First Haberdashers Book Climbing Amazon Charts

 The first Haberdashers novel, Trials of Artemis, is steadily climbing the Amazon Kindle sales charts, reaching #21 on the Regency romance list today. Reviews have been very positive. Have you gotten your copy yet? Keep up with the Haberdashers on their blog.

REVIEWS

The characters are well thought out and likeable. The element of history adds interest, but does not become ponderous. I enjoyed seeing the relationship play out between the two main characters, especially since the author decided to make them both forthright and honest with each other, being able to pick up on emotional cues, instead of relying on misdirection and misinterpretation to lengthen the story, as is usually the case in this genre. I would have given it five stars, but the grammar nazi in me noticed a few inconsistencies/misspelled words that the editors missed (perhaps it's a kindle thing? Many of the books I've read on the kindle seem to suffer from this). All in all, this book is an enjoyable break from reality, and I would definitely read the next two books in the series.

It was refreshing to read a romance with a heroine who wasn't constantly melting at the sight of the hero or, conversely,unconvincingly resistant to his charms. Jack seems an authentically strong young woman which is what really attracted me to the story. Very well written. I liked it and will read the series. More by this author please!

I really grew to love Gideon/Giddy and Jacqueline/Jack. Jack is a weapon-loving bluestocking who is forced to marry Gideon due to an interesting meeting. Their characters and their relationship develop at an almost perfect pace as the book progresses (with bumps along the newlywed road, of course). If you like a strong female, this is the book for you. The only (very minor) issue I had was that if both characters were as against getting married as they said they were, I would've expected a little more resistance on both sides. Although they were upset, I felt that they acted like they were more indifferent versus actively trying to avoid the marriage mart prior to their leg-shackling. Granted, both characters seemed sensible and would be resigned to accepting the situation in time...but the immediate period surrounding the marriage still felt a bit weird. Aside from that, it was a great read and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment!

OH MY GOODNESS, I love your book! I was up at 3:45 this morning reading before I had to get ready for work! When can I expect the next one? I hope not long!

Bucket List: Publish a Book

Today gets a big checkmark because you can purchase my first book, a hot Regency romance, through Amazon Kindle. If that sounds like your kind of thing check out Trials of Artemis (Book One of the Haberdashers). You can download about the first three chapters as a free sample.

What if "Star Wars: Episode I" Was Good?

Excellent alternate universe proposed by Belated Media.

Adrien Luc-Sanders releases From the Ashes

Sociopath. Killer. Deviant. Monster, devoid of morals, incapable of human emotion. The villain known as Spark has been called that and more, and as a super-powered aberrant has masterminded countless crimes to build his father's inhuman empire.

Win $500 or $250 Visa Gift Cards or a manuscript crit if From the Ashes reaches the Amazon top 100! Contest Rules / Entry Page | Buy on Amazon | Add to GoodReads

Game On (Gender and Gaming)

There's a lot of controversy about exactly how much of a percentage of gamers (video, consol, etc.) are women, but no matter what statistic you look at the answer is "quite a bit." This is my humorous take on the gender breakout.

Other things to read:

• New ESA Statistics on Gaming (The Mary Sue)

Interview with Adam from Hellenic Immortal

Adam was able to sober up enough to answer these...

Tell me about the favorite pet you've ever had. Did you adopt it or did it adopt you?

The idea of pets is historically somewhat more complicated than you might imagine, actually.  I can recall a fair number of animals I would have called “friend”, which is approximately how I would identify a wild animal that I didn’t want to eat and that didn’t want to eat me.  But that was early on, when it was a bit less likely for said animal to be instinctively frightened of me.

Also implicit in “friend” is the idea of equal footing, which changed when animals became domesticated.  For the creatures it was possible to domesticate—just as a personal note, do not try to ride a zebra—it was very difficult to see them as pets because we treated them more like we treated plants: something we grow to eat, trade or sell.

Then came the idea of domesticating plus breeding, and then certain animals that I was hardwired to dislike, fear and/or hunt and kill and eat became household pets. Or rather, their smaller, tamer descendants did.  And it has always been very hard for me to see these animals the same way more modern people do.  Dogs I’m mostly all right with, because wild dogs and wolves tended to be okay by themselves.  You could form a bond with a lone wolf; it was the packs you had to look out for.  But cats I don’t like.  I know the modern house cat is smaller now than the kind I’m thinking of, but they aren’t tame; they’re just too small to eat you.

Anyway, to answer your question, I had a parrot once I was very fond of.  His name was Parrot.

Out of all the people you've met - if you couldn't be you whose life would you like to have led?

I’m not sure.  The problem is that everyone I might mention would be dead now, because that’s essentially true of everyone I’ve ever known.  To compound that, you would be amazed how quickly envy dies down when you see someone get older.  It’s possible envy itself is something that only makes sense for people with more finite lifespans than mine.

But okay, I can’t very well throw another non-answer at you after the last one.  My first inclination is to lean toward royalty or some otherwise well-to-do type of world ruler, but I’ve known a LOT of people who were kings of their own portion of the world, and there is an incredible amount of anxiety attached to that kind of position. And the life expectancy is not fabulous. Sure, you can have any woman you want, you can command everyone and get everything you want, but you’re incredibly susceptible to random events out of your control.  Like droughts.  A good drought will just ruin everything.

So if given the choice I’d probably pick someone like Newton.  Note I said “like Newton.”  Isaac Newton was, when I knew him, an incredibly dissatisfied and cranky person that everybody mostly hated.  But he looked at the world and saw it in a way that nobody before then had ever seen it. I would like to experience something like that someday.

Ok, seriously, who killed the Princes in the Tower? And do you have any idea what Richard III was really like?

I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to either of these questions.  In the mid-1400’s I was living in Picardy, and after that I was traveling around Eastern Europe and North Africa with a very entertaining vampire friend.  My knowledge of vagaries of royal succession in this period are vague and with a Gallic slant.

How do I find and make friends with a pixie?

Pixies are very difficult to find but not too tough to make friends with.  I supplied one method in Immortal that involved mushrooms, a few other semi-necessary ingredients, and molasses.  The molasses was to hold the pixie and the mushrooms were to attract her, and that works pretty well if you live in a zone where pixies are likely.  (Not that I know where pixies are unlikely.  I know you can’t catch one just anywhere, but why that is I don’t know, and asking a pixie is an exercise in frustration.)  Really anything that uses mushrooms and a lot of patience on your part should work eventually.

Review: Hellenic Immortal by Gene Doucette

As you probably recall (because I won't shut up about it), Immortal was officially my favorite book of 2010. So I was more than a little excited (squee!) to get an advance copy of the second book Hellenic Immortal in order to review it before it is released on May 3rd.

I'm happy to report that Hellenic Immortal has everything that I loved about Immortal - voice, pacing, mystery, cleverness, philosophy, and atmosphere. Plus it has more! Quantum physics, for instance. And somehow Hellenic Immortal feels more... at ease with itself. But Adam (or Jason or Spencer or Ut-Naphishtim) feels a bit more harried in this one because the stakes keep getting higher. In the first book he had the innate confidence of someone who has managed to survive for a few thousand (tens of thousands) of years. But between the environmental changes of modern life and the risks surrounding him of too many people knowing who he is and having an interest in him, it seems like ducking out of sight and waiting a few hundred years for the danger to go away just isn't going to work this time.

The last thing I want to do is any spoilers (for either book, in case you haven't read the first one), so I won't go into any more details even though I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO. There were some new characters to fall in love with, some new enemies to face, and some really fascinating twists. When you've read the book email or tweet me and then I will have someone to talk to.

So how does Hellenic Immortal stack up in terms of  terms of sequels? For me the easiest way to illustrate sequels is with movies. (For instance Highlander 2 was a sequel so bad that it almost destroyed the cult classic that preceded it, and Wrath of Khan is commonly thought to be better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture.) For me Hellenic was like the Game of Shadows - everything I loved about the 2009 Sherlock Holmes... plus.

You'll love it. Trust me.

Back in Time A to Z: Bedazzled (2000)

This movie has one of the best intros ever. All these people zipping around in fast-motion and then paused with insights into their character in a bubble over them, sort of giving you the perspective of any angels or demons keeping an eye on us. Comes off as both cute and creepy, setting a good tone for this tongue-in-cheek exploration of the nature of our souls and how our choices shape our lives.

Directed by Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Analyze This), it has the wit and intelligence at which Ramis excels. The movie focuses on the life of Elliot Richards (Breandan Fraser). Elliot is a bit of a dork as the movie starts, not very well liked by his co-workers and socially inept. He pines for his co-worker Alison who is obviously leagues apart from him in temperament and life path. The Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) sees Elliot as an easy mark and soon has him signing his soul away for a chance at a better life with Alison. He gets seven wishes, which seems like a lot until he sees how the Devil can twist his words and intentions.

The Commander's Rating: Three out of five Vulcan salutes. Silly and quotable.
Pros: The goofy version of Brendan Fraser plus the sultry version of Elizabeth Hurley. There are a number of very quotable scenes and some Fraser beefcake if he's your thing.
Cons: Neither as deep nor as funny as it could be. Solid, just not exceptional. It also makes assumptions or statements about morality that some viewers may find objectionable. (It's somewhere between the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and Kevin Smith's movie Dogma.)
Recommendation: Great for a weeknight to unwind. Pop some popcorn and get ready for a few laughs. It's a remake of a Dudley Moore/Peter Cook/Raquel Welch movie from 1967 which is also worth checking out.

Back in Time A to Z: Airplane! (1980)

It's possible that my parents showed a distinct lack of judgment by taking me to this movie at such a young age. On the other hand it's possible I wouldn't have developed such a wicked sense of humor without it. Airplane! isn't just a comedy, it's a celebration of humor.

If you've never seen Airplane! then it's possible that some of the jokes are too anachronistic for them to hit your funny bone as hard as they would have in 1980 (provided you were around in 1980 to see it). For instance, although Hare Krishnas are still around they aren't as ever-present in airports giving out their flowers. On the other hand there are a number of jokes that are timeless. Anyone who has been in an airport is familiar with the bland, boring announcements about loading zones (keep an ear out in this movie for the announcers/announcements to get interesting). And many of the puns, visual jokes, and bawdy scenes are just as silly and outrageous now as they were then.

Some quotes that we fans use and totally recognize when someone else uses them:

• "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit..." drinking, smoking, amphetamines, sniffing glue, etc. (Oh how we miss you, Lloyd Bridges!)
• "A hospital? What is it?" "It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."
• "Surely you can't be serious." "I am serious... and don't call me Shirley."
• "You ever seen a grown man naked?" 

The Commander's Rating: Five out of five Vulcan salutes. It's a classic.
Pros: Leslie Nielsen and Lloyd Bridges, silly jokes and situations, and a plot that's a rollicking good time. It never fails to make me laugh. They lampoon the movie Airport, politics, pop culture, and everything else they could think of.
Cons: It was made to capture some of the oeuvre of the time, which means that you might not get it or at least might be "over" some of the issues that are being lampooned. You can definitely tell that it fell between the 70s and 80s.
Recommendation: Any time you need a distraction and pick-me-up Airplane! is a good movie to turn to. And the more you watch it the more it will make you laugh. Please be aware that there is nudity and some sexual jokes/situations.

The Goddess of Cheese

In what may be my most exciting "Sunday is God and Cheese Day," may I present the Goddess of Cheese created by echo-x and posted to DeviantArt.