Random Catch-Up and Some Big News

Phew! That Month of the Hero thing takes a lot out of you. All week, I meant to post all kinds of stuff I'd been "collecting," but time just kept slipping...slipping...slipping...

Anyway, MJ and I had a lot of fun with all of you, and we appreciate the visits and the comments and the great suggestions of additional heroes. I hope you all had fun, too!

Wow, so much to talk about. Let's break it down into sections:

Movies


A few weeks ago, watching Modern Family, we saw a preview for Source Code. I'd seen it a few times, but hadn't really thought much about it besides "I want to see that." (Okay, maybe a little "mmmm, Jake" as well.) Number Two pipes up, halfway through the spot, "shes' the bomber." We all stared at her in shock, and a little dismay. I don't want my movie experience ruined like that! But mostly shock, because even though she's nearly 12, she has no interest in movies with tension, never mind people exploding over and over again. Where did she come up with that?

So the weekend Source Code came out, her father and I went to see it. Very good movie. It had some nice twists, and required some fun thinking to understand and fill in some holes that weren't fully explained. But no, she wasn't the bomber. Would have been a much funnier story if she was.

I've watched some older movies lately, too. Finally got around to Inception. LOVED it. Except the end made me scream. I hate endings like that. But I made my own determination, as obviously intended by the filmmaker, and fell even more in love with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I had to add a few older, less appealing movies to my Netflix queue because he only has one movie this year, and it's not until September.

Also saw Zombieland (funny!) and The Switch (it was okay).

Books

Read a whole bunch of really great books lately. Also read the free novella Reaper, of the Soul Screamers series. I wasn't sure I wanted to continue the series, as well written as it is, because I'm not so enamored of Nash anymore. But I need more Tod. :)

Also really enjoyed Shiver of Fear by Roxanne St. Claire (got it free in a Twitter giveaway from Grand Central; cannot WAIT for Vivi's book!), Breaking the Rules by Suzanne Brockmann (her voice permeates every character so there's a lot of similarity, but I love that voice, and I love the core of every one of those characters!), and My One and Only by Kristan Higgins (so glad it wasn't in present tense this time! LOL).

I'm now reading The Iron King and have half a dozen more books that I have to read RIGHT NOW, as well as another dozen more in my TBR collection (it's not a pile when it's on the Kindle) and some on my real-life bookshelf. And, as always, four pages of samples to remind me what else I want to buy, most of them from Carina.

I'd ask what you're reading that's good, but that would just make my to-buy collection longer...

TV

Can I just say how much I hate hiatus season? Luckily, there's only, like, one week where NONE of my favorite shows were on, and there are a couple of decent new shows that started.

We really like Mr. Sunshine, which is fast-paced, well acted, and funny. The characters are pretty over-the-top, but have just enough vulnerability to make them appealing.

We also like Breaking In, mainly because we really like Christian Slater and Brett Harrison (from Reaper—the discontinued CW show, not the free novella mentioned above). The pilot was a little frenetic and had that trying-to-hard element, but I think it will settle in to be fun and interesting.

Watching, but not loving, Mad Love. Mainly hooked because of Tyler Labine (also, coincidentally, from Reaper) and the fantabulous Judy Greer. It's a show I wouldn't miss if it failed.

Of the older shows, bored with Bones (Where's the depth?), annoyed with Castle (Where's the snappy writing? Yeah, we can tell the place is trashed, thanks, Beckett.), oooooh, but so loving Nikita. Since the show's continuation is in question, I'm really happy they moved the Nikita/Michael relationship forward instead of teasing it out. Mmmmm, Michael.

Anyway, we're about at the end of hiatus season, and sliding into the sweet spot of few reruns from now until May. Then we hit June, and there are some summer shows I really miss and can't wait for (Covert Affairs, Haven).

Fight or Flight

In case you missed it, my latest romantic adventure was released two weeks ago. I updated its web page this weekend, including a few more retailer links and the reviews it's gotten. The Long and Short of It Reviewsgave it a great 5-book review, and it won book of the week, and I got this great video by Goddess Fish as a prize:

In Other News...

Release week was fantastic in several ways. I got the release date for my next romantic adventure from Carina Press. Behind the Scenes is scheduled for October 31. That book features a heroine running security on a movie set, which means of course the hero is a movie star. SO not her kind of guy, especially when he could be a target and her job is to keep him alive. I just received the developmental edit letter for this book, so that's what will be keeping me from blogging over the next three weeks.

Let me say again...my editor is brilliant. I am the luckiest author in existence.

Aaaaanddddd...

That week, I also sold a series to Entangled Publishing. The first book, Under the Moon, is tentatively scheduled to be out later this year. The series is paranormal romance (almost bordering on urban fantasy) and features modern-day goddesses. More on this series to come!

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Okay, really long makeup post, sorry. (You'd think I'd sprinkle it out through several days, wouldn't you? But I'm too lazy for that.) What's going on in YOUR life that you've been patiently waiting to tell me? :)