Kimberly Kinrade's Blog, page 12

The post where we celebrate 1,000 adds for SEDUCED BY INNOCENCE on Goodreads and I give away a rose pendant!

When I announced that I would give away a custom made, hand painted rose pendant designed by Stephanie Mayfield exclusively for the Seduced Saga, I never expected my fans to get so excited and work so hard to make it happen.

I worried initially that maybe I set the bar too high, but no, I didn’t, because I have the best fans and friends ever! And you guys made it happen. Tonight, we reached 1,000 adds on Goodreads and counting. I see it on my dashboard, though the book page seems slower in keeping up. So here’s a screen shot of the numbers>>

[image error]This means it’s time for yet another giveaway! I’m already doing two pre-launch giveaways for swag and Amazon GCs which you can find here, along with the first chapter of Seduced by Innocence. And now, I’m giving away one of these lovely pendants!

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I’m going to leave the giveaway open until Monday so people have time to enter, but it doesn’t take so long that people forget why they were so excited to begin with!

Thank you all for your incredible enthusiasm about this book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it! Look for it on Amazon within the week!

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What Women Want: A Must-Read For Men!

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My idea of romance. Also, a teaser of another romance series I'll be launching, KISS ME IN PARIS.

Back in 2000 (can you believe that was 13 freaking YEARS ago??), Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt co-starred in a romantic comedy where he gained the ability to read women’s thoughts in “What Women Want”.

Comedy ensued as this soon-to-be-reformed chauvinist tried to woo his way into her pants, and her job, only to fall in love with her.

Men think romancing women is complicated, but it’s really not. I’m about to launch Seduced by Innocence, the first in a new romance series. While all of my YA or adult books have romance in them, this is my first series that is romance first, everything else second. It’s an interesting switch and is forcing me to delve more deeply into the mutual physical and emotional attraction between my characters.

At the launch party I’m having on Facebook (come join us!), my publicist and host, Vickie Dold from Daring Books Design & Marketing and IO Book Tours, asked my fans what sure fire thing a man could do to sweep them off their feet and seduce the skivvies right off of them!

Here’s what those ladies had to say:

* Be kind to animals!

* All he’d have to do is take off his shirt to reveal his abs.

* Well, this really isn’t anything sexual. If he would have the house clean and the kids feed and have a hot bath waiting for me when I got home, and then gave me a massage, then I’m all his.

* Take me away on a spur of the moment dinner in another state.

* Do sweet things without expecting something in return.

* Fix me a hot bubble bath with candles by the tub and the book I am reading waiting on me (cause that would actually mean he listened to know what book to put up there.)

* Surprise me with a trip…for two!!!!

* Bring me surprise Starbucks!

* Intelligence. Don’t like stupid men

* Bring me coffee or cook something delish!

* Love reading. Bonus points for quoting Vonnegut to me.

* Make me laugh. Not an lol laugh, but hurts your tummy to continue laughing kind of laugh.

* Appreciate me and kiss the spot on my neck.

* Look at me like I am the only person he can see, and make me smile, and have that “you’re the only one” stare.

* Wash the dishes!!!

* Even though he doesn’t get my “book obsession”, my husband supports it. A couple of years ago, he bought me a Kindle so I wouldn’t have to give up books when we move (we’re military so we always have to lighten the load). Great, book problem solved. Not…I’m still piling up books. About 2 weeks ago, he came home with a new bookshelf for me. Serioulsy, I could have swooned!

* Coming home to the kids taken care of and the house clean.

What do you think? Do these things do it for you, ladies?

Men, what do you think your woman wants? Do you give it to her?

Don’t forget to enter my two pre-launch giveaways for Seduced by Innocence and be sure[image error] to add it on Goodreads for a chance to win a custom made rose pendant. We’re almost to 1,000 adds, once we get there, I’ll give one away!

Read the first chapter of SEDUCED BY INNOCENCE, see the animated cover, and enter to win swag in the pre-release giveaway here.

ABOUT SEDUCED BY INNOCENCE

[image error]Rose Wintersong didn’t have an ordinary upbringing. Raised in what most would call a hippy commune, but what is actually a powerful coven of witches, she never questions the life fate chose for her.

Until she meets Derek O’Conner.

Derek challenges everything Rose believes and forces her to see the secrets hidden beneath the whitewashed walls of her idyllic country life.

Rose knows she should walk away, that the sexy martial arts instructor is bad news bred to create discord in her tight community… but the animal magnetism between them is impossible to fight.

Caught between the passion of first love, and the steady beat of the life she’s always known, Rose must choose between the innocence of her youth or the pleasures of womanhood—but lost innocence comes at a price, and Rose harbors a dark secret that could destroy everyone she loves—including Derek.

Submit to the Seduced Saga as Derek and Rose face their future while unraveling the mysteries of their past.

Look for these books in 2013.

January 21st -Seduced by Innocence

February 14th -Seduced by Power

TBA-Seduced by Pleasure

TBA-Seduced by Pain

TBA-Seduced by Love

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An erotic teaser and the post where I talk about why I’m not using a pen name for romance

This week I’ll be launching the first book in a new series called Seduced by Innocence. Like The Forbidden Trilogy, Seduced is a paranormal story with romance, mystery and intrigue. However, where The Forbidden Trilogy is Young Adult (albeit upper YA), this new series is New Adult Romance for 17+ because of the sexual content. It’s much heavier on the romance than any of my previous books.

I’m excited to dive into the world of romance, and I even have a few more paranormal and contemporary romance series for the New Adult genre planned for this year.

It may seem odd to some that I publish children’s books, Young Adult, and now New Adult and romance, and I thought about taking a pen name for my sexier work, but it just didn’t make sense.

First, my YA work has a lot of romance in it and I have a lot of adult fans who are very excited to read my steamier stuff. I don’t want them to have to jump through hoops trying to figure out which books are published under which names.

Also, creating a new identity would mean starting over with everything–social media, marketing, branding, thus taking more time away from my writing. I’m in the process of training new marketers at Daring Books Design & Marketing so I can focus MORE on writing, not less! I’m currently not taking new clients and devoting myself as exclusively as I can to getting more books out for you. I don’t want to have to start over with all that.

Also, where do I draw the line for which books to publish under my real name and which books to publish under my pen name? I have 6 lower grade books out, 4 young adult titles out that are for mature YA, and now 5 new adult titles coming out that actually take place in the same world as Forbidden, though you won’t realize that in the first book. Then I’ll have a historical fantasy romance, Sunrise & Nightfall, which won’t be heavy in the sex, but it feeds the Fallen Trilogy, which might have more adult content and is also part of the Forbidden world. Then I’ll have The Reluctant Familiar series, which is YA fit for younger and older teens as well as adults.

Some of my work is more focused on romance, while other books have some romance but are more focused around the paranormal/fantasy aspect. Then I’ll have contemporary romances as well. I wouldn’t know where to cut myself in half.

It’s my hope that those of you who aren’t a fan of sex in books will be okay just skipping those books and moving on to my other work, and those who like more heat will enjoy the variety. Each book/series will be clearly marked for content and age-appropirateness, so there will be no way to confuse one of my children’s book with an adult romance.

I figure most of my fans are adults, either buying for themselves or buying for their kids. Now they have more options. Mommy can read Seduced while her 6-year-old enjoys my latest Three Lost Kids book, The Three Lost Kids & Cupid’s Capture (which also just launched last week!), and her teen aged daughter can read The Forbidden Trilogy. This way everyone gets something fun to read this Valentine’s Day.

This genre hopping isn’t unprecedented. Neil Gaiman has written books for children and then turned around and written adult books with graphic content. James Patterson has a mix of children, YA and adult books with a mix of paranormal and contemporary. And with the cross over of romance in YA and New Adult, finding those dividing lines is even harder. I recently read an article about the rise in New Adult fiction and how Big 6 publishers are looking at publishing two versions of books, one for the YA crowd without sexually explicit content, and one for the New Adult crowd with those scenes.

So, I’ve made the choice to trust that my readers and fans will read the product description before purchasing one of my books so you know what you’ll be getting, be it a children’s book, YA, New Adult, Epic Fantasy, Romance (with and without sexual content) or more.

To that end, I have a new short story I’d like to share with you. It’s most definitely erotic, far more than even my romance novels are. Take a peek and if it’s your cup of tea, give it a go! I’d love to hear what you think.

To see all of my work, here’s my Amazon Author Page. Enjoy!

SAPPHIRE EYES (An Erotic Short Story)

99cents on Amazon Kindle, or free for premium members. Buy it here.

[image error]We are pulled to each other like magnets. Or moths to a flame perhaps? Let’s hope the burn doesn’t scorch too badly. Can you handle the heat?

Time and space disappear and we are alone. The where is irrelevant. Only the who is of any consequence. You and I. For now. Until such a time that there is no you and I to speak of. Bodies merged into one.

And then we dance.

***

Escape into this erotic short story by award-winning, bestselling author, Kimberly Kinrade and get lost in the seduction that can happen between heartbeats.

Adult sexual content. Graphic sex.

Look for other romance titles from Kimberly Kinrade

Seduced by Innocence (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

The Forbidden Trilogy (Young Adult Paranormal Thriller/Romance)

Don’t forget to check out my upcoming release, Seduced by Innocence, sneak peek and enter to win swag or up to $60 in Amazon GC! Click here.

Also released this week: My latest Three Lost Kids book

The Three Lost Kids & Cupid’s Capture

Just $2.99 on Amazon, great for kids 4-10 years old, parents love it too! Get it here.

Lexie is very unhappy this Valentine’s Day. She can’t get anything right, and her hearts all look horrible. In fact, everyone at school seems to be in an extra grumpy mood.

When she and her sisters consult her magic Mirror of Ice to find out what’s going on, they are transported to Heartland, the home of Cupid herself, which is under attack by a scary monster.

When Cupid is captured, the girls must navigate the Maze of Misdirection, pull themselves out of Apathy, and survive against attacking Cruel Crawlies in order to find the Chasm of Broken Hearts… and save Cupid.

But first, Lexie has to learn to love herself just as she is, otherwise Valentine’s Day will forever be filled with broken hearts.

Seduced by Innocence sneak peek of Chapter 1, plus giveaway and animated gif cover reveal!

Seduced by Innocence

by Kimberly Kinrade

[image error]Rose Wintersong didn’t have an ordinary upbringing. Raised in what most would call a hippy commune, but what is actually a powerful coven of witches, she never questions the life fate chose for her.

Until she meets Derek O’Conner.

Derek challenges everything Rose believes and forces her to see the secrets hidden beneath the whitewashed walls of her idyllic country life.

Rose knows she should walk away, that the sexy martial arts instructor is bad news bred to create discord in her tight community… but the animal magnetism between them is impossible to fight.

Caught between the passion of first love, and the steady beat of the life she’s always known, Rose must choose between the innocence of her youth or the pleasures of womanhood—but lost innocence comes at a price, and Rose harbors a dark secret that could destroy everyone she loves—including Derek.

Submit to the Seduced Saga as Derek and Rose face their future while unraveling the mysteries of their past.

Look for these books in 2013.

January -Seduced by Innocence

February -Seduced by Power

TBA-Seduced by Pleasure

TBA-Seduced by Pain

TBA-Seduced by Love

*** Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below to win Amazon $$ & awesome swag! I’ll also be giving away a custom made rose pendant if Seduced by Innocence gets 1,000 adds or more before the launch at the end of January (date to be announced soon… )

Add Seduced by Innocence on Goodreads now!

Gif cover art and regular cover art done by the amazing and talented Dmytry Karpov of Daring Books Design & Marketing.

Chapter 1

Liquid fire poured into me, filling me with the intimate sense of him as he leaned in to claim my lips with his own. I reached for him, needing him closer, needing to feel his flesh against mine, but my arms couldn’t close the distance between us, which grew wider with each hitched breath. So close to finally feeling something real, something carnal and deep, I cried out in frustration, dropping my hands as he disappeared. My cries deepened into a frenzy of panic and my eyes flew open. I clutched my blanket and stilled myself to calm my racing heart.

Just a dream. Always just a dream. It could never be more than that. Not with my dream man, not with any man. Knowing this did nothing to dampen the disappointment that weighed heavy on me each time I entered that one moment where dreams and reality co-existed and I forgot who I really was and what would happen if I ever experienced that level of surrender. But fear replaced my self-absorption when the alarms penetrated my foggy mind. Outside my cottage, footsteps raced through the cold night, crunching on newly fallen snow. Through my frosted window, flashlights wavered back and forth, looking for something, or someone. It’s happening again!

The floor under my bare feet felt like ice as I slipped out of bed and fumbled in the dark for my clothes. Sandy, my loyal Alaskan Husky, whined when I moved to leave the cottage without her. I ran a hand through her thick white fur. “You want to come? I have to go make sure all of the kennel dogs are taken care of.”

The alarm shut off, leaving us both in a stunned silence that filled the room. Sandy licked my hand and stood by the door waiting as I pulled on my boots and coat and braced myself for the cold. I rummaged through the basket next to my door, looking for my warmest gloves. At least in the winter I had a ready excuse for covering my hands.

Outside, the black pitch of night greeted me. No one had turned on the flood lights yet, which made me wonder if they’d been damaged. Flashlight in hand, dog by my side, I headed to the main house on our coven’s 50-acre property as I sent my magic ahead of me to sift through the energy from the attack.

Before I could get more than a few steps, Blake ran up to me and laid his hand on my arm as he fought to catch his breath. He ignored Sandy’s low growl as he pushed me toward the door. “You should go back in. They’ve broken onto the property again and slashed the tires of three vehicles and left a deer carcass as a gift.”

My heart thumped with extra force at the news. “That’s horrible. Whose cars?”

“The property truck, Darren’s car and Lauren’s.” His jaw hardened and he narrowed his dark eyes, squeezing my arm tighter in his anger. “Bastards will cost us hundreds in new tires. They even smashed out the windows. We’ve got to strike back. Teach them a lesson.”

Using my gloved hand, I eased his fingers off of me. He flinched at the touch, despite the layers of protection. Good thing I had a thick skin, sort of. I kept my voice calm, even through my own rage. “That’s not a decision you can make on your own. We’ll all talk about it when we meet tomorrow morning.”

He waved his flashlight over his watch and smirked. “More like a few hours. It’s 2 a.m. The meeting’s in two hours.”

“Then I’d better check on the dogs and try to get a bit more rest.” I stepped around him to continue walking, but he blocked me with his large frame made of the kind of muscle you get, not from the gym, but from manual labor day in and out. He smelled of pine needles and snow, a scent that would have been appealing on anyone else but him.

“Rainbow wants everyone inside except the security team. The dogs are fine,” he said.

I’d thought about it a lot, what it was about Blake that revolted me so much. Easy on the eyes, dedicated to our coven, though lacking magic of his own, he would have been a safe choice, if I’d had any choice at all. He’d even indicated an interest on more than one occasion. But his touch made my skin crawl, even through clothing. I shifted away from him. “What about my sister? She must be scared.”

“She’s fifteen, Rose, not a little girl anymore. She’s not as helpless as you think. Just go back inside. We’ll handle this.” He smiled to soften the command in his voice, and I sighed and walked back into the cottage.

I’m not a little girl anymore, either, I thought with a touch of bitterness. Guess no one got the memo.

Not for the first time I wished for a lock on my house, but none of us had locks, despite the recent string of break-ins. I shed my winter gear and gloves and toweled off the snow from Sandy’s paws. Knowing I’d never get back to sleep, and frustrated that I’d been dismissed by Blake like some kid, despite the fact that I was nineteen and he was only twenty-one, I searched my one-room dwelling for something to occupy my time until our daily pre-dawn meeting.

My favorite romance novel sat on the dresser next to my bed and I reached for it, grateful that I could at least breathe in vicarious passion through the lives of others, if not my own. My hands stilled on the book as shivers of energy traveled through my body, connecting me to the earth, to my coven and to my family. Mother’s voice called out to me through one of those lines. “Rose. Help! Hurry!”

We almost never communicated telepathically. The drain on energy and resources was just too much, and, with the modern convenience of cell phones, unnecessary. Besides that, most members of our coven didn’t have enough power to do it. Heart racing in my chest, I ran out the door and through the dark with Sandy at my heels, straight to the lower level of the main house where Mother lived. The air crackled with fear and desperation and the ramped up emotion of it all forced my gut into uncomfortable knots.

As leader of the coven, my mother commanded the most power and respect. She’d never reached out to me for help before, which made this all the more alarming. I forced my legs to pump faster, Sandy running at my side, as I navigated through the icy paths masked with shadows of the night.

There should have been others out with flashlights, checking the property, but I didn’t see or feel anyone. Perhaps the mental cries of Mother drowned out everyone else, I couldn’t be sure.

When we reached her door, I hesitated. Mother didn’t like people barging in on her. While everyone else in the coven had a default open door policy—meaning literally anyone else here could walk into your house without knocking—Mother was immune from that. To some extent, so was I, but only because my coven feared an accidental touch. Only in my own home could I go gloveless, which is also why I got to live alone while others were forced to share housing.

Sandy whined and clawed at the door, jarring me out of my thoughts. Inside, something clattered to the ground and Mother screamed. I pushed the door open and tried to mentally ready myself.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I found.

***

A giant brown wolf stood before Mother, baring his teeth with a low, throaty growl that sent shivers of fear up my spine. Mother cowered in the corner of her couch, eyes like saucers as she backed away from the wolf with her hands in defense position. She made eye contact with me as I walked in. “Help! Rose, help! He attacked me.”

Sandy growled and the pups in the kennel barked and yipped. Feeling utterly useless, I shouted at the wolf. “Get away from her!”

It turned its head to me, large golden eyes glowing in the dim light. For a moment I felt a connection to the beast, as if he was trying to tell me something, but the moment shattered when Mother shrieked at me. “Do something, Rose.”

What did she want me to do? I didn’t know self-defense, no one would let me study it. I had no weapons… other than myself. Mother, who—even cornered by this magnificent beast—looked in control and poised, with her midnight black hair in an up-do and her face made up with flawless makeup, glanced down meaningfully at my hands.

This couldn’t be. She couldn’t possibly want me to use my power on the wolf. It didn’t even work on animals.

But this wolf, he felt more than animal. He was three times the size of even a large wolf, and at any rate what was a wolf doing in this area in the first place? Something tickled at the back of my mind. Something I should have known but had forgotten. It hovered on the edge of my memory, teasing me with knowledge just out of reach.

The wolf howled, his head high in the air, and responding howls coming from the woods outside echoed through the cold night.

Then it all clicked and I took a step back in reflexive anxiety. So it was true. All the stories and rumors. The O’Conner clan really could shapeshift… and they were here, on my land, attacking my family.

For months they’d been terrorizing our coven, trying to drive us out of our rural home in Washington. We refused to be bullied by the wealthy shamans who commanded the public favor in the local, and even international, spiritual communities.

We didn’t have the money to fight them legally.

We didn’t have the power to fight them magically.

And we had no idea what they wanted from us.

But they’d attacked relentlessly. Sabotaging our cars, destroying our property, leaving dead animals for us to find. Now, they’d sent someone to hurt Mother. Maybe kill her. Anger boiled inside of me, reaching through me and around me, and I could feel the steel traps around my power uncoiling as I took measured steps toward the wolf.

Reason left me. Fear abandoned me. Only rage sustained me as I reached out with bare hand to touch the flesh beneath the thick fur of the wolf.

With a final push, it flooded out of me. My darkest secret. My cross to bear. It pooled into my hand, turning it into the worst kind of weapon. My flesh turned to a fire only I could withstand, and the wolf howled in agony as his mind or soul, or whatever part of him made him ‘him’, turned to ash and left him forever.

I collapsed to the ground, vision blurred, body cold, hardwood floor beneath me shifting and dipping. Blackness pressed in on me, but before it could claim me entirely I saw the wolf shift back to human. A naked young man, no older than myself, lay in a heap of skin, muscle and bone, staring vacantly at me, eyes glazed over with a white haze that indicated he’d never be himself again.

His body still lived, but I’d essentially killed him.

A new kind of darkness squeezed my heart as I faded into nothing.

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I'll give away one of these custom rose pendants if Seduced by Innocence gets 1,000 adds on Goodreads. A sterling silver plated chain with beads and simulated fresh water pearls featuring a hand painted rose. Based on the cover art for the Seduced Saga. Designed by Stephanie Mayfield.

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The swag I'm giving away. The keychain & notepad show the back and front sides. Plus, Seduced post it notes!

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Load up your e-reader with a post-Christma sale on ALL of my books!

[image error]Happy Holidays! The end of the year is always a time of reflection for me, and as I look back on this past year, I’m amazed at what my life has become. November 26th marked 10 books published in my name in the last year and a half, I got married this year to my soul mate, and my husband and I started Daring Books Design & Marketing to help authors and businesses with their writing, editing, design and marketing needs.

It’s been pretty epic, and next year is primed for even MORE epicness!

As the year comes to a close, I’m very excited to announce that my publishers of the Forbidden Trilogy and The Three Lost Kids series have discounted ALL of their books, including mine, through the end of the year. You can find all 35 deals here.

This means you can get all FIVE of my Three Lost Kids fantasy chapter books for children at only 99cents EACH! That’s $2 off each book! Find out why parents, librarians, teachers and children are falling in love with the adventures of the Three Lost Kids! Each book is a fun fantasy that includes an important life lesson for kids without being heavy-handed. There’s also a discussion guide at the end of each book for parents and kids to talk about the themes in the book and relate it to their own lives.

[image error]From bullying (Maddie World), to environmentalism (Lexie World), to anger management (Bella World), to working together (The Death of the Sugar Fairy), to the true meaning of the holidays (The Christmas Curse), The Three Lost Kids have something for everyone! These books can be read alone as they are stand-alone books. You don’t need to read them in order to enjoy them!

For older teens and adults, you can also get Forbidden Mind for only 99cents (normally $2.99), Forbidden Fire and Forbidden Life for $2.99 (normally $5.99) and The Forbidden Trilogy for only $6.99 (normally $9.99 and includes all three books plus bonus content!)

[image error]Hailed as the best trilogy since The Hunger Games, and as addicting as Harry Potter and Twilight, The Forbidden Trilogy is ‘thrilling, dark and deeply romantic’ and will keep you turning the pages all night!

This is a tight trilogy that MUST be read in order to enjoy!

Most of these books have NEVER been discounted, and likely won’t be again for a VERY long time, if ever. This is a great chance to load up your kindle, (or use a free amazon app) to get caught up on your reading. It’s also the perfect time to introduce your friends to any of my books you love.

[image error]As an added holiday gift, I’m offering a FREE PDF of my very first book, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, to anyone who sends me proof of purchase for 3 of the above books, or The Forbidden Trilogy (since it’s 3 books in 1!) Email your receipt to kimberly.kinrade@gmail.com and I’ll send you your free book. This is a deeply personal book that has received high praise.

Click here to see all of my books on Amazon, and learn more about each of them.

I want to thank you ALL for your support this past year. I love being a writer, and I love that I can do it full time. Look for even more books coming in 2013.

2013 Publishing Plan

The Forbidden Trilogy out in audiobook!

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Cover by Dmytry Karpov of http://DaringBooksDesign.com

Seduced by Innocence (a 5 part series) See the cover reveal for the first book coming out in January and enter to win $$ and major swag HERE!

The Three Lost Kids & Cupid’s Capture

Sunrise & Nightfall (with Dmytry Karpov)

Death by Destiny (The Chronicles of Corinne, #1)

The Reluctant Familiar (The Reluctant Familiar, #1)

Blood of the Fallen (The Fallen Trilogy, #1, with Dmytry Karpov)

and more!

Sign up for my newsletter for free prizes, gifts and news on releases!

Happy Holidays! Remember to join me on January 2, 2013 to begin the 28 Dragon Days, a journey of healing and transformation!

Why I Wouldn’t Send My Kids to a School with Armed Teachers

[image error]I recently posted a blog post in response to the horrific events of 12-14-12 called Let Our Light So Shine–What It Means to Be Human in a World Where Children Are Gunned Down At School. In it, I suggest that we look beyond guns and blame, and seek to become the change we want to see, something I will be putting into effect in my life (and publicly blogging about it) starting Jan. 2, 2012.

There are no easy answers to preventing this kind of tragedy from happening again. We live in a world where fear and anger govern so much, it’s become the foundation of our human experience. That, more than anything, has to change for anything else to change.

So it’s very alarming to read posts and articles where people want to arm our teachers with guns as the answer to protecting students. I’ll say up front, I would not ever send my kids to a school with armed teachers. There are so many things wrong with this idea, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not anti-gun, but I don’t think more guns in schools is the answer.

There’s a great article that talks about this legislation for some schools, and points to cases where even highly trained professionals kill and injure innocent victims while trying to take down a dangerous, armed criminal. It also points out that most teachers don’t actually want guns at school. You can read that article here: Teachers with guns is a crazy idea.

Here’s my take on this:

1: I refuse to raise my kids in fear. I know there are dangers out there, and I do my best to prepare them to be smart in a world that can be cruel. They’ve taken some self-defense, they’ve been trained in what to do should someone approach them, but I don’t want them living with that cloud of fear and death hovering over them every time they go to school, and that’s likely what would happen if teachers start packing heat.

2: Where would these guns be kept? If they aren’t strapped to the teachers, then are they kept in the desks? In secured lockboxes? Are they kept loaded, or is the ammo kept somewhere else? Because, you see, if the guns are kept loaded in an unsecured area (like the desk or purse) then they are more easily accessible should the teacher need to KILL SOMEONE who brings a gun to school, but they are also just as easily accessible for the mentally unstable kid or parent who wants to KILL SOMEONE. So now, instead of kids having to hunt down their parents’ guns at home and figure out how to get them to school, we make it super easy for them to just grab and shoot, with dozens of possible guns at their disposal.

If the guns and bullets are kept separate, in locked safe boxes to prevent this kind of thing, then they aren’t really useful to a teacher with 30+ kids to take care of should a school shooting ensue, but it’s still not that hard for unstable kids to figure out a way to break into what is likely not a hugely secure lockbox and get the gun(s).

If the teacher is strapped to their weapon like a law enforcement agent, then holy crap, really? So Mrs. Smith leans over to check my child’s work and my daughter gets a full-on view of a freaking gun in her face!? And what’s to stop an unstable student from grabbing the weapon from the teacher while he/she is busy, you know, actually teaching, then using that gun against their classmates and teacher. Again, this gives unstable students access to way more weapons then they would have otherwise. How is this a good idea?

3: One such proposed law “would have allowed people with permits to carry concealed weapons and with extra training, to bring their guns to traditional “gun-free” zones such as day care centers and schools. And by “extra training,” the bill called for an additional eight hours and another 94 rounds on the firing range.”

Seriously? Eight hours of training and they’re prepared to carry a live, concealed weapon to my kids’ school and class, and KILL SOMEONE (possibly one of their own students) should things get violent, all the while making sure the gun isn’t ever at risk for being used against them or their students, all the while also trying to, you know, TEACH our kids. Um, really? Who thinks this is a good idea? It takes a tremendous amount of skill and training, and a certain psychological disposition, to be able to act instantly to KILL SOMEONE (especially a child, a student, someone you know), in a way that doesn’t put innocent bystanders (our kids) at risk. Teachers don’t usually have this training or disposition. Nor do they have the free attention to play armed guards while TEACHING our kids. I’m sure there are some exceptions to this, but I know a lot of teachers and I don’t personally know any exceptions. Adding guns to this equation only escalates the risk of violence by gun.

4. Teachers are human. Some of them can become mentally unstable, or even abusive to kids. This isn’t the norm, and I know a lot of really amazing teachers, so please don’t think I’m suggesting that teachers are bad. They aren’t. They do the most amazing work for crap pay and they love our kids. But they are human. Humans can break. I had some fantastic teachers in high school, but there’s one in particular that I would not have felt safe with had he had a gun. He had a temper and he was a jackass to his students. What would happen if he lost it one day? This may be an unlikely event, but it’s something to consider. Who’s monitoring all these untrained (and 8 hours of ‘training’ still makes you untrained in my eyes) teacher with guns and kids?

5. What kind of world do we want to live in?

[image error]To me, this is the crux of the issue. Do we want to live in a world where our teachers and child-care providers are being asked to shoot and KILL people in defense, all the while trying to teach from a place of love, joy and care? I don’t.

Naturally, I don’t want to live in a world where school shootings can occur either, but we need to look at ways to heal our world, not tear it apart with more violence. We need to find better ways of identifying at risk students and finding more effective ways of helping them. We need to change our approach to mental health and treat the whole person, the whole society, not with more medication and guns, but with a healthier life overall.

There’s a study (I can’t remember which one, this was grad school research and it was a long time ago) but there was a study done, I believe in a prison and a high risk school. Basically by CHANGING THE DIET of this school and this prison, both of which were known for violent behavior–and the school was for high risk kids who acted out violently–but by changing the diet to a whole foods diet with the kids and inmates farming themselves and using that food for their meals, that change alone dramatically changed the  behavior of the inmates and children in these places. Violence was reduced by extraordinary amounts. The kids at school started to perform well on tests. The results were really dramatic. This might have been two different studies, and I can’t remember more of the details, I apologize, but here is one article that talks about diet and violence and the links between a nutrient deprived diet and violence:

Diet and Violence–Psychology Today

I point this out as an opportunity to discuss other ways, ways that don’t involve arming teachers or drugging kids, that might help change the world we live in. See, the real answers aren’t going to be easy. They don’t involve a bandaid, they involve lifestyle changes, and a change in priorities. They involve less focus on things that make money for interest groups and the pharmaceutical company, and more on things like eating from the earth and shifting from a fear-based society to one of hope and peace through a change in the way we think and live.

There’s a school we want to send our kids to. It farms its own food and feeds that to the kids. It’s a school known for high academics and they have a great sports department. About 20% of the graduates (it goes from kindergarten to 12th grade but has the older kids on a different campus) are in the top 2% of the country on the SATs. But to attend, we have to bring in an extra 1k a month to pay for our kids to go there.

Why can’t this kind of environment expand beyond psych studies and private schools? Instead of sinking money into gun training, how about we supply schools with a whole foods menu, or help establish farms at school. It’s not the only answer, but it’s one that would lead to more healing than teachers packing heat.

There’s clinical evidence to support that the health of our digestive tract and the nutrients in our diet affect mood, anxiety, ADD, autism, and so many other things. Here’s a short article about the Brain-Gut Connection. What we feed ourselves and our children affects our brain, our behavior, everything. There’s also evidence that medications given to children for ADD and ADHD can have serious side effects including violent behavior, and that many of the shooters in these school tragedies have been on these medications, or coming off of them.

We’re not just dealing with criminals. We’re dealing with mental illness, an imbalance in our society and world. We need new ways of treating mental illness. New ways of nurturing our children’s bodies to support emotional health and balance. New ways of responding to those in need that targets high risk families and gets them real help.

We don’t need teachers with guns.

I’d like to hear from you. What do you think/feel about this? Are you a teacher? Would you feel safer carrying a gun? Parents, would you send your kids to school with armed teachers? What about guards? If there were trained guards on premises, is that a better answer? (Though I believe Columbine had that, and other sites like a military school also had a shooting, with trained personal with guns… so I’m not sure that actually makes a difference).

What kind of world do you want to live in?

Join me here January 2 for 28 Dragon Days of Transformation and become the change you want to see.

Why I Write Young Adult Fiction-a guest post by Eleanor Beaty

I’m very excited to welcome to my blog today Eleanor Beaty, author of Veiled Mist and a fellow YA author. Take a moment to read about why she writes YA, and enter her giveaway
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Why I Write Young Adult Fiction by Eleanor Beaty

The term Young Adult in my mind is connected to uncertainty, endless hours of daydreams, infinite amounts of hope that the future will be bright, an amazing capacity to fall in love with many different kinds of people and concepts, the ease to go off on adventures, the belief that obstacles aren’t for us because nothing can stop us when we’re determined, and most important, the knowledge that whatever difficulties we go through as teenagers will pass when we hit the twenties, when freedom is ours to enjoy.

For some, being a teenager isn’t easy. Even knowing we have all the time in the world ahead of us it can be a painful time in life. I was intense in my early teens.  I was demanding and strict, critical of others, not easy to get along with. I was outspoken. Thoughts didn’t pause in my brain, they were like a high speeding train, once they formed, they were blurted out, loud and clear. I got in a lot of trouble for it. I saw things black and white. I didn’t have anyone to teach me the value of the grays. I couldn’t wait to grow up and be free. Not that I had chains around my ankles, but there were those few annoying limits set by life itself.

FREE! I was so blind by that thought that I never stopped to realize how free I was then. What were my worries? Would there be a party Friday night? What was I going to wear? Would the hot guy be there? Should I hydrate my hair with egg yolk? Yeah, once my friend used my recipe, but I forgot to tell her to rinse with cold water and she ended up with cooked eggs stuck to her hair.

The only chains I had were those I created for myself. And having spent so much time waiting for the future I missed out on some of those amazing years as a young adult.

While writing Veiled Mist, I began by using someone close to me as an inspiration for the teen character, Hanna. Teen years are the years where ‘no one but us’ matter and parents are a ‘backdrop to our scenery.’ Until Hanna, I always managed to distance myself from my characters as if they had nothing of me in them. When I began the novel I was looking in from the outside, using what I saw and what I felt, being the backdrop to my person/inspiration.

Then I came to a point in the story when I had to dive into the teen. That inevitably took me back to my past and I realized what I had failed to see before. I had been no different than my inspiration. It wasn’t comfortable having to face that mirror. We do tend to forget our unpleasant side, but it was liberating.

Now I fly as a teen in my stories. More comfortable with the mirror. I can make the mistakes and feel the consequences, and I get to right the wrongs. I get a chance to go back and be the teen I wish I had been. Enjoy my freedom of burden from the adult world. Of course, in my stories I have parents that provide me with that freedom and come to my rescue when I screw up. I can be anyone, and nothing is set in stone. I can expose my fears, my thoughts my anger through a character, behind a mask, as someone else.  And with each novel I get to know more of myself, my teen self.

And then comes the most fulfilling side to writing Young Adult Fiction, besides the fun of course, the possibility of helping teens with my experiences. We writers tend to be a bit of a teacher, a mother, a sister, and even a mentor in our books. We can use all our bad mistakes, even the very ugly and unspeakable ones, to give our characters their personality and turn them into a mirror for teens. Not so much the ‘in-your-face mirror’ kind, but ones that plant seeds. Makes them ask themselves, am I like that? Do I treat people that way? Do people see me that way? How can I change?

Writing for young adults for me is like entering a dark tunnel without knowing where it leads. No matter how sacred you are as you walk through that tunnel in darkness, your youth and naivety will always lead you to believe there will be something fascinating waiting on the other side. That is the magic of being a teenager. Everything is still to come.

My first creative writing success happened by chance in high school. A teacher gave us an assignment I thought was dumb, something about patriotism, so I twisted it and wrote whatever came to mind – A Cockroach Goes to War. The story was about a cockroach that marched side by side with the army as they headed to battle. She was a true patriot, and wanted to show her support for the troops, however her intent was misunderstood and she ended up squashed by a soldier’s boot. I got an A for creativity, a B for the writing. And here I was thinking I would get an F for not following his instructions!

After the cockroach story I was hooked. I think of it as a revelation. That a story, with a crazy theme and a cockroach for main character, was found to be fun surprised me. It spoke of a young soul’s view of the adult world and how confusing that could be. That is when I realized I had found my true voice as a Young Adult Fiction writer.

Eleanor T Beaty was born in Brazil. She grew up in several places, Argentina, Switzerland, US, and Brazil. She has published in Brazil and Turkey. She has a BA in English literature and currently lives in Brazil with her husband. Check out  Veiled Mist on Amazon.

Note by the author: I love spirituality and magic. The first is what helped me get a grip on my life, and the second, along with the first, is what keeps me enjoying life. All my books hold those two themes. Spirits, afterlife and the amazing coincidences, which are anything but. I believe that everything has a reason and understanding those reasons help us deal with the difficult moments.

I enjoy getting feedback from readers. www.eleanortbeaty.com

[image error] About Veiled Mist
On the Caribbean island of Maurray, spoiled-rotten, fifteen-year-old Hanna wakes up to a nightmare. She is not the daughter of an aristocrat but the orphan of a Gypsy. She is the descendant to a mystical Gypsy tribe. Their magic is strong and has lasted six hundred years. Ornella, the tribe’s guardian, arrives at the island with her mutt, Count Dracula, to guide Hanna. Hanna is told she must embrace her heritage or die at the ripe age of seventeen. But Hanna does the unthinkable, she chooses death. She hates Gypsies and would rather die. What she doesn’t know is that her death will destroy the entire tribe. What she also doesn’t know is how persuasive Ornella can be. The nightmare begins.
Get it on Amazon.



[image error] About The Fallen Ruler

For sixteen years, Lya, has lived as a normal human, until her father, Walter, gets involved with the wrong people and puts Lya’s life at risk. During a visit to Miami, Lya’s older sister is kidnapped, and Lya and her father are subsequently taken hostage by Walter’s associates and forced to board a plane to India. When the plane lands in Delhi, Lya is rescued by three monks and taken to a Monastery. There her reality is shattered, when she learns the true identity of her rescuers and, even more surprisingly, herself. Lya is now faced with the toughest decision of her life. Can she live up to her ethereal destiny and save her family?

Get it on Amazon.

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Let Our Light So Shine-What it Means to Be Human In a World Where Children Are Gunned Down at School

[image error]I haven’t fully processed the horrific events of 12-14-12. My heart hasn’t fully absorbed what it means that these innocent lives are lost to us. I don’t know what the answers are for keeping our children safe in the future, but I imagine it involves more than legislation for controlling guns. I imagine it involves a shift in the consciousness of humanity, that we each take up our post to shine as brightly as we can, to bring love, peace and hope to all around us.

Perhaps these words sound trite and powerless when brought to bear against the explosive sound of gunshot. Perhaps the angry rampages I’ve seen on Facebook from those pro or con gun control is their way of taking action, of trying to figure out a way to fix what is so very broken in our world.

We need to DO something. We need to FIX this. We need to keep our children safe and FORCE this world into a shape that could never imagine allowing something so horrible to happen. How can we just sit and do nothing when so much has been lost–when the most precious resources of our world are threatened by the unstable winding down of mad minds bent on destruction?

I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. Because I don’t think the answer can be external. Putting aside gun control debates (because there are pros and cons to the pros and cons and it’s all relative and not really the point of this discussion), what has to happen for this to NOT happen again? What part of our collective consciousness has to be fixed for this to heal?

Sure, without guns perhaps the killings wouldn’t have been as easy, as horrific, as complete. But the problem would still exist, even if it couldn’t manifest in such an extraordinarily awful way.

I look at the names of those children, the ages… 6 and 7 year olds. My youngest is 6. She’s a genius and loves theater and cuddles and loves her Mommy more than anyone in the world. There would be a gaping whole in the world and in my heart if she were ripped from her place here at such a tender age. Those children, what they suffered… what their classmates suffered watching their friends and teachers die as they feared for their lives.

My imagination plays this again and again and it’s horrific. Truly, there are no words.

So where did this break occur? What is THE ANSWER? We are begging for one, collectively, our faces drawn in fear and grief with the blood of those children staining our souls.

Except this isn’t a broken bone that can be fixed, this is a cancer that has infected every part of our world.

We can’t cut it out of us without losing everything. We can burn it out without burning ourselves up. So how do we kill it? How do we destroy the fear and anger that led to this? That leads to all acts such as this?

Well, that’s part of the problem. Trying to kill or destroy or fight fear and anger only feeds them more, gives them more power. We have to do something different if we want a different result. We have to turn away from the fear and anger, and feed the world with light, love and hope. It’s esoteric in thought, but has tangible actions to back it up and make it stick.

It’s about change from within. Starting with myself, my family, my life, then shining as brightly as I can for others. It’s about healing, mercy, patience, and hope. If we can somehow saturate our world with this, then this kind of darkness would have a much harder time finding a foothold.

I’ve seen talk of mental illness, drugs used on kids that make them this way. Perhaps that’s part of it. I don’t know. And please understand I’m not suggesting we don’t guard our children, or pass legislation to protect them, or find concrete ways to implement safety measures in schools. We need all of that.

But at the heart… at the core we need a more radical internal shift that isn’t so easy to see or do. It’s not the same for everyone. It’s not about one way or one religion or one worldview. It will look different for each person on the surface, but it will hold the essence of truth. The essence of love.

I don’t know of any other way to process this, than to acknowledge that I have to do my part to ‘be the change I want to see’.

And so I leave you with this–books that have inspired me on my journey, and a call to action.

Beginning on January 2nd, 2013, I’m going to be chronicling 28 Dragon Days of Transformation on this blog, and I’m inviting you to all join me. Again, this will look different for everyone, but here’s what it will look like for me.

For 28 days, I’m going to work through Rhonda Byrne’s The Magic and focus each day on gratitude. I’m going to give thanks for all the magic that does exist in the world, despite the darkness that is also here. I’m going to transform my own world by acknowledging the beauty, love and wonder that is already present.

As part of my personal journey, I will also be engaging in 28 days of Hot Yoga and moving to a new way of eating (specifically I’ll be using the GAPS diet, to heal and regulate my digestive tract and moods… I mention this because so much can be changed for our world, for our children, even in cases of psychiatric problems, with a whole foods diet.)

Each day I will post here about my journey. If you’d like to join me, you can participate at whatever level you’d like, from getting the book and joining me in gratitude, to finding your own way of shining light back into the world. I welcome comments, but they aren’t required. My goal is find the change from within. From within myself and, hopefully, from within our collective world community as you join with me.

Will this lessen the horror of those lives lost? No. Will it stop the next shooting from happening? I don’t know. It could. There is real power here. Real power to heal our world if we join together to bring it up from the dredges of fear and pain where it lives in now.

Will you join me? Will you stand by me and shine so brightly in your world that no darkness dare step foot in your presence?

We can be that change we want to see. Our light can make a difference, and I want to see what can happen if we join forces and do this together.

Resources:

[image error]The Magic by Rhonda Byrne (the book I’ll be using for the 28 days)

Other books I’ve found greatly inspirational (not a complete list by any stretch, but a few that are good to start with). I welcome comments with your own suggestions.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Seduction Comes in Many Forms…

I can barely contain my excitement, so even though I planned on waiting until January to do this reveal, I feel compelled to share it NOW! (Also, I’m doing a giveaway to get everyone else as excited as I am!) So, I’m here to seduce you!

I’ve had many inquiries about what’s next for my most awesome fans now that the Forbidden Trilogy is complete. (If you haven’t started or finished the Forbidden Trilogy, what are you waiting for?? Get your copy on Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo or Smashwords!)

For those who HAVE finished it and are ready for something new, I’ve finally settled on the next BIG THING with which to woo you! I’m deviating a bit from the YA brand and straying into New Adult with this next series, so I hope you’re ready for more romance, more heat, but the same mystery, intrigue and excitement you fell in love with in Forbidden. (And don’t worry, plans for more Luke and Lucy and Hunter are still in the works… but this will give you something new to swoon over while I work on the Fallen Trilogy, and it does take place in the same Universe as Forbidden and Fallen, so you might see some cross over characters if you pay close attention!)

Allow me to introduce you to my next series, The Seduced Saga, beginning with the first novella, Seduced by Innocence. This will be a 5 part series that will launch in fairly rapid succession beginning in January, broken up only by the release of Sunrise & Nightfall in early April. (Because THAT book is O.M.G. to die for!)

Introducing… Seduced by Innocence

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Cover by Dmytry Karpov of http://DaringBooksDesign.com

Seduction comes in many forms.

“Liquid fire poured into me, filling me with the intimate sense of him as he leaned in to claim my lips with his own. I reached for him, needing him closer, but my arms couldn’t close the distance between us, which grew wider with each hitched breath. So close to finally feeling something real, something carnal and deep, I cried out in frustration, dropping my hands as he disappeared. My cries deepened into a frenzy of panic and my eyes flew open. I clutched my blanket and stilled myself to calm my racing heart.

Just a dream. Always just a dream.”

Rose Wintersong didn’t have an ordinary upbringing. Raised in what most would call a hippy commune, but what is actually a powerful coven of witches, she never questions the life fate chose for her.

Until she meets Derek O’Conner.

Derek challenges everything Rose believes and forces her to see the secrets hidden beneath the whitewashed walls of her idyllic country life.

Rose knows she should walk away, that the sexy martial arts instructor is bad news bred to create discord in her tight community… but the animal magnetism between them is impossible to fight.

Caught between the passion of first love, and the steady beat of the life she’s always known, Rose must choose between the innocence of her youth or the pleasures of womanhood. But lost innocence comes at a price, and Rose harbors a dark secret that could destroy everyone she loves—including Derek.

Submit to the Seduced Saga as Derek and Rose face their future while unraveling the mysteries of their past.

Look for these novellas in 2013.

January -Seduced by Innocence

February -Seduced by Power

TBA-Seduced by Pleasure

TBA-Seduced by Pain

TBA-Seduced by Love

Add it on Goodreads here.

Help me get the world excited about this release coming late January 2013, followed quickly by a Valentine’s release of the second book, Seduced by Power. Here’s a rafflecopter giveaway to share the news, and I’m also going to do one extra thing to motivate you all!

If we can get 1,000 people to add Seduced by Innocence to their TO READs on Goodreads before it launches, I will host another giveaway for a signed ARC of the book along with a custom made Rose pendant! If you guys reach this goal before the launch, I’ll add some other awesome perks and do a few other giveaways to make things really exciting, k?

So, go add Seduced by Innocence to your To Read list on Goodreads, and get your friends to do the same! Let’s have some fun! I’ll be posting pictures soon of the rose pendant that’s up for grabs, so keep checking back for that when you come to do your daily tweet option!

I’m really excited about this series, and you can count on some awesome twists throughout the five books as Rose discovers the truth of her own life and powers.

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My (briefish) witty take on the Fall TV Lineup

I’m all about books, as you know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good television show now and then. Since it’s been awhile since I posted something not related to books and writing, I thought this would be a good time to spill my thoughts on this fall’s television lineup.

First, a few disclaimers. There will be spoilers. I often don’t remember names of characters, so if you don’t watch the show, you might get confused as I will use my own random nicknames for them. This isn’t a complete list. This isn’t an exhaustive summary of shows; rather, this is more like what you’d hear me proclaim about each show if you were sitting with me and watching it.

Having said that, here are a few shows I’ve watched, and my brief and (I think) witty thoughts on them.

GLEE
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Yes. It died the moment you brought Finn back to the show.

Ah yes, the old favorite. Well, you were the favorite. What the hell are you doing? I thought you and I had an agreement that you would kill Finn at war, or at least make him stay gone for a very long time. He ENLISTED! This should have ensured I never saw him again. After all, my ex was military and I almost never saw him. I expected the same from Finn, but nooooo you had to bring him back as Mr. Roger’s fashion consultant and make him head of Glee. What? Just. WHAT? Now I have to watch his “I’m-trying-to-think-but-it’s-so-hard-constipated-vacant-face” every week and my husband has to hear my moans and groans when he comes on screen, and these aren’t groans of pleasure. Make him go away. NOW!

Also, what the hell is going on with this season? They LOST? Blonde bitch made new girl all sick and now that’s it? What, are they going to rehearse in the rain and snow the rest of the year? And why is blonde bitch still in Glee? They aren’t competing, and they’re more losers than ever, this just doesn’t fit her character and quite honestly this show has enough blonde bitches as it is. She and Finn should elope and then kill each other.

And back in New York, Rachel apparently only has one class at her new school, where she dances her heart out for the heartless blonde bitch teacher, who gets paid to show up drunk, verbally abuse her students and sleep with the hot ones. She and Sue should hook up for a teacher training rally.

Moving on…

THE WALKING DEAD

I think blond boy with lips from Glee summed this up best. “It’s not based on a true story, I checked.” I love that guy. He and Brittany are like a blond joke meets a Hallmark card. But we’re not talking about Glee anymore, so…

Yeah, love this show. Just love it. But what the heck was up with introducing a whole new cast of characters that we don’t care about 5 minutes before the end of the mid-season finale. And what the heck is a mid-season finale and why are you torturing us?

Also, blonde chick in this one is just… OMG! I want to smack her. First off, worst taste in men ever. EVER. Second, I want to like her. She’s strong and gun-toting and tries to get all in the line of fire and crap, but I just don’t (like her, that is.) She does it ALL WRONG. She’s like a caricature of a strong female lead, always pushing her way in when she should sit out and sitting out when she should push her way in. Stupid. Why hasn’t a zombie eaten her yet?

ARROW
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Some billionaire eye candy. Yum

This is a new show I’m actually enjoying. After all, who doesn’t love a hot billionaire bad boy turned super hero? And to all those writers/producers on this show, thank you for ending the voiceovers. Remember, show don’t tell. I’m glad you remembered characters can talk TO each other, not just at themselves. It saved the show.

Oh, and a side note (just don’t tell my husband), please add more scenes where he’s talking while working out shirtless in his secret super hero cave. Please!

NASHVILLE

People sing. Country. For some reason, hubby likes this show. I tolerate it to cuddle with him. It’s not bad, it’s just not great either.

GO ON

Guy loses wife. Guy cracks jokes. Guy goes to therapy group. It was funny initially, but maybe mostly because I was trying to figure out when Matthew Perry’s voice got dubbed over by Christian Slater. Has anyone else noticed this? It’s a good show, it just wasn’t quite good enough to keep me coming back.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM

I gotta say, I’m hooked. It’s dark and scary and horrible and I love it. That poor reporter, she has the shittiest luck, doesn’t she? First, she’s locked up for being gay and trying to grab a good story that doesn’t involve baked goods, then she’s shocked, then she’s ‘freed’ by the nice shrink only to become his next victim where he nurses on her and turns her into his long lost mommy, then screws her. Then she escapes after nearly being kissed by Death Herself. Then she gets into the car of a misogynistic suicidal bastard. Then she’s in a car accident. Then she ends up back in the wacko factory. Then she gets attacked by psycho-shrink again. And that’s just the one storyline. You know there are some effed up characters in this show when Head Nun starts looking like the good guy.

I have to wonder how they’re going to end this season though. Last season they had a somewhat happyish ending with a whole ghosts living happily ever after thing. This season? It feels more like a Shakespearean tragedy, hold the comedy interludes. We shall see.

VAMPIRE DIARIES
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This is what I'm talking about. Why's this never in the show?

Another old fav. I have to admit I’m behind on some episodes with this one, so things could change, but here’s what I have to say so far. Elena makes the worst vampire ever. EVER! She’s horrible at it. And it’s getting kind of miserable to watch. I never thought I’d see the day when Caroline and her love triangle made a more interesting storyline than Elena and her boys.

Oh, and about that. Just do a threesome and get it over with. This whole flippity flop between Stefan and Damon is getting old. “Oh, my human side looooves Stefan, but my bad vamp side is crushing hard on Damon. Whatever will I do?” Um, do them both!

BONES

Love. Love. Love forever. I just love them. And them being together with baby in tow hasn’t hurt the show at all. Just love. I worried about the episode where they decided to get all crazy with the camera, and thought they were making the unfortunate choice to do what BREAKING BAD did by following the stupid fly for the whole episode, but they managed to pull it off and have a valid reason for their cinematic choice that didn’t involve some presumably esoteric study of the inherent fragility of life as seen through the eyes of a damn-freaking-fly!

Just. LOVE.

ELEMENTARY

Oh, I wanted to love this show. I really, really did. I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes geek girl fan and just love all the variations from BBC to Robert Downey Jr. But this? Nah. It falls flat. He comes off as more of a mental patient than brilliant. They don’t do justice to the zooming in on details and showing the audience what is sparking the interconnecting webs of Holmes’s fascinating brain, so it just doesn’t work. Sorry. Pass.

REVOLUTION

Cool premise. End of the world post-apocolyptic blabla. Lights off for the world, then what happens? There’s a bit of a mystery, which is fun. And Bella’s dad’s in it, which is awesome. He’s one of my favorite secondary actors. I like, but am behind a few episodes. I think there’s not quite enough addictive hooks to keep me salivating for the next episode, but it’s a show I hope will be around another season or two.

Well, I think that’s it for me. I didn’t get to watch everything, but this gives you my personal take on the fall shows I’ve had the pleasure (or misfortune) of seeing. Which shows are your favorites? Which fell flat for you? Comment and let me know!