishing that edit, starting on a new book. It is such a relief to be doing something new after all this time, my mind slowly shifting and whirling into motion as I start thinking about new plotlines, characters and whatnot. It’s wonderful; escapism in its purest form, that’s a fact. For now I've decided to start working on the "Gun" story. I know, the title doesn't say much, but it's a working title, we'll see what else comes up once the story has developed some more. I'm definitely looking forward to so mindless voilence, humor-filled action flick.

So, you’ll be happy to know that I am a competitor in the ABNA competition under the name of Samantha Night. Way more suited for a PNR, I’m thinking, and have entered my vampire story if for no other reason than to discover whether it is remotely good. Sure, there have been some beta readers, but one has to be fair and admit that however honest Beta readers try to be, and however much appreciated their efforts, they are slightly biased…which is why we love them so much. Hah.

I wonder if the reviewers will notice that the story is no average vampire flick, but that it is all about the characters, who could have been the milk man and the librarian, for all the importance the surrounding story has. Sure, there is some plot, but on the most part it is a glimpse into this wonderful Irish family that everyone just has to meet. They bicker, they talk and they fight, but beneath it all they love each other, and the reader will be able to feel as much, I hope.

But okay, so we’re officially competing, and though I am at least hoping for some intelligent reviews, the dream is of course that publishing contract at the end of the tunnel, so when the time comes, and I even make it that far, do cast a vote in my favor, please, pretty please with a cherry on top.

The cooking completion, gawd, I better not forget telling about that one. We went to Gibraltar, wonderfully on time, only to discover halfway there (30 miles, I kid you not) that we had forgotten our passports, aaaargh. So we had to go back, had mom meeting us halfway to give us our passports. And off we were again, speeding down the highways and arriving to the border of Gibraltar ten to six, ten minutes before my audition. Grrrr. Luckily we basically only had to wave our passports and drove straight through. When we got stopped by a traffic light, we exchanged places, argued a little about the direction we had to go, and then hurled out into the street we needed to be without turning wrong once. I arrived at the restaurant at exactly 17:59, and even had time to use the bathroom and wash my hands because they were cleaning up after the last contestants.

The interview went much the same as last year (I’m afraid I can’t do bubbly in real life. In writing, yes, but in real life it is just not possible…yet) and the majority of the judges recognized me from last year. It was fun. I don’t have a clue if I did it right seeing as the results are not in yet. I kid you not. I got a mail the other day that the judges are postponing their decision so they can do more casting. So either we were all horrid and they just need to find new people, or they just didn’t have a big turnout. Ah well, we’ll see how that goes, won’t we.
But can you imagine it, Sammie on TV. I can. Face red as a lobster (seriously, it is embarrassing how fast I turn red, even when I’m not in the least bit affected, grrr) and smiling big regardless. I keep repeating my mantra: “Let the lighting be good” over and over again. Hah.
But back to Gibraltar. Twenty minutes after my audition I was out again, after which we had to walk all the way back to where big brother had parked. Before you know it we were back on the road and ended up standing in line at the border for a solid two hours. Luckily we both had our phones with us, meaning we spent that time reading. Yay. Did treat ourselves on McDonalds afterward. It has been six years after all, and since we were splurging on the trip already, an extra fourteen bucks wasn’t going to make a difference.
Didn’t get home until after eleven in the evening seriously running on fumes. No matter. I had fun, which is all that matters.

In regards to mission impossible: Cleanup.
It’s pretty much all done now, so thankfully it wasn’t as impossible as it seemed. All that remains of the old buildings are floors, and a road that tracks down the center of the property. It’s nothing if not depressing every time I get home from work and see once again all that is gone. But then, such is life, I suppose. One moment you have this, the next it’s gone. One moment you have nothing, and the next you have everything. You just never know, and to try to hold onto something when fate has decided against it is nothing but asking for trouble. I’m letting it go to see where the next path will lead me, if you know what I mean?

No workouts since the last time I mentioned it, much to my regret. I do so want to do one, but if it is not a work day there are so often so many different things to do that I just can’t find the time for that either. Like my last free day was wasted on groceries and a visit to my bank, which is something that I need to waste my next free day on again too, darn it. Ever since the downfall of the economy, and our old bank got bought by another, all the automatic payments have gone friggin’ haywire. The same goes for our insurance for which I will also have to go to town at the earliest convenience. Bugger was that yesterday was a holiday here in Spain, everything comes to a standstill then.

Bad news is that last week we had a dog coughing, the next day four, the next day nine. One of which was Knight II who is now in hospital with a serious pneumonia. Poor ol’ lug. He has a massive fever, hasn’t eaten in three days (lost a total of 10 pounds in the past week) and is now on a drip at the vet’s for the remainder of the weekend. I hated leaving him there, but there just was no other choice. His friggin’ health is just such a precarious thing. I swear every time he gets something, the fear hits me anew. “Oh gawd, I’m going to lose him this time.” Which is of course always an option, but shouldn’t weigh so heavily. I mean, seriously, it comes down to a fifty percent chance, since there are only two options. Either he makes it, or he doesn’t. Everything else is just dramatics, for as far as I’m concerned.

We did manage to find a buyer for Sally’s old cabin. Basically the price we bought it for, but with our building services included to put it back together again sometime in March. That won’t be easy to fit in, but it’s gotta be done.

Did finally get some decent pants. I was down to one whole one that I was basically wearing 24/7, et voila, I stumbled on a bunch of 2nd hand ones that used to belong to northern European people. Boy was I relieved that they fit beautifully, and that now I actually have choices again as to what I want to wear on any given day. I even got one of those neat camouflage pants, for crying out loud, and it cost no more than a few bucks. I’m psyched! No narrow trousers that make my legs look like cones, no flubby waistbands, but designs that actually flatter my body shape. Couldn’t have gotten better if I’d had them tailor made, thank you very much. Yay.
Got a nice sweater and a couple of good flannel shirts with it, too, which do really well in our dry wintery weather.

Downside of the past couple of weeks, besides the problems with the dogs, and the endless cleaning going on at home, is that my foot’s playing up again. It has as much to do with my state of mind as the fact that I haven’t been eating well again, lately. I should be eating way more veggies, and less carbs, but ya gotta have time to make them to eat them, dontcha. Well. At least I made up for that today. Made lentil patties and a veggie stir fry that is going to hit all the necessary nutritional levels, so all should be well.

Well, that’s going to have to be it for today’s update. I finished reading a book and I need to review that. You’re going to laugh yourself silly when you read it, I tell ya. Until then…ta da.