Mina Harker's Blog
April 22, 2016
Liebster Award Nomination!
I’ve never even been tagged for anything before so I was pretty confused/excited when I got this one. I was nominated by the extraordinary Mystery Date With A Book and I would like to sincerely thank her for that. If you don’t know her or aren’t following her already, I would suggest you follow her here and on her MDB facebook. What Mystery Date does is hide the covers of the books they sell, writing only key aspects of the story on the wrapping so you really can’t judge a book by its cover! They also sell some really adorable miniature book key chains and necklaces.
So, on to the 11 questions!
What is your favorite color? All of them? Is all of them an answer? If I had to pick, I think I’d have to settle on something in the brown family. Honestly, I’m more attracted to color combinations than individual colors. So an earthy brown with a deep purple or a pale blue with a solid black or white with a touch of red.
What made you want to blog and how did you get started? Well, I was already managing the social media for Cactus & Harker before I started this blog. I enjoyed a lot of what I was doing for our penny dreadful (every episode is on sale right now, by the way) but, because Cactus and I have some pretty big differences on options in quite a few subjects, I always had to be careful about what I posted and sometimes posted things I didn’t quite fully agree with but knew Cactus would. I started a sub-tumblr to spotlight other indie authors and post longer, more in depth reviews than what I had time/character limits to post on Amazon and GoodReads. I started this WordPress to utilize the community here to help other authors in whatever ways I could and to post some of the things I had written solo. I figured I might be able to get some critical feedback to improve my own writing. I fully separated my tumblr and decided Harker Books would be used only for my own projects and not Cactus & Harker works when Cactus made it very clear that they wanted my “A Rant On” series to have absolutely nothing to do with C&H. It’s been a bit tricky to juggle C&H tumblr, website, twitter (I have just blatantly neglected you, you poor baby bird), and facebook (I have learned that I really hate facebook), trying to advertise and get the word out for Bienvenue, with my own personal projects like reading books for reviews, seeking out authors for interviews, finding authors to spotlight, writing my own short stories for the anthology I’m working on, writing for Bienvenue and the side stories we have in the works for that, all on top of family stuff and work. It leaves my head spinning most days! But I really love helping other people who share passion for words and I love, love, love reading. So even if I rarely, if ever, manage to stick to the schedule I’d like to for this blog, I still love it.
A favorite place that you’ve traveled to? I’ve got two, actually. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to quite a few places in the world. Tokyo and London have been my favorite. I think the key to my heart is solid public transportation. I loved the mists of London, the long quiet nights, the diversity, the ability to walk long and far, the screech of the tube and the rush of wind that washed over me as lines pulled into stations. Granted, there were more than a few stations that smelled overwhelmingly like piss but at least the trains showed up on time. I loved the smell of rain and the sakura blossoms of Tokyo, the safety of the streets, the bustle of the people, the food, the voice of the woman announcing train stops in Japanese, the way a city so large could be so clean and not make me feel lost in the slightest, the secret streets and winding alleyways, the quiet. They are practically on opposite sides of the world and both very different from what I grew up with but I love them both greatly and hope one day I can visit them again.
Rather live in the city or in the country? While I love wildlife and animals and peace and quiet, I do not like the nosiness of neighbors and working from out in the country would probably kill my business. So I’d have to say the City. Hopefully I can find a place in the city with a nice little closed in back yard where I can feed birds, turtles, snakes, bats, and bees.
What’s your favorite animal? At the moment, my cat. But I’m clearly being bribed as he gives me cuddles frequently and is just generally adorable.
The best money saving deal you’ve come across? I’m not sure this counts as a deal but I use this Trip Cost Calculator a lot since I’m on the road so damn much. Help me figure out where the cheapest gas is along my rout to I don’t have to spend such a fortune on travel expenses.
A favorite meal you like to make? Pulled pork! I love making pulled pork, I love eating pulled pork. I also really love making breads and sweets. I haven’t made candies in a while but I really want to start once I’ve got some decent pots of the appropriate size for small batches of candies.
Would you prefer to live up north or down south? I live in the US and since I’m not into lynchings, gay bashing, or cross burning; I think I’ll stick to the north, no matter how tempting the southern weather is in the winter.
Tell me your favorite vegetable and describe your favorite way to cook it? If I had been asked this a year ago I would have probably answered “None of the above.” However, I have discovered the versatility of lettuce. You can put it on sandwiches to add a bit of crunch and if you put it in a dumpling filling, you don’t even know it’s there! I also occasionally like mushrooms but only as a vehicle for butter. Although, if peppers are a vegetable, then those are my favorite but I think they fall into the same category as tomatoes?
Would you prefer to take a cruise or stay in a ski resort for a week? The cruise is definitely out. I’ve heard way too many horror stories and they’re so shitty for the environment that I’m honestly not interested in ever going on one. However, I’m also not a huge fan of the cold. Is backpacking an option? Unless the ski resort I was staying at was super isolated/away from lots of noisy people, I think I’d ditch both to backpack around Europe again for a week.
Have you tried a DIY? How did it turn out? Less DIY and more fixer uppers and jury rigging. They usually work pretty well until we can get a replacement or the entire thing just dies.
And now for some random facts:
I can’t process the 3D effects of 3D movies. Brain just won’t do it.
I love swimming and want to learn how to free dive but I have asthma so I’m kind of terrified and honestly don’t even know where to start. It doesn’t help that I’m currently stuck living in a landlocked state.
I am terrified of fish.
I absolutely love hospitality and hope to some day get my feet firmly enough under myself that I can go back to working in that field.
I hate Disney world/land/whatever and Walmart equally. They treat their employees so poorly it just infuriates me.
I have serious issues with businesses that gouge and destroy communities rather than supporting them for the sake of “business.” All their goals are so idiotically short term that they can’t seem to see the forest for the trees. If they don’t invest in the community and in their own employees, the long term health of the business and the consumers that support them will crumble.
I have a bigger problem with consumers that support these businesses even knowing full well their poor practices.
I write death scenes now instead of self harming or veering towards suicide.
I hate, hate, hate sudden, loud sounds.
I’ve spent a good portion of my life between domestic abuse shelters and homelessness.
I have dyslexia so even though I love reading, it can be a rea pain in the ass sometimes.
And with that massive book of information written, it’s time to tag some other great little blogs!
Since I couldn’t find the contact form for a few of you, if you’d like to participate, just drop me a line at MinaHarkerOfficial@gmail.com or leave a comment below with a better way to get in touch and I’ll send you the rules and questions for you to answer.
April 19, 2016
Grab a Great Free Book-Legends of Windemere:Beginning of a Hero. Author Charles E. Yallowitz Interview — Deidra Alexander’s Blog
Originally posted on firefly465: Cover Art by Jason Pedersen I asked Charles a few questions about his novel Legends of Windemere:Beginning of a Hero He very graciously answered them for me. ? Thank you to Adele for helping me promote the fact that my first book, Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero, is…
April 18, 2016
The Crab Apple Tree (what it really feel like to be suicidal)
I wrote this, for anyone who has been touched by suicide – whether you have survived an attempt, know someone who has survived, or have lost someone to suicide. I wrote this for anyone who thinks suicide is selfish, for anyone who wants to know why. I wrote this for anyone who wants to know what feeling suicidal is like, and I wrote this to show that suicidal feelings really take over someone’s thought process, how it takes over their life. I wrote this because I wanted to illustrate the feeling of wanting to live and wanting to die at the same exact time. I wrote this for awareness, and I wrote this for honesty and truth. But I also wrote this for myself.
What I have written, is simply my experience. While I have utilized some creative license for the sole purpose of making this flow better in terms of…
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April 16, 2016
The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles
I’m adding this to my reading list:
The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles A series of adult dark fantasy romance adventures set in the world of Erana, a dark world where magic is forbidden and elves live as slaves beneath the iron gr…
Source: The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles
April 12, 2016
Blog Challenge: Day 12
What can I say? I used to be a super villain. Now villainy is just a general hobby.
April 11, 2016
Blog Challenge: Day 11
Though I was raised Catholic, I’m not actually that into guilt. If I like a thing, I like a thing. Bfd. I will shamelessly eat an entire box of Little Debbies and give exactly no fucks (until a few hours later when my body reminds me that it does not like insane amounts of sugar). I don’t quite understand guilty pleasures. Like, if something makes you happy, it makes you happy. I mean, I hate Twilight and nearly everything about it but it was a best seller. Which means there were a lot of people who liked it enough to buy the entire freaking series. If it makes you happy, own it. Proudly stand on Team Ancient Perv Stalker Disguised as High Schooler or Team Obligatory Second Dude for Love Triangle. That book got a lot of people reading again and that’s one of the few things I can applaud that book for. So even if people like me take the piss out of something you like, that doesn’t mean you have to feel guilty about it.
I think the closest thing I have to a guilty pleasure is “The 100.” I’m sure a lot of you have heard of it. It’s a TV show with story arcs that are apparently descended from Houdini as they like to vanish pretty regularly and plot wholes you could put that freaking space station through. I love watching this show for the soul purpose of laughing at it. When I’m feeling shitty about my writing, I just watch an episode and think “Well, if this god damn thing can be approved for four seasons, I’ve got nothing to worry about.” Which, inevitably, leads to some guilt over how much red ink I spit all over that series. It’s a TV show, which means a lot of people worked on bringing it to the screen. There are costume designers and props people and actors and sound people and behind the scenes crew and just all number of people that put a lot of work into making that show happen. Just so I can blow a big old raspberry at the whole thing five minutes in.
So yeah, that’s to closest thing I’ve got to a guilty pleasure. Outside of that, my general rule of thumb for linking things others probably judge me on is filed under #sorrynotsorry.
April 8, 2016
Support an indie author!
Hell yes! Like it, love it, hate it; review and let people know why. You don’t even have to write a huge long thing. Just giving a rating and letting people know you enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) the book does wonders for an author.
A wonderful person who takes time to support indie authors made this for authors and readers to spread the word. It’s so very true; reviews are like gold to an author. Please check out their blog at katcrimson.
Blog Challenge: Day 8
There’s a pretty heavy side to this question but I think I’ve been drowning in heavy things recently so I think I’ll stick with something much lighter that I miss; public transportation. I’ve done a lot of traveling and I have one thing to say to my home country, “HOW THE HELL DO WE NOT HAVE FUNCTIONAL RAIL SYSTEMS?”
Seriously, America. It’s the 21st first century and we don’t even have a functioning national rail system. I can get from London to Barcelona using public trains and a bus in about 20 hours but it takes about 40 hours to get from Denver, Colorado to Dallas, Texas. Those of you familiar with geography might note that the London to Barcelona trip requires passing through not only the god damn English Channel but also an entire freaking country. That particular trip is about 1500 kilometers (approx. 932 miles) while the 40 hour Denver to Dallas haul is approx. 1287 kilometers (800 miles). Some of you might also note that a trip from Denver to Dallas passes over exactly no bodies of water and remains very much within the same country.
Which leaves me with just one question; how. How can our current national public transportation be outrun by a freaking horse? How is it easier to travel a conglomerate of different countries that rarely, if ever, agree on anything than it is to travel between states in the US? I can get from an island in the North Sea to a beach on the Balearic in less than a day but I can’t get from one major city to another in states that nearly touch each other in less than 24 hours?
Never mind that building railroads would be a great way to stimulate the economy and make the roads a hell of a lot safer as people started using the rails to transport cargo long distance rather than forcing truckers to be on the road for ridiculous hours. Never mind that we wouldn’t have to do as many costly repairs on our highways if we didn’t have as many heavy semis on the road. Never mind all that, I’d just like to know how we’ve managed to go so freaking long without providing our citizens with the sort of transportation that I’ve only had to go without in Cambodia.
And hell, even if someone comes up with some excuse for why we don’t have functioning rail systems nationally, no one can explain to me why the hell we don’t have them in cities. Sure, some of the “Welcome to Nowhere! Population: 100 and some cows” sort of towns probably aren’t going to have a lot of reason to have something like a metro/tram/underground but I’m talking about places that are fairly decent sized.
The top ten most populated cities in the US are:
1. New York, New York
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Chicago, Illinois
4. Houston, Texas
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Phoenix, Arizon
7. San Antonio, Texas
8. San Diego, California
9. Dallas, Texas
10. San Jose, California
I haven’t visited all of these places but from my personal experience of those that I have, I can say I’m honestly embarrassed at the state of things. New York lines exist but are over crowded, not well policed, their maps when I was there were cryptic, at best (I legitimately had more success figuring out the Tokyo rail system in Japanese than I did the New York metro). If you use them during the day, be wary of pick pockets. If you use them in the evening, be wary of rape and murder. And if you use them in summer, don’t. Just don’t. Everything smells of piss. Like just sun baked piss. The only place that smells worse is probably some of the Chicago lines.
Los Angeles transport is a joke. Just straight up expect to be murdered by every car in the city if you attempt to walk or ride your bike never mind waiting for a bus. Now this might have just been me but the LA buses never seemed to go to where I needed them to go and if one went even remotely near, the waiting was ridiculous. Now, in fairness, I’ve heard they’re trying to make improvements, I guess? I haven’t been to LA in a while (and don’t plan on returning, honestly), so I don’t know if the city is just running campaigns or if the transport situation there is actually improving.
Now Chicago, Chicago is about like New York but with, as I mentioned, slightly dirtier metro cars and with pre-darkness murder hours. Houston’s metro didn’t even exist until like 2004 or 2005. It didn’t go anywhere I needed to get to so I never had a chance to use it. If San Antonio has a public transportation system, it’s made of ninjas.
All of these cities have estimated populations of over a million. Over a million people with either no access to public transport or access to pretty shitty public transport. I’ve been to European cities with a population around a hundred thousand that had better transportation than the top ten highest populated cities in the US. We brag about being a power house but we can’t even provide basic civic functions for our people. It’s ridiculous and I’m honestly rather sick of America’s shit.
April 7, 2016
“Boundaries”
If you like minimal and not particularly graphic sex scenes, lots of sexual tension, third person perspective from both the female and male love interests, and perpetually dickish male love interests (think Christian Grey sans the “BDSM”), Boundaries is for you. Fair warning, rants and spoilers ahead.
First, let’s talk about the good. Iova clearly knows how the wrangle the English language. The writing is clean, the formatting is easy to read. All around it looks ten times better than anything I could ever manage. I also love sexual tension. Sexual tension is my bread and butter; I will eat that up all day every day and Boundaries has quite a bit of it. The only thing I love more than sexual tension is a romance told from a perspective that includes the male love interest. This also has that. Unfortunately, the love interest in this case is Landon Godchild.
I hate Landon Godchild.
If you cannot feel my loathing of him through your computer screen, there’s something wrong with your computer. (Don’t worry if you’re on mobile, though. My wrath isn’t iOS or Android compatible yet.) I’m pretty sure Boundaries got its name from all the boundaries Landon (our main douche) likes to cross. If you’re looking for prime examples of males dismissing females, sexual harassment in the work place, guys not giving a shit if they end a woman’s career or threaten her reputation, and social support systems utterly failing women, grab a couple highlighters and dig in. Landon is full of white male privilege and over all manages to be just this master amalgamation of every characteristic in guys that I personally avoid like the plague. He is the avatar of everything I loath in a man.
Landon is the sort of entitled, oblivious bro that, when rejected, decides a “romantic” meal in the office is in order. But, as you can tell by the quotation marks, instead of doing something small and sincere that might speak towards his consideration for Gabriela (our poor sacrifice to the frat gods), he uses his power as her boss to clear out the entire office (not thinking for a minute what sort of harm that could do her in the work place), set up a meal complete with crystal glasses for a “romantic” drink and fire hazardy candles to light her way from entrance to table. Several things that might be worth noting here. Firstly, Gabriela has already told him she won’t be going out with him. The fact that she didn’t say anything about dining inside with him is not the god damn point, Landon. Unless you’re playing with magic or legal contracts, verbal loopholes aren’t actually a thing. Secondly, Gabriela has to struggle with a heavy box all the way to the office all alone, with no one to help her. Landon doesn’t even get the door for her, she has to get that with her elbow then trips and spills her box into some sort of black hole as it neither catches fire on on the candles nor does Gabriela see fit to tend to it after it’s hit the ground. And, finally, they’re both still on the clock so why the hell are there wine glasses involved with this meal?
Which brings us to the prostitution portion of the program. Because as soon as Gabriela tries, once again, to back out of this hellishly awkward and unsolicited office romance that could legitimately destroy her future in her dream field of work, Landon interrupts her with “Sure you can. You are on the clock. I’m paying you.” He’s paying her for a romantic dinner. Now, on its own, that line is just extremely insulting and has all the red flags associated with brushing up your resume, getting in contact with HR about sexual harassment policies, and hunting down a new job. However, when pared with this little gem a few minutes later:
“Gaby, I’ll be honest. I can’t get you out of my head,” his voice became husky. “I know you’re not looking for a relationship, I get that. Don’t think I am either, but you are driving me insane. How about this? I’ll pay you one hundred thousand dollars to sleep with me one more time. No strings attached.”
You start to realize Landon seems to be confusing “potential romantic suitor” with “expensive prostitute.” Is there a rich guy equivalent to Craig’s List we can hook this dude up with? Clearly the general female population shouldn’t be forced to deal with this. Also, way to shift blame for your own lust and lack of self control onto a woman who has literally no control over this situation. If i can train my dog not to hump the couch, you should be able to train your dick to stay in your pants.
Also, pro tip, once you offer to pay a co-worker (or anyone, really) for sex, do not immediately follow them to the bar. Because he does. And that is stupid.
Not only does she end up apologizing for calling him a pig after he apologizes for “hurting her feelings” and not, you know, for committing an actual crime. (You’re both god damn lawyers, how do you not know solicitation is illegal?) But he also gets invited over to her house to help unpack her things. Because. You know. There might be heavy boxes. And that’s totally worth inviting a disrespectful ass into your home (alone) for.
I am actually pretty pissed that his just following her around being an ass worked so well because next thing you know, bam, they’re going out. Where the hell are Gabriela’s friends? Where are the people in her life going “hey! That dude clearly has no boundaries and loads of entitlement issues. Wtf are you doing giving him your address to help you unpack minutes after he’s twice solicited you for paid sex!” Where are these people? Gabriela very clearly needs these people blowing up her phone because even though she gets all pissy with Landon and halfway railroads him on a few things, she always caves when he makes half a point.
“There will be heavy boxes.”
“K, here’s my new address.”
No. Just no. Hell, with a boss like Landon, I’d invest in a freaking P.O.Box to get all my work mail at. No reason my home address should be on anything that dude might find. I mean, her career is very much on the line, whether anyone seems to fully realize that or not. Everyone at her job thinks she’s sleeping her way to the top and he’s only making things worse. Not to mention, while she’s pointing out that everyone is talking shit about her, he’s dismissing the matter entirely. I mean, it’s a great example of real world sexism and “don’t you worry your pretty little head about it” mansplaining or whatever, but this is not the sort of thing I want perpetuated. I don’t want Landon to be the good guy love interest that “gets the girl” in the end. I want him to be the asshole that gets his just desserts in the form of a knuckle sandwich and/or lawsuit.
The whole dynamic between Landon and Gaby seems pretty unhealthy. Landon shows up hungover on her doorstep out of the blue and, for obvious reasons is looking a bit confused. Landon takes her confused expression as not only a clear sign that she still cares but also finds her confusion sexy as hell. As a rule, it’s not Gaby’s intelligence in and out of the courtroom he finds sexy, it’s usually her skin, her perfume, and–apparently–confusion that get his blood pumping. Then there’s Gaby’s brief interlude with Mark, a man she hires to make Landon jealous. Landon not only pretty quickly knows where they are and that she’s with someone, but also decides, to hell with my woman’s own decision making, I’m coming to get her and take her away from this other person she’s chosen to spend her time with. That’s usually the sort of behavior that leads to restraining orders and/or mass shootings.
Not to mention that time she kicks him in the balls (in. the. balls.), beats the shit out of a car with a shovel, and all he has to say is “Feeling better” and “You are the hottest thing I’ve ever seen when you’re all fired up.” One, way to completely dismiss her anger. Two, you have enough time to say this but not to give that explanation you were just pleading to give her? Three, I have actually accidentally kneed a dude in the balls once (I am forever sorry, bro), and he was not in the mind to be making quipy remarks. He was mostly just trying to remember how breathing worked so I can’t imagine what sort of pain would come with a furious and well aimed kick the the junk.
Over all, I just could not get past my absolute hate of Landon. I’m sure there were some fun side characters and there were probably some beautiful moments in there but Landon found the control panel for my anger and spent 300 pages just flipping switches.
Breakdown
Pros:
Solid writing style. Iova has found her voice and it’s very consistent.
Lots of sexual tension
The sex is pretty PG, all the gory details pretty well glossed over with the phrase “made love.” It’s more than a fade to black but hell of a lot less than a Carabella novel.
Third person from two main perspectives. (Namely, the main love interests, Gabriela and Landon.)
Cons:
Landon.
I can’t put my finger on it but the way “domestic” is brought up through the book really bothers me.
The sex is pretty PG, all the gory details pretty well glossed over with the phrase “made love.” It’s more than a fade to black but hell of a lot less than a Carabella novel.
There are no gaps between drama points. (I.e., Landon shows up at her place looking like hell, they have a small conversation, she tells him to go, he leaves without a word, next page she’s rushing out to Landon’s place to discover him with some other woman—not like having sex with or kissing, just a woman being in his general area at his house making him laugh. Because clearly a well connected lawyer wouldn’t have a huge range of friends and associates.) There’s no room to savor the injustices or drama. It leave the dramatic moments feeling rather unsatisfying and very rushed.
The dialogue is hard to follow at times.
Deus ex machina amnesia.
Woman being bullied into relationship with a guy because of pregnancy. (I’ve dealt with enough domestic abuse to know that you’re usually better off with no dad than a shitty one.)
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this work for an honest review.
Blog Challenge: Day 7
A photo of something that makes you happy. Tell us why.
This is my cat. He is the most adorable little fluff butt in the world. When he isn’t being The Dickster, at least. He purrs so loudly. He was born feral so we have no idea what kind of cat he is but he sounds like a Siamese whenever we take him to the vet. He also has saber tooth fangs. No idea if that’s a Siamese thing but it’s adorable when he’s sleeping. He’s also a freaking giant. Thirteen pounds of cuddles!
