Tracy Deebs's Blog, page 7

Next on my TBR list...

Sophie Jordan spoke last night at our local writer's meeting. Though I'd met Sophie a couple of times over the years (since we're both Texas authors ... you just sort of run into each other occasionally), I've never read one of her books. However, I'd heard great things about Firelight, her 2010 YA. It's been on my Kindle since the summer, but other things were in the queue first (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging) or came so heavily recommended by Tracy (Lola and the Boy Next Door) that they could not be ignored. Both of those other books were totally charming, btw.
But now I think it's Firelight's time. Sophie read a short excerpt during the talk and now I totally want to spend the day curled up in the chair reading and sipping hot cocoa. In the interest of full disclosure, I've reached the point in my WIP where I have writer ADD. Today, I would rather write, I'd be willing to curl up in a chair, sip hot cocoa and do my taxes. Yes, it's that bad. But I will be a good girl. I will not read Firelight. I will not drink cocoa (not enough caffeine). Instead, I run full-throttle into the fray that is the big black moment in the book, knowing that when I read the other side, I have a luxurious day of reading waiting for me.
How do you reward yourself after you complete a big project?

My Celebrity Boyfriends

This past August I celebrated my fourteenth weddinganniversary—I was a child bride, obviously. So, it has been a loooooonnng timesince I have had a "boyfriend" in the traditional since of the that word. Now,celebrity boyfriends…that's another story.
Celebrity boyfriends are not new—as long as there have beencelebrities, there have been guys and girls crushing on them. However, it wasthe Friends episode 3.05 that first introduced a more formalized version ofthese crushes—you know, the laminated card. And while this list is known by manyterms in the pop culture vernacular (freebie five, the get out of jail freecard), I discovered the term celebrity boyfriends while perusing StephaniePerkins site and liked it best.
Relationships with celebrity boyfriends are, of course, notbased in any sort of reality—I'm not crazy (at least not certifiably…yet), andthey rarely take into account the actual personality of the human being behind theface. They are more like romantic choose-your-own-adventure storylines where I'mthe flawed heroine and he is the perfect supportive hero, who always knows theright thing to say and do (like whisk me away to Aruba for the weekend on hisprivate jet), and we just dally along in love on the beach forever, neveractually progressing to the part of a relationship where he's leaving his underwearon the floor for the 16,000th time and I become a raving shrew whostops shaving her legs in the winter time.
A celebrity boyfriend list is also nothing if not fluid. I'vehad flings that have lasted a few weeks or months (or until his next movieturns me off him), and long-term relationships that pre-date my husband.  Also, as I've, ahem, matured, my tastes havechanged, become more refined. I'm more selective on who I'm willing to take onas a celebrity boyfriend—it takes more than just a pretty face to make my listthese days (mostly). 
But the obvious beauty of the celebrity boyfriend is that ourreal life relationship status is never a problem because we will most likelynever actually meet, and he can, therefore, never crush the perfect romantic pedestal onwhich I've placed him, and I don't have to shave in the winter if I don't want to.
Also, because I'm greedy, I have two lists these days: onefor the current me, and one for the forever frozen in time 25 year old me(because that's who I still am in my head most of the time):
Present Day Shellee's List:1.   BradPitt – Um, this should need no explanation. Have you seen him in Moneyball? 2.   CliveOwen – Tall, dark, and perfect3.   DanielCraig—but only as 007 in Casino Royale4.   ChristianBale –on the list since the TNT version of Treasure Island, 19905.   RyanReynolds – I am not above Scarjo's sloppy seconds
25 year old Shellee's List1.   BradPitt – Circa A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall2.   RyanGosling – but only if he doesn't play the ukelele3.   AlexPettyfer – like I said, real-life personality is irrelevant when you're thispretty4.   JohnKrasinski – really could go on either list, because I'm not that much olderthan he, but I totally have a thing for tall, adorkabe guys5.   HenryCavil – mmmmmmm, Superman
Who am I missing? Got a celebrity boyfriend, too?

Ordinary People: VampireDiaries Episode 9 Recap

Pre-recap commentary: I freakin' love the VampireDiaries, obviously. But I can tell I'm so over this originals storyline becausea) I missed the first 3 minutes of the show, and didn't mind; b) I got upseveral times during the show to do something else; and c) I only took 4 ½ pagesof notes instead of my usual 8 for this recap. VD writers, please move on!!!
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INT. Lockwood cavern. Alaric, with Elena and Damon, issleuthing the viking script  carved intothe rock. They're symbols and names: Rebekah, Elijah, Niklaus.Cue flashback:  Rebekah, circa pre-Columbian America I'msupposed to believe, is carving said names in the rock. Uh, oh. Daddy won'tlike it, Klaus warns. Back in thepresent, Ric also reveals another name to Elena and Damon: Mikael, PapaOriginal.
Ric takes photos of the carvings and tries to decipherthem while Damon is training Elena in stake-play or foreplay, I can't tellwhich. Ric is hitting a wall, however, so Elena figures she'll go to the originalsource, as it were, Bekah…who's working on her cartwheels and forward flips atcheer practice. Why the daddy issues? Elena asks her. Silence from Beks. Fine,we'll ask him when we wake him, E threatens. We're doomed, doomed! if you do, B says, but I'm still not talking. Flashback: Elijah and Klaus are playswordfighting. Haha. Until Mikael shows up and schools Klaus. Playtime over.Ric works out a Rosetta stone for the carvings, while Elena updates Damon onthe phone about Bekah. How's Stefan, she asks. Damon looks in the cell. Stillbroody, he says. Then Elena gets a text invite from Bekah for a chat.
In the cell, Damon and Stefan banter over Lexi's rehabattempts and Elena. Seemingly pissed over Stefan's apathy over his situation, Screwit, Damon declares and breaks Stef's chains, freeing him.
At the Salvatore manse, Bekah has compelled girls tomodel homecoming dresses. Elena rolls her eyes, so Beks tells her to pick adress. When E doesn't, B threatens to bite one until she does. It's a powerplay: you only learn what I want you to, she tells E.
Bonnie brings Ric the un-destroyable necklace. And bythe way, Jeremy's an idiot, he tells her. Then he shows her a pic of a symbolcarved in the rock that matches the one on the necklace. It means "witch".
In Stefan's room, Bekah is pawing through hisboxer-briefs. E disapproves. The Original Witch led her family to America toescape sickness or something and they lived among werewolves, in peace. They'dhide out in the cave during the wolves' time of the month. Until, one nightKlaus and their little brother got curious and little brother got mauled todeath. The shizz hit the fan after that. Bzzz.It's D checking in on Elena. He's at a bar with Stefan. Elena's pissed.
Damon compels the bartender to give Stefan a drink…fromher wrist. Next thing you know, the brothers Salvatore are playing quarters andDamon comments on the irony that this is the Stefan he wanted for so long, butnow he wants the old Stefan back. Go figure.
Bekah says she doesn't get why Elena and Stefan aretogether. Of course not, because you don't know the real Stefan, assures E.Whatever, he's a vampire, answers Beks, and you're just a puny human. By the way,the necklace in question belonged to the Original Witch, who vamped us as wayto keep us safe from the werewolves. Daddy stabbed us all, then made us feed.Then she goes on and on and on about consequences and the upset balance ofnature and the white oak, blood lust, yada yada yada…
Meanwhile, Damon's all coyote ugly on the bar andStefan's sucking on the bartender in the corner. Why'd you break me out, bigbro? You know it's gonna piss off Elena. When are you gonna man up and stopbeing Klaus's bitch, little brother? Maybe I can be of assistance with that, answersan older man. Mikael, they presume. (If he's here, what happened to Katherine?)
Why does Mikael want to kill Klaus? E wants to know.The first kill activated Klaus's latent wolf which revealed Mikael's cuckoldedstatus, which pissed off Papa Original. So, he ripped out Mama Original'sheart. Their grief bonded the Original Siblings, forever, Bekah vows. You knoweverything now, so leave, Bekah orders Elena, and can someone please tell mewhen the house stopped being Elena's because I don't remember that part. Elenareminds Bekah that she plans to grind Klaus's bones to make her bread (Quotegame: that's a quote from which TV show? Anyone?), er, to save her love withStefan. Go after my brother, and I'll rip you apart, Bekah declares.
Back at the bar, Mikael questions Stefan about Klaus,who can't say anything about K's whereabouts because of the compulsion. Mikaelgets pissed so he reaches into Damon's chest and threatens to tear his heartout if Stefan won't talk. Ouch, too bad for that pesky compulsion. Damon startsto sweat, but Stefan comes through in the pinch (literally) to save his bigbro, again. Wait, I can bring Klaus back, S tells Papa Original.  Fine. Bring him back and I'll kill him,Mikael states. But if you don't, I kill you, Stefan.
Ric shows Elena & Bonnie what's he figured out:the carvings show Mikael killing Esther by ripping out her heart, except it wasn'tMikael, it was Klaus. He lied to Bekah about what happened. Elena feels it'sher duty to inform Klaus's sister about this. Bekah doesn't want to believe itand vamps out, pinning Elena to the wall (where's the self-defense skills, E?)
Damon warns Stefan that his humanity is showing. Whyis Damon trying so hard, Stefan asks. Because I owe you for saving my life overand over and over, Damon responds. Careful, big bro, your humanity is showing.Then for some reason, frustration maybe, Damon puts the hurt on Stefan.
Bekah cries inconsolably back at the manse. Damon iswaiting in Elena's bed. Hey, we've got Mikael, he tells her. And Stefan is onour side. Bekah, too, she tells him. Cause it all comes down to family bonds,which is why Damon will be the one to save Stefan—and y'all I totally loveElena and Damon when they're best friending.
Gawd, Ihope there's some action in next week's mid-season hiatus; this episode wassooooo boring. And this is a show that should never be boring with so muchconflict to work with. Am I the only one here?

RomCom, oh RomCom, wherefore art thou, Romcom?

My sister is in town (yay!) and we're having some much needed girl time. I love my sister. She's absolutely one of my best friends. We're very different people, but we always have fun and there are just ways in which she gets me like no one else does. And it's been a long time since we've just hung out together.
So I'm feeling very lucky to have her here. (And to have lemon ricotta cheesecake. But more on that later.)
Plus, as an added benefit, my hubby is out of town and since it's the day after Halloween, my kids crashed early. So my big sis and I get to watch some indulgent chick flick that we would never get to see if hubby/kids were voting.
The only problem is the appalling dearth of romcoms! We'd both seen Crazy, Stupid, Love, which was ridiculously good. And other than that ... well, there just aren't that many romcoms out there. Not recently anyway. Now, I don't actually expect there to be many as good as Crazy, Stupid, Love. 'Cause it was stupendous. I'm just wanting something in that ballpark with minimal gross-out humor. Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler need not apply.
We finally settled on He's Just Not All That Into You. I have to admit, I'm hesitant. I've seen the previews. The thread where Scarlet Johanson goes after a married man makes me nervous. Like, actually nervous. Frankly, the idea that she'd go after a married man seems more like a horror movie than a romcom. But my sister has seen the movie and swears that everyone gets what they deserve. And she's my sister. I trusted her to tie my shoes when I was five, I trust her to pick my movies now.
As for the cheesecake ... well, it's a new recipe. I'll have to let you know how it turned out too.

Meet Mei: Resident Brain and Guitar-Playing Badass of the IKC

"Sorry, but I put my trust in Sir Isaac Newton and a little thing called gravity.  There's no way you're going to talk me into getting on that thing."

Full Name: Mei JonesAge: 16
Sign: Gemini
International Destination: China, which is one really, really, really long flight away from Paris, TX
Favorite Guitarist: Eric Clapton and Jack White
Favorite Color: Black, which is actually all the colors. Unless you're talking about light, then it's white that is made up of the entire color spectrum. Or … never mind. Black. My favorite color is black.
Favorite Food: At this point, anything edible. But I do have a soft spot for Wasabi ice cream.
Favorite Nail Polish: Crimson and Clover, after the Joan Jett song (she's another kick-butt guitarist, btw)
Favorite Sport: Does Academic Decathlon count?
Don't forget to comment for a chance to win an ARC of The International Kissing Club!

Yay! Check Out Our New Website and Win a Signed ARC!!!!

Yay!  The International Kissing Club website is finally live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Stop by and check it out at http://www.internationalkissingclub.com/  Then come back here and tell me something you liked about it and be entered to win an ARC for the International Kissing Club-- winner to be chosen on Wednesday, November 9th.

Yay! Check Out Our New Website!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!  The International Kissing Club website is finally live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Stop by and check it out at http://www.internationalkissingclub.com/  Then come back here and tell me something you liked about it and be entered to win an ARC for the International Kissing Club-- winner to be chosen on Wednesday :)

Ghost World: Vampire Diaries Recap

[image error] The LeastYou Need To Know: Bonnie bringing HotJeremy back from the dead = consequences. Remember how Damon tore werewolfMason's heart from his chest? Apparently you can't keep a dead werewolf down,cause he's back.
INT: Salvatore manse. Damon's chained to a chair,poker protruding from his chest. He rouses. Dead Mason watches from the sidelines.Damon spies his magic sun-walking ring on the floor. Haha—very funny, Stefan.Uh, not me, bro, says Stefan, who can't see Dead Mason. But he does help Damonout by removing the poker, though not the chains, before leaving. Dead Masonreveals himself to his killer then throws open the curtains. Damon sizzles.
Cut to…another effing festival??? This theme isseriously starting to wear on me. Anyway, Mayor Mom announces it's the Night ofIllumination, something the vaunted founding families started after theyvanquished the vamps back in the day. Alaric and Hot Jeremy are there, so isDead Anna, when Elena walks up. Jere and Dead Anna hold hands, invisibly. (I just love them!)
Bonnie and Caroline hang lanterns, rehashing theJere/Anna sitch. Bonnie's jealous. Damon pulls up—Hey, Bon, remember the wholeconsequences thing? Dead Mason just tortured me. Fix it. Stat.
Sidewalk bistro. Guardian Ric and his Gilbert wardsare lunching. Elena's been reading Stefan's vamp diaries--they need Lexi tosave his ass. Uh, she's dead, E. Yeah, that's why I'm telling you, Jere—causeyou see dead people. Guardian Ric does not think this is a good idea.
Matt swears to Bon that he hasn't seen Dead Vickisince they sent her away last episode. And he's done with ghosts, so he won'thelp with this. Bonnie's bag drops. Her grimoire magically opens to amanifestation spell.
Dead Anna tells Jere not all ghosts stick around—some findpeace. Also, don't tell your sis I'm here cause she won't like it. Jere jetsand Stefan takes his place. When he sees his old journals he tells Elena tostop torturing herself with the past, better for everyone. Also, I might grab abite to eat at the festival tonight, he says. Haha, very funny Stef.
Bon takes Caro to the dingy room where she resurrectedJeremy, while the resurrectee confronts his dead ex-girlfriend about making himlie. Anna tells him E would tell Bonnie about her, who as his current alivegirlfrient would be understandably pissed. The witch that helped Vicki ishelping you, right? Jere asks. No, I swear, she says, you're keeping me here bythinking about me all the time. Jere feels some guilt. Send me away, Anna dareshim. Jere struggles, but then lays one on her. Awwwww. In the dark room, Bonnie chants, leaves stir.
The Grill. Dude, Ric, let's have a drink, Damon says.No, dick, I don't like you anymore because you killed me, answers Ric. Well,remember when you liked me and we killed Mason Lockwood together? Fun times. Buthe's back and pissed.
Caro's freaking out cause Bonnie's chanting andcandles flare. Woosh. Whitley Gilbertappears as Bonnie's dead witchGram. Then, Elena walks in and sees Jere smooching Dead Anna. Stefan amblesdown the sidewalk and boo—it's Lexi.Ric and Damon are enjoying a scotch when Mason joins them, cracking a tumbleron Damon's head.
They're baaaaaaacck…
Dead Lexi is super-pissed at Stefan for going ripper.Again. I don't want your help, says the blood addict. Too bad, says Lexi. Knockshim to the ground.
Bon's all teary over witchGram who tsks tsks her over bringing back Jeremy.You opened a door, girlfriend, and the O.W. (Original Witch) used it to let allthe ghosts out. Gotta close the door. Got the necklace? Nope, Damon does.
Elena's getting all righteous on her cheating brother'sass, when Caro calls. Hey, don't tell Bon, but guess what I just saw, she says.Well, get the necklace back from Damon and we'll send the ghosts back to hell, saysCaroline. On her way to find D, Elena runs into Dead Lexi. I can show you howto save Stefan, she promises.
Mason wants to save his nephew, vampwolf Tyler, fromKlaus's evil clutches as much as Damon wants to save his li'l bro, and he mightknow the whereabouts of a weapon that can do it. First, say "I'm sorry",Damon. Goodluck, Ric snorts. Damon manages some rambling pseudo-apology. Good enough, saysMason. Meet me in the Lockwood cellar, alone.
Lexi has chained up Stefan in some cell (I think thiswould better for me if he was shirtless, too). Elena tells her how Klaus compelledher love to turn off his humanity. Then make him to switch it back on, Lexitells E. Take away the blood lust first, she says. This might sting. Lexistares into his eyes, he starts twitching.
Lockwood Cellar: Mason tells Damon about a legend forkilling an Original Vamp that the Lockwoods buried, perhaps behind this brickwall. Damon busts through it. After you, he says.
Stefan is starving—well, hallucinating he's starvingper Lexi's mojo. But it might be working. When Caro calls, Elena asks her tohold off on vamoosing the ghosts just yet. Oh, and then Caroline spills thebeans to Bonnie about the Jere/Anna kiss?!? You can not tell this girlanything.
Jeremy's searching through the festival crowd for DeadAnna—oops, sorry, dude. He bumps into a guy, and oh, shizzat! It's the tombvamp from Season 1. Mayor mom takes the stage. Hey, where's our speaker? Cuescream…speaker's bloody body hangs from a tree. Tomb vamps fist pump.
Tortured Stefan begs Elena to help him. I love you, Elena, he pleads. Elena shakes her head. He gets mean. It'sall good, Lexi assures. Rage is an emotion. But just for good measure, she stabshim a couple times. Elena can't take it and runs out, sees the commotion at thefestival.
Looking for the perpetually missing necklace in Damon'sroom, Caro answer's Jeremy's call about the dead tomb vamp situation. Theybetter hurry. Well, check your dead girlfriend, cheater! Anna swears she doesn'thave it, but disappears when he turns his back.
Dead werewolf and un-dead vamp wander through darkenedtunnel. They examine Damon's trust issues when they come upon a fork in theroad. Damon forges on, but  a booby trapimpales him with stakes, pinning him in a place. Mason, some help? Mason?
At the festival, Jere tells Elena he doesn't want tolet Anna go. He loves her. For always. She's a ghost, it'll never work, saysthe human in love with two vampires. But Anna overhears. Word. She holds up thenecklace.
Abandoned, Damon tries to un-stake himself, but Masonreappears with the shovel? axe? and frees him. They have a moment. Dead Masonconfirms what Anna's been saying—everyone's alone on the other side, watchingthe ones they love go on with their lives. He just wants to help Ty. Redemption,not revenge.
Caroline and Bonnie are driving back to the festival.WTH? It's a car accident. Mayor mom. Oh, crap it's the tomb vamps going in forthe kill. Caro tells Bonnie to go on, destroy the necklace, I'll kick ass here.
Anna says a tearful goodbye to Jeremy. She only wantedto find her dead mom, so she woulnd't be alone anymore. They embrace. Hepromises she won't be but turns and walks away.
Lexi battles Stefan. E tells to hurry cause thenecklace is about to be dunzo. Lexi says it was Stefan's symbol of hope. Ah,the irony, he says.
The force that keeps uninvited vamps out stop Damon inthe tunnel. But not Mason. Pissed off Bonnie takes the necklace from hercheating boyfriend and destroys it in the fire. Woosh. Dead tomb vamps disappear. Mason does see something in thetunnel, but then woosh, he's gone,too.
Your Stefan's still in there, Lexi tells Elena. You justhave to break through. Woosh.
Anna walks down the street. Alone. A woman's there. It'sher mom, Dead Pearl. Mother/daughter reunion (I teared up). Woosh.
Dead Gram holds Bonnie's hand. You're stronger thanall of this, she says, before woosh.
Damon sits alone in the tunnel. Ric shows up. Stopcalling me, he says. You're the only other person I trust, Damon tells him. So,please get over me killing you. Apologize, Ric demands. Damon tells him thesame babble he told Mason, but this time I mean it, he assures.
In the cell, Lexi gone, Stefan and Elena stare. What'reyou gonna do now? he asks. Go home and take care of shite, she says. 'Bout timeyou gave up, he replys. No, I still have hope, but if you don't get your shizztogether soon, you're gonna lose me forever, she warns before walking out andlocking the door. Stefan appears to contemplate this.
Bonnie tells cheating Jeremy to take a hike. He does.Then sparks fly in the fireplace. Bon investigates. The destroyed necklace hasreappeared. The symbolism is deafening.  Ric, inthe tunnel, lifts a lantern to the rock wall. It looks like glyphs of some kind—stickfigures holding a sun and a moon. Dundundun.

So, I'm in Love with a New Book!!!

[image error] I picked up Virtuosity by Jessica Hernandez on Tuesday, just for the heck of it. Amazing cover, interesting sounding story, I was in the mood for a contemporary ... and I ended up falling in love with it, and it's two main characters. In fact, I liked it so much that I ended up reading it all in one sitting, while my own book languished on the computer ... but we're not talking about me, lol.

Anyway, here's the summary:

Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands down the wrong guy for her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition. Carmen's whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what if Jeremy isn't just hot...what if Jeremy is better?

Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can't end well, but she just can't stay away. Nobody else understands her--and riles her up--like he does. Still, she can't rust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win that she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she's told, doing what's expected.

Sometimes being on top just means you have a long way to fall...

If you get a chance, I strongly suggest you pick up this novel.  So good.  How about you?  Anybody reading anything particularly exciting these days?

Meet Izzy: The one stuck at home

"Why was it that she spent most of her time being Invisabel Isabel–the girl no one noticed–but whenever she was doing something embarrassing, the most popular guy in school was there to witness it?"
Full name: Isabel O'Reilly, but only Tanner Colt calls her Isabel and he only does it to annoy her
Nickname: Izzy.
Age: sixteen
Sun sign: Taurus – You have amazing persistence and follow through, plus tons of energy. You'll stick to your guns, even if you're being provoked, tempted or ridiculed. This is a blessing and a curse.
What are you passionate about? Saving the planet! My next car is going to be a Nissan Leaf. You know, environmentalism is not just about–
Okaaay, next question ... You have a boyfriend right? Yep. His name is River. We met at the farmer's market in Sherman about a year ago. He's going off to college this year in Lubbock. It makes more sense to end it now, rather than try to do the long distance thing, but we'll see...
Who's your celebrity crush? Ian Somerhalder. Not just is he hot, but he's also passionate about the environment.
What's your favorite food? Tofu Pad Thai ... but I'll eat anything vegetarian.
Do you have any siblings? My older brother Linc, who is the high school quarterback, which makes for lots of family fun, since my father is also the football coach. And I have a younger brother, Shane, who is the most amazing pianist. He's truly gifted.
Most embarrassing moment? When I tried out for the football team my ninth grade year. My father laughed me off the field.
What's your deepest secret? Sometimes I think of myself as Invisabel Isabel. At home, my older brother is the football star and my younger brother is the piano prodigy. I get over looked. And my friends are the best, don't get me wrong. But their stars all shine a little brighter than mine, you know? It's easy for me to get overlooked. But at least I have River. He really gets me.