Vampchix YA Post Today - Buffy YA Book 1

Visit VampChix today for 

YA Vampires... Er, werecoyotes? Vampire Slayer!

Have a great day!

~Shauna

Meeting Maggie Stiefvater in Menlo Park!

I had the great honor to meet Maggie Stiefvater at her book signing last Friday, July 23rd, at Kepler's bookstore in Menlo Park!  

It was awesome!  Maggie is awesome!!!  :)  I was so happy to listen to her talk about her books and writing and meet her in person.  And, she signed my copy of Linger and said "Look to the woods"!  

I LOVED it all!!!  

Thanks so much Maggie!!!  

Oh, and she even said she thinks I'm blond, that everyone in California is blond for the purposes of her stories.  I thought that was cute.  Too funny.  It was her first trip to California and she had driven up from San Luis Obispo that day, which is not a short trip.  I know, because I drove up from Fresno and man oh man, that's a long enough drive and I went up to Dublin to drop off my stuff with friends and then over to Menlo Park.  Menlo Park is adorable, by the way.  I'd totally go back.  I want to, for more book signings, loved it!

I wish many of my book-reader-writer pals could have been there, I know how much many of you wanted to be!  It was definitely worth the drive.  :)

Happy Linger-reading all!

~Shauna

VampChix YA Post Today - Key to the Repository (Blue Bloods)

YA Vampires - Keys to the Repository (Blue Bloods)

Happy reading!  :)

~Shauna

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!!

From me and my kitties...

This is Midi and Macchi earlier in the week on the hottest day we've had (108 F) so far taking refuge in the shade.  Aren't they cute in their little Siamese twin positions?  I just love them!  They'll be eleven next month, sigh...  

I'll be posting and reading and writing more and more this month (July and beyond!), so, be back soon.  :)

I did post an updated review of Eclipse on my Fresno Books Examiner page on Friday and I went to see it again that night with my mom, woot!  :)

Enjoy your day!

~Shauna

Eclipse Movie Review at VampChix - Team Edward or Jasper?!

I went to the midnight showing of Eclipse last night and it was awesome!  You can see my review over at VampChix: Eclipse Movie!  Below is the poster they had outside the theatre here and I just loved the way it looked in the neon purple lights at night!  :)

Here's me in my Team Edward Shirt with my very good friend Gisela!

And, while I love Edward, my secret crush vamp stole the show.... Ah, Jasper, yeayyy!!!  :)  Loved him in this!  Check out my review for more Jasper gushing, he is just oh so cute and a fighter, in a good sense I think.  Sigh...  Loved all of his scenes, this one was really cool, very endearing.  I can't wait to see it again!!  :)

Well, has everyone else seen it yet?  I know some are waiting a bit, I've tried not to mention much, but it's tough.  Go, watch, so we can all chat about Jasper, er, I mean Eclipse!  Ha ha!!!  :)  Great movie, by the way.  Lots of cool things to chat about.  So excited to talk/blog more about them.  Keep me posted on what you think or when you get to see it.

Happy Eclipse-watching!

~Shauna

YA Vamp Stuff ~ VampChix & Eclipse!

My VampChix YA Post today:
http://vampchix.blogspot.com/2010/06/ya-vamps-in-morganville-vampires.html

It's on some reading I've done this past week or so on The Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine, feel free to head on over!  :)

And, Eclipse is in less than five days, yayyyy!  :)  Here's the clip they played at the MTV movie awards...  I can't wait!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - "She has a right to know" clip:


Happy reading, writing & watching all!
~Shauna

Bree Tanner

Out now and read it for free:

Are you going to check it out? I haven't read it yet... have you?

MY REVAMP BITES ~ "Don't You Know You're Beautiful?"

I struggled whether to file this under My Worry Rock Week posts or this one, but in the hopes of things looking up and the spirit of this song I chose this one...


I heard this on the radio yesterday and heard it was by Seabird and just feel in LOVE with it, which further pressed it should be under MY REVAMP BITES...


I leave you with this, it really needs no real introduction, is speaks, well sings for itself!


And, I also posted it in part inspired by another post of a song/video I really like that was posted by C.J. Darlington recently, which you may also like or find inspiring in similar fashion. Or, at least, I did and I pass them both on to you today (above link, and video below).


"Don't You Know You're Beautiful?" by Seabird:



Speaking of CJ Darlington, keep an eye out for my long overdue post of her fabulous book Thicker Than Blood!  Not overdue on her part at all, but on my worry rock weeks... which, I suppose I owe a post or two about that soon too.  More to come...  :)

And, you can find me on YouTube, although I mostly just "favorite" other peoples fabulous works, but we can share great finds, like Seabird TV's Channel there!  I'm JUST learning about this group, but the more I learn I LIKE!  They do mission work and they have some videos up on there of that as well.  I'm actually watching one about them as I post this of them at an orphanage in Haiti, with an area called the Miriam center.  I'm guessing they play music for the kids there too.  Fun!  [Okay, I might cry now too!  :)]  *Sorry, got a bit off track there, but anyway...

May your day be blessed & we all know we are beautiful and not alone!  :)
~Shauna


p.s. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna (yes, I said 'gonna') keep listening to this song...  :)

VampChix YA Post Today - Demon Week, Eeeek!

Visit VampChix today for my YA post on The Mortal Instrument Series & The Infernal Devices!

And the next one in...

Visit the Infernal Devices website!

Happy reading all! ~S

One Question Interview Blog Tour with Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

Welcome to... 
Lauren Baratz-Logsted's  One Question Interview Blog Tour!

Today, she is visiting us here on my blog!  I'm so thrilled to have her here and have the chance to ask her a question about one of my favorite YA books... Crazy Beautiful, which came out in September 2009.  Her next YA book, The Education of Bet comes out in July 2010!

The Education of Bet "is about a 16-year-old girl in Victorian England who impersonates a boy in order to get a proper education."

From Goodreads:

"Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.
Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.
But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.
So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.
But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting."

Without further ado...

One Question Interview Blog Tour!

RWR (me): What was your supernatural spin on Beauty and the Beast weaved into writing the story of Crazy Beautiful in relation to Lucius that drove him to do what he did that ended him with hooks for hands and then upon seeing Aurora for the first time, when he referred to her as his Dark Angel, that he vowed to be her Gallowglass, protector, when Lucius says, “Whatever happens, I will stand beside her”?  And, when I say supernatural, I just mean, what was yours or Lucius’s deep, dark and twisty tale that was alluded to, but maybe left out or not completely included in the story that you could share with us today.  I am of course, still holding out hope for a sequel; Lucius is a great character and Beauty and the Beast is in fact my favorite fairy tale!  So, do tell!

LBL (Lauren): At Lucius's previous school, he was bullied mercilessly. Something of a science genius, he stole chemicals from the lab at school with the intent of creating something to cause an explosion. Since Lucius wound up blowing off his own hands, it's impossible to know if he ever would have gone through with it and, if he had gone through with it, if he would have blown up the school with people in it or at a time he thought it would be empty. Knowing and loving Lucius as I do, I like to think that even if he hadn't blown off his hands, something would have stopped him from blowing up the school, particularly with people in it. Whatever the case, though, Lucius's heart was definitely dark when he worked on creating that device. He imagined causing great harm to those who had harmed him. So how does that relate to Beauty & the Beast? In both B&B and Crazy Beautiful a decision that the hero makes causes his own tragic condition. And in both stories it is only through the process of learning to love another person, and place the other person's interests ahead of one's own, is the tragedy overcome.

Crazy Beautiful "is a contemporary re-visioning of Beauty & the Beast, told in he-said/she-said fashion, about a boy with hooks for hands and a gorgeous girl who meet on their first day at a new school."

Amazing story, thank you for sharing that with us!  I'd like to thank Lauren for being here today and for taking time to answer my question about Crazy Beautiful; I loved it so very much!  If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.  I got it for my birthday in February and couldn't put it down!!  :)

I am also looking forward to her other upcoming books as well.  Education of Bet has definitely peaked my interest.  As has a gothic novel called The Twin's Daughter, which "is a chilling, gothic mystery about a girl whose mother’s newfound twin might just have a murderous agenda." It is coming out in August 2010.  I can't wait!  Visit her website for even more books coming out this year!   I found out about the last one on yesterday's tour on June 2nd at Lauren: Everyone has guilty pleasures (T.V. shows, movies, books, etc.), so what are some of yours?  and then looked it up on my Goodreads account where I found the link and description...very spooky!  :)  Tomorrow, June 4th, you can visit Katie Alender: Tell me about your favorite/best birthday out of all your birthdays. 

You can also find Lauren at her website, some of her blogs and a new site (new to me anyway!) I just found out about called Red Room.  I know I'll be checking that one out, very cool!  Some neat blogs of hers too.

Happy reading and writing!  :) 

~Shauna

Missing Grandma on Memorial Day, her Birthday!

She was and will always be my hero... 

And, isn't this the best cross ever?!  

I started my blog after this date so she never saw my blog and I really think she'd like me posting this... smiling from heaven.  I think she'd approve, anyway.  She would have encouraged me to write & blog at least, so, I like to think she would have smiled on this too.  Love & miss you, Grandma*!   =*)

*We were quite close, perhaps some day I will share more.  To me, this picture speaks pages, if not volumes.  Sigh...

Happy Memorial Day, all!

slk

Online Book Club Radio!

Pajama Chat Readers Blog has a new Book Club for Saturday mornings!

Check it out!  The have an Online Book Club Radio on Saturdays and the next one is on June 5th and is for Wicked Becomes You.

I do hope to catch this one, but if not since I have something that day, but hope to see about slipping away or listening afterwards, then I'll be sure to catch the next one.  These sure sound like wicked fun!  =*]  I would love to even participate in one sometime...  Ooooh, will have to see about that!  :)  I have met or blogged and tweeted with a couple of the ladies putting these on and they are just wonderful!  Terry Kate from Romance in the Backseat let me know they were having this one.  Thanks Terry!

Enjoy & let me know if you get to listen in or participate, I'd love to hear about it.
Happy reading!
slk

MY REVAMP BITES ~ Invictus Poem

MY REVAMP BITES presents...

I recently watched Invictus and wow, I fell in love with this poem and Rugby!  Why don't we have Rugby in the USofA?!  We should, we totally should.  LOL.  Anyway, I looked up the poem and wanted to share it with you.

Invictus

There was a touching seen when Matt Damon's character goes into Morgan Freeman character's cell that he had spent 30 years in that his people had sent him to prison in only to later let him out and then make him president... And in it they have him looking out through the bars that Morgan Freeman's character would have been looking out of reciting this poem that he said got him through and that he later gave to Matt Damon's character to inspire him.  

I can't say it is the most fast pace movie of all time, because that it is not, but it is still a pretty cool flick.

With that said, here is the poem I found and the link in the title.  I hope you'll find it as inspiring.

For me, the last couple of sentences really hit home, but the entire thing really is quite amazing.  Who hasn't been in a tough time, especially one that seems to never end?  Who is the master of your fate, the captain of your soul?  

Wow...  I didn't expect that from Rugby, did you?  Silence fills the crowd!!!  :)  *tears*  For me, tears...  Great poem! 

Happy Friday! 

~Shauna 

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. William Ernest Henley