Computer Woes

For months now, I haven't been able to turn off my computer. When I ask it to shut down or restart, it just gets stuck until I have to do the Alt + Ctrl + Del thing. I'm very worried that it's going to shut down completely at any moment and I'll be unable to retrieve any files from it. (Knock on wood.)

It's scaring me a bit to think about this, but I'm considering a new purchase--a laptop computer. This has been in the back of my mind for a while; I think, wouldn't it be nice to be able to take it on trips? And to use it in the same room as the TV? I could also use it to read e-books away from my computer desk--still on a computer screen, but in more comfortable surroundings.

Apparently this is a year for significant electronics purchases. First my digital camera, now this . . .

Alyssa

Top Five Declarations of Love

It's been a while since my last top-five list. So, without further ado, here are my top-five declarations of love, in no particular order. Spoilers are ahead, so consider yourself warned.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
I couldn't help but start with Roarke, who falls in love with the brusque and tough Eve Dallas. He is more open than she to falling in love, and he tells her he loves her while they are working on a case.

Roarke had to force himself not to snatch her up as she swept through the hallowed Senate halls. Members of the media were already leaping toward her, but she cut through them as if they weren't there.

"I like your style, Lieutenant Dallas," he said when they'd fought their way to the car. "I like it a lot. And by the way, I don't think I'm in love with you anymore. I know I am."

Eve tells Roarke she loves him in the next book in the series, Glory in Death.

Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
Sam Starrett and Alyssa Locke have a troubled relationship. When they are together, they often argue, and they haven't been able to express how they really feel. Sam is the first to share what he feels, and I love the way he does it. It's so perfectly Sam.

She looked at him. "Are we actually talking about the weather?"

"Yes," he said. "Yes, we are. I thought I'd start with the fucking weather, maybe touch on what you've been up to the past six months, and, shit, work my way up to the conversation I just had with Jules over lunch. See, I had it all figured out that we'd talk for a while, and then I'd bring up your partner. And I'd tell you that I got a chance to talk to him a little and he's an okay guy, and you'd be like, 'Jules and you? Wow, Roger, there's a friendship I never dreamed would happen in a million years.'"

Alyssa had to laugh at his imitation of her. It was pretty accurate, down to her habit of using his given name.

"And I'd say," he continued, "kind of casually, that Jules and I actually have a whole hell of a lot in common because, you know, we're, um . . ." He took a deep breath. "See, we're both in love with you."

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
Many readers say that this story is their favorite of Kleypas's books. I change my mind frequently, but I'd definitely say it's in the top three. Derek loves Sara desperately, but he doesn't tell her so, even after they are married. Then his club burns to the ground and he believes Sara is dead. When he sees that she's alive, everything changes.

"You said you'd never leave me." He held her as if he feared she would be ripped away from him.

"I'm here now," she soothed. "I'm right here."

She brushed her palms over his cold, wet cheeks. He was off-balance, his considerable weight swaying against her. "Have you been drinking?" she murmured, pulling back to look at him. He shook his head, staring at her as if she were a ghost. She wondered how to take away the shattered look in his eyes. . . .

"I love you," he told her, wiping impatiently at the tears that kept trickling down his face. "I couldn't say it before. I couldn't--" He clenched his trembling jaw, trying to control the hot flow of tears. It only made them worse. Giving up, he buried his face in her hair. . . .

"I love you," he repeated hoarsely, burrowing against her. "I would have given my life to have one more day with you, and tell you that."

Till Next We Meet by Karen Ranney
Catherine's husband of one month can't be bothered to write to her while he's at war, so his commanding officer, Moncrief, starts writing letters in her husband's name. When Moncrief marries her after she is widowed, he can't bring himself to admit the deception. Finally, however, he returns her letters along with a new one:

My dearest Catherine,
I give these [letters] back to you under duress, because while they were originated by you, they have come to give me great comfort. When I was alone in North America, I found they were my lifeline to all things I valued most highly in the world. I read and reread them until I memorized them. I fell in love with the woman who wrote them. That, dearest Catherine, was my greatest mistake.

These last months in your presence have proven to me how limited your letters truly were. They could not convey your laughter, or the sparkle in your eyes when you are amused. They have no way of demonstrating your kindness, or even revealing your irritation, your habit of expressing your annoyance with a roll of your eyes or a look.

I fell in love with your words until I fell in love with you.

That last line is absolutely beautiful.

Seduce Me by Jill Shalvis
I love this book about Jack and Sam in which traditional gender roles are reversed and Sam is the one afraid to commit. She can't help but be drawn to Jack, though. Their feelings gradually increase until they have this conversation (coincidentally, after a fire burns down Sam's cafe; what is it with me and post-fire scenes?):

"I've never met anyone who's wanted me so much. And I don't mean just sexually. I feel like you really just . . . want me. Me."

"I do," he said. "Very much."

"You never really said, you didn't push--"

Jack shook his head, not sure how to make her understand. "Push? Hell, I could hardly understand the emotions I felt when it came to you. Until last night." He drew in a ragged breath that didn't ease the tightness in his chest. "Last night, I drove up here and had a really bad moment when I saw the flames and not you. Last night, I knew. You're it for me, Sam."

It's interesting that all of my favorites are scenes where the hero declares his love. Do you have a favorite scene?

In case you missed them, here are links to the previous top-five lists:

Top Five Sweetest Moments
Top Five Love Scenes
Top Five First Lines
Top Five Scenes That Make Me Cry
Top Five Books I Want Right Now
Top Five Series Romance Covers

Alyssa

Long Weekend

It's the weekend of Memorial Day, and though it looked like I might have to work on Monday, I have escaped that horror. Thankfully.

I'm not sure if you'll here from me more or less since it's a holiday weekend. I am in town but am going to scrapbook at a coworker's house tonight. Monday I'll probably spend some time with my family.

If I don't get back to the computer much, I hope you have an enjoyable Memorial Day.

Alyssa

Dead As a Doornail

I've loved Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series since I read Dead Until Dark last year. Living Dead in Dallas is perhaps my favorite. I was looking forward to the latest in the series, Dead As a Doornail, but was a little disappointed: 3.5 out of 5.

The story starts with Sookie's brother experiencing a significant change in his life. At the same time, someone is shooting shapeshifters. When one of Sookie's friends is injured and her brother is suspected, Sookie tries to find out who is behind the attacks.

As I was reading, the main thing that struck me is that Dead As a Doornail feels like a transitional book. So many things are left in the air after the previous book, Dead to the World, that the feeling of transition isn't surprising. The thread involving Jason plays out as I expected; the ones involving Eric and Alcide surprised me. I was also intrigued by cameo appearances of two of Harris's other characters. Interesting stuff.

Sookie seems different in this installment, too. The best word I can think of to describe her is sullen. When I read the fifth Harry Potter book, I enjoyed it but was frustrated by Harry's petulant attitude. Although Sookie isn't petulant, I had similar feelings about her in Dead As a Doornail. In both books, I understood why the characters felt the way they did. But it went on too long.

When I read mysteries, I'm usually more focused on the characters and the romance than I am on the mystery. I've enjoyed the mysteries in Harris's previous books, however. In this case, the mystery doesn't pick up until the second half of the story. There is a surprising lack of urgency in the beginning. I also guessed the villain, which I don't usually do with Harris's books.

Having said all this, there are a number of things I enjoy about Dead As a Doornail. As I mentioned, certain developments with Eric and Alcide make me curious about where those relationships will go in the future. One particular discussion with Eric is fascinating. (I am an Eric junkie, though, so take that with a grain of salt.) There is a lot of interaction between characters in this book. I liked learning more about Claudine; she plays an interesting role in the book.

Although Dead As a Doornail is weaker than the other books in the series, I still enjoyed reading it. Only 11 months until the next installment. ::Sigh.::

Alyssa

Treasure Hunt

The search for my PDA continues. I've found all kinds of things in the process of looking for it. Here's a sampling:

• Mary Kay products: Instant-Action Eye Cream and Indulge Soothing Eye Mask


• Clannad CD and case (I found both; they had been separated)


• Unopened Ladyhawke DVD


• Color cartridge for my printer


• Eight archival pens I use while scrapbooking


• Electronic blackjack pocket game


• Sunglasses

No sign of the PDA though. Yet.

Alyssa

Overtime

I've been working overtime again, this time on the blog. Apparently the font on my new blog template translated em-dashes, apostrophes, and quotation marks into things like this: ’. So, I went back through every blog entry and manually changed them. I won't even guess how many hours it took. Let's put it this way: many, many hours. However, I'm glad it's done and now the text is readable again. If you see strange characters like ’, let me know. (Unfortunately, I can't edit them out of the comments, but feel free to point out any others.)

While I was making these manual changes, I added links where appropriate and corrected inconsistencies--for example, "book signing" should now be two words instead of one word in some places and two words in others. I also changed the titles of some posts. Sometimes I hate being a writer; I can never resist the urge to revise.

Alyssa

May TBR Challenge: Miss Wilson's Reputation

Since I enjoyed doing Keishon's TBR challenge once already and I have plenty of books TBR, I decided to read a second book.

1. Title/Author of Book
Miss Wilson's Reputation by Martha Kirkland

2. Brief Synopsis
Harriet Wilson helps Rand Dunford after he is attacked in the street. He fights off his attackers but is injured in the process. Harriet brings him in and tends to him, not realizing that he is a baron.

3. Copyright Year
2002

4. Did you like or dislike it?
I enjoyed it very much: 4 out of 5.

5. Was it designated a DIK or Five-Heart book at any review sites?
No, actually, it received a 3 at The Romance Reader and C at All about Romance. I didn't buy the book based on reviews, though.

6. Do you agree or disagree with the reviewers?
Both AAR and TRR reviews talk about the overblown language. I noticed that at times, but it didn't bother me as much as it apparently bothered the reviewers. I enjoyed Miss Wilson's Reputation more than they did. I enjoyed the dialogue between the main characters and thought their romance progressed nicely.

7. Is this a new author for you?
Yes.

8. If you answered yes to question 4, would you read more by this author?
Yes.

Next month's challenge is to read a romantic suspense from my TBR list. With any luck, I'll be able to read two books for that challenge, too.

Alyssa

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Kristie, Sybil, and Lynn; here are my answers.

Number of Books I Own
I can't answer this; it would take too long to count them, and honestly, it's simply too painful to consider. LOL! Let me put it this way: thousands.

Last Books I Bought
Buried Secrets: Evelyn Vaughn
Conor's Way: Laura Lee Guhrke
Into the Fire: Leslie Kelly (Autographed Copy)
Who Will Marry This Man?: Jacquie D'Alessandro (Autographed Copy)

Last Books I Read
On the Edge: Susan Kearney
Master of the Moon: Angela Knight
Miss Wilson's Reputation: Martha Kirkland

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me
Naked in Death: J.D. Robb
There's nothing like reading a book that starts you on a fun journey. Naked in Death led me to the world of Roarke and Eve, and I've never gotten tired of it.

Personality Types: Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
This book helped me immensely at a time when I really needed it. It took me to new levels of self-understanding. It sounds like a cliche, but it's true.

Pippi Longstocking: Astrid Ericsson Lindgren
This is the first book I ever remember reading.

To the Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf
There's something beautiful and lyrical about this book. I relate to so many things about the characters. It's wonderful.

The Tyrant: Patricia Veryan
This is the first romance novel that truly swept me away. It's full of chivalry, action, and romance. I still love it.

People I'm Tagging
Many bloggers I visit have already been tagged, but let's try these:

Giselle
Jo
Karen
Keishon
Tara Marie

These questions have been fun to think about.

Alyssa

Revisiting E-Books

I thought about titling this post "E-Book Authors Strike Back" in honor of the latest Star Wars movie (which I haven't seen yet), but that's not really accurate. However, if you're not rereading my post about about my first experience with e-books, you are missing a lively discussion, including comments from Liquid Silver (LS) authors.

Maili drew my attention to the Ellora's Cave (EC) e-book tour, which brings up a question. How do e-book signings work? I know that EC has a lot of print books, so do authors sign those? Or do they print cover/title pages and sign them? I'm genuinely curious and would love to learn more.

In other e-book related news, I remembered that I bought a PDA last year for work and have never really used it much. I'm now in the process of trying to find the blasted thing so I can give it a try. Once I find it, I'm treating myself to Shelly Laurenston's Go Fetch.

In news unrelated to e-books, I've been tagged by Kristie and Sybil to do a book meme. I will post my answers this weekend, but the most difficult part may be selecting people to tag. Perhaps I should tag a LS author. ;)

Alyssa

On the Edge

After reading Susan Kearney's contribution to The Hope Chest anthology, which included an excerpt for her book, On the Edge, I decided to buy it. I read it this week: 3.5 out of 5.

For as long as she can remember, Kaylin Ashcroft's dreams have come true. If she dreams about a friend breaking an arm in a car accident, it occurs. Unfortunately, her dreams don't provide all the answers--when she dreams about an event, she doesn't get all of the details, such as when, where, and in some cases, who.

For this reason, she was doubly devastated when her sister, Jenna, was kidnapped. For several years after the kidnapping, Kaylin tried to focus her dreams so she could help identify the kidnapper or provide clues that could help find Jenna. It hasn't worked, and Kaylin has given up hoping she'll dream anything useful. Enter Shane Lynch.

Shane was hired by Kaylin's father to help her bring the details to the surface. Shane's particular talent is with identifying auras and projecting emotions. He believes he can help Kaylin remain calm and stay dreaming long enough to get answers.

The premise sounds intriguing, and it is--in fact, the paranormal aspects are the best aspect of the book. Shane and Kaylin themselves are less interesting. I felt like I had read versions of them before. The prophetic dreaming and aura identifying may be different, but Kaylin and Shane seem like people I've read about in a dozen other romantic suspense novels.

I was initially frustrated by the fact that we get glimpses of Jenna throughout the story, so we know what happened to her. This removes some of the suspense. Once I got to the end of the book, however, I understood why Kearney did it this way. It avoided an awkward data dump at the end.

There is a secondary romance that I found a bit puzzling. The male character in that scenario is portrayed in such a way that it's unclear whether he's being protective or secretive.

In any case, I was glad I tried the book, but I enjoyed "Tomorrow's Promise" from The Hope Chest more, in spite of its improbable plot.

Alyssa

Fascinating

See the blue circle in a box under the credits section of my sidebar? It's for Extreme Tracking, a free service that tells me how people find my blogs--what sites they link from, what searches they made, and so on. It also tells me about individual visitors to my blog. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, I noticed from my site counter stats that I've had increased traffic lately, so I thought I'd check it out. I've only been using the service for a month or so, but I tend to check out the tracking stats every two weeks or so.

Here are search engine queries that brought up my blog:

• Murder in the Hamptons (Yes, I reviewed it)


• Laurie Monroe scrapbooking (Well, there's Laurie Likes Books, Lucy Monroe, and scrapbooking--one link, one author, and one topic I regularly discuss)


• Writing about Cinderella story (Huh?)


• Sony DSCWS (A digital camera I considered until I bought my Fugifilm)


• Bubble gum ice cream Tampa (I think I've mentioned that bubble gum ice cream is a guilty pleasure, and I made a recent trip to Tampa)


• Leslie Kelly Make Me Over (I've blogged about Leslie Kelly, but not this particular book)


• Alyssa's sampler (Well, my name is Alyssa, but other than that . . .)


• Blog Swapping (Don't know why this should come up more than any other blog)


• A Cinderella Story the Book (Don't know)


• 2B (Isn't this a book? I haven't blogged about it)


• Scrapping book (I've mentioned both scrapping and books, as well as scrapbooks)


• Undead and Unappreciated Excerpt (I've mentioned this book a few times)


• Tim Bindner Child Murder (I reviewed a true-crime book about Tim Bindner, though his status as a murderer remains unproven)


• Book Scrapping (See "Scrapping book" above)


• Stefani Powers (Did I mention a miniseries of hers, Deception, that's one of my guilty pleasures? Otherwise, I have no idea)


• Where can I find Tina Donahue books? (Not here, though I might have written about a Brava anthology with her in it.)

It amazes me what people search for.

As for people following links from other blogs, Maili, Rosario, and Kristie are the top three referring sites. In the past week or so, I've gotten traffic from people visiting Keishon's site (thanks for linking to my response to your TBR challenge!), Charlaine Harris's message board (where I posted a link to the blog entry about the signing), and Romancing the Blog (since I posted a column there last week).

I don't know if any of this really means anything, but it's fascinating stuff.

Alyssa

Pack Challenge

After reading Nicole's e-book recommendations, I decided to give e-books another try. Since I'm still riding the paranormal romance wave, I chose Shelly Laurenston's Pack Challenge. In addition to being a better price for the page count than the previous books I tried, it lived up to its billing: 4 out of 5.

Zach is a shapeshifter, and he's just arrived in town when he discovers Sara, a beautiful woman who has no idea about her own paranormal gift. Zach is asked to watch over and protect Sara, and he gets to know her in the process.

Laurenston creates an intriguing world in Pack Challenge, and the characters are equally intriguing. At first, Zach believes his reaction to Sara is merely physical. I loved his response and his protectiveness when this turns out to be wrong.

One aspect of the story that fascinated me is the depiction of Sara's relationship with her two friends, Angelina and Miki. They fight with, shout at, and insult each other. Theirs isn't the kind of friendship I have with my friends, but it felt real nevertheless. Although Nicole's blog indicates that they will have their own stories, the women felt like integral parts of this story rather than mere cameos by future heroines.

Sara goes through an interesting transition as she comes to recognize her abilities. This transition isn't always smooth--she experiences rough spots, which I appreciated, as it adds a realistic touch to the story.

As for the sex, it's plenty steamy.

I still don't have an e-book reader, so I bought PDF format again and read at my computer, which is not comfortable. If I continue to try e-books--and I can see myself reading more of Laurenston's work--I'll have to think about buying some kind of PDA or reader.

In other news, I am slowly but surely going back through my blog entries to change the em-dashes, apostrophes, and quotation marks that show up as weird characters in the new font for my blog. Fear not; I will eradicate them all over time. I'm starting at the beginning of my blog and moving forward.

Alyssa

Take Away My Credit Card, Please!

Not only did I stay at home today, I also gave my credit card a little too much to do. Today's shopping:

• A collapsible tote: I've been wanting one for a while, but I figured it was imperative to have one for the RWA signing.


• New shoes: I needed some new Merrill shoes, since my old shoes had a torn toe and got horribly muddy the last time I wore them.


• New and Previously Owned Books: Uh, I don't think saying, "I needed books" is entirely accurate. Still, I'm pretending that's the reason. Plus, if I buy autographed books now, I won't buy them at the signing, right?


• Conor's Way: I've heard a lot of good things about this book by Laura Lee Guhrke, so I decided to order it when I found it at Amazon.

Methinks I need to find a millionaire to support me in a style to which I can become accustomed.

Alyssa

P.S. I will start blogging about books again soon. I promise.

Blog News

I went to visit BJ's blog, and I got an error message. Has she vanished into the great abyss? I hope not. I like her blog.

I finally added the Smart Bitches blog to my link list. I've been visiting them for a while but hesitated to add them since I tend to use "LOL!" at least once a week. I'm not sure I'm bitchy enough for them, but their blog is a lot of fun to read.

Alyssa

Blog Value

Thanks to Maili, I learned about Blogshares, which apparently calculates the value of your blog. So, here's what they say this blog is worth:

$1,044.24

I think I should be hurt, but luckily the way they calculate the value is quite complex, so I can tell myself that they don't know me or my blog, or surely they would value it more highly. ;)

Value according to Blogshares: $1,044.24.
Unshaken self-esteem: Priceless.

Alyssa

Miscellaneous Bits

I surfed my way to MaryJanice Davidson's website to get the final answer about when Undead and Unappreciated will be out, and discovered that she's just started a blog. You can visit it here. By the way, the next U&U novel will be out in July.

I got an e-mail from Travelocity, offering me 30 free photo prints through Snapfish. I'm going to give this service a try with the pictures from my new digital camera.

The latest RWA signing update: I wasn't sure if I would go to Reno for one day or for multiple days. Now I've learned that Suzanne Brockmann will not make a Utah stop on her book signing tour, so I'll stay in Reno for a few days so I can attend her Friday night party. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to manage all of the books at the RWA signing, especially if I bring some books from home for authors to sign. Do you think they have shopping carts available? ;)

Alyssa

I've Never Read Hamlet

One of my professors at grad school told me about a game he'd do at parties where there were lots of English students. The group would go around the room, naming the most famous book they'd never read. The conversation goes something like this:

"I've never read Moby Dick."
"I've never read Tom Sawyer."
"I've never read Hamlet."

The person who has not read the most famous book wins. Shakespeare usually wins automatically. For the record, I've read Hamlet and Tom Sawyer, but not Moby Dick.

Some readers (Nicole and Sybil, among others) have mentioned big-name romance authors they haven't read. I can't really trump them. I've read Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb (though not until about two years ago), Suzanne Brockmann (though not until about a year ago), and Linda Howard. I've read at least one book by many of the authors on Sybil's list. But here are three romance authors I haven't read:

• Kathleen Woodiwiss: I've seen a number of readers say they started reading romance after reading The Wolf and the Dove. Not me; I haven't read any of her books and have no desire to.


• Georgette Heyer: People have raved about her for years, but I don't have any interest in reading her books.


• Diana Gabaldon: Many readers adore her books, but what I've read about them makes me think they're not for me. In addition, her books are huge, so you can't just say, "Oh, I'll try one." Nope. "Trying it" means you're committed to 800-plus pages. If I want to read a book that long, I'll read Moby Dick instead.

It's been interesting to see what authors people haven't read. Luckily, there are more than enough books out there for everyone to find authors they enjoy.

Alyssa

Things I Wish Blogger Would Do

A brief note: tomorrow (Saturday) is my next Romancing the Blog column. Check it out if you have a minute and let me know what you think.

I like Blogger; it's easy to use and generally dependable, though it has its cranky moments. It's not perfect, though. I wish Blogger would let me:

• Categorize posts by subject in addition to chronological archives.


• Schedule blog entries to go live at future times and dates.


• Create a friends list like Jorie's, so all of my favorite blogs would be in one place.

If I'm lucky, these things will be added in upcoming improvements; in the meantime, though, I'll just keep on blogging . . .

Alyssa

Living in a Digital World

As you can see, I've managed to download the pictures from my camera to my computer. Some of the better ones are in the post below.

I think I'm digitally challenged. Once I downloaded the pictures, I realized that many of the ones from Charlaine Harris's Q&A session are out of focus. Or perhaps I should say that Charlaine is out of focus; if I'd been trying to get clear photos of the back of a woman's head, I couldn't have wished for sharper images. Sigh. I'm still getting the hang of this, obviously.

My next step is to figure out how to get some prints.

Alyssa

Charlaine Harris Book Signing

"I didn't know I was writing a how-to book."
--Charlaine Harris, in a discussion about a fan who told Charlaine that she wants her boyfriend to do all the things to her that Eric does to Sookie in Dead to the World.

Wow, where to start? Well, I dragged myself out of bed early on Wednesday to get my hair cut and colored. It had snowed during the night (!), so I had to scrape off my car. After running a few errands, I came home, finished packing, and drove to the airport. I was a little worried that I would miss my flight when I saw that one of the long-term and the short-term parking lots were full. Weird. But I made it in time, and the flight was good for the most part--the last 15 minutes or so were pretty bumpy, but I was OK once I was back on the ground. It amuses me that I fly so often when I'm not an especially good flyer. Luckily, each trip was short, a little more than an hour.

From there, I took a shuttle to the car rental lot. I had printed Mapquest directions to and from the airport and hotel as well as to and from my hotel and the bookstore. I had to adjust the directions somewhat, since the rental lot wasn't at the airport. The worst part was that the directions were wrong at the end. If I hadn't seen the hotel sign, I'm not sure where I would have ended up.

After a nap, I went to the mall that was right next to the hotel. The reason: I noticed that I had gotten hair color on my sweater. :( Next time I'll let it dry completely before leaving. This turned out to be OK, though, because it was too hot even for a light sweater. So I found a nice light shirt to wear instead. Hopefully I'll be able to get the stains out of my sweater.

I called the store to confirm the time of the signing: 7:00 PM. I made plans to arrive about 10 minutes early. I ended up arriving around 6:55 PM, and there was a Q&A session already well underway. (In future, I will remember to ask if there are Q&A sessions, readings, or other things scheduled in addition to the signing.) I took a number of pictures, which I will post once I download the CD that came with my digital camera and figure out how to transfer them.

The signing was at The Poisoned Pen bookstore, which is a nice, independent bookstore that specializes in mysteries. I did see other genres there, too.



Charlaine Harris has a distinct southern accent. I enjoyed listening to her. She said that someone has bought the film rights to the Sookie series; a script has been written and she's meeting with them next week. If she could cast Sookie, Reese Witherspoon would get the part. Charlaine isn't too optimistic about whether the movie will be made. She says that nothing comes of these things most of the time. If the film does not go through, another person has expressed interest in buying the rights. So we'll see.

Some points of discussion I found interesting:

• She thought the Lily Bard series would be the one that would take off. While it did get nominated for many awards, the sales never took off as she hoped.


• For now, she isn't writing more Aurora Teagarden or Lily Bard books. It's a time issue. She doesn't rule out writing them in the future, but right now she only has time for the Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly (a new series; the first one will be published in October) books.


• Club Dead is her favorite of the Sookie books she's written.


• She writes from 8:30 to 11:30 AM each day, then watches BBC America until 1:00. Depending on how she's doing with page count, she may write more after lunch, too.

One woman asked if Charlaine has a favorite beau for Sookie. Not surprisingly, Charlaine said yes, but refused to say who. :)

After the Q&A, people lined up to get their books signed. I ended up being one of the last ones in line, because I still had to buy my books. I bought Dead As a Doornail, Shakespeare's Christmas (both of which I planned to buy) and Night's Edge, an anthology I own but forgot to bring because it's shelved under S for Maggie Shayne. I wasn't thrilled about buying the book again, but I decided it was best to seize the opportunity to get an autographed copy.

After about 15 minutes, I was at the front of the line. Charlaine graciously signed all of my books, and she posed for a photo with me. Again, I'll post it once I get it downloaded. I felt like a bit of a dork; all I managed to say was that I enjoy her books very much. Sometimes I hate being an introvert.



It was a little after 8:00 PM when the signing was finished. I ended up going back to the mall and buying two more shirts in different colors. They are comfortable and the price was right.

Arizona is just beautiful. I loved it and wish I had set aside an extra day or two to play.



It was particularly interesting to go from snow in the morning to summer temperatures in the afternoon. Even better, though, was getting away from everything. I need to do it more often.

Alyssa

Back

I'm back from Arizona. I had a wonderful time--I loved Scottsdale. I just wish I had arranged for a few more days there.

I'll tell you how the trip went soon. First, I'm answering my e-mail and going off to take a nap.

Alyssa

Packed and Dangerous

OK, I'm not really dangerous. No more than usual, anyway. But I am almost packed and ready for tomorrow's trip. I've packed clothes, books to be signed, and my camera, which I tested today. So far, I've figured out how to take pictures on the new digital camera; transferring them to the computer will be a task I'll have to figure out when I return.

Now I just need to remember my travel journal, contact lenses (what colors should I take for a two-day trip? LOL!), and books to read.

It's true; I do not know how to pack light.

Have fun the next few days. I'll check in when I get back.

Alyssa

TBR Challange: The Bartered Heart

I finished The Bartered Heart for Keishon's TBR challenge. Here are the results.

1. Title/Author of Book
The Bartered Heart by Nancy Butler

2. Brief Synopsis
Griffin Darrowby has lost his money through investments; now, he resolves to marry a wealthy woman. He leaves London to court Lady Minerva, but he's kidnapped along the way by two men who plan to ransom him. He escapes when the men go to London, and he meets the brothers' stepsister, Gates. Gates is far from wealthy, but Griffin finds himself drawn to her.

3. Copyright Year
1999

4. Did you like or dislike it?
I liked it and rate it a 3.5 out of 5.

5. Was it designated a DIK or Five-Heart book at any review sites?
Yes, it received five hearts from The Romance Reader.

6. If yes to the above, do you agree or disagree with the reviewers?
My opinion is more in line with the All about Romance review, which gave the book a B. I liked the book but found certain aspects predictable. Also, The Bartered Heart includes a personal pet peeve: a couple where both people fall in love with someone else. This always strikes me as too convenient--everyone is happy; no one gets hurt.

7. Is this a new author for you?
No, I've read other books by Butler, including The Discarded Duke and Prospero's Daughter, both of which I liked better than this story.

8. If you answered yes to question 4, would you read more by this author?
Yes.

9. Did you find a new author to read from your TBR pile?
No, I've read Nancy Butler before.

10. Does this encourage you to read more from your TBR pile?
Yes. I may read another Regency this month, and I'll definitely check Keishon's site to see next month's TBR challenge.

Alyssa

Lip-Biting Heroines and the Heroes Who Love Them

This blog entry is not about female vampires; it's about a trait many romance heroines seem to have. Perhaps it's because I read so quickly, but I've noticed lately that many romance heroines tend to bite their lips. Not all the time, of course, but when they are puzzled, thoughtful, or what have you. It makes me wonder if I bite my lips, so I've been consciously noticing whether I do or not. Generally I don't.

Another thing I find curious is that some heroes are enchanted or turned on by the lip biting. I realize that this gesture draws attention to the lips, which can be a turn on. But the action itself doesn't strike me as particularly sexy. Still, people are turned on by different things. I love a toned forearm, for instance, though it's tough to explain why. To see what I mean, watch the scene in Signs, where Joaquin Phoenix's character and Mel Gibson's character are standing in a doorway; they're about to go outside to try and catch whoever is out there. Joaquin has his sleeves rolled up, and those arms . . . uh, I'll stop now. ;)

I don't mind seeing heroines bite their lips--I see it as one way for the writer to show how a character is feeling. I do find it interesting that a number of writers seem to use it. Anyone else notice this? What do you think?

Alyssa

Preparations

It's hard to believe that it's already May. On Wednesday, I am going to Phoenix, Arizona for a book signing for Charlaine Harris. I'm looking forward to it. I'll pick up her new book, Dead As a Doornail, and will have her sign the other books as well.

As much as I am looking forward to meeting Charlaine Harris, I'm also excited about leaving town. I'll be back Thursday afternoon (and back at work on Friday), so it's not a long trip by any definition. It will be nice, though, just to get away from work, my house, and everything else.

In other news, I'm the proud owner of a digital camera, a Fugi FinePix with 5.2 megapixels. I talked to my dad yesterday and he helped me settle on one. I will be playing with it in the next few days; hopefully I'll be a pro by Wednesday.

I startled myself earlier today when I looked in the mirror. My hair is too gray for a book signing. LOL! So I'm getting it cut and colored Wednesday morning at 7:30, an hour that's really too early to be breathing, let alone getting my hair done. I love my mother, but I wish I hadn't inherited her graying hair. Oh well.

It won't take long to pack for a two-day trip, so I imagine I will post again before I leave. If not, though, I'll check back in on Thursday or Friday.

Alyssa

Brave New World

Yes, this is still Alyssa's Book Blog--I've just treated myself to a new look! After changing my template so often and spending so much time surfing the web for blog templates, I decided it was time for a custom template. Here it is, courtesy of Ciao! My Bella!'s designer Mia, who worked with me to create a design I love. I'm more pleased than I can say about the new look.

I'm currently reading Nancy Butler's The Bartered Heart for Keishon's TBR challenge. I used to read Regencies all the time. Now I read a much wider variety of genres and don't read Regencies unless I'm in the right mood for them. I do need to work on whittling down my TBR list, though. So far, I'm discovering that The Bartered Heart isn't your usual Regency. I'll report more fully once I'm finished.

Alyssa

NSD Results

National Scrapbooking Day (NSD) is coming to an end. The results: I researched several more digital cameras and ultimately gave myself a headache. My current plan is to hope my dying camera still takes decent portraits. I need to take something with me to Wednesday's book signing, and I doubt I'll have figured out what camera I want before I leave.

I scrapbooked four pages:

Bon Voyage, Page 1
Bon Voyage, Page 2

Bright Holiday, Page 1
Bright Holiday, Page 2

I started another scrapbook spread (a spread equals two pages), but I'm missing a photo, and I'm not sure I like the color scheme I came up with. Looks like they will have to wait.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Alyssa

National Scrapbooking Day

There seems to be a day for everything, and most of them go by without notice. Not today, however. The first Saturday in May is National Scrapbooking Day, so I'm going to do some scrapbook-related activities. First, I'm going to research more cameras. I've been putting off the whole camera-buying thing, and I need to stop delaying and decide what I want. Even if it's not a digital camera at all. Second, I'm going to scrapbook! We'll see what I come up with.

Alyssa

Which Hat Is This?

Maili has started an interesting discussion about accidental cliques in romance blogland. I responded in the comments section, then realized I was going in a different direction, so I decided to bring my ideas here. I started talking about people who hesitate to comment on blogs:

I think this is almost self-perpetuating--people are reluctant to comment because they don't feel like they are part of the group. So the same people keep posting, which makes people reluctant to comment, etc. I'm not saying that people should stop commenting. I just hope that more people will jump into the discussion.

I have a question about something mentioned in the comments that I've noticed before--that many people seem to put reviewers in a different category than readers.

That's where I ended my comments and decided to continue this particular discussion here. I do find it curious that people make a distinction between readers and reviewers. I've seen this distinction made more than once. As someone who is both, I consciously put on a reviewer hat (so to speak) when I'm writing a review. But I always think of myself as a reader first. In fact, I think of my blog as more of a reader's blog than a reviewer's blog. Yes, my blog links to my reviews, and I mention reviewing on occasion. However, I'm a reader first.

What do you think? What makes a reviewer different than a reader?

Alyssa

#&@#*$#!

I'm buying some books through Turn the Page bookstore; they have a huge writer's event coming up and I was looking forward to getting some autographed copies. One of the books I planned to buy was the anthology Wish List, featuring a Lisa Kleypas short story. Yes, I already own it, but I wanted an autographed copy. Well, it's not on the page any more, so it's not for sale. I swear it was a month ago!

But that's not all. I've been buying autographed copies of the hardcover In Death series. Immortal in Death was scheduled to be released in March. I went to order it and discovered that the hardcover reissues have been canceled. #&@#*$#. I hope they are still doing unabridged audio versions of all the books. If not, you'll all have the distinct pleasure (hmm) of watching me throw a huge fit.

Alyssa

Swapping

Based on Nicole's recommendation, I decided to give this Paperback Swap site a try, and I'm pleased with how it's going so far. I haven't actually requested a book yet, though, so you may want to take that opinion with a grain of salt. But two people have requested books from me so far, which I will send out tomorrow. When I have time, I'll do some serious browsing to see if there are any books I want to "order."

Alyssa

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

I'm looking for guest bloggers who are interested in participating in roundtable-type discussions about romance trends and/or specific books. You do not need to have a blog to participate, although it's great if you do. There's no set number of times you must participate, either; you can be part of one or multiple discussions. E-mail me if you're interested, or leave a comment if you'd like me to contact you with more information.

Alyssa

Murder in the Hamptons

I was impressed with Amy Garvey's short story in "Wicked" Women Whodunit, so I was looking forward to her first single title, Murder in the Hamptons. I hoped I would enjoy it, and thanks to Wendy, I was able to find out sooner than I expected. The answer is yes, I loved it: 4 out of 5.

Maggie is off to a Hamptons estate with her friend Lucy to help out and provide moral support as Lucy arranges a weekend party. Once there, Maggie meets a variety of people, including some actors, agents, and a businessman Maggie knows because she indulged in a weekend fling with him five years ago. She left without saying goodbye, and now Tyler plans to find out why. Then, one of the people staying at the estate is murdered . . .

Murder in the Hamptons is an engaging story. If I hadn't had to work, I would have read it in one sitting. As it was, I read it over a few days and enjoyed it very much. The set up for the murder is very well done. There are several people who seem like plausible victims; I was surprised by who ended up being killed. While the investigation ended a bit abruptly, I thought the mystery was well done.

I enjoyed the romance as well. Garvey has a gift for creating characters with immediate chemistry, something that isn't easy to convey. It was nice to watch as their relationship evolves from physical to something deeper. Tyler and Maggie make a terrific couple. Add another author to my autobuy list . . .

Alyssa

Hurray for Family

My brother and nephew came over tonight to keep me from being the bane of my neighborhood. They mowed my lawn and trimmed around the trees and fence. Last year I couldn't get my lawnmower to start, so they took a look at it. Apparently it just needed gas. Yes, as you can see, I'm mechanically savvy. (Not.)

My self-appointed task while they were working--I couldn't just sit and watch, right--was to do a little weeding and start pruning two of my trees. It was nice to get some yard work accomplished, even if my brother and nephew did most of it.

I love family.

Alyssa

A Blog's Influence

A number of bloggers are talking about the effects (if any) blogging has on reader buying habits. Melissa Senate's column at Romancing the Blog got the latest round going. Jorie summarized the discussions she's seen on the subject, so I'll just link to her rather than be repetitive.

I've actually blogged about this before, but I decided to revisit the topic as it seems to be of interest. Yes, reading an author's blog can spark an interest in their books. It's about name recognition, and in most cases, that's a good thing. I've bought and read several books with this method:

• Arm Candy by Jo Leigh: Tried it, liked it, now I buy her books.


• The Bane Affair by Alison Kent: I read Alison's blog, read the book excerpt, and ordered the book. I loved it, and I've bought the subsequent SG-5 books.


• Finding Hope by Brenda Coulter: I was interested enough after reading her blog to look for her book at the used bookstore.


• Love Is All Around by Lori Devoti: I saw this book at the store last week, remembered her name from her blog and from Romancing the Blog, and bought the book. I haven't read it yet.


• Seduce Me by Jill Shalvis: I visited her blog and received Seduce Me in a giveaway. Now I buy her books.


• Wicked Women on Top by Tina Donahue, Jen Nicholas, and Jordan Summers: I was at the bookstore trying to decide which Brava anthology to buy. Most of the authors were ones I hadn't read. I settled on this one because I remembered reading Jordan Summers's blog and I wanted to try one of her books.

I've also bought books after reading a review at a reader's blog. I've done this more times than I can count.

As for whether I am turned off of an author because of her blog: yes. So far, it's happened once. Not because I disagreed with her political leanings or religious beliefs. If I only read books by people I agreed with, my TBR would be seriously diminished. (Though a smaller TBR pile might be a good thing . . .) What this particular author did was made huge generalizations and slammed an entire group of people. She has a right to her opinion and she exercised that right, but she ensured that I'll never be one of her readers. She's got name recognition, all right, but I use that recognition to stay far away from her books.

An author's blog can be a powerful tool.

Alyssa