Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and fangirl moments!

Well, unusual for Southern California, we have cloudy overcast skies today (better than yesterday, when it was alternating rain and drizzles) but it isn't dimming my enthusiasm (yet, lol).  I had looked at the authors attending a few weeks ago, and was going to be lazy and not go (as opposed to being too cheap to drive to Las Vegas and interact with some of my favorite romance authors!), but then I saw that Sylvia Day was being featured on one of the panels...and while researching that, I discovered that one of my favorite fantasy authors, the VERY prolific Mercedes Lackey was also going to be speaking!

Wow!  She and the late Anne McCaffrey are two of my very favorite fantasy authors, and I have always waffled between whether I would want my very own Bronze Dragon or to be linked to a Companion.  These two women helped my imagination soar while exposing me to a wealth of different social issues while entertaining me.  I was delighted to see that Mercedes Lackey's 'The Last Herald Mage' trilogy has been re-released as a single volume, and am looking forward to re-reading it for review.  That was probably my first m/m story, and stayed with me for a very long time, just because of the drama portrayed so strikingly.

So...today is my day to get ridiculously tongue-tied, I have retrieved one of my copies of "Arrows of the Queen" (yes, I wanted to be one of the Queen's Own), as well as one of the 'Serrated Edge' novels and I was reminded of all of the great characters Ms. Lackey introduced me to (the hertasi, Shin a' in, hawkbrothers, those in the Elemental magic series, and so many more)...which is one of the reason there is not much room on my bookshelves, lol, and I look forward to at least getting a picture of this fantastic and fascinating author!

And to add icing on top, the wonderful Brenda Novak received an award, and she should be signing as well!






                                




The perpetually busy Brenda Novak has a new book coming out in the Whiskey Creek series...


                      


And then there's the sizzling erotic tales by Sylvia Day for ADULTS only!

         


Yep, this should be a great day!

Reflected in You (Adult title)

Reflected in You (Adult readers only)  

by Sylvia Day is part of the 'Crossfire' series and continues the intense emotional story that introduced the complicated relationship between Gideon Cross and Eva Tramell, both very emotionally scarred individuals who have found a kindred spirit in one another. Bared to You is the first title in this intense series and I feel it is analagous to the reluctant rubbernecking people feel for serious car accidents.  One doesn't really want to see the gory parts but still can't help looking.  These people have a very tortuous relationship and Eva's roommate Cary has intimacy issues of his own and they all have had terrible events in their backgrounds.  The searing intimate encounters seem to burn too hotly to maintain but these people are just as passionate about events outside of the bedroom as in it and their respective obsessions continue to complicate their lives.  It doesn't hurt that Gideon is extremely rich and powerful and able to provide experiences most of us could only dream of.  This story depicts the struggle to cope with the issues that threaten to destroy the flowering relationship but naturally, there are episodes of backsliding just as progress is being made.  The problem is that there are potential threats to Eva's life, not just her mental health the solutions to these threats may require radical action.  A startling revelation at the end of this particular story again threatens to either derail or permanently cement the relationship but it is certainly an impressive statement.

This author is an expert at combining very sensual encounters and searingly emotional scenes that remain with you long after you read the book.  I am glad that it took me awhile to read this particular story because it means that there will be a shorter wait for the next in the series, Entwined With You which is supposed to be released in May, but I am still drumming my fingers!

My Amazon review for Bared to You is at this link.

                               

Learning tools through the library

I am always amazed by what is available through my local county library.  I treasure libraries since they have provided me with many an hour of entertainment, especially as a child when I could not afford to purchase books.  They help me keep my current book budget down to a dull roar since I am fortunate to have two different library systems to draw from (and yes, both library cards get a workout).

I have mentioned before that there are several resources that I take advantage of through the internet and my county library card number, one of which is called Freegal which allows me to download three songs per week without any piracy concerns.  There is quite a wide range of things available, including a profanity laden but hilarious recording of Robin Williams discussing the planning that went into the formation of the human body called Intelligent Design as well as the ethereal songs recorded by young Jackie Evancho and several works by some of the smooth jazz artists that I like.  I am ashamed to admit that I haven't kept up with the foreign language lessons that I started through Mango but intend to get back to them one of these days and lately have discovered that there is another educational tool called 'Ed2go'.  I am intrigued because there are a breadth of classes that can be attended at one's convenience online and I was delighted to discover that some of them address writing and publishing so I am taking a beginning class in editing.  It's amazing what is out there for free and I urge those of you with local county libraries to look into what they can offer access to, it is pretty amazing.

And, what have I been reading from the library?
Lauren Dane's poignant tale Never Enough which gives Adrian Brown's love story, the entertaining anthology Hex Appeal which includes great stories by Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod and husband and wife team Ilona Andrews , as well as the delightfully spicy Hot in Handcuffs which has tales by three of my favorite authors in their field, Shayla Black, Sylvia Day and Shiloh Walker!  Unfortunately, I have been so busy reading that I haven't written up the reviews so I will have to rectify that.  Support your local library (I tend to donate a lot of my review books to one of my local libraries but they also can use volunteers to help shelve or perform other tasks).  My sincere thanks to the dozens of authors at RWA who cheerfully donated books to help supplement the collection at the Wanda Kirk Library in Rosamond!
   

RWA here I come!

I am so very tickled to be going to the RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference in Anaheim this week.  My very favorite historical romance writer, Stephanie Laurens, is the keynote speaker and I am thrilled that she has come all of the way from Australia to our side of the continent!  I have been reading her works since I first discovered the Cynster family and have enjoyed the various Bastion Club, Black Cobra titles as well as the many anthologies she has contributed to (yes, her books take up a couple of shelves on my bookshelf).  I am also delighted and hope to glimpse from afar some of my other favorites including Jayne Anne Krentz/Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick, Nora Roberts (I figure I'll know where she is because of the hordes of people around her) and Suzanne Brockmann.  I am amazed to have been reading works from all of these lovely ladies since most of them wrote in the series romance categories and I fell in love with their styles then.
 
   

I am ecstatic to realize that I may also get a chance to meet some of my newer favorite authors such as Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, Nalini Singh, Jennifer Estep, Thea Harrison, Jaci Burton, Cheryl Brooks, Tamara Hogan, Lauren Dane, Karen Erickson, Lori Handeland, Elisabeth Naughton, Brenda Novak, and Terry Spear to name just a few.  Just looking at the map of the room makes me tired so who knows if I will get the opportunity to make it all the way around to meeting all of them.
                 


I am looking forward to attending the "Christmas" party that Sabrina Jeffries is giving for her fans and I have had the very wonderful experience of being invited to the Kensington reception so it will be a fantastic week!


Then there will the wonderful and whirlwind experience of seeing Kim (that dynamo from the SOS Aloha blog) and her young men.  It is always breathless hanging with Kim since she seems to know practically everyone and she just brightens the room whenever she appears!  So....I will be a little quiet for the rest of the week but I will be definitely immersed in the world of BOOKS!