Surprise! I am a Writer!

I am participating in this yearly challenge in the Never Too Old For Y.A. Books group on goodreads, and for February the challenge was to write a 1000 to 2000 word story with random words and characters included. I thought it would be fun to share with you what I wrote. Or not. Everything with an * was words we were to include for added points:) And it needed to have the beginning and ending sentences that I used. I do not consider myself an author, and this was all for fun, so don't be too judgemental. And without further delay here is my work of art:

I'm standing at a crossroad and I'm finding it difficult to decide which road to take. As I am sitting here with my *cat, Pickles, and watching *The Breakfast Club, I realize I cannot hide out forever. I am faced with the decision of following my boyfriend to Canada, or staying put and trying to land my dream job as *Dean Winchester's personal assistant. I mean, who moves to Canada by choice? And just because Dean doesn't know he needs an assistant yet, doesn't mean it can't happen.

So as I am sitting here alone on *Valentine's Day, my phone rings and draws me out of my thoughts. It is my best friend, Emma. She must be needing a night out.

"Hey, Emma," I answer with reluctance.

"Jo! You are not sitting at home moping are you? Just because Ethan is working tonight does not mean you have to stay home. You are coming with me to Club*Red tonight, and no buts about it. You know I have no date, and I want to have some fun."

"Em, you know I have to be careful. Ethan is still getting those threatening messages, and this last one was written in*red lipstick, which is weird on a whole new level. But it also mentioned me this time, so he knows who I am."221

Ethan had been receiving anonymous threatening messages for a couple months now. There was never any indication what they were about. Just telling him to leave town or else. He works as a party clown, so it is highly unlikely it has to do with his job. I mean who threatens a clown that cheers up children.

"You can just call and let him know where you'll be and he can meet us there after he is done entertaining. And we need a night out before you move," Emma added at the end, bringing on the guilt.

"Alright. But I may not move. You know my dreams about *Dean Winchester."

"I am telling you this as your friend. Forget *Dean Winchester. That is a ridiculous dream. Now go get dressed in something sexy. I will be there in 15 minutes."

Well way to crush my dreams. Guess I am headed out. After I hung up I sent Ethan a quick message to meet us, and then rushed to get ready. I had bought a little *red dress for tonight before learning Ethan had a hospital of sick kids to cheer up. I guess I would get to show it off after all. After applying a quick coat of mascara and lip gloss, and grabbing my heels, I rushed to find my jacket and meet Emma at her car before she annoyed the neighbors with her honking.

When we arrived at the club Emma immediately started to flirt with the bouncer, and got us in without waiting in line. A hot blond friend comes in handy quite often. Then she dragged me to the bar for shots to loosen up. I was going to need it. Clubs were not really my scene, and I especially felt awkward without Ethan. I hope he got my message and would arrive soon. I never knew how long his job would keep him.

After our liquid courage, we went out on the dance floor, and Emma scouted the place for a man. After a few songs I needed a break, and went back to the bar to sit for a minute. I felt eyes on me, and a chill went up my spine, but when I looked I did not see anything suspicious. Must be all those Supernatural reruns I keep watching. Maybe Emma was right and I was too obsessed with Dean. But did I want to move to Canada?

After glancing around one more time, and checking my phone for any messages, I decided I needed some air. All these couples grinding up against each other was making me nauseous. But as I walked towards the door, I felt like someone was watching me again. After glancing around and shaking off the feeling, I exited the door, and took a breath of city fresh air. It was still better that sweaty club air. I walked a ways down the road for some privacy and relaxed against the brick wall, closing my eyes and trying to relax.

Suddenly I felt a warm hand on my side and hot breath in my ear. "I thought I would never get you alone," said a voice I recognized from long ago, but had hoped I would never hear again. My eyes popped open and I was face to face with my high school boyfriend, Mike. We had broke up after Mike had started acting too possessive, and I was not ready for that kind of relationship. I moved away to college, changed my number, and got rid of all reminders of him. But apparently he had not forgotten me. I think I just discovered the author of those threatening messages.

"Mike. What are you doing here? How did you find me?" I asked in the most steady voice I could manage. I knew fear would just excite him, and I needed to stay calm until I could get away.

"You know I could never live without you, baby. You sure made it hard to track you down. We will have to discuss that later." Mike proceeded to pin me against the wall and rub his mouth up and down my neck inhaling my scent and taking the occasional taste. "You taste so good, Jo. Better than I remember."

After swallowing down the bile that had risen in my throat, I tried to come up with a plan to get away. "I am with Ethan now. You need to let me go, Mike, and move on with your life. It has been 5 years."

This only seemed to anger him as he gritted his teeth and squeezed his hands around my waist tighter. "You were mine first, and you will be mine again!" he yelled. "I warned Ethan to leave town, but he just wouldn't take the hint, and now I have to result to more drastic measures. You will come with me, and be mine or else."

Suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw a shadow of a movement, but it was enough to give me hope. I had never been more happy to be wearing high heels as I used all I had in me to give a swift kick to his shin and stomp his toe with the heel, as I screamed out for help and tried to break away. The shadow moved closer and I had never been happier than to see Ethan appear by my side. With a few well placed punches by Ethan to Mike's face and stomach, I was finally free.

I jumped into Ethan's arms, and clung to him like there was no tomorrow. I finally knew where I belonged. With my knight in shining armor. It took a near kidnapping to make me realize it, but I loved Ethan and did not want to lose him. I did not need *Dean Winchester. I just needed Ethan even if that meant moving to Canada. For me, there is no point of return.

Just a note: I have nothing against Canada. I love Canada. And I have never been to a bar or had a drink. All I know I learned in books, so if it is not accurate enough for you, oh well. Not even sure why I chose a bar. Maybe I read too many books with clubs and drinking in them. What are all those young adult books teaching me? I do not promote drinking at all. Which now has me wondering why I even had the characters doing that.

So what did you think?? Do you see an author in my future, or should I stick to reading? Be nice:)

 

Happy Tuesday

I am so excited today! I just got approved for a few new books to review from Netgalley. I was doing the happy excited dance for about 10 minutes. And here they are:

• The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe
• Avenger by Heather Burch

So excited to read these and tell you guys all about them!

Here are a few others that I have been given for reviews or Purchased:

• Fallen Desire by N.L. Echeverria for Nook
• Zeus by Kamery Solomon for Kindle
• The Photo Traveler by Arthur J. Gonzalez for Nook
• Arabelle's Shadows by Fleur Gaskin from author for review
• Midnight by Salima Korri from author for review

The pictures were not working out for me tonight, but I will be sure to include them with links when I review. You can check out all my books here on my Goodreads Shelf.

Have a great evening!!

The Stone Guardian

Today I am reviewing The Stone Guardian by Theresa McClinton. I received this ebook from the author for an honest review from the Goodreads group YA/NA Fanatics which I am one of the mods of. You can read the blurb here The Stone Guardian

I loved this book. I was drawn in from the first chapter where I learned about Ashley who has grown up in an orphanage/institute. She has had nightmares all her life that result in her waking up with bruises, cuts, bodily harm of some sort, and no one that believes her. Then one night after a fire alarm sounds, she is kidnapped, along with her best friend Tara, from the orphanage by Renato and Marzena. She soon learns that she is the Guardian of an ancient stone blessed by the gods called the stone of Muuk'Ich. She must rescue the stone from Sarian since she is its rightful guardian and protector.

Sarian is the ultimate villian from the middle world. He stole the stone from Ashley's mother 17 years ago, and now he wants Ashley to be his and rule by his side in the underworld. He is the one that has haunted her dreams. He has been working on breaking the obedience spell from the stone so he can possess its powers.

Now Ashley and her new found family must work together with all of their supernatural abilities to retrieve the stone. What ensues is a story full of action and adventure. There is time travel, dream walking, healing abilities, and my favorite, Arwan and his timebender ability. There are creatures from hell, a bit of romance, and a trip back to the Victorian era with the help of a sort of succumbus that has her own reasons to get revenge on Sarian.

What I loved: Arwan! He is one of the love interests in the story. He is definitely drool worthy. I wished there was more of him in the story, and a big secret about him is revealed in the very end.

What I disliked: Ashley was too quick to make rash decisions. She made a choice at the end of this book that I am not so sure about. But it will make a great story for the sequel.

Craziest thing: When they go back in time the first time using Arwan's abilities and have to use an ancestor of the modern day fluke worm as an oxygen mask. Doesn't that give you the heebie jeebies???

Favorite quotes:
"Once you bond with the stone and become its guardian, it will be your soul mate. It will feel your pain, and you will feel its pain. When you are sorrowful, it will show compassion. When you are joyful, it will celebrate your happiness. It becomes a part of you, since you are in fact, a part of it." page 509 on iBooks

"He kissed her softly. "I may not have been so patient if I knew you would taste so good."" page 710 on iBooks

I did think this was a stand alone book, but it is not. It ended with a great setup for the next book, which I am very excited for:) This book is great for young and old adults!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

The Amazing Land of Indie eBooks

I have always loved to read. I remember in 6th grade reading 14 books a month. I would borrow books by the stack from the library. I am sure my mother wished I would go play somewhere, but I just loved to read. I slowed down a little in high school, probably only reading 1 or 2 a week. And then when I got married it really slowed down. I would go on spurts where I would read a bunch, and then not read for up to 6 months or more.

Then ereaders came out and changed my world! One of the best inventions ever! But even after I bought the 1st edition Nook, I still did not have that many books. They were still too expensive. Then a miracle happened. I discovered indie books! They are cheaper, sometimes free, and are some of my most favorite books. Now I own more books then I can finish, and I just can't stop reading and buying and downloading. I have upgraded my nook, and I have the kindle app and iBooks, so everything is available to read.

Here are 10 of my most favorite indie books from the last couple years. There are so many that I love but that would be one long list. There are also many that I loved that found a publisher, so those are for another day:) In no particular order:

Discern Saga by Samantha Shakespeare. Awesome New Adult Series
This one has gods, monsters, and good vs. evil.



The Light of Asteria (Kailmeyra Series) by Elizabeth Isaacs. Best Fantasy series I have ever read. It is a good clean story of light vs. the dark.



Timber Wolves Trilogy by Tammy Blackwell. Werewolf series that will touch your heart, and break it, but in the end of book 3 you will have your happily ever after.



Daughter of the Sea series by Kristen Day. I was so excited to discover this series. These are books on some mythology with a great heroine, and her hero.




Star-Crossed series by Rachel Higginson. I love everything written by Rachel. This is a story about magic, courage, bravery, adventure, and romance.



Witch Fairy series by Bonnie Lamer. This series is just plain cute, and funny.




The Premonition Series by Amy A. Bartol. I thnk this is one of my favorite angel series of all time. It is New Adult, and it has Reed and Brennus. What is not to love.



Requiem series by Christine Fonseca. I love Christine's writing. It comes off poetic, and is easy to read. Young adult series.



Mobster series by Amy Rachiele. This was a surprisingly good discovery. There is the mob, romance, and of course action. New adult series.



Darkness Falls series by Krystal Wade. After seeing this gorgeous cover I just had to try it. And it was an amazing book! I still need to read book 3, but I highly recommend this fantasy series.


 

A Collection of Souls

When the wonderful Jessica Marie Gilliland asked me if I would like a copy of her book A Collection of Souls in exchange for an honest review. I jumped at the chance. I absolutely loved Anomaly that she co-wrote with Kimberly Gourgon, and was excited for another book by her. And this was one of those books that was hard to put down and kept me up half the night finishing.

I am going to try to give a review without giving anything away, but it may be hard. Alyssa isn't looking for love, but when she meets Beau she can't help being drawn to him. Soon she is on a trip to Paris with him and skipping out on college. But Beau is not all he seems, and he has his own devious plan in the works. He is a soul collector and he wants Alyssa with him. He is tired of being lonely and wants her as a partner.But Alyssa feels tricked, and even though her soul now belongs to him, she puts up a fight of her own. Until she just can't anymore, and she gives in. And even though three years pass, and she is doing the work he wants her to, her heart just isn't in it, and she feels like she has lost herself.

This all leads up an adventure in conspiracy, love, guilt, pleasure, sacrifice, betrayal, and of course soul stealing fun. Not necessarily in that order. Everything comes together in the end for one of the best betrayals, and acts of love and sacrifice I have read. Parts of it had me near tears, and wondering how this could turn out well enough not to totally break my heart. And even though the ending was bitter sweet, I couldn't help loving it and thinking it was the perfect absolution for the story. The last 20% of this story was just such a great build up and showdown, that I am just not sure how to describe my feelings.

One of my favorite things in the story was a tattoo that Alyssa gets added to every week. This has a great meaning, and it helps show that through everything, she really does still care, and has not totally lost herself.

I gave this book 4.5 stars! I recommend it to 16 years and older.

 

Is it the Computer or Me??

As I am trying to construct this blog I realize more and more how computer illiterate I am. I do not speak in code. And I am also getting no reading done. This is going to require a strong pepsi. I think my 13 year old knows more than me, so I am going to have to bribe him for assistance:) Maybe finally read that book he keeps shoving in my face. I will definitely be posting a review tomorrow, even if I have to stay up all night. Which brings me to the realization I have come to this morning. Staying up all night is not that easy to do as you get older. After chasing kids all day I am excited to finally settle down and read, but as soon as my head hits my pillow I crash. My eyes close against my will and my poor books get set aside. My Nook is crying from neglect, I am sure.

Yeah! My new blog!

This is in the process of being constructed, but I cannot wait to share with you all the books I read, or at least most of them:) I love indie and published, so let the reading and reviews begin!