oh yeah! Miscellaneous Oh Yeah!
The closest bookstore to me is Borders. We have a Barnes & Noble in town, but Borders is closer to me. So Skinwalker {<--click for excerpt} by Faith Hunter - one of my auto-buy favorite writers, was released this last week. I've been calling Borders, everyother day asking them if Skinwalker is in yet. IT IS NOT. I find this very frustrating. Not even Barnes & Noble had it in stock at first. (they do now). But recently I received a Borders Giftcard for my birthday, and since that is the only way I can buy anymore books this summer, I wanted to use it to buy Skinwalker. Which as of today, still was not in the store. Their comment - "It looks like we are waiting for a shipment".
They said the same thing about Caitlin Kittredge's Street Magic book (excerpt under link), which they finally shelved 3 weeks, (or more) AFTER the release date. I ended up ordering that one to ship to the store for pick up. One of the employees on my fourth trip to the store suggested that.
So today I was getting ready to order Skinwalker online to ship to Borders. I was called away from the computer, so I just left it in my "cart" and didn't finalize it yet.
I've also been entering a lot of contests in the last few months and I haven't been winning anything (wait - I did win a neckalace from Faith Hunter, kind of cool, she made it herself). I had given up winning any books lately.
Today I opened my e-mail. I WON SKINWALKER!. I was soooooo happy. Now all I have to do is wait for it to come in the mail. This is so cool. And, what are the chances of winning a neckalace through Faith Hunter's website, and then winning a book by her through another website? I entered a contest through BittenbyBooks which is actually a pretty good place to get reviews and read interviews with writers. The host of Bittenbybooks is always running contests also, though the odds of winning a contest over there are pretty low, since a lot of people enter. Not only do they enter, but if you do one thing, you get like 300 entries, another you get one entry, another a few more entries - you see? poor odds to actually win, although there is a winner every time, and the host runs a lot of contests. Since I usually just comment, I really didn't expect to win. I feel Lucky, and since I just turned 49 a few days ago, it's like a birthday present from Lady Luck! (Thanks Lady Luck, you also Rachel) you should always say thank you. And my giftcard? Now I get to use the 25% off coupon that Borders sent for my B-day (which cannot be used online for some reason) and go into the store and browse around for something that catches my eye. I think I'll look for something by an author that I've never read before. I think I'll go tomorrow....
A little bit about the neckalace made by Faith Hunter. Faith Hunter writes a series set in a post-apolyptical world. The Angels have come to earth and stood in judgement of millions, causing many to die on the spot. This series takes place quite awhile after that and the main character is Thorn, a young mage that has to keep her talents hidden or she will be killed, or sent to live in an enclosed enclave. The character, Thorn has an affinity for stones, so she creates jewelry and sells them to earn her living. The area she lives in is in a mini-ice age, and technology is just beginning to make a comeback. There is a lot more to the series, demons, angels, mystery, magic, mayhem, a teeny bit of romance. The series is called the Rogue Mage Series and consists of three books so far, along with an RPG, and a possible fourth book coming. The series is very well written, once you start the books you won't want to put them down. The writer, Faith Hunter, studied stones and jewelry making while she was researching the book, and actually made some jewelry out of stones she found, bought or came across. The pieces are unique. I won one of the necklaces, and I believe she has put a few other pieces up for contests. You can find more information on her website, and the books are Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host. They are now in mass paperback. I bought them when they were trade size, which reminds me that I loaned them out, and need to get them back. That's always awkward, when someone has borrowed a book or two for over a year. Faith Hunter originally wrote these a few years ago, before the recent boom in books about angels and demons. If you haven't read them yet, you should take a look at them - very good books. Skinwalker is her second series in the SciFi/Fantasy genre. She also wrote mysteries under the name Gwen Hunter, and Gary Hunter, but I havent' read those yet.
So I have a few things to look forward to, and just when I was beginning to feel blah - it's not horrible turning 49, but it's not wonderful being 49 either - better than being dead though. ( that was morose ); Though it's much more fun being in your thirties or twenties. ( I wouldn't go back to my teens for anything in the world) So looking forward to:
- The Cold Kiss of Death is enroute from England
- Skinwalker will be coming my way - and it's an ARC!
- I get to shop in a bookstore {nerd alert,?}
- I have a 25%off coupon for the bookstore.
- The other day, she wanted to do something and her mom laughed and said to her, "no I don't trust you" (I forgot what it was now, they were playing around) and this 2 year old (2 years 5 months) said to her mom "c'mon mom, yes, just trust me. You can trust me,Trust me, mom". I find that pretty sophisticated for a little 2 year old to joke around with her mom like that. She was smiling and saying it in just the right tone. I was laughing so hard, almost lost it.
- Yesterday she pulled my blanket off my bed and rolled up in it with her stuffed toy. When I went in there to see, I could hear her breathing, like she was asleep. Her little body was totally relaxed under the blanket and she was snoring very softly and slowly. My youngest son was with me, and he started to say something, I said, "shhh she's asleep." He said, "no, she's not", and I said "yes she is, listen to her" . I lifted the blanket off her and she opened her eyes at me and laughed. Little stinker. She loves to play jokes on me.
When she was 9 months old, she had just started to toddle around. I was sitting on the floor and she had wandered off. I said to her mom, "where's Lili", and my daughter just laughed. There was no sound behind me, but apparently Lili had been standing behind me for about 5 minutes, waiting for me to look for her. Without making a sound, but smiling very big.
Good times, sometimes, good times.