Hooray! It's finally here. the release day for Sara Hantz's debut YA novel, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, from Flux.
Sara and I first met just over three years ago, en route to the RNA conference in Leicester, UK. Within a few weeks of returning home we became online buddies, and then cps - aka The Witches - along with Amanda Ashby and Pat Posner.
So it's a huge thrill to see Sara's book now out in the world - and she is hosting the most fabulous blog party here to celebrate! Do hop over and say hello!
Hubby was channel hopping last night, and came across *drumroll* Xanadu! Does anyone remember this 1980 movie?? The last time I watched it must have been soon after its release, because apart from remembering that it wasn't exactly something I wanted to sit through again, the only thing I recalled was the fact Cliff Richard had done a duet with Olivia Newton John!
Well. I nearly died when the Electric Light Orchestra started playing! OMG I used to LOVE ELO. How did I forget about them?
So. We sat through it, and cast each other scandalised glances at regular intervals (did everyone really zoom about on roller skates in the 80s?!) but we continued to watch because of the music. I'm sure, in some lost black hole, I still have some of those records (yes, records, those circular vinyl things).
It was a nostaglic dip into our shadowy past and while the movie is a disappointment (and that's a shame because the premise is so promising - a muse falling in love with a mortal - I could work with that one!!) I still love the music. It really takes me back to my teenage years! Sniff!
Sara Hantz's debut novel, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, is about to be released! And to celebrate, Sara's having a fabulous party at her blog over the next week. Lots of writers will be dropping by to join in the fun, including yours truly, with lots of lovely prizes up for grabs!
To whet your appetite, here is the blurb for Suzy:
Suzy Green used to be one of the coolest nonconformist “almost-Goth” party girls in Australia. That was before her older sister Rosie died and her family moved to a new town. Not even her best friend would recognize her now. Gone are the Doc Martens and the attitude. All she wants is to be like Rosie—perfect. The new Suzy Green makes straight As, hangs with the in-crowd at her new school, and dates the hottest guy around. And since all her new friends belong to a virginity club, she joins, too. So what if she’s not technically qualified? Nobody in town knows . . . until Ryan, Suzy’s ex, turns up.
As the past and present collide, Suzy struggles to find her own place in a world without her sister.
I thought I'd be able to pick up Nalini's latest Psy book, Caressed by Ice, at the New Zealand conference - and of course get it signed by her!! - but unfortunately it hadn't yet hit the bookshops there. Boo! However, it's about to be released on 4th September and Nalini has a comp going on at her blog - a quiz to see which Psy/Changeling hero you're most like.
Here's my result - and I'm stoked because I just love the sound of this ice man Judd!!!
Your Psy/Changeling Hero: Judd
Quiet, lethally contained and almost impossible to know, Judd Lauren is a Psy with incredible power. It will take one determined woman to melt this man of ice...but the rewards will be well worth the effort. Are you up to the challenge?
Caressed By Ice
As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now a defector, his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins—cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna…
Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted—and had her mind violated—by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives…
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Well now, Christina is actually my real second name, but no way can my poor brain come up with nine different facts about me, so I'm cheating and just using the first five letters.
C - I get really cranky when I don't write. and the rest of the time I'm just plain crazy. Chocolate helps calm my nerves but hates my butt. Heh!
H - Hoping to hook a hot-shot agent **Hummmmm** I also love hot fudge (well ok cold really but that doesn't begin with H)
R - Rest, relaxation and reading are my fave hobbies. Hence the big butt...
I - I love ice cream but it hates me. Last time I over-indulged my gall bladder popped. Icky!
What a fabulous, haunting cover Emily Gee's debut novel, Thief With No Shadow has! It just screams out pick me up! And wow, I am so glad I did. A couple of days ago I thought I'd read the first chapter while I was having my lunch. I had a pile of stuff to do that day, but the problem was - once I'd started reading I could not put the book down!
And so that night, instead of giving my long suffering family roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding, they made do with mash and baked beans because that's so much less hassle to throw together while reading at the same time. Not that I let on because for some strange reason they don't have quite the same priorities as me - can't think why...
Anyway here is the blurb:
Melke is a wraith, able to walk unseen. Feared by all, hunted and hated, she has lost everything--except her younger brother. Now she is forced to do the unthinkable: in exchange for her brother's freedom, she must use her magical gift to steal.
Melke's thieving has devastating consequences. The stolen necklace was strung with tears, and without it Bastian sal Vere can't break the curse that is destroying his family--a curse that will reach its brutal climax at the next full moon. He strikes a desperate bargain with Melke: a healer to save her brother's life, in return for the necklace.
But undoing her crime may cost Melke her own life. The necklace is deep within a salamander's den, a place of flame and pain that no thief has ever returned from. And time is running short. The moon grows full, and someone must face the creature that laid the curse and suffer its terrible vengeance.
I've become a bit of a lurker on Jenny Crusie's blog since the weekend. It's huge fun, and she has a post up of random Down Under bits which is hilarious. However, the REALLY fun part is - I'm in a photo on her blog! Oh yeah! How about that then?!
Thankfully I'm unrecognisable to anyone but myself, since I resemble a hunched up old crone in fetching black, but that aside I'm quite chuffed. It's a group pic of us all in the conference room, and I'm on the far side next to the way too elegant Amanda Ashby!
Of course, it wouldn't have been right without having a minor drama at the airport. Last Wednesday night as I made my way through Customs I thought, oh yeah this is all right, hey! I'm on my way!
My hand luggage didn't set of any alarms this time, and as I was wearing plain boots there was no chance of any dangly bits on my footwear setting off the flashing lights.
Heh. As I wandered away from the x-ray machine thinking so where the hell do I go now? this other custom official beckoned me over. With her long evil looking wand thingy. Yikes. You've been randomly chosen... she said but really, randomly? Was it because I had a look of bunny in the headlamps terror in my eyes or do I just give off an air of arch criminality?
Anyway it wasn't so bad. She skimmed me for explosives and then prodded in my bag. And then wanted to know, in a rather suspicious manner I thought, what I was going to be doing in New Zealand.
So I told her I was on my way to a writer's conference, and she actually smiled and thawed out by several degrees. Ah, the magic of romance writers! Still, being selected as a dodgy looking individual gave me a giggle, in fact as soon as she waved me over I had the worrying urge to giggle and had to keep chewing the inside of my lip so I wouldn't start grinning like a demented troll.
But I have another pic from the conference, which the lovely Emily Gee sent through. I do have to thank Emily for sorting me out at the Thai restaurant we went to last Thursday night. I'd never eaten Thai before, and didn't want to risk upsetting my delicate stomach *snort* with something over-spicy. Anyway she helped me select something which was very tasty, although I wasn't at all sure about the large sluggy looking things I discovered lurking in the rice.
Kokomo is basically the worst song ever written. It should be removed from the Beach Boys' canon and added as a bonus track on some U2 or Radiohead or Coldplay record. Every time Kokomo is played, a wormhole opens between this world and a dimension of unfettered lameness, a place so putrid and pathetically mediocre in every way that it makes Jay Leno sound like Lenny Bruce and the diced onions on a McDonald's burger taste like scotch bonnets. Kokomo is the mind killer. Kokomo is the little death that brings total obliteration. The Hustle by Van McCoy has more sack than fucking Kokomo.
This was huge fun being in a room full of women (and some men I hasten to add!) who all loved writing and romance. It was a bit like being a kid in a sweet shop - no matter who you spoke to, they all wanted to talk books! I kept expecting to wake up hahahaa!
Giovanna,Natalie, Barbara, Amanda & Cassandra
As you can see from the pics, Amanda brought her halos along, and Sara brought some gorgeous cherry jewellery, and by the end of the evening half the conference delegates were wearing Suzy's cherries and Holly's halos!
Later that night, as we were getting ready for bed, room service knocked on the door. Sara peered through the peep hole and said, we didn't order room service (well you can't be too careful and I had just watched that last episode of Medium...)
Turns out my lovely hubby had ordered pink bubbly to be delivered in celebration of my birthday the following day! Awwwwww!!!! He's such a romantic on the quiet!!
Oh WOW! Back from the conference, fired up, motivated and
raring to go!
Amanda, Me & Sara
First off, it was absolutely wonderful to meet up with Sara and Amanda again. I'd been kind of worried in case there were awkward pauses but no chance! It was just as if we'd last seen each other a few weeks ago - they both looked exactly the same as they did in Leicester three years ago!
And what can I say about Jenny Crusie that hasn't already been said... OMG that woman is amazing. Even suffering from the flu she was motivational, witty and passionate and her workshop with Anne Stuart was hysterical!
Of course we had the double celebrations of both Amanda and Sara's debut novels hitting the shelves and it was just fantastic to be there in New Zealand and share in all the excitement.
1. A proclivity for using the word “classy” frequently 2. Racoon streaks 3. Wearing shirts with statements on them, like “Hotter than your girlfriend”, “sassy”, “sex magnet”, etc 4. Flipping out on anyone who calls you a bitch 5. Boost mobile subscriber 6. Referring to your boyfriend as “your man” 7. Fake shiny jewelry 8. Identifying with Fergie
9. Lip Gloss 10. Wedge shoes with high heels 11. Jorts 12. White beach sandals 13. Streak-colored hair 14. Opossum Pie 15. Making dance videos and submitting them to YOUTUBE
16. Outta control piercings (lip/eyebrow/10 in one ear) 17. Tats (especially the infamous tramp stamp) 18. Carrying cigarettes in the same hand as a lit one.
19. Droppin the F-bomb every other word 20. Making out with other women in clubs 21. fake and bake on a consistent basis 22. Ridiculous amount of make-up 23. Those little Coach logo purses 24. French manicured Acrylic nails 25. Everything in her closet is from Forever 21 26. Letting her bra and/or panties show (i.e. wearing pants that expose her thong) 27. Little charms attached to cell phone 28. Rihanna ringtones 29. Overdone black eyeliner 30. Imitating Paris Hilton
31. Track suits with Juicy on the ass 32. Toy dogs in carriers 33. Referring to their bf as “beau” 34. Chewing gum like a cow 35. Running and screaming when their BFF enters the room yet 2 seconds earlier talking about them behind their back 36. Considering the Olive Garden as fine dining 37. Reading US Weekly or another supermarket rag religiously 38. Posting cute Myspace comments on his page (x2 if they are premade graphics with lines like “just droppin’ in to say hi”) 39. Wearing a track suit on a plane 40. Vacationing in Florida
This guide addresses problems associated with rave parties. Rave parties–or, more simply, raves–are dance parties that feature fast-paced, repetitive electronic music and accompanying light shows. Raves are the focus of rave culture, a youth-oriented subculture that blends music, art and social ideals (e.g., peace, love, unity, respect, tolerance, happiness). Rave culture also entails the use of a range of licit and illicit drugs. Drug use is intended to enhance ravers' sensations and boost their energy so they can dance for long periods.
Rave party problems will be familiar to many police officers working in communities where raves have been held; they will be unfamiliar to many other officers who have never experienced raves or, perhaps, even heard of them. In many jurisdictions, the first time a young person dies while or after attending a rave and using rave-related drugs sparks media, public and political pressure on police to take action.1
In some respects, rave party problems are unique; they combine a particular blend of attitudes, drugs and behavior not found in other forms of youth culture. In other respects, rave party problems are but the latest variation in an ongoing history of problems associated with youth entertainment, experimentation, rebellion, and self-discovery.2
Dealing appropriately with raves is difficult for police. On the one hand, police often face substantial pressure from mainstream society to put an end to raves, usually through aggressive law enforcement. On the other hand, raves are enormously popular among a significant minority of teenagers and young adults, most of whom are generally law abiding and responsible. Strict enforcement efforts can alienate a key segment of this population from government in general, and the police in particular. To be sure, raves can pose genuine risks, but those risks are frequently exaggerated in the public's mind. It is important that police recognize that most rave-related harms happen to the ravers themselves, and while ravers are not wholly responsible for those harms, they willingly assume much of the risk for them. Accordingly, rave party problems are at least as much public health problems as they are crime and disorder problems. It is critical that you establish a solid base of facts about rave-related harms in your community, facts from which you can intelligently develop local policies and responses.
The principal rave-related concerns for police are:
* drug overdoses and associated medical hazards; * drug trafficking and the potential for violence associated with it; * noise (from rave music, crowds and traffic); * driving under the influence; and * traffic control and parking congestion.
Related Problems
Rave party problems are only one set of problems relating to youth, large crowds and illegal drugs, problems police are partially responsible for addressing. Other problems not directly addressed in this guide include:
* problems associated with crowds at music clubs (e.g., hiphop clubs), and at concerts and other big events; * assaults in and around bars; * thefts of and from cars in parking facilities; * disorderly youth in public places; * graffiti; * street-level drug dealing; * clandestine drug labs; * high-level trafficking in rave-related drugs; and * use of illicit drugs in acquaintance rape.
Factors Contributing to Rave Party Problems
Understanding the factors that contribute to your problem will help you frame your own local analysis questions, determine good effectiveness measures, recognize key intervention points, and select appropriate responses.
Ethnic hair styles - Sloppy male hippies - Retro punks - People with thick glasses - Glorifying serial killers - Hobbit motherfuckers - No guts - No glory - No riot -
ARGH - YAGH - I've had enough - My generation sucks - AUCK - YAGH - I agree - My generation sucks -
Cyber idiots with pierced scrotums - Copulating - With animals - In cars - Parked ouside the rave party - Not enough war - Not enough famine - Not enough suffering - Not enough natural selection -
ARGH - YAGH - That's what I say - My generation sucks - AUCK - YAGH - I've had enough - My generation sucks
sometimes i like to answer my reader's questions, like sue on sex talk, which is my favorite show. it is on oxygen. i'm kinda pissed she refused to answer my question about anal sex in the shower without condom but whatever, fuck it. this is why i am here, for you, the reader. anyway, this question comes from "ken noisewater m.d." who is in "arlington, va":
Having a girl over to watch a movie. Are we too old for this to do on a 1st/2nd date? This was my go-to move in high school and college, not so sure about it now.
good question. rent Tombstone, have her over and let her show her mettle. If she can’t handle it, or if she wants to make out during the gunfight at the ok corral, send her home in a cab.
but this is total 3rd or 4th date material.
also, i particularly like heckling people standing outside of bars after last call, when a girl and guy are doing that “we want to make out but probably too soon to do it”. perfect time to yell “ASK HER TO WATCH BRAVEHEART.”
Only two days until I'm on my way to the New Zealand conference! And, as is only right and proper, I came down with a stinking cold and sore throat over the weekend. Then today my youngest daughter came home looking somewhat zombified and is currently flat out on the sofa. Being the kind motherly person that I am, I'm trying to look after her without actually breathing her air space.
Sooo.... I've started to pack, have checked my passport a dozen times, read the airline's website once or twice and have also managed to avoid watching any of the disaster plane docus that are constantly on the telly (not easy since my husband has a sick addiction to programmes like that!)
It will be great to get together with Sara and Amanda again - I can't believe it's been three years since we last saw each other! - but I'm sure we'll make up for the lost time not spent at local bars. ha ha ha (!)
On the books front, I've just finished Phillipa Ashley'sDecent Exposure. This is the first Little Black Dress book I've read and can I just say... wow!! I really enjoyed it, and intend to pick up a lot more LBDs in the near future.
Hooray! It's finally here. The release day for You Had Me at Halo!
Huge congrats Amanda!
Holly Evans has just seen her body laid to rest. Now she would like to move onto the afterlife. But apparently she has some mortal baggage to unload first, starting with the matter of how she died. Her heavenly shrink isn't buying that she didn't kill herself and says she must return to earth to straighten things out. The thing is, she needs to borrow the body of computer geek Vince Murphy to do it. Oh, and although Vince was supposed to have vacated the premise, he apparently never got the memo.
Now, Holly has forty-eight hours to resolve her issues while sharing arms, legs, and...other things...with a guy she barely noticed while she was alive. But the real surprise is what life has to offer when you have only two days to live it.
"It's The Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones in this fluffy take on what happens after death...it's a fun, witty traipse through the afterlife."
-Publisher's Weekly
"This book has a delightfully quirky concept that develops into a fun and interesting story. Peopled with a fascinating variety of characters, it also has an intriguing mystery and a charmingly different type of interaction between the hero and heroine. Expect a delightful tale with a wonderfully distinctive ending."
I've been asked about some of the other bands that played. Here is an update:
TV on the Radio - We left after the B-Boys, as they were playing, sorta heard them on the way out. Sasha & Digweed - I didn't come within 50 yards of the "Dance Tent" the entire time. Even though Girltalk might have been interesting. Interpol - I didn't move between Wu Tang (they started right as Wu Tang ended on the other stage) and Velvet Revolver. I figure if I really get a bonar for these guys they play 930 almost every year. I'd kinda rather just listen to old Gang of 4 and Wire records. Matisyahu - He ended right before we got there. I really had no desire to check out an ex-Phish head who's gone hasidic do a neo-Snow routine about the Torah. MIA - Isn't she like the female version of the soundtrack to Da Ali G show? The Police - like I said previously, I understand the importance, I just don't give a shit.
Drove to Lexington Market to get on the Metro. Parked in the Hippodrome's parking garage. Baltimore's Metro is filthy compared to DC's. Also all the passcard vending machines were busted so the Metro was free. Took that to the Rogers station and got off and took a bus for a few blocks to Pimlico.
Got there in probably the middle of the Fratelli's set, and scoped them for a while. Was alright. The bass player switched basses between every song, which is such a guitar player thing to do. Maybe the heat & humidity kept throwing them out of tune or something.
After the Fratellis we met up with Brit's coworker+girlfriend+roommate and walked towards the main stage where Amy Winehouse was doing that one Lauren Hill song that's all "That thing, That thing That thi-i-i-ing". We stood around there for a while, then Brit went to hit the can and evidently got distracted by Paolo Nutini on the second stage so it took her like a half hour to get back to us. Then Brit & me and +roommate went to go check out the rest of Paolo Nutini's set, all the while figuring that Paulo Nutini was Pete Bjorn & John.
I guess right as we got there Cheap Trick was coming off the main stage, but we didn't know, for some reason in my mind CT was on the second stage later, so I kept waiting for CT (that was our excuse for leaving the other folks to watch Incubus on their own), but we missed them. Oh well.
Then we ran into Brit's pothead ex-friend Lindsay, and we watched Pete Bjorn & John. They were pretty interesting.
Then we parted ways with Lindsay and went to get some food and hit the can. We hung out inside the Pimlico building for a while as we missed Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals on the main stage. When we got back to our feet we went back to the second stage to catch a little bit of LCD Sound System but I wasn't feeling it so we headed to the main stage.
Then, after a while the Beastie Boys came on and did their thing, and it was pretty awesome, even though by then the sun-baked/stoned/drunk crowd wasn't gonna go off too much. Their way-old punk stuff with Mike D on the mike didn't translate quite as well as it could have, I think Adrock is their better punk singer. They did a good mix from all eras.
Then we left.
Sundee:
Drove to the Metro Stop next to Pimlico which took way less time.
Got there as Explosions In The Sky were setting up, listened to them for a while, was cool. Then we headed over to the main stage for Panic! At The Disco which Brit though she wanted to see but was wrong. When they came on she said "Wait, this is that band? They suck ass." So we headed back to the second stage and waited for the Bad Brains to come on. Brit went somewhere, but then came back before the Bad Brains hit the stage. They came on and they place exploded. I slammed with the crowd for a few tunes and have a bruise or 2. HR more stands and sings than goes off and screams these days, but the rest of the band was totally on point. They did a little more of their 90s-era chunka-chunka metal bullshit than I cared for, but they did enough ROIR era stuff to make up for it. HR stood around strumming one of theose Ibanez Artcore hollowbody jazz guitars for half the set which was weird. He also threw a big round loaf of bread into the crowd which confused everyone.
After them we waited for fucking ever and then Wu Tang Clan showed up and rocked the house. They got the crowd going more than any other act that I saw. A lot of audience participation. They did a lot of 36 Chambers stuff, and Method Man was definitely the frontman. They also did a singalong of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" in honor of ODB. I was sorta surprised when they did "Da Rockwilder" from the Redman Methodman Blackout album, seeing that Redman wasn't there. Cappadonna was there though, to put his verse into "Triumph".
I was pretty drained after Wu Tang.
Then Velvet Revolver came on and I guess a lot of people care about that band enough to know all the words to a lot of songs, where I really only care about it because it has 2 of the dudes that played on Appetite. They rocked pretty good, and I got to see Slash, who basically was the reason I ever picked up a guitar. They did a lot of their songs which I don't know, then they did "Sex Type Thing" which I though was way improved over STP's version, and then some more of their own tunes and then "It's So Easy" from Appetite. We stayed around for a few more tunes before I realized that they weren't going to cut the bullshit and just play every tune from Appetite front to back so we mosied over towards the main stage where the Smashing Pumpkins Lightshow Extravaganza was starting up.
It was pretty obvious that the effort to get less than a quarter mile from the stage was going to be tremendous, so we hung back for a few minutes then decided to beat the traffic out of there. I will say this: According to my eyes and the big projector screen, either Billy Corgan got James Iha and D'Arcy back or he got some other Asian dude to play rhythm and some other skinny blond chick to play bass.
So, all in all it was pretty fun. I liken the mainstream festival concert crowd more to a sports event crowd than an actual real club show crowd. Only with more pot. Jesus was there a lot of fucking pot there. Everybody there but us was smoking pot. Being in the television industry for this past most-of-a-decade really made me forget that there are people out there who still do that. I kinda feel like it stopped being in production around 99.
Only nine more days and I'll be on my way to New Zealand! Omg it doesn't seem possible. It feels like only last week I was thinking about booking the flight, and now it's almost here!
I think I'm organised. Today I exchanged my Aussie dollars for NZ dollars and - gasp - have finally sorted out international dialling for my mobile. I'm about to dust off my youngest daughter's hot pink luggage (which I am borrowing...) and double check nothing I intend to wear on the flight will set off the alarms. (this happened to me the last time I travelled to the UK. On the stopover at Singapore, no less, I not only set off the alarms with my SHOES for god's sake!! but also had to open up my hand luggage as my make up brushes showed up on their x-ray screens as potentially lethal weapons. Like, yeah I am a dead ringer for Buffy!)
Thank you for a lovely evening of making the beast of two backs. I know that my presence was a bit much for you to handle, but I am, in fact, quite a big deal, so I understand that it was difficult to control your lustful urges.
The GOP has allowed me to vault from being the son of a West Virginia coal miner to quite a scenester and ass magnet.
I saw the look in your eyes as you watched your face contort with pleasure in the mirror over my bed–the one that you are no doubt viewing yourself in right now, saying, “wow, I am so lucky to have experienced that at such a tender age”–don’t fret my pet, I will not call you and if I see you again I will ignore you like the bums outside a metro stop.
I am off to my next conquest–I am thinking of a certain lass from the GA delegation.
Because I have been labeled hilarious, my bosses want me to come up with some cutesy lines for the mail order inserts. Here is what I have:
"Private studies have disproved the link between ear cancer and purchasing music. So go ahead, live it up!" - A scientist, wearing a lab coat
"One time I was in a car wreck, nothing bad--but my CDs were ruined! I'm glad I bought several copies of everything from YepRoc as backups." - Person with common sense
"It makes my whole day great when I know my order will be there when I get home." - Person whose optimism and enthusiasm will lead to job promotions, attracting attractive lovers, and gravitating circles of admirers at parties
"A day in prison goes by so much faster when you get mail and when you can listen to music. YepRoc does both" - Person who made some mistakes in the past, but is determined to do things right from now on
