I visited the Seven Kingdoms this weekend

Finally purchased Bitterblue yesterday. I could not put it down. Well except to eat, and sleep and take care of necessary bodily functions. All I can say is Kristin Cashore is a motherfracken genius. I loved how she wove all three story lines of the two other "companion novels" together. I was so happy to see Fire. I cried a little.

Favorites lines from books

So I'm not usually excited when AlleyCat writes on herself - but I have to admit I like this project she did with some of her 8th grade classmates

Golden Lines
AC is a 1.46 or so

No two are exactly the same

So I finally got some more watch parts in the mail last week and was able to put together more Clockwork  Angel necklaces. Instead of stringing on a leather cord, I've recycled gold and silver toned chains I found in a lot of vintage jewelry I bought on eBay.

What do you think?

I have to admit I love these. I wear mine just about every day.

Mr. Darcy is my book boyfriend too

So today my good friend Thursday decided to play traitor. Usually this day of the week and I are pretty tight. I mean seriously Friday Eve is generally a really great day for me. But after today I was tempted to give up on Thursday's altogether.  I can't even pinpoint what pushed the day into a downward spiral, it was just one thing after another that just didn't go right, turning one of my favorite days into an all around sucky day. Sucky with a capital S. At least it was sucky until I got home. AlleyCat sensed Mom was having a bad day so she had a surprise waiting for me when I got home from work. She had cooked dinner and,  pushed the couches together into a pit so we could eat and watch movies. How awesome. Right?


We watched Lost in Austen on Netflix. "Amanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet." 

At one point during the movie, I turned to AlleyCat and admitted that Mr. Darcy* and I went wayyyy back. I told her he was an old book boyfriend of mine.  She giggled and said "That's funny mom. Mr. Darcy is my book boyfriend too".

Love that kid of mine. She turned my frown of a day upside down so it ended in a smile.

*Confession: I've read Pride and Prejudice, and watched various versions on tv. I will admit I have loved every one, but my favorite by far is with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Whoever cast him is a genius.

For those who might have been curious, here's a photo of the couches in pit formation. We grab a bunch of pillows and blankets and everyone curls up to watch a movie. We often end up falling asleep there.

Bookity Book Trailers

Take a look at this trailer for Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith.




I really enjoy losing myself in the world she created in her books Tantalize, Blessed and Eternal (I've read Cat Calls too but have yet to read Haunted Love). She has a great twist on Angels, Vampires and Were's living among us.

Cynthia is having a giveaway over on her blog Cynsations for the paperback release of Blessed. Go over and check it out.

I love bookish giveaways, don't you?

One of my favorite Blogs to visit is mundiemoms.blogspot.com. They are a fan site for Cassandra Clare who happens to be a writing genius. Remember my Clockwork Angel pendant? Well that was inspired by Cassie's book of the same name.

Mundie Moms are not only fangirls to Cassandra Clare. They spread their love amongst other authors by interviewing established and debut authors, hosting author chats, partaking in cover reveals and having bookish giveaways.

If you haven't checked them out, you should definitely do it now. They are celebrating 3 years in the blogosphere so go wish them happy Blog Birthday, and sign up for a giveaway or two.

Bookity Book Trailers BLACK HEART

Oh. My Goodness. I cannot wait for Black Heart's release. Please can I have a time machine.

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Check out my new background!

I happened on to the the cutest little site today by accident --> cutencool and I am so happy that I did.

Isn't this one of the coolest backgrounds you've seen? Okay - maybe you have different taste then I do, so it's okay if you don't like it. But me? I LOVE it. Sweetest part? I was able to get this little lovely for free. Oh, so now it's looking better to you huh? Cutencool has other backgrounds, headers, buttons etc and they are really lovely (and a few are creepy to). There is even one that reminds me of some of  Laini Taylor's characters from Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Working on some book bracelets tomorrow. No not bracelets with books on them, bracelets for books. Are you curious?

Cass

Tools for Contests

Do you like contests? I do. Another thing to learn about me huh?

I entered a contest hosted by Rafflecopter who says they make it crazy-simple to create, run, and enter online giveaways and sweepstakes.  Sounds good to me!

Bookity Book Trailers

I like books trailers. Did you know that about me? No? Well now you do. :-) Just giving you a heads up, you will see book trailers here often because I think they are a unique way of getting people interested in a book. Helps build the buzz. 

Well, I'm really looking forward to getting my copy of So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev (which is the 3rd in the Theatre Illuminate series) so you can imagine my little squee of joy moments ago when she tweeted a  link to this little lovely:

Bookity Book Trailers

This one is for Hallowed, by Cynthia Hand. Have you seen this one it yet? Ooooh I love me a book trailer.  Looks like Egmont has another winner.

Yay for contests!

I won an ARC of The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting. She hosted a contest over on Facebook where you had to leave a comment of what you thought her daughter was thinking as she stood there looking at a couple of large impressive horses in the snow. My comment was about yellow snow. It made her daughter laugh (along with 3 other entries) so there were four winners today. How cool is that? I can't wait to read it.

Flirty or Coy

Almost every day on my way to work, I am graced with the view of one of Mother Nature's works of art, Mount Rainer. I say almost because sometimes Mount Rainer likes to play coy and goes into hiding.

I've lived in Washington most of my life, and have always been within view of Mount Rainier. I think it is a view that some take for granted.

Last year I was at a book signing for Kimberly Derting (author of the Body Finder Series and The Pledge) and she was talking about a conversation she had with someone in the publishing industry (her editor maybe) and she made a comment about Mount Rainer, and whether  or not it was "out". The person she had been talking to didn't quite understand that sometimes you could see the Mountain and sometimes you couldn't.

That got me to thinking more about Mount Rainier.  It's funny how I can see the mountain as I go to work in the morning, and by the time I go to lunch it's gone into hiding. I decided I wanted to somehow document the appearances (or lack thereof) and what better way then a pictorial. Oooh. How about a 365 days of Mount Rainier pictorial. I bought myself a camera right before Christmas and checked out what would be the best location to take the photo. And did I find a doozy. Right under a bridge, looking up the Duwamish River. In my mind it was perfect. I told my co-workers I was going to start January 1, 2012.

January 1st came and went. So did January 2nd. Mount Rainer never even entered my mind those two days.  Why? Because I didn't leave the house sillies. It was a holiday. Then yesterday on may way to work, there it was, right in front of me in all it's glory. At first I was all flummoxed because I had missed out on January 1st start date, but then came around to the realization that I could still do 365 days a photos, it doesn't really matter when I start, right? I hurried to the spot I had chosen to take the photos was sad to discover my view was blocked. Someone had docked a big barge on the river, right in front of my "perfect spot". I threw up my hands in frustration. Who was I kidding anyway. Was I really committing to taking a photo EVERY DAY? FOR A YEAR? Still wanting to document Mount Rainier's habit of hiding in plain site (but not every day) I changed up the plan to one day a week. Yes, that would be easier. I could commit to once a week. Then I thought I'd better make it a weekday too, as those are the days I guarantee I leave the house. So fingers crossed, I'd try again the next morning.

This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise. I just new Mount Rainier would be shining. I'd even found a solution to the big barge being in the way. Instead of taking the photo from under the bridge, I would take the photo from up ON the bridge. This way nothing blocked my view.

So each week, I'll take a photo from the same basic location and we'll see if Mount Rainier is playing coy or flirty. Today? Definitely flirty.

Steampunkery Goodies

I have to say I am fascinated with just about anything Steampunk. I love the look of the gadgets and attire, and I LOVE worlds created in that same theme. Well I just was over at Tiffany Trent's website and am excited to find another book to add to my ever growing list of must reads. She is even having a contest where the prize is Steampunkery Goodies. How is it I didn't know about this upcoming book The Unnaturalists? Go over and check out that cover. It is just awesome. Tiffany says that the folks over at Simon and Schuster truly captured the book in that cover. I know one thing is for sure - the bookshelf devoted to my love of Steampunk stories is getting a new addition!

What Will 2012 Bring?

A better title probably would have been What Will I Bring to 2012?

I was reading Diana Peterfreund's Blog this morning and saw a detailed list of what she as hoping for in 2012. I thought that was a great idea, so I'm going to do the same here. I'm so looking forward to the new year, and figure maybe if I write down my own bullet list of the things I want out of 2012 I just might achieve some of them.


Work

•  A kind word costs nothing but is worth so much to the receiver. Remember everyone likes to be shown appreciation for a job well done.

•  Delegate. Delegate. Delegate. They won't learn the job if you don't let them.

• Help plan a Holiday Party for 2012. It has been too many years since we had a sit down dinner for everyone. 

• Have fun with the new Newsletter . 

Home

• Set up my craft room/writing room instead of using it as the catchall room.

• Take all of the boxes of crafty items and all of the unshelved books scattered throughout the house and put them way in their proper places in the new improved craft/writing room noted above. (Once it is set up of course)

• Sweet talk ChopSuey into knocking down the wall. Yes that one. 

• Get the forced air vents and furnace professionally cleaned. We've been here 14 years. I guess it's about time.

• Turn the basement into the Family Movie/Game Room. 

• Move AlleyCat into the room off the balcony. It's about time she has a real room of her own.

• Get the other garage door hung. We've had it in the garage for what, 2 years now? This will be the year to hang it.

• Take better care of the yard. It's not going to do it by itself. (Though I wish it would)

Family

• Get our Will set up. I can't believe that we have never followed through with this before. We aren't getting any younger and need to make sure both girls are taken care of.  All parents need to consider doing it, but I think parents with a special needs child/teen has to take extra precautions and make their wishes known.

• Work with Peanut on her communication skills. We got her an iPad for Christmas this year. She has been using one at school for adding to her vocabulary and improving her communication skills and we want to continue it at home. When she turns 18 she will have an opportunity to participate in a school to work program, but I've already been told that her ability to communicate would have to improve. 

• Finding more Me and AlleyCat time. She's at that angsty age of 14 and I'm scared one of these days she won't want anything to do with me. We need to continue to make sure AlleyCat knows just how proud we are of her. She is such a great kid, awesome student and fantastic sister. Book signings is something she loves to go to, so I will have to research what authors will be here in 2012. (It's a win/win for me too!)

• Try to get Chopsuey to go out of town with the girls and I, even if it is weekend trip to the ocean or the mountains or somewhere in between. 

• Spend more time with mom and dad. I hate to hear  it said my sister who lives four states away spends more time visiting than I do at forty miles. (Actually I improved on that greatly since 2010 but sadly it was on account of my mom and a bout of that dirty beast cancer).

Self

• Get to know more online people in the writing community. Make connections. Look for critique peeps.

• Find the time to write. Quit coming up with excuses and continually proCASStinating with Twitter and sit down and write. Come up with a schedule with Corbin and go back to our weekly writing sessions via phone. 

• Be more active. I have got to get this butt off the couch and outside walking. I can't keep going on like this. Something has got to change.

• Go to SCBWI-WW conference this spring. I just saw the line-up and laughed when I realized I already follow about half of the speakers on Twitter.

• Make more items for my etsy shop. Of course my version of  the ClockWork Angel Pendant has been a hit, but I'd like to fill the shop with the other book inspired items I've been making.

• Post more here on my Blog. Maybe it will be my own spin on Field of Dreams - If I write it, they will come.

What are you looking to get out of 2012?

Happy New Year To All!

Maggie Stiefvater is giving away a bunch I mean a BUNCH of books!

I was lucky enough to meet Maggie this year at an impromptu book signing. It wasn't a scheduled signing or anything, but she had tweeted that she was going to be in Elliott Bay Books signing stock, and if any of her followers happened to be in the area, to go ahead and stop by. I was so excited because I missed her signings in the Seattle area and was really bummed so I snuck a little extra time into my lunch hour (more like a lunch hour and a half) and tracked her down. She was super sweet. Signed all of my books (five) and even drew a wolf in Forever. (Yes I did a little happy dance on my way back to car)

I know. I know. Quit rambling Cass and get to the goods. What are the rules? How do you win this bounty of books? Well, you have to pick your favorite post from her Blog. Easy. Right? NO. So much to choose from. But once you finally whittle it down to one super fantastic favorite post, the hard part is over. Now all you have to do is talk about your choice on Facebook, tumblr, twitter, heck if you still have a myspace account you could talk about it there. Just as long as you can copy and paste a link back into something fascinating called a GIANT CONTEST TABULATING MACHINE WEBSITINATOR. (I'm not quite sure what it is exactly but hope it is something magical)

Okay so now that you know how to enter, are you curious what my favorite post was? It was pretty easy. It was this one HERE. Yes November Cakes. Come on guys. Who wasn't excited to find out that Maggie made up a recipe to a made up food.(Actually my excitement came later, keep reading) Maggie posted the recipe before I read the book. (Yes, it took me a while to finally set aside the time. I can't just read a book a a little bit at a time. I have to devote large blocks of time so that I don't miss anything in the worlds I like to visit) So when I first saw the November Cakes post I thought "Clever girl. That's kinda neat." But it ended there. I filed the post away in my mind and went about my business. See I didn't read the book until Thanksgiving weekend, and when I got to the the part in the book where November Cakes came into play? My mouth started to water and I remembered her post and hurried back to jot down the recipe. This time my thoughts were "Wow. Not only does she write, play musical instruments (including but not limited to the bagpipes) scores music, creates stop motion book trailers and finds time to talk to the folks at NASA, but she creates her own recipes too? Genius!" And it gets better. Now she has improved on the original recipe and says you should use this one here.

So even though the November Cakes post might not have started out as my favorite post, it sure ended that way after reading The Scorpio Races.

And even though it's not part of the contest, I want to tell you what my favorite tweet of Maggie's was this year. It was on November 23rd. You all know just which one I'm talking about don't you? She was hinting about the WinterNovel she had been working on and was giving her followers a teaser. She said that if we were fans of a certain work of hers, two words would tell us who she was writing about. Wait. You look confused. You do know which tweet I'm talking about. Right? It was this tweet right here:

Yes that's right. We are going to be taken back into her world of the Fae. And I for one can't wait. Hurry Maggie. I want to read The WinterNovel. Like Now.

A different spin on Tessa's Necklace

So Cassandra Clare has one, yes one ARC of Clockwork Prince to give away. She has decided to run a contest where the winner receives said ARC. The contestees (is that a word?) just has to come up with something creative that relates to the Infernal Devices series.

Well, I made my own version of Tessa's Clockwork Angel pendant.

So. Do you like?

A Blue Bloods Poem by AllyCat (she wants a Blue Bloods make-up bag of her own)

One holds Red,

One holds Blue,

One holds Silver.

One is good,

One is evil, and one is equal.

All are same, All are different.

Two love blood,

Some aren’t sane.

Schuyler was neither,

Nor Red,

Nor Blue,

Nor Silver.

She was unique, pretty and funny,

While Mimi...

well she was...Just vain.

Maybe that’s why her name is Mimi,

as in Me, Me, Me!

As for Jack,

you better watch your head,

or Mimi will hack it right off your neck!

Plus Bliss,

Poor, Poor Bliss!

First losing her Dylan,

Then learning the darkest secret of them all:

Her father Lucifer, was inside her.

And then there is Oliver,

oh sweet Oliver. Schuyler’s conduit, smart and true, Don’t forget funny too.

But after a disaster,

he told his beloved Sky to run off with,

Forbidden love, Jack Force.

Will they battle out the Venators, Mimi, and Silver Bloods?

Or will all be lost?



Win a make-up bag!!!

Melissa De La Cruz is having a giveway. Blue Blood make-up bags. All you have to do is something creative that is inspired by the Blue Blood series, post it on line, and email her a link. Simple as that!!

In my last post (yes, shame on me, it was way back in September) I posted pictures of a book marker I made inspired by a book I read last spring. I have been scouring the internet for the last few months, collecting charms of all sorts so I could do more book markers, based on some of my favorite storylines, and the Blue Blood series just happened to be one. If you ask me, this contest couldn't have come at a better time.

I took these supplies here:




And made this Blue Bloods inspired book marker:

I also took the same kind of charms and made this Blue Bloods inspired pendant.

You like? I hope so. I'd love a Blue Bloods make-up bag!

Happy 2011 to everyone!!!

Cass

Look what I made!!

This last Mother's Day, Chopsuey took AlleyCat shopping at the local bookstore. He understands my love of books, and she knows just what my tastes are. Before their shopping trip was over, they had purchased half a dozen books for me. (Yes I'm a spoiled momma/wife).

The first book out of the batch that I read was White Cat by Holly Black. Wow. What a mastery of the written word this lady has. (IS that worded right? When I say this stuff in my head it seems okay but when I read it on the screen...not so much) I will admit that I was leary of White Cat because it was not a continuation of her Tithe or Ironside books, or the companion book Valiant, and to be honest, I wanted more. You see, Holly introduced me to a dark side of the fae. The side I had not known existed. I grew up thinking all fairies were sugar and spice and all that's nice, but that isn't so is it? I know there are other authors out there that write about the Seelie and UnSeelie courts, and some have even done so before Ms. Black. But you see, she was my first. She opened the door and for that I will always have a soft spot in my heart for her.

So anyway - I follow @hollyblack on twitter, and I couldn't wait for this new book to come out so I could learn what all this  #TeamCassel buzz was all about. I wanted to know if I could love this other world she created as well. I started reading the book almost as soon as they handed it to me, and stayed up late just so I could read the whole book. The world she built was here but different. The way she gave some of the characters these "gifts" of cursing others. How you could block a curse, or know if someone cursed you. I'm telling you - I'll never look at stones (gemstones or pea gravel) the same way again. When I was finished with the book, I  *signed up for #TeamCassel. *disclaimer - there really wasn't a sign up process or anything, but if there was, I would so be there in a heartbeat.

Here it is middle of September, four months later, and I'm still thinking of this book. I loved it. I couldn't get it out of my head. Then one day it hit me. Show my love for this book. Create something. So I did.

I call it "My Heart Has Been Touched By A Curseworker"

I think it turned out  nicely. What do you think? I want to list them on Etsy, with some other YA inspired goodies, so be on the look out for them. I'm on Etsy as cassidyfinn (I know. How original)

Thanks for stopping by, please come back again. And again.

Cass