I have a horrid headache at the moment so we'll see how coherent this post ends up being.

I mentioned in my last post that I was dragging malkovich03 out to a book signing to meet Kelley Armstrong. We did that on Sunday and I had such a good time. The signing was really small. I think there were 10 people there total but I got all 15 of my books signed and I got to chat with Kelley. After, Mal and I went out to dinner and I ate TWO desserts instead of a real meal. It was awesome. It's also something I wouldn't do if Cole had been with me because I know that every time we went out to eat after that he'd want dessert only. So, yeah. I was a totally irresponsible adult and ate two desserts when my kid wasn't around.

Yesterday, Cole had a bad sore throat so I let him stay home from school. I did drag him out to the Borders in San Jose that was closing only to find out that it's already closed. How sad. No deeply discounted books for me. Cole and I lounged around at Starbucks for a bit before heading back home. I slept. I thought about writing up some reviews. I decided to be a slug and do nothing.

Oh, Cole was watching Cloverfield while I was napping and I kept waking up to hear panicked screams coming from the TV. HILARIOUS!

Tonight, malkovich03 and I are going to another book signing. This one is for Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. I'm pretty excited for but at the same time I think there are going to be a lot more people than at the last one. I'm not so much looking forward to that part. Still, I get to hang with Mal and get my books signed. Yay!

As far as book stuff goes, I have 3 reviews I can write today at work and another that I need to set up the template for before I can write it. I am seriously lagging on keeping up with those reviews.
But I do have some other booskish stuff to share...
Book Blogger Hop (Non-weekend edition!) - Once again, I manage to squeeze in that hot picture of Jason Behr and his muscular biceps. Also, there might be a picture or two of me looking aggressive as Kelley Armstrong signs my books. Ha!
Teaser Tuesday (04/12/11) - Steampunk, Steampunk and my newest lovely signed book!

Okay. This is mostly coherent. I think. I do apologize for any raging typos but my fingers are cold and my head is still paining me. Also, this computer doesn't automtically check my spelling for me as I type. What's that about?
Time for me to do some work. (not really, I'm going to write up a review or two and read if my head stops hurting)
Later.

Yo! I had a ebook talk-thing, or maybe they referred to it as an e-publishing seminar, at the Morgan Hill library that I was planning on going to tonight. Then I found out that Rachel Caine (author of the outstanding Morganville Vampires series) was going to be doing a signing in Palo Alto, which is about 45 minutes away from where I live. So I blew off the e-pub thing and went to the signing.

Oh.my.fucking.god. I loved it! First off, it was a panel with three authors. At first, I had some issues with the etiquette involved when there was more than one author present. Like, do you just go to the author you know? Do you buy a book from the other author/s? Do you ignore them and hope they don't make eye contact? These were questions that were gnawing on me.

When I got there (extremely early, mind you), I took a look at the books by the other authors but I didn't know which were the first in the series or anything. So I just settled myself in and decided to play things by ear.

First off, Rachel Caine also got there early and she not only thanked me for being there, she gave me a hug for being so damn early. Yes, I tweeted that. It was cool. I was like, dude. Then, one of the authors was cracking my shit up. Cracking. She writes Zombie books of the humorous variety and she was all decked out with a Zombie shirt and a clutching hand hair clip and severed hand earrings. She was basically wearing the most outstanding outfit EVER. And she was funny. Deeply, nonsensically funny. So I bought the first book in her series and the first book in the other author's series and had TEN BOOKS signed by Rachel Caine. Plus I took pictures.


The one with Stacey Jay (the Zombie author) is a little blurry, but you get the point. Isn't Rachel Caine just awesome. She signed TEN BOOKS for me. TEN! I also scored a new bracelet (from the other author who I didn't take a picture with) and some bookmarks. Sweet!

Best day ever? Maybe. More exciting than an e-publishing talk at my local library? Oh, yeah.

Anyway. Book stuff that doesn't have to do with hugging and/or Zombies.
Booking Through Thursday - Skeletons on the Bookshelf - Where I somehow start babbling about how I don't like LJ Smith. Umm, yeah. That totally wasn't the topic, Kel.
30 days of books... Day 46 - Arrgh! Plunder on the high seas! Now with virtuous maidens and lusty captains!

Umm, that coffee I drank earlier was possibly laced with some sort of drug. You know, like caffeine. Or something. *blink, blink*
I'm out.
Later.

I have TeeVee to watch tonight. You know, since I caught up on all my shows and can watch things the day they're on now. However, before I get to such fun and exciting things as Damon looking hot and sexy I have a big roundup of book posts because I went posting crazy today. Well, I guess it's not any worse than most other days except that I have 2 more posts to put up: one for a weekly thang and one more book review for a book I just finished. Does that even make sense? Whatever. Here's the lowdown ...

Book #190 - Blue Noon (Midnighters #3) by Scott Westerfeld - I ended up really liking where he took the series and how open-ended everything was.
30 days of books... Day 11 - More Scott Westerfeld. Apparently the poor guy got trapped inside my to-read list and can't get out. I'll send emergency supplies so he doesn't dehydrate.
Booking Through Thursday - which is me talking about the books I'm currently reading. Actually I finished both of those books since I wrote up that post this morning. Dudes. I rock!
Zombies Vs Unicorns Battle Royale - Yes, I am totally on TeamZombie! Where else would I be?

So, I feel better. In case you couldn't tell. I feel like I've actually got some sleep in the past few days, which is entirely accurate since I slept half of yesterday away. Anyway, it's nice to not feel bad. You know? It's nice.

This coffee I'm drinking has way too much creamer in it. It's like sucking on a candy stick. The old fashioned ones that you can buy at Knott's Berry Farm for a dime. The ones that turn into sticky, delicious goodness in your mouth. Yeah. Like that. It's almost too sweet. And that's saying a lot coming from me because I have a 7 year old's sweet tooth. In fact, it's amazing I have any teeth at all.

I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. Sugar and caffeine are my friends. For serious.

Hey, Vampire Diaries! You and me! We're on!
Later!

I have a ridiculously tiny word count today so I'm not even going to bother putting it up. It's okay, though, guys, because I have something even better than sexy, sweaty werewolves! A story about Cole! Well, it's not actually about Cole but it did happen in his vicinity and part of it came from his big melon. So...

Out of the blue (probably not really out of the blue since I was off in my own little world and had no idea what was going on around me at the time), Cole tells me that Justin Bieber is never again to be mentioned in our house. Up until this point I was completely unaware that the little boytoy had been mentioned at all, but whatever. So our conversation went something like this...

Me-Okay. How badly do you not like him?
Cole-Pretty badly.
Me-Which one would you rather do- watch Justin Bieber on TV or Twilight?
Cole-*thinking hard*
Me-*I love asking the tough questions*
Cole-I would rather watch Twilight.
Me-REALLY? I NEVER THOUGHT I'D HEAR YOU SAY THAT!
Cole-Uggh.
Me-What if Justin Bieber was in Twilight?
Cole-What?
Me-Yeah. It would be sparkly vampires and Justin Bieber as himself! OMG! I think I just hit on THE NEXT BIG THING!
Cole-I can't talk to you when you're weird like this.
Me-THIS IS THE BEST IDEA EVER! I AM BRILLIANT!
Cole-*walks away*

The only downside to that idea is that all the screaming tweens who love Justin Bieber are already die-hard Twilight fans. Maybe this isn't the best idea ever. Hmm. I'll need to give this some more thought.

And that was the highlight of my day.
That and gallons of iced coffee.
Yes!
Later.

Hey! It's Wednesday evening and I'm currently sweating myself into my chair. Nice? Not so much. In fact, what the hell happened to that perfectly mild summer we were experiencing up until this point? Come back, breezy weather! I'm make you cookies!

Dudes. Four ginormous cups of coffee today. Fear me. Maybe it was only three. No, I'm pretty sure I'm on the fourth. Rock on!

I did some of that writing stuff that I sometimes do.

I know that it doesn't look like I wrote a lot today but I'm pleased since I ended up cutting a nearly 1000 word scene for later use. By my calculations, I wrote almost 2000 words today. Not too shabby. Plus, by cutting the scene in question and moving it I get to spend more time making my bad guy even more despicable. To make a long story short (ha!), it turns out that at the pace the main part of the story was moving the kidnap victim would have been in the bad guy's clutches for a couple of months. She's a tough chick and everything but I just don't think she would survive that long. So, she'll be kidnapped later and I'll have the chance to build up the bad guy's character a little more. Sweet!

Today: Revamped the kidnap scene to make it a failed kidnap scene with the added bonus of the bad guy getting shot in the ass with buckshot. Ha! Laid out the ground rules for my girl's time with the werewolf pack.

Tomorrow: Hopefully, I'll add a few more choice tidbits in the backstory about the bad guy's unsavory morals. And, dammit, I really want to get to the night of the full moon. That must be just around the corner. I'm sure of it.

Oh, I also finished a book. I love my Kindle.
Book #132 - Dark Succession (True Mates #2) by Teresa D'Amario - I kinda skipped the first in the series, but I don't think it hurt my understanding too much overall. There were things I liked quite a bit here (the mystery, a broken heroine who has to find her own strength, a Pack Alpha who is trying to clean up the mess left by the previous Alpha) and then there were things I wish could have been done a little better (the tie-up to the mystery was almost too pat with a lot of converging pieces coming together all at once-yes, I'm being vague, but I think it was very coincidental that all this stuff was happening at the same time, the heroine's emotional journey could have been given more depth-I'm not all about the angst or anything but when someone has gone through what she has gone through you'd think it would have been harder for her to accept it and move on). Overall, it was a fun little ride and it dealt with some of the things that are canon in werewolf books a little differently than normal. Which was nice. The story? Ryland's been cleaning up the mess the previous Alpha left behind and he has the feeling he's never going to have a healthy, well-balanced Pack. Nora's dealing with her capture and torture at the hands of humans (in book #1) and isn't expecting to find her True Mate. She doesn't think she can handle the life he's had forced on him, he doesn't think he can live without her. Then the wolves in Ryland's pack start being murdered and they both have to try their hardest to figure out who would want to destroy the pack before she becomes the next target.

I do seem to go on lately, don't I?
Later.

Last night was a bad night. Heather was violently ill and being that all our rooms are packed together on the top floor of our house ... well, listening to someone heaving endlessly in the bathroom next to you every couple of hours isn't easy to sleep through. She's feeling better now but the 3 or so hours of sleep we all got did not make for a pleasant day today.

I've had a lot of coffee to make up for it. *blink, blink*

Of course, a lot of coffee means that I'm mentally all over the place. Seriously, I have an idea for a fingerless gloves picture I want to put up on Twitter and I can't sit down long enough to make it happen. Ha! Dudes, I'm twitchy.

You know, I'm still reading the same book I've been reading for the past few days. I have no idea why it's taking me so long to get through. Actually, I do. It was those long ass stories I was reading online. Huh. Well, there you have it.

I have a little project for bangaboomerang I'm going to try to start tomorrow. I was aiming to start it today, but the day just kinda collapsed on me. Not in a good way.

You know, I'm tired. I'm going to go watch something non-brainy.
Later.

Is it wrong to cap off a round of yoga with a couple peanut butter cups? Maybe it's best if you don't answer that.

This morning my mom wanted to go to Costco and I was having a severe Oh.My.God. I need coffee moment. It was bad. So I stopped at McDonald's (which I wouldn't normally do but I really, really needed that coffee) and got a mocha. It was pretty darn good. In fact, it was downright delicious. Yummers.

I read some books today ...
Book #55 - Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires #4) by Rachel Caine - I'm really digging this re-read. Reading the entire series back to back in order is letting me pick up on a bunch of little things that passed me by the first time. When bad-ass vampire Bishop rolls into town, Claire has to keep herself out of his path as best she can. However, it looks as though Amelie is going to hand over Morganville without a fight when she decides to throw a welcome feast in Bishop's honor and the only ally that Claire is left with is the half-mad scientist Myrnin. One human girl and one crazed vampire against Bishop and his ruthless horde? Yeah, right.

-and-

Book #56 - The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries #1) by L.J. Smith - I really wanted to like this book. I really did. The problems I'm running into are that (a) Elena is a whiny, spoiled little brat and (b) the writing is sloppy. Honestly, if I hadn't bought the first two books in the series I'd be dropping it right now. But I did buy both of them so I'm going to at least read the 2nd before deciding whether or not it's a waste of time.

( wherein I babble about character development and plot )

It always amuses me when I go on and on and on about books or movies or whatever that I don't like.

Jut to recap - The Vampire Diaries TV show, good (see icon). The Vampire Diaries books, not so good.

Huh. It would seem that review drained me. Awesome. Now I have to go read something good to scrub the not-good out of my brain. I'm thinking something dirty. Hmm. I must ponder this.
Later.

Oh, do I have a story to tell. A story about coffee and the insanely good deal my mom found today. To start, she works for Pepperidge Farm, delivering cookies and other goodies to the stores around Morgan Hill, South San Jose and Gilroy. She's in these stores more than once a week and she always seems to stumble upon these deals that are way too good to be true. She called me today all in a tizzy because the Walmart by our house has bags of coffee for $2. Two dollars. TWO. For a bag. Not just a bean or scoop. A whole bag. I bought 7 bags. Yes. 7. I have a pantry full of coffee. I should really take a picture of it because it's just that cool.

After my AWESOME coffee buying experience I spent 2 1/2 hours getting my oil changed. It was supposed to take about 1/2 an hour. Hmm. There was a whole air filter issue and the guy delivering it took way longer than we thought he would. Yeah. I'd say it wasn't fun, but I wrote close to 1000 words this morning and finished off the next chapter of my multi-chapter epic. Although it's technically done and typed up, it took such an unexpected turn that I want to go back and make sure that it doesn't conflict with anything I've already written and posted. If it does, there might be some revising of earlier chapters because I like where it's going.

But that's not the point here. The point is that it had been a year since I'd last taken my car in (when I got it smogged in January of 2009. Yikes!) and about 2 years since I'd taken it in to these particular guys (who are great and really, really honest) and it looks like I need to take it back next week to have a lot of little things done to it. As the mechanic put it, it's not all critical (except new transmission fluid and struts on the back tires) but what's the point in stringing it out over a month or two or four? Hell, I've mostly ignored my car for the last two years, I guess it's time to give it some TLC. $1200 worth of TLC. Arrgh.

So, now on top of paying my taxes (which I finally sent out since my mom bought stamps for me), I'm having some work done on my car. Suck. It's needed, but ... suck.

Book #36 - The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #6) by Kim Harrison - There were a couple of things that I really liked about this book. The first being that there's extended Rachel/Trent interaction and the potential for more given what happens at the end. The second is that we're starting to get some answers regarding what the Ever-After is and how it relates to the non-demon side of the lines. I didn't even know I had questions about the Ever-After until I started getting answers. Which is kinda cool. So, Rachel has to face off against an angry Al who's being summoned from the Ever-After nightly and left to run free. She finds out some shocking truths about herself and her family and has to willingly cross over into the Ever-After to help Trent in his never ending battle to help his people. I really liked the portrayal of the Ever-After. Broken, dying, frozen, deadly. It makes me shivery. Once again, Rachel is being forced to face more of herself and what she is and can do. The mystery of Kisten's death is left more or less alone while Rachel works through her guilt and pain. I'm not sure if it's my absolute favorite in the series, but it ranks up there. Pretty high, too.

Writing, reading, freezing my toes off in my flip flops while I was waiting for my car.
It was a good day.
Later.

Ahhh ... another Sunday night.

I have to share this awesomeness ... International Delights (the creamer!) makes a line of "Coffee House Inspirations" and they are so so so so sosososososososo good. H and I have been going crazy with their Skinny Carmel Macchiato. It so incredibly tasty and I don't at all miss going to Starbucks now. Love! We also picked up their Skinny Vanilla Latte but we haven't tried that one yet. Yum yum yum

I've been feeling a wee bit unsettled the last few days. I could attribute it to what happened to my dad, but I'm not sure that's it. I feel shivery on the inside like something's coming. Something good I hope. I've been having the urge to put pen to paper and actually plot out a story instead of letting them ferment into nothingness in my brain.

Lately I've picked up a few professional writers to follow on LJ and I think it's so fascinating to see their processes. In some ways it boggles me that they have the same writing hurdles that I have. I mean, intellectually I understand that they're just people and they're going to have the same problems with writing that I sometimes run into but it's really interesting to actually see.

Okay. I'm done for tonight.

By the by, blabapalooza is hopping right now. Movie reviews are practically falling from the sky.

Now I'm really done.
Later.

Holy fuck! I just changed my monitor over to a gorgeous one that's ... actually, I don't know how big it is, I just know it's bigger than the one I had ... and it's beyond AWESOME! It's HUGE! And I'm all ... O_o ... niiiiiccccce.

I did have to buy speakers to go with it since my old monitor had speakers in it, but it was a small price to pay for a free monitor that's 11111100000000% better than my old one. Plus, these speakers do sound way better. Music! Yay!

I must return later. Also, I must draw you. Hahahaha! I had a lot of coffee today. Hee!

Laters!