Birthday and Christmas Highlights

I've been meaning to post ever since Friday, but I've been held hostage. By, yes, Angry Birds.

My big birthday gift was an iPod Touch to replace the iPod that was stolen in NY in June and so my husband could have his iPod back. I love the damned thing so much. I keep going back and forth between e-mail and Twitter and Facebook and the Patriots app and Angry Birds. I spent much of Christmas day troubleshooting my in-laws wireless network so we could all connect to it. (And much of the rest of it getting my father-in-law started with the Kindle he didn't want. He likes it, though!)

I did go get adjusted on Friday, because my back was worse when I woke up. It steadily got better until yesterday, and the way I was sitting or the jumping around during Catchphrase. I was teamed with Number Two and my nephew, both of whom preferred the Sports category, and my MIL, who excelled at the Entertainment stuff. We kicked butt in the number of words/phrases we guessed, but the other team (my husband, his sister, his father, and Number One) would drag out their clues/guesses so long that inevitably, we got the buzzer just before it buzzed and never had time to do one more. It was raucous fun.

My big present for Christmas was a new widescreen monitor. I f'd up my computer so I haven't loaded the Windows 7 I bought today, but I can't wait to do that so I can take full advantage of all the wide goodness.

Watched Doctor Who last night, and it was a decent enough Christmas special. It served mainly to make me long for the series to come back already. I'm tempted to go back and rewatch it all, because I have the Netflix app. :)

Some other highlights from Christmas:

Number One got a guitar, and she has barely stopped playing. She's teaching herself "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol and her fingers are purple. She also loves her gift from her sister, which is a soccer ball signed by Abby Wombach. It was an item in a silent auction at her school, and she didn't even think twice, just instantly bid $100 and chewed her nails the rest of the night hoping no one would outbid her.

The Patriots won on Christmas Eve. That was good, especially when they were down 17-0 at halftime. Wes Welker is on Twitter now, and yes, that's a major reason I couldn't put the iPod down on my birthday.

Number One also put together a special present for us all. We had to open her gift from us last. Each of us got a piece of a puzzle, that put together looked like this:

I bet no one else got this gift in 2011! :)

So what was your best gift or best part of the holiday this year?

Interview with Susan Gourley

I want to welcome Susan Gourley, fantasy and fantasy romance author!

Sue, you have two romance series (The Chronicles of Solonia and The Tigers of Salubria, under Susan Kelley) and a fantasy series (The Futhark Chronicles, under Susan Gourley). You're also a teacher and mother of four VERY active kids. How on earth do you do it all?

Well, the kids are a little older now. The youngest earned her driver's license a few weeks ago. That frees up lots of my time. I usually write in the evenings and on weekends. The first book of The Tigers of Salubria is available now, and the second one is coming out in March. Promotion is the biggest drain on my writing time but it has to be done.

The second book in The Futhark Chronicles came out January 1st. Tell us a little about it.

Beyond the Gate takes up the tale of Cage Stone and Sabelline Shelton moments after the first book, The Keepers of Sulbreth, ended. As the duo travels into the cave system where they must reset the magical seals keeping the demon invasion from Futhark, they discover their mission has been complicated by unexpected obstacles and the ignorance of the people who trained them. Cage will discover things about his past he would rather have never known, and Sabelline faces a decision that could save the world but destroy her. The kingdom of Futhark, in the meantime, is rocked by a civil war when the king is at his most vulnerable. Only Cage suspects it is all connected by an evil stalking Futhark beyond any they could have imagined.

I have a whole page on my own website dedicated to my obsessions passions. They include Harry Potter, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and the New England Patriots (but we're not talking about them this week). What are your own obsessions passions?

I wouldn't think of mentioning the Pats. (Thank you!) I really don't obsess about things. Despite the large role of athletics in my family, I'm not a fan of professional sports. I like various shows, books, music, but I don't obsess over them. Even my hobbies are extremely varied. There are so many things I like, reading, writing, jigsaw puzzles, gardening, baking, hiking, and many more. I love what I'm doing when I'm doing and only wish for more hours in the day so I could do more.

You build really amazing worlds in your storytelling. How do they come about? Do you figure out details as you go, or develop the world before you start writing?

I'm actually doing a class on that later and I've blogged on it a number of times. I do general details before I start and add more as I need them. The most important thing in a fantasy world is to know how the magic works. The magic influences nearly everything else—government, commerce, medical care, weapons, society and class distinctions. Geography can also be a big factor. I always draw a map before I start even though I'm not much of an artist.

What's next for you?

I have another fantasy romance coming out from New Concepts Publishing in March and am working on the next one in that series. Beyond the Mountain, Book #3 in the Futhark series, is due out in early 2012. I also have a second fantasy series I'm determined to find a publisher for this year.

Thanks for having me, Natalie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have no doubt you'll find that publisher, Sue! Keep those awesome books coming! :)

Sue's been doing a blog tour this month, so you can find out more about her here, here, here, here, and here! Check out yesterday's post for her website, Facebook, and Goodreads links.

Thanks for guesting, Sue!

Salute to Supernatural—The Part I Wrote on Tuesday

I was going to talk about a different aspect of the convention every day this week, breaking it into a variety of topics, and then I typed 676 words so boring I was dozing off. Which, you know, after three nights of four hours of sleep, isn't that hard, but you don't deserve that.

So I'm just going to talk randomly about different things until I think I've done enough for the day or the to-do pile caves in on me, and then post some more tomorrow.

If you want organized, comprehensive, hitting all the big highlights, you can read my Supernatural Sisters post, which went up today.

First thing that pops into my head:

Breakdown of Who Watches the Show and Who Doesn't (in order of appearance):

Chad Lindberg—Only watched the episodes he's in. Admits it with such a puppy-dog look you can't care.

Richard Speight, Jr.—Only watched the episodes he's in. Is so freakin' awesome all around, you don't care.

Gabriel Tigerman—Only watched the episodes he's in. And he was so sweet and endearing, you don't care.

Traci Dinwiddie—Watches it all, is a big fan of the show. I think everyone understood why the others haven't seen it--when you're in only two eps, and guest-starring on a bunch of different shows, it makes sense that you're not going to become an automatic viewer of all of them. But the crowd really loved that Traci is a big fan. Pam returns to the show, and one attendee asked her for tidbits and spoilers. The crowd didn't like that, but it didn't matter, because Traci, as a fan, is a big believer in not revealing cool or important stuff.

Jim Beaver—He didn't specifically say if he watches the episodes he's not in, but he's in enough that he knows the show and everything around it pretty well.

Todd Stashwick—Again, I don't think he specifically said, but he referenced things so that you could tell he's seen more than just his one episode.

Charles Malik Whitfield—He asked for the DVDs when he arrived on set and started watching from the pilot. Watched the pilot, got up and turned the lights back on. :) He's watched the whole series.

Misha Collins—Like Todd, I don't think he made clear how much he's actually watched, but he knows the show well enough that I couldn't tell for sure if it was from the inside or from watching it.

The way the convention went (which is presumably different than it would have been with Jared present), Friday was very moderately paced and only half-attended; Saturday was a big speedier, with more guests and more to do, but still with big gaps of time and lots of filler; and Sunday was boom-boom-boom, one thing to another, from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (later for those who didn't score row C!).

Consequently, the guests on Friday and Saturday had more time to do the things they needed to do, which allowed for a more casual atmosphere and more approachability--as well as more opportunity to approach.

Friday and Saturday had more filler, too. Music videos (fan made, of varying quality, and with too much emphasis on seasons 1 and 2). An auction of vendor merchandise which was fun to watch because the emcee was amusing and, you know, Misha's face on a four-foot banner? Always delightful to stare at while people fight for it.

(Misha's banner was auctioned on Sunday and went for $500. The ones of the boys would probably have gone for more if they'd been there to sign them, but the banners that were going to be signed by all nine people in attendance sold for less than $200!)

They had a yes/no trivia game, where the last person standing won a $200 gift certificate (hi, Kayleigh!). I finally got up the guts to drag Lori up with me in the third round, and of course we got out with the first question. I know! But in our defense: The question was "The shapeshifter in the episode 'Skin' changed into three other people." There was no time to think, to count, and it sounded close, so we said yes. As did 26 other people on stage. Two were left standing after the first question. So we don't feel stupid at all.

Ahem.

They also held a costume contest. Megan went as:



Dean's favorite food, of course.

There was the girl from "Bloody Mary," a female Sam and Dean, a crossroads demon, and someone who'd made up her own character, complete with backstory on why she died and why she was a vengeful spirit. Third prize went to two young guys--who didn't know each other--who were passable imitations of youngish adult Sam and Dean. The Sam was best, and really hammed it up, showing his anti-possession tattoo. :)

Bobby took second place, and I was surprised, because the guy looked simultaneously just like Bobby, and nothing like him.



First place was no contest, though. A guy in a giant teddy bear costume, with stuffing coming out of his blown-open head, complete with a copy of Busty Asian Beauties and a chalkboard with his suicide note. When the emcee asked him who he was, he said, plaintively, "I don't know why I'm here!"



I think that's enough for one day, so let me leave you with some random beauty:













And this video, which tied for my favorite of the tribute vids shown at the con:

Teaser

I don't have time to post yet about the Salute to Supernatural! First thing Tuesday (like, midnight eastern time) I'll have a highlights post over at Supernatural Sisters, and I'll have posts here all week with details of my TREMENDOUS experience, but for now, here's a teaser:

My Favorite Date

Today is my 15th anniversary. In honor of that, here are 15 random things I'm thinking/doing today:

1. I'm trying really hard not to watch the Supernatural Director's Cut. One more day! I can wait!

2. My keyboard started acting up this afternoon--and it's not even Merc retro for 9 more days! It was typing in all caps when the caps were off, and not in caps when the caps were on, and the * key on the keypad was stuck down. So I popped off the left Shift key and ohmylord, the cat hair. Ended up popping all the keys off to clean it (which doesn't freak me out the way it does Shannon). It has an odd touch now. Like it's smoother, but also takes more effort to depress.

3. While popping and cleaning the keys, I noticed that not only is my E completely worn off, my L is nearly so. S, M, and O are not far behind, and those I get. But L?

4. I bought the new Supernatural comic today. Don't know why I bother. The art is not to my taste and the story line doesn't thrill me. Saw the cliffhanger coming, though not until the end. I'm just always hoping to see more Wee!Dean and Baby!Sam, I guess.

5. Tom Brady is totally hot.

6. We watched our wedding video with the kids tonight. OMG, the hair. 1992 hair was an awful lot like 1987 hair. I couldn't believe all the women who wore it in that frizzy perm but pulled it all forward over their shoulders so there was no hair hanging in the back. My favorite part of the video is still at the end of the ceremony, where someone opened the side door as we started down the aisle, and my very long veil swept sideways and across the crowd, causing Aunt Phyllis to duck or be strangled.

7. We also watched Heroes (both eps) tonight. From the reviews and comments I was expecting to be underwhelmed, but I really enjoyed it. Better than the whole first season, I think. I love Matt and Mohinder taking care of Molly together, and Mohinder and HRG's plan to take down the Company--and winning, so far! I love Badass !Peter and Hey-I-Can-Heal!Kensei (I could just eat David Anders up), and I REALLY love that there was no Nikki/Jessica yet. I could do without the twins, and would have preferred Angela die first instead of Sulu. But overall, a good showing. Oh, but TiVo cut off the end because I didn't have it set to go over a minute or two, and we didn't see what happened after the Flying Kid saw Claire cut off her toe and it grew back. She ran outside, and freeze. So what happened?

8. My book will not be done by my self-imposed (19th) deadline. I only have about 35, 40 more pages, but I'm also doing a proofing job, and since that's paid work and the novel is the fifth in line to be shopped/sold, there's no rush on it.

9. I'm also quite convinced the book sucks, it definitely isn't as good as the three that came before it, but I'm not gonna worry about it now. I'll lament it during edits.

10. The comments trail at PubRants today is very amusing reading.

11. My next Gilmore Girls disk is coming from Lansing, MI, because that's apparently the closest warehouse that has a copy. Which meant it did not get shipped yesterday like it was supposed to, and even worse, it will take two days to get here AND two days to get back, delaying the NEXT disk. Geez, you think I'm spoiled much? It shouldn't matter. I had TV to watch with J tonight and tomorrow is Supernatural, and we still haven't watched Numb3rs and I have a new Prison Break and the season finale of Eureka to watch. I don't need the Gilmore Girls DVDs, especially since I'm not thrilled with the current Dean situation (Rory broke up his marriage and now it seems to be awkward between them unless it's about sex and I know he only has about half a dozen episodes left and I shall MEEESS HIM even though I know he does Supernatural during GG season 6 and I wouldn't trade THAT for anything in the world). But I'm like a junkie. A fast-paced, witty dialogue junkie.

12. Karmela is right. TV is evil. Well, that's not really what she said. But it's gotta be, right? Taking over our lives like this...

13. I got J an iPod for our anniversary. I was running errands tonight so Number One was showing him how to use iTunes and work his iPod. She told me "that's how it goes, the kid always shows the parents." I told her that's not how it is for ME, thank you very much, and she said, "Well, no, Moms are smarter." HEE. Someone's raising my kids right.

14. October 3 is my favorite date of the year. Not just because it's my anniversary, because we only make a big deal out of it maybe every two out of five years or so (not evenly distributed, as we did a cruise for 10 and Manassas for 11). But October 3 is the date German reunification was officially completed, associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Cleveland Indians played their last game at Municipal Stadium on October 3. And the date just rolls nicely off my tongue, and looks good, too.

15. It wasn't always that way. J and I met the first week of school my freshman year, 1988. On October 28 we went to the Barn Party his frat threw, and then November 5th the pledge formal, and we've been together ever since. He graduated in May 1990, and proposed that August. We weren't going to get married until after I graduated in May 1992 (I ended up graduating early, December 1991) so we'd have two years before the wedding date. I knew I wanted October, and fall is his favorite season, too, so he was all for it. So I counted ahead and said "Okay, let's get married October 4th." I forgot the leap year in 1992! I think his parents checked a calendar and said, "Ummm, that's a Sunday?" But for the longest time I kept saying October 4th, both before and AFTER the wedding.

New Passion

Last night I attended my first professional soccer match. And all I can say is, what took me so long?

The Harrisburg City Islanders have been around since 2004. One of the owners is the guy whose company handles my 401(k), but do you think I made an effort? Of course not. City Island is a great place, but I equate sports on the island with crowds, parking issues, and mayflies (which actually bother J more than me, but still).

But the team has a promotion now that offers free Pro Passes to kids who are playing soccer, which means for most games, they go free. Number One's team was going to last night's game, so we decided to go.

Parking? Free. And not overly crowded.

Crowds? Minimal.

Issues? Obliterated.

The seats we got assigned were front row bleachers behind one goal. J wants me to spring for the more expensive sideline seats next time, but they weren't bad seats. We were right next to the players coming off the field after warmups and coming on during introductions.

And maannnnn. WHY was I not compelled to go to these games? Twenty-two hot guys--lean, muscled, strong guys--duking it out with their feet. Hot, sweaty guys wiping sweat off their faces with the hems of their shirts--exposing lots of yummy abs. What's not compelling about that?

The game was fun, too. The distances the ball travels amaze me, though I found the differences that result interesting. It was less disciplined than I would have expected. Some sequences had fabulous passing and teamwork, but a lot of the time, it's a header free-for-all. There wasn't as much finesse and footwork than I thought we'd see. There was plenty of acting, as any time a player went down and a foul was whistled, they acted really hurt.

The Islanders are having a good season. They have only one loss, and that's to Western Mass, which is where I grew up, so I'm not unhappy about that. I'm pretty much a hometown girl, even if I've lived in PA nearly as long as I lived in MA. They are in round two of the U.S. Open Cup, too. We missed the round one game because of storms (bought tickets and then bagged the game, which of course they won). I hope we get a chance to see another game.

So this is going up on my web site's Passions page, and I'll be there Wednesday, cheering my team on.

To think I always thought I'd only like soccer when my kids were in the game. Silly me.