An Interview with Becket, Author of The Blood Vivicanti

Great interview. Check it out. It is well worth it.

...and then there was Sarah

BecketI am pleased to welcome Becket, author of The Blood Vivicanti, for an interview. You may be most familiar with Becket on his Facebook page, where he talks about his job as Anne Rice’s personal assistant, his awe-inspiring years living in a New Orleans monastery, and his love of everything geek. Now, Becket can add “author” to his list of life experiences as he introduces us to the first of six installments in the serial novel, The Blood Vivicanti. The serial involves an entirely new and unique set of blood-drinkers, which were born of a collaboration between Becket and Anne Rice.

I hope you enjoy my interview with the charming and lovely Becket, who, on top of everything else, is just an all-around awesome guy to chat with. And thank you, Becket, for stopping by!

Stay tuned after the interview for my review of The Blood Vivicanti

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Four Years of WordPress

So the other day I received an email from WordPress informing me that I had registered with them four years ago.

Shit, I thought, that seems a long time, four years. No way! I looked and am only just coming up to my 150th post. What the fuck have I been doing all this time? 150 posts in four years. That is less than 40 a year on average. Yes, I am quite sure most of you could have done that insanely, complex piece of  mathematics yourself, but I have been used to living in a nanny state, where spoon feeding everyone has become the norm. So why so long, and why so few posts? When you take into account that nigh on 130 of those posts have been made this year, you may ask yourself why I even had a blog in those days. You and me both, believe me.

This blog was started, in the main, as a vehicle for work. My original intent was to use it to write about current hot topics in environmental chemistry and analysis. This would then be used to drive traffic to the company website, in much the same way I envisaged twitter working for us. That turned out to be so boring and uninspiring that I almost never posted, and certainly not on topic. Over time, the blog morphed to become a little more personal and then I made one of the most important decisions of my life. That decision was to start to blog on a more regular basis, and on something I actually cared about, books and literature, although as you all know, I am also partial to the occasional lewd comment.

It has been amazing having somewhere to share my thoughts regarding the things that I am passionate about. Literature, books, and reading, in particular. Having somewhere that there are other people willing, and able, to discuss those passions has been so immensely rewarding.

I have met many wonderful people here since making this change and I would like to thank everyone that has made blogging such an enjoyable experience. I hope that readers of this blog occasionally find some value in my posts. Of course, I never expected to find love through blogging, but that happened too. Like I said, it was a pivotal moment in my life, when I started blogging again, although I didn’t know this at the time.

So here is to another four years. Who knows what I will be doing with this blog then, or indeed if it will even exist. Thank you once again, to one and all, for being part of my extremely enjoyable WordPress experience.

Comments, especially lewd ones, (see the tagline above), are appreciated, as always.

Last Chance Summer by Hope Ramsay

Last Chance Summer

Last Chance Summer by Hope Ramsay

Description  from Goodreads

“Last Chance captures the essence of Southern charm and quirkiness. I’m totally captivated!” — Sherryl Woods, New York Times bestselling author

It wouldn’t be summer without the Watermelon Festival, and single mom Amanda Wright is looking forward to a carefree day eating funnel cakes and sipping sweet tea. But with her inquisitive son and elderly grandmother in tow, she’s not in the mood for carnival rides or the kissing booth, until she hears a charming, funny voice over the loudspeaker.

Grant Trumbull is the new DJ at the local radio station, and his deep, booming cadence has all the ladies of the church auxillary atwitter. Even without seeing his face, Amanda can’t help but wonder if he’s the one for her. When she finally comes face to face with the man behind the mic, summer is about to get a whole lot hotter in little Last Chance, South Carolina.

I gave this book four out of five stars.

My thoughts:

This book is very much a feel good book, set in a small town environment, and takes place during the course of a few hours. It is a short story and a very quick and easy to read. I really enjoyed this story and the small town life it portrayed through the interaction of the characters at the annual watermelon festival. It focuses mainly on a single family of grandmother, mother and son.

Being a short story there was not too much in the way of character development, but enough information is provided to make the characters feel real and to create sufficient back story for the reader to enjoy and understand the motivations of each of the characters and their interactions. Overall, what I get from this book, is a warm happy feeling, and for me, any story that can elicit those feelings is a good read, worthy of recommendation.

I would have personally preferred the story to be a little longer and for there to be some development of the romantic relationship alluded to throughout the book. If you want a quick, easy read that leaves you feeling good then check this out.

This review is based on a review copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher.

More Reading Progress

So, I have been rather preoccupied lately, and have been noticeably absent from WordPress. For this I apologise to one and all. I promise I will post something more interesting shortly, but for now, more reading progress, since I have still been reading, naturally. I have recently finished Robert Louis Stevenson’s, ‘Treasure Island’, and Mark Twain’s, ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’.  These are two books that I am ashamed to admit that I had never read before. I enjoyed both immensely. No idea why I haven’t got to them long before now.

I am also currently reading a book by Alana Muir, ‘An American Guide to Britishness’. I am struggling with this. It seems designed to be a sort of guide to differences between British and American usage of different terms, but appears to me to be more a vehicle for bashing the British, although the definition of pissed is pretty good. I am also reading ‘The Faceless One’ by Mark Onspaugh, which I am nearly finished and shall be putting up a review on, shortly.

I am sure you will all be very proud of me, either that or not really give a shit, but each one these books is being read as an ebook using the kindle app on my tablet. It is great., I love being able to see what percentage I am up to.

So, sorry this is such a short post, but I am working on it.

Sihpromatum – I Grew My Boobs in China by Savannah Grace

SihpromatumSihpromatum – I Grew my Boobs in China

by Savannah Grace

Description  from Goodreads

SIHPROMATUM (Sip-row-may-tum) is a memoir series of one family’s four-year backpacking adventure around the world. The first installment, I Grew my Boobs in China, is the beginning of an intensely fascinating, sobering, and emotional memoir of Savannah’s introspective and innovative family adventure.

In 2005, 14-year-old Savannah Grace’s world is shattered when her mother unexpectedly announces that she and her family (mother, 45; brother, 25; sister, 17) would soon embark on an incredible, open-ended journey. When everything from her pets to the house she lived in is either sold, given away or put in storage, this naïve teenage girl runs headlong into the reality and hardships of a life on the road.

Built around a startling backdrop of over eighty countries (I Grew my Boobs in China relates the family’s adventures in China and Mongolia), this is a tale of feminine maturation – of Savannah’s metamorphosis from ingénue to woman-of-the-world. Nibbling roasted duck tongues in China and being stranded in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert are just two experiences that contribute to Savannah’s exploration of new cultures and to the process of adapting to the world around her.

I gave this book four out of five stars.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It was a memoir based on a life changing journey of self-discovery. It was also the story of a family bonding and growing, together, through a multitude of new shared, life experiences.

The characters were well described and represented and I loved the humour injected into the narrative by the author. The different places visited were all described beautifully with vivid images created of the different locations.

The young Savannah came across as you would expect any fourteen year old girl to, having been forced to leave behind everything that she has ever known, especially her friends and her beloved dog.

It found it extremely interesting to hear about the different cultures, the unfamiliar food, the substandard transport, meeting and befriending people whose lives were totally alien to the Western girl’s understanding.

Reading this left me with an overwhelming urge to plan a trip far away in some exotic land.

Check it out, I am sure you will love this book as much as I did. I look forward to seeing the sequels to this book with real anticipation.

Calling All Artists! Calling All Artists!

Check out the the Community Storyboard call to action

Legends of Windemere

Do I have your attention?

I’m writing to let all authors, poets, musicians, painters, and any artist types that I forgot!

The Community Storyboard is a new and exciting blog where you can submit your work and have it showcased.  You can get important feedback and make friends with other artists.  Aside from submissions, we are going to be doing a few prompts and weekly themes that you can use for some spontaneous creations.

We’re all friendly people there and want this to become a blog where all artists can come for support and fun.  Being an artist is a tough road, so let’s try to unite and travel down it as a community

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Okay, I’m a Convert

Okay. So I’m a convert. Not in any religious sense. No, I haven’t joined a cult. At least not any new ones. But I have made a momentous decision. One amongst many lately, as it happens. I have decided that I like being able to read ebooks on a mobile device. I haven’t yet invested in a kindle, but I do have the kindle app on my tablet. And here is the shocker. I love it. I love the freedom that it gives me to travel and still be able to take a library of books with me. I also love that it allows me to carry on getting the books that I want, at a time when I am trying to reduce the amount of stuff that I have to dispose of, or take care of, when I sell my house and move. I never thought I would enjoy reading on an ebook reader, but I do. Perhaps it is time for me to send out some more hypocrite cards, after my ereader bashing days.

That being said, this will never replace physical books in that special book place in my heart. There will always be something special for me about physical books. I like the look and feel of them so much. For me there is just something indescribably beautiful about a physical book, well, most of them at least. As I have discussed before, and shall refrain from boring you with in detail again, all of my senses get a kick out of physical books. Actual bricks and mortar bookstores will never, for me, be able to be replaced by buying an ebook, or even a physical book, online either. The experience of browsing in a small, dusty independent bookstore. Visiting that special bookstore with a loved one and reminiscing about pivotal moments in your life together, whilst conversing about books outside with a coffee. Smiling as you think about that store, years later, and what you got there. Memories are built in places like this. This could never be surpassed by purchasing a book online with the click of a mouse button.

So there you have it. After all this time I am a convert to ereaders, in their place of course, and the freedom that they provide. I am a hypocrite, and I don’t care who knows it. Deal with it. I have.

Pioneers of Wit (Also Groucho Marx Quotes)

Groucho Marx, one of my all time comedy heroes. Very funny post. Check it out

Legends of Windemere

His weapon is his mouth
On the battlefield of wit
Cutting down all his foes
Using their own words
To drive them to the ground

Laughs and smiles
Empower this great wordsmith
Making him immortal
No hesitation in his words
As they sail across the wind

You wonder if he planned
Every word and phrase
Or is his mind that sharp
Able to parry without prep
A nimble wit you cannot contain

These word warriors are rare
Shining stars that are gone too soon
Many long before our time
Pioneers of wit and humor
Their puns will live forever

Groucho Marx Quotes

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

“I chased a woman for almost two years only to discover her tastes were exactly like mine – we were both crazy about girls.”

“Behind every successful man…

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