C.L. Causer's Blog, page 8

Absence

For those who don't really want to read this post, happily ignore as it was written primarily for me to get everything out there so I could move on from the past few months. 




Seriously, I won't be offended. 



At all.




So, I've been absent for a few months. You know this. I know this and I feel crappy about it. BUT I have a good reason. 
Like in my last posts, I was saying I was going to Austria for my birthday. I did and it was FANTASTIC...what I saw of it anyway. 
On the way back from the Swarovski factory in Wattens, we decided to walk back to the hotel. We were walking back in freezing temperatures for over an hour. I felt great after the walk. Exhilarated, even. 
Until the morning after. I couldn't breathe. My throat was closing up and I couldn't get warm. I was shaking uncontrollable for hours and even in the steam shower my temperature was still low. 
I pushed through for the next couple of days as we were looking forward to the trip for MONTHS. But even walking made me shake and choke. After visiting the doctors over there, he shrugged it off a flu. 
It was the worst flu I've ever had if that was the case. I hadn't eaten and couldn't drink. So I was stuck inside for the rest of the holiday. 
One I got home I was quickly prescribed amoxellicin as my throat was white with infection. I was ill for the following two weeks, sleeping the entire time. 

Then once I was better, I went on a cruise with work. We did Italy, Sicily and France. For the most it was great. I loved Marsailles as it was the first time I had been to France. 
We had a few issues during the trip. Mostly with the cruise line being absolute d**k's. My Nan got mugged in Sicily. The thief didn't get anything, but he scratched her chin up that blood was dripping. I went to the cruise desk to ask if they could warn the police or just give other visitors a heads up. They shrugged their shoulders. One the disabled couples we took with us had his money stolen from his safe. They shrugged there shoulders. 
We thankfully got on the plane ride home and some of our people were sat in between a drunken British semi pro football team who was being absolutely vile and rude to our disabled guests. The airline shrugged their shoulders. Yet treated the pro douches like royalty. I don't understand the appeal of footballers. 

And after that my Nan, who has had trouble with her health, namely hernia's, got rushed into hospital. The surgery went excellent, and since made a full recovery, but during the time she was recuperating, me and my sister stepped up to help with the business. The only time we had off was when our eyes were closed at night. 

This all ended about a week ago...

SOOO that was my four week absent explained. 

Free Promotion

YAY!! The first FREE promotion of my new book, Deadly Secrets , is finally here! 
As of tomorrow for five days (yes, five) you can get the first Willowhall book for free on Amazon. 
To make life easy, here are the links-

Deadly Secrets - UK
Deadly Secrets - US

Deadly Secrets

The first book to The Willowhall Series, Deadly Secrets, is now live on Amazon. I will be doing a couple of free promotions on it within the next couple of days, so watch this space!

If you can't wait that long, get it HERE!

Top 10

Top Ten - Supernatural



With the first book of The Willowhall Series, Deadly Secrets, due to be released on Amazon in the matter of hours, I thought I'd spend the time doing a Top Ten of Supernatural Episodes. This was a programme that got me through the long and very boring editing process of Deadly Secrets. 


10

'Weekend at Bobby's'Season 6 Episode 4
SynopsisThis episode is directed by Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) following a day in the life of Bobby Singer. We watch as Bobby thanklessly helps other hunters, his next door neighbour and keep the law away from the dead Okami demon buried in the yard, all the while trying to find a way out of his deal with Crowley. 
QuoteBobby - [On the phone] Your Okami ain't dead. Rufus - Of course it isBobby - Did you use a bamboo dagger?Rufus - Of course!Bobby - Blessed by a Shinto priest?Rufus - I'm not an imbecile, Bobby.Bobby - Did you stab it seven times?Rufus - [pause] Five times.Bobby - It's sevenRufus - No, I'm pretty sure it's five.Bobby - Clearly it's seven time; the damn hole is empty.


9

'The Magnificent Seven'Season 3 Episode 1
SynopsisSo the Hell's Gate had been opened for a matter of moments, and the first demons I find after the slip up is the seven deadly sins. Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Wrath and Lust all find a meat suit and cause a little hell. This episode is also the first one where we meet Ruby and the knife that instantly kills demons. 
QuotesDean - I got a year to live, Sam. I'd like to make the most of it. So what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell, huh?



8



'Playthings'Season 2 Episode 11
SynopsisSam and Dean deal with a lot of monsters. But this episode goes back to a simple old fashioned haunting, and I loved it. Set in a typically creepy hotel, complete with an old woman in the attic and a doll collection that rivals Bate's stuffed animal collection, the story sets up for a classic haunted house spookfest. A nice break to the hell spawn and convoluted angel vs demons plot.
QuoteSam - This woman's had a stroke.Dean - Yeah, but hoodoo's hands-on...Sam - YeahDean - ...you gotta mix herbs, and chant, and build an altar.Sam - So it can't be Rose. Heck, maybe it's not even hoodoo.Dean - You know, she could be faking.Sam - Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick (Dean nods) Dude, you are not poking her with a stick!



7

'Ghostfacers'Season 3 Episode 13
SynopsisWe meet up again with Harry and Ed, creators of Hell Hound and now there new television pilot of Ghostfacers, as both teams investigate the haunted Morton house of a creepy mortician called Dagget. Great episodes for laughs for a season in the run up to Dean's final year. 
QuoteSam - Ewww. (looking at papers)Ed & Harry - What?Sam - Well, the explains why the death echos are here...(Ed and Harry look confused)Sam - Their bodies are here. Dean - Dagget, he bought the bodies home from the morgue (looks at the camera) To play.Ed & Harry - EWWWWW!


6


'Dark Side of the Moon'Season 5 Episode 16
SynopsisSam and Dean get shot by a couple of hunters and while they are both in heaven, they relive their 'greatest hits'. They look for Joshua in the garden to try and find God. We see Deans and Sam's differing best moments and we see Castiel's loss of faith. 
QuoteAsh - How's a dirtbag like me end up in a place like this? Been saved, man. I was my congregation's number one snake handler.


5


'Bad Day at Black Rock'Season 3 Episode 3
SynopsisAfter a call from their father's storage unit, they track down the people who stole a rabbits foot for Bella. Accidentally touching it, Sam gets a short run of luck before suffering the side effects. To make matters worse Gordon has sent two hunters after Sam.
Quote
(Throws a pen and it gets stuck in the gun barrel)Dean - I'm Batman.Sam - [Sarcastically] Yeah, you're Batman.



4



'Pilot'Season 1 Episode 1
Synopsis First ever episode of Supernatural that sets the program up for seasons to come. We get to meet the main characters as they investigate a Woman in White killing adulterous men. Probably the best pilot to a programme I have ever seen. 
QuoteSam - Dude, you gotta update your cassette tape collection.Dean - Why?Sam - Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica?! It's the greatest hits of mullet rock.Dean - House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole. Sam - You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve year old. It's Sam, okay?Dean - Sorry, can't hear you. The music's too loud.


3


'All Hell Breaks Loose part 1'Season 2 Episode 21
SynopsisSam is taken by the yellow eyed demon to a desert town where other kids like him are waking up in. It's a kill or be killed game where the winner becomes the leader of the demon army that will start the war against humanity. Episode ends with Sam getting killed and Dean holding his body. 
QuoteSam - I've seen that bell before. I think I know where we are now. Cold Oak, South Dakota, a town so haunted, every single resident fled. Ava - Swell... Good to know we're somewhere so historical.


2


'Jus In Bello'Season 3 Episode 12
SynopsisTrying to find Bella, they get caught by the police and held at the station while an FBI agent awaits to transport them to a high security prison. But it doesn't go to plan. The people in the station learn the truth about demons and prepare for a impending attack on the police station. A brilliant episode that has a sad ending. 
QuoteDean - It's like we got a contract on us. Think it's because we're so awesome? I think it's cause we're so awesome. 


1

'Lazarus Rising'Season 4 Episode 1
SynopsisDean is back from hell with two fresh hand burns on his shoulder. Unsure of what happened, he goes to Bobby's to find out the truth. Visiting a psychic, Pamela, they try to contact the person responsible for dragging Dean out of hell. But her eyes get burned out for the trouble. Castiel is first introduced into the story.
QuoteDean - (After seeing 'Jessie Forever' tattooed on Pamela) So who's Jesse?Pamela - Well, it wasn't forever.Dean - His loss. Pamela - Might be your gain.(Sam looks at Dean)Sam - Wow. Dean - Dude, I'm so in.Sam - Yeah, she's gonna eat you alive. Dean - Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it. Pamela - (Turns to Sam) You're invited too, grumpy.Dean - (To Sam, hotly) You are NOT invited.  

Review - Hot Blooded

Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles #2) by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie



Publisher - Random House
Pages - 400
My Rating -



'What do you run from?
Katelyn had only been in Wolf Springs a short time before she was bitten by a werewolf. And now she carries that creature's curse in her veins. 
But she's not alone. Wolf Springs is home to a hidden family of werewolves, the Fenners - who swear none of them bit her. Apparently there's a monster on the loose - something wild and uncontrollable.And to make matters worse, Katelyn's struggling to resist her own animal urges. Especially around Trick and Justin. Should she follow her heart - or her instincts?'
REVIEW
In high school I went through a stage of constantly reading teenage, angst ridden vampire/werewolf fiction books. I read them till they came out of my ears and now I can barely even look at a book like that without curling my lip up in distaste. I picked up the first book in the Wolf Springs for my sister (who is still in this stage). Through boredom, I read it and was pleasantly surprised. The main character, Kat, was like able enough and the pace of the story was steady enough that it kept you reading throughout the night. I was hoping that this book would be the same. Well, I was half right. Going to bed with the intention of reading just a few chapters was a very foolish idea, as I'm not sat up in the wee hours of the morning typing this reviews after reading the WHOLE book within hours. I just couldn't put it down, I needed to find out what happened. Mostly looking for the action to begin. I began this book in hopes that the questions from the first one, would be answered. They weren't. In fact, which is probably what annoyed me the most, the questions weren't barely touched upon. Instead it went in a completely different angle.
  I like to think I have pretty strong feminist values, without being too men-hating. I love a kick-ass female who listens to the male protagonist but doesn't take any crap from them. Kat failed miserably in this respect. The whole time she kept coming across as this meek little child. Don't get me wrong, I understand there's a hierarchy within the wolf pack, with the leader especially, but even her 'friend' Justin, treated her like a piece of s**t. And she kept going back to him. She reminded me of an abused housewife who wont leave her partner.
I just found it really hard to like Kat in this book, though she had her moments of 'likeableness', but I'm hopeful the next book will finally have the answer's I'm looking for.

Review - Notorious Nineteen

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich


Publisher - Headline/ Random HouseNumber of Pages - 302My Rating3/5

'New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three truths: people don't just vanish into thin air. Never anger old people. And don't do what Tiki tells you to do.
After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie's bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her bank balance back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trail for embezzling millions from Trenton's premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it's on Stephanie to track down the con man. The problem is, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumours are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape... or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive.  Since the hospital staff's lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it's hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Plum is forced into working side by side with Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case. The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money - or maybe just desperate- Plum accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly special-forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again - a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid's dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone... or did it? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in cash, she'll have to remember: no guts, no glory...

REVIEW

Time and time again, I will shout from the roof tops that Janet Evanovich's 'Stephanie Plum' series is my all time favourite book series. I have followed this series for too many years to admit over the internet. I look forward to this book every year and read it within hours. Having said that, and it kills me to admit this, but the story is getting old. It started fizzling out around 'Lean Mean Thirteen'. Even in 'Twelve Sharp', though it was enjoyable see the female Ranger stalker, the series that I hold in such golden esteem started to dim. This story itself, was very easy to figure out. As soon as the story started going I knew exactly where it was heading and I wasn't even a third of the way through. I have said in previous reviews that I get bored if I already have figured it out. It is why my family don't like watching murder mysteries with me.  Also the jokes weren't as funny in this book as they were in her earlier works. Not even five minutes of reading this book her car gets blown up by a rocket launcher. Different book but same joke. While other times, the style in which her car is destroyed is funny i.e getting pancaked by a garbage truck, it is still the same old joke. The love triangle that was once a delicious pleasure to read has now been rehashed so many times that it has lost it's meaning. Stephanie's inability to commit to one of the two men in her life is a understandably hard choice to make. Not only for the character, as she has to chose between Joe Morelli (the rough on the outside, delicious on the inside Trenton Cop) or Ranger (the hard ass, and slightly scary, mentor). But it's is also a hard choice for Janet Evanovich. This series has been going on for nearly 20 years. And from day one, the audience has had the choice between Morelli or Ranger. It has divided her audience. I know who I would choose *cough*RANGER*cough. Which ever one, Stephanie (or Janet) chooses in the end, half of her audience will be disappointed.   But I've come to a time in this series that it's just not enough anymore. Stephanie can't keep tasting either side without making a decision. I want her to move on. To get married (again), have kids and for god's sake keep a car for one book without it getting blown up!

Author Interview

The great lass behind Rambling of a Book Nerd, Melissa, has created an author interview with yours truly.  Here's a snipet of the interview:



"1) What gave you the idea for the powers that the characters have?I read this strange article years ago in National Geographic about human limitations. It was like a page spread with a dozen different drawings of people in different situations. Like the longest a person can survive underwater, how long they can withstand fire or even high altitude sickness. I still have the creased and slightly battered piece of paper tacked to my board. That little page started my main character profile years ago, and it grew from there.
2) What is the best advice you received?Just keep writing! My high school teacher always caught me writing in class. Most of it wasn't good but she told me that it didn't matter. As long as you keep writing, the skill will slowly catch up with my imagination. And as I got older, I learnt and read more each day, sure enough my stories started to get better. I'm not saying their perfect even now, but I still continue to learn more and more each day..."

To read the whole interview, visit Melissa's site here - Rambling of a Book Nerd.

Review - Along For The Ride

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen


Publisher - Razor Bill/PenguinNumber of Pages - 424My Review


'Auden has always felt like the odd one out.
Since her parents' divorce she's shied away, studying lots and staying out of the party scene. But now Auden's realised there must be something more and, just like that, she changes everything. Moving to her dad's house opens up a whole new world of beach parties, food fights - and simply having fun. 
As she gets to know herself - and a secretive boy with dark brooding eyes - can Auden begin to let go and finally feel like she truly belongs?'

REVIEW

I have been reading up on Sarah Dessen for a while and have been picking up her books at Waterstones debating whether it would be worth it. After months of putting it down, I needed another summer read fix (I wish the summer would hurry up!) so I got this one. In the same day, I finished it at 5 o'clock in the morning. Even though I found the main character, Auden, slightly unlikeable to begin with due to her automatic judgement of others and distance she puts between everyone, once you get into the book and find out more about her past, it becomes understandable. Her parents used to argue and fight around her, eventually they got divorced, and she blamed herself. She was always the grown up in the relationship and acted beyond her years. So when she finally let go, namely by meeting Eli, she became a long overdue teenager. With help from the handsome BMXer Eli, who's past includes and drunk driver hitting his car which killed his best friend and injured him, she finally finds her inner child and does all the things she missed out on. Like going to a club, going bowling, having a huge food fight, playing kickball and most importantly, Prom. I really recommend this book to anyone who is missing the summer sun like I am. It is perfect for the grey, dull rainy days and makes you want to live feet from the beach and have a perfect view of the wave break with the sun beating down from a cloudless sky.

New Year, New Resolutions, New Ideas

Christmas and New Year flew by without hitch or ceremony. A quite time while working over the best holiday of the year. I wish I would have been a nice quite Christmas surrounded by family, followed by a New Year party of my dream on a hot white sand beach, it wasn't but I have hopes for next year. 
My resolutions are pretty much the same as everyone else's really, like lose weight, travel more and be happy. But my last resolution is stranger and perhaps the most challenging target I will ever set myself. I will finish and publish THREE books this year. TWO more than last year. I have confidence that I can do it!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Special

'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort...'The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien


It's been over 10 years since the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring was created by Peter Jackson, and is still today one of the most ambitious film making projects ever undertaken. The entire film series is ranked in the top ten of the highest grossing film series ever, after franchises like Harry Potter, James Bond and even Twilight Saga.... I know.

Guillermo del Torro (Notably Dir. Pan's
Labyrinth, Hellboy and Blade II)The last of the LOTR series, Return of the King, was the most successful of the three and that was the last Tolkien adapted movie to be made from Peter Jackson for several years due to film companies red tape and rigorous struggles for the director. 
Pre production on The Hobbit began in 2008 with Guillermo del Toro at the helm. During the two years following, del Toro and Peter Jackson worked closely together writing the scripts for the Hobbit movie and the production of the new Middle Earth. 
Peter Jackson (Notably Dir. LOTR Tril,
King Kong and Lovely Bones.)



However in 2010 del Toro dropped out because of on going delays from the film company New Line Cinema and Warner. It wasn't until it was finally given the go-ahead that Peter Jackson took over del Toro as director and things started to move. 







Casting for the films took place mostly in 2010. And I'm glad to see familiar faces returning for the trilogy as Gandalf wouldn't be Gandalf without Ian McKellen and same is said for Andy Serkis who made Gollum, literally, who is he today. But I'm also looking forward to see the new faces, primarily the dwarfs; Kili (Aidan Turner, Being Human) Bofur (James Nesbitt, Cold Feet) Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage *swoon*, North and South) and of course Martin Freeman (Sherlock & The Office) playing Bilbo Baggins.


Other great British Actor that will appear within the other two films; The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and There and Back Again (2014), include Billy Connolly (Brave) as Dain II Ironfoot, Luke Evans (Immortals) will be Bard, Stephan Fry (QI) plays Master of Lake Town and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) *who will voice The Necromancer in Unexpected Journey but will be Smaug.
Full size image here.



Since hearing about The Hobbit adaption becoming a three-part trilogy, I couldn't understand how you could get three feature length movies from that book. Comparatively, The Hobbit is a lot different to LOTR. 


Not just in size (see above), as LOTR is a three part book series, but also in substance. Growing up I couldn't really get into Lord of the Rings as I found it hard to focus on, and it wasn't until I was older (post movies) that I could fully enjoy them. But The Hobbit was a relatively easy novel to read. 

An interview between Peter Jackson and Ain't It Cool News website explains the beginning idea way back in 2006 -

'We think the two film idea is really smart. One of the problems with The Hobbit is that it is a fairly simple kids story, and doesn't really feel like The Lord of the Rings. Tonally I mean. It always maybe a little worrying, but with two films that kinda gets easier. It allows for more complexity. At that implied stuff with Gandalf and the White Council and the return of Sauron could be fully explored.' 
The idea of using the book as a template almost for the trilogy is great. The book is a short read but to actually see the backstory of some of the main characters like Gollum, Aragorn and Gandalf would bulk it out. Making a trilogy quite interesting to see. 



So I'm very much looking forward to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tomorrow. I even splurged a little and booked a 3D seat. Usually I just think that 3D is a waste, but I think I will enjoy this one. 


'As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by handsand by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and a jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wishedto go and see the great waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick. He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees.He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns. Suddenly in the wood beyond The Water a flame leapt up - probably somebody lighting a wood-fire - and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quite Hill and kindling it all to flames. 

He shuddered.
And very quickly, he was plain Mr. Baggins of Bag-End, Under-hill, again.'The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien