REVIEW: The 13th: Frozen Destiny by: Ela Lond

Author: Ela Lond
Smashwords
Release Date: March 29, 2014


Synopsis:

This is a short (15,000 words long) paranormal fantasy. 


In the haunted ruins of an old monastery, seven teenagers have gone missing in recent years. Kate, who is the Soul Reaper and helps ghosts who can't cross over by themselves, goes with her friends during their summer vacation to investigate. Once there, they find themselves tangled up in the deceptions of the dead, trapped like flies in a spider web.


Review:

This short story takes place not to long after The 13th: Destiny Awaits lets off. Kate, Ethan, Mandy and Tyler are on a summer break from school and decide to take a road trip to a haunted monastery to play ghost busters. 

I got kind of confused towards the beginning and thought that I had somehow skipped way ahead but kept on reading just to see where it lead. That was they only time during the read that things kind of didn't make sense. It was almost like the author just started writing a different story with the same characters part way through Frozen Destiny.  By the time I reached the end of the story I had everything worked out and was thinking ''oh I get it now''. For this being a short story I felt there was a lot packed into it's 52 pages. After I had my Aha moment and understood everything I thought it was a really good read.

 I do recommend that if you've read Ela Lond's The 13th: Destiny Awaits that you give this corresponding short story a go. The 13th: Frozen Destiny is a very fast and easy read. I do suggest that you read The 13th: Destiny awaits before you read The 13th: Frozen Destiny otherwise you'll be that much more confused.

(c) 2015 Andrea Hatfield All Rights Reserved

REVIEW: The 13th: Destiny Awaits by: Ela Lond

Author: Ela Lond
Smashwords Edition
Release Date: October 1, 2013

Synopsis: 

Kate, the school outcast, has always been able to see ghosts, and she constantly fears that someday, her so-called 'gift' will drive her mad like it did her mother, who has now been confined to a mental asylum. With the ever-present ghosts, her institutionalized mother, the unwanted attention from a bully and everything else going on in a teenage girl’s life, all Kate wants is to graduate quickly and without troubles. But that becomes impossible when Ethan, a gorgeous new transfer student, takes an interest in her, claiming that she is the Soul Reaper, and that he is there to train her. Things get even worse when her nemesis, the school bully Sandra, decides that she wants Ethan for herself. 

Review:

Kate's always been different than other kids, she can see ghosts. Her mother taught her a few tricks to make her sight of ghosts go away, but they no longer work. She used to have friends until the incident with her mom, now she prefers to stay in the background. The only friends she has now is Tyler, a popular school athlete, and Mandy, a transfer student from Japan. Ethan, Mandy's brother, takes an interest in Kate and that draws the attention of her tormentor, Sandy, even more. Sandy becomes even more fixated in torturing Kate, when she can't draw Ethan's attention. With all of that happening in Kate's life she learns that the reason she can see ghosts is because she is the Soul Reaper and has a job to do. Can Kate handle all that pressure or will it all cause her to break? 

Kate is the main character and the story is told through her perspective. I really liked her character. She's a teenager that has the ability to see ghosts yet she hides from them because that is all she has been taught to do her whole life. She's had to deal with her mother being institutionalized and her father always being absent so she has had to grow up really quick. She does come off as kind of whiny at times but honestly I don't blame her. 

Tyler has been Kate's best friend and neighbor since like preschool. He's the school's star athlete and most popular guy. He comes off as a pretty good guy and only wants what's best for Kate and to help her however he can. He stands up for her when the other students try to pick on her. 

Mandy is a transfer student from Japan and has become friends with Kate. She seems like a really sweet girl. Kate helps to get Mandy and Tyler in a relationship so we really don't get a huge look in to her character. 

Ethan is Mandy 's brother and I got mixed vibes from him the whole time. One minuet he seems like all he wants is to get to know Kate better and help her out then the next minuet he seems like all he is doing is using her for various reasons. It isn't until towards 3/4 of the way through the book that you get a clear picture into the reasons. 

I gave The 13th: Destiny Awaits a 4 star rating because it kept me highly entertained. I love how Ela Lond put a different kind of spin on the whole Soul Reaper thing. When I read the synopsis and saw the words Soul Reaper I thought she was supposed to be there when people die so she could reap their souls but that's not how it goes at all. While the story does read like it is intended for a younger teenage audience I really enjoyed this book and was able to get into the whole story very quickly and easily. If anyone is looking for a refreshing paranormal read I suggest giving The 13th: Destiny Awaits a try.


(c) 2015 Andrea Hatfield All Rights Reserved

  

Feature and Follow #11

Feature and Follow is a weekly feature hosted by TWO hosts: Alison from Alison Can Read and Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way they will be able to show off more new blogs. 

Rules:

1.) (REQUIRED) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts

(Alison Can Read and Parajunkee)

2.) (REQUIRED) Follow the Featured Bloggers

3.) Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to put it in your post.

4.) Grab the button and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say ''hi'' and that they are now following you. 

5.) If you are using Wordpress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friend Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed.

6.) Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also don't just follow, comment and say ''hi''. Another blogger might not know you're a new follower if you don't say ''HI". 

7.) If someone comments and say they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. 

8.) If you're new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let the hosts know so they can check out your blog.

This weeks question:

Is there a book that you were required to read in school that you actually loved?

Answer: 

The Lord of the Flies was the only book I was required to read in high school and I thought it was a really good book. 

What was a book that you were required to read in school and ended up loving?

Top Ten Tuesday #16

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week we're celebrating 5 years of Top Ten Tuesday posts, On June 21, 2010 TTT debuted. So this week we're focusing on the topic of our Top Ten Favorite Top Ten Tuesday Posts Within the last 5 Years. I've not been participating with the TTT meme for that long and here recently I've had to take a small break from participating for reasons that were not in my control so my list is going to be comprised of  TTT post from here recently. 

My list is in no particular order.

1.) Top Ten Books we'd like to see made into Movie/TV show.

2.) Top  Ten Authors I really want to meet.

3.) Top Ten Books I will probably never read.

4.) Top Ten Characters who -- I chose to go with poor.

5.) Top Ten All Time Favorite Authors

6.) Top Ten Inspiring or Meaningful Quotes.

7.) Top Ten Characters I'd Like To Check In With

8.)Top Ten Books I Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List

9.) Top Ten Books From My Childhood (or teen years) we'd love to revisit.

10.) Top Ten Bookish Problems

Please don't forget to check out my Giveaway here. There's just 2 days left. 

REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and all opinions within this review are my own.*

Author proceeds go to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.

Author: Robert Eggleton
Publisher: Dog Horn Publishing
Release Date: March 16, 

Lacy Dawn is a true daughter of Appalachia, and then some. She lives in a hollow with her worn-out mom, her Iraq War disabled dad, and her mutt Brownie, a dog who's very skilled at laying fiber optic cable. Lacy Dawn's android boyfriend, DotCom, has come to the hollow with a mission. His equipment includes infomercial videos of Earth's earliest proto-humans from millennia ago. DotCom has been sent by the Manager of the Mall on planet Shptiludrp: he must recruit Lacy Dawn to save the Universe in exchange for the designation of Earth as a planet which is eligible for continued existence within a universal economic structure that exploits underdeveloped planets for their mineral content. Lacy Dawn’s magic enables her to save the universe, Earth, and, most importantly, her own family.

Inside her first clubhouse, Lacy Dawn glanced over fifth grade spelling words for tomorrow’s quiz at school.  She already knew all the words in the textbook and most others in any human language.

 Nothing’s more important than an education.

 The clubhouse was a cardboard box in the front yard that her grandmother's new refrigerator had occupied until an hour before.  Her father brought it home for her to play in.

 The nicest thing he's ever done.

 Faith lay beside her with a hand over the words and split fingers to cheat as they were called off.  She lived in the next house up the hollow.  Every other Wednesday for the last two months, the supervised child psychologist came to their school, pulled her out of class, and evaluated suspected learning disabilities.  Lacy Dawn underlined a word with a fingernail. 

All she needs is a little motivation. 

I was really excited when Robert Eggleton, the author of "Rarity from the Hollow", emailed me asking for a review of Rarity from the Hollow. For one thing I love books that are centered in my home state and another thing is I love helping out fellow Mountaineers. I became even more excited when I continued reading the email and found out that Mr. Eggleton donates his author proceeds to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia in his home state. Further into the review I will place a link to the CHSofWV webpage so you can see for yourself the things the program is doing to help the youth of WV. 

Lacy Dawn is an extremely smart eleven year old girl who is living an extremely hard life. She has to deal with poverty, abusive and neglectful parents. Her father, who is a Gulf War vet and is suffering from PTSD, constantly beats Lacy Dawn and her mother Jenny. Jenny is under-educated, there in physical form but is mentally absent when it comes to parenting and has lost her teeth as a result of having Lacy Dawn and poverty. Lacy Dawn has been told by DotCom (Bucky), an android, that it is up to her to save the entire universe. With help from her friends and family will Lacy Dawn be able to find a way to save the universe?

Lacy Dawn is our heroin and at the beginning of the story only a mere eleven years old. She is wise beyond her years, because she has had education lessons from DotCom for years, and she uses that knowledge to help friends and family in her own way. For a kid, I think she handled the news of saving the universe very well, but I think in most situations kids do handle things better than we expect them to. I really liked Lacy Dawn's character. 

Jenny, Lacy Dawn mother, has been beaten down everyday since her husband and Lacy Dawn's father returned from the Gulf War. She never finished high school so she is studying to take her GED test but she has to hide to study and she has to keep her study book hidden so Dwayne never finds it. Jenny also longs to get her drivers license one day. At times in the beginning I felt like Jenny was more content living in her past than trying to change her current situation. 

Dwayne, Lacy Dawn's father, is suffering severely from PTSD and the VA has been unable to help him overcome it. Along with drinking and smoking weed on a daily basis he also beats the crap out of Lacy Dawn and Jenny using a switch. A good bit of this book I hated Dwayne's character and wanted nothing more than to knock the crap out of him. 

DotCom, aka Bucky, plays a huge part throughout the entire story. He starts off as an android sent to Earth over 2000 years ago to enlist Lacy Dawn's help to save the universe. He is completely oblivious to the fact that Lacy Dawn has declared him to be her boyfriend and it almost seems like he really doesn't know what that means. About halfway through the book he hits puberty and finally starts to notice Lacy Dawn. I got really aggravated with the fact that he was constantly telling her that it was her job to save the universe but expected an eleven year old girl to figure out how.  

Tom is their neighbor who grows and supplies the entire hollow with weed and seems to have his hands into everything from pizza joints to portable potties. He seems like a nice enough guy but a little bit of a prev.

I absolutely loved Lacy Dawn's dog Brownie because of the brief glimpses into his thoughts in about the middle of the book. It was so funny and with that alone he became a favorite. I mean who wouldn't want to know what it is that their dog is thinking. 

Faith is Lacy Dawn's best friend, and a little bit into the story she is killed by her father. She then becomes a ghost that stays in the magical type forest that is near Lacy Dawn's house and inhabits different inanimate objects so she can talk to Lacy Dawn. Being Lacy Dawn's best friend she tries to give her advice when she needs it but sometimes she is a little annoying because it's very immature. 

Okay so now lets talk about the magical type of forest for a minuet. Lacy Dawn has the ability to talk to the trees and hold conversations with them. Apparently the trees will only talk to the kids who really need someone to talk to and with everything that Lacy Dawn has to endure that's just what she needs. 

"Rarity from the Hollow" is purely a work of fiction but there is a deeper message embedded within the pages. Robert Eggleton touches on the sick but all to true issues of child abuse, child molestation, domestic violence, alcoholism, drug use and poverty that are plaguing not only the beautiful state of West Virginia but every corner of the world. If you take away the sci-fi and fantasy aspect of this story this very well could be some child's life.

I really enjoyed "Rarity from the Hollow". Robert Eggleton has woven a story packed full of adventure, desperation, pain, heartache,  romance, and humor. While this may be a book that might not be everyone's cup of tea I definitely think that everyone should give this book a try. Although, I do feel that this is a book not recommended for children because of the issues and certain events that are described within the book.  

Robert Eggleton was born in 1951 to impoverished West Virginian parents. His mother was a victim of domestic violence and his father was alcoholic, traumatized by WWII before PTSD was treatable. He grew up fast by supporting his family with odd jobs until his first real job at age 12 in a pharmacy. In the '70s, the Vietnam War Protests drew him into a counter culture that would have prevented him from attending WV State College, had it not been for the military draft that targeted low-income and minority youth. Instead, he graduated with a degree in Social Work in 1973 and a Masters in 1977. For the next thirty-five years, he has been employed as an advocate for veterans, homeless youth, institutionalized juveniles, the unemployed, and, especially for abused/neglected children. He was the primary author of hundreds of investigative reports published by the WV Supreme Court from 1985 to 1997. He created models of children's social services accepted and distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of Social Workers, and private nonprofit agencies. In 2006, Mr. Eggleton turned to fiction, in part, as a means of raising funds to prevent child abuse. His first novel was preceded by three satirical fantasies published in magazines. Lacy Dawn, the protagonist of his adventures, is Mr. Eggleton's real life heroine.


************************************************************************************************

Children's Home Society Of West Virginia is a private, non-profit child welfare agency caring for more than 13,000 children, youth, and families throughout the state of West Virginia each year.  Proceeds from "Rarity from the Hollow" have been donated to:

• Adoption, including pregnancy counseling and assistance with legal services;  
• Birth to Three, which assists families care for children who exhibit developmental delays and strengthens the families’ abilities to care for their children at home;
• Comprehensive Assessment and Planning for children and families involved with child protective services to ensure the appropriateness of services and safety of the children;
• Child Advocacy Centers within which children suspected of having been maltreated can be interviewed in a supportive environment by all involved parties (police, social workers, medical staff, defense, etc.), including video recordings, so as to prevent the children from further trauma by exposure adversarial courtroom proceedings;
• Parenting Education for parents involved in divorce proceedings;
• In-Home Child and Family Services to keep families intact when there is no imminent danger to the child but supportive services, such as case management or transportation is needed;
• Exceptional Youth Emergency shelters serving youth with disabilities;
• Foster Care in private family homes that sometimes adopt the children initially placed there if freed for adoption through legal proceedings;
• One mid-town youth center that focuses on after-school and summer academics, delinquency prevention, and parental development;
• Right from the Start which targets high risk birth mothers and high risk infants to ensure that proper medical, economic, and social service needs are met;
• Emergency Shelters (9) for youth in crisis (this was where Robert worked as the Director of Shelter Care – He started 5 of these family-like settings but the network has since expanded);
• We Can, a program that recruits volunteers to augment services provided by child protective services workers;
• And, a Youth Services program in an under-served part of WV that turns around mostly younger teens who are heading in the wrong direction.

Purchasing Links :

Amazon

Dog Horn Publishing

Inpress Books

Lulu

Barnes & Noble

Mediander

Dog Horn Publishing is giving away (2) Print Copies of Rarity from the Hollow by: Robert Eggleton.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and all opinions within this review are my own.*

Author proceeds go to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.

REVIEW: We Are Watching by: M. Stephen Stewart

Author: M. Stephen Stewart
Publisher: Primrose Publishing LLC
Release Date: December 16, 2014

Synopsis:

Henry Malone's childhood was shattered by the unexplained suicide of his father. Now a teenager, his days are spent studying to become a Neural Implant Technician for Planetary Link Corporation, helping them maintain an iron grip over his walled country and every iota of knowledge contained within—but he leads a double life. Henry’s nights are spent helping his mother wage a cyber war against them in her quest to find the truth behind his father’s death. 

He's managed to keep his two lives separate, a delicate balance that's endangered after he repairs the neural implant of a stranger. He finds she’s in possession of illegal memories from the outside world, unauthorized knowledge of his father, and a message: speak to me later and tell no one. Henry has a choice to make—ignore the message and maintain his double-life, or answer and risk everything to uncover secrets Planetary Link would kill to keep buried. 

Review: 

Henry has lived a hard life after the death of his father and has had to deal with everyone trying to gain something because of it. He's also developed a sarcastic and defensive  attitude because of it. Henry lives in a futuristic version of Huston called The Gulf Market where everyone has been implanted with a NEX in their brains that connects them with all kinds of knowledge and information. All of the information and knowledge is controlled by Planetary Link or Plink and they determine what and how much you are allowed to ''consume'' and also have access to your memories. If unauthorized knowledge is obtained it is a capitol offense punishable sometimes by death. Henry is training to become an IT but in his spare time he is secretly studying piloting and space. His whole world is thrown off it's axis when he is called to fix the NEX of girl found passed out, and as he is sifting through her NEX and memories he stumbles upon images of his father and now he's determined to find out what it is she knows about him. 

I really enjoyed reading "We Are Watching", it was such a refreshing and different type of book than what I've been reading lately. Stewart creates a mesmerizing futuristic world that is full of adventure, mystery, misery, heartache and hope. 

Henry is a sarcastic pain in the butt sometimes but I don't blame him. I think I would be that way too if every time I turned around someone was trying to make shares (money) off me. He has extremely short fuses especially when it come to the subject of his father. 

Mark Watson is Henry's best friend  and the only kid his age who doesn't try to use Henry. He is always trying to keep Henry out of trouble and looking out for him. You really don't get to see a huge glimpse into Mark's life but one thing that is evident is the way that he is always there for Henry when he really needs him.

Riya is a strong and brave character who has a few secrets. You get a brief glimpse into what her life is like and her secrets as the story progresses. She helps to get Henry to do things that he normally would not and brings him out of his ''shell''. 

I like that the time in which "We Are Watching" is set in the future, because as with fantasy the sky is the limit and anything that  you can dream up can work. Stewart goes into a few details and describes some of the cultural ideas but, I would have liked to have learned more about the futuristics of this world. The NEX felt a little familiar in the sense of being almost like our smartphones today and all the apps that come with it. The only difference being the NEX is implanted in the brain. In Henry's world everyone is always connected to their NEX looking at everyone else's profiles and status updates, almost like how our society is obsessed with social media platforms today. 

"We Are Watching" is a mesmerizing futuristic tale that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and dying to know what happens in the second installment of the Mindshare series.  I highly suggest giving "We Are Watching" by M. Stephen Stewart a try especially if you like futuristic worlds and tons of science fiction.   




(c) 2015 Andrea Hatfield All Rights Reserved

Liebster Award

Thank you Selina O'Loan  and Maggie Seagraves so much for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

Rules:

* Link back to the person who nominated you

*Give 11 random facts about yourself

* Answer the 11 questions from your nominator

* Nominate 11 new and obscure bloggers

* Come up with 11 questions for them to answer

* Inform your nominees 

Random Facts About Me:

1.) I hate cleaning but I'm a total neat freak. My floors on most days are swept at least 3 times.

2.) My favorite food is chicken fajitas with pineapples. I crave it almost everyday.

3.) People think I'm quiet because I'm shy but it's really because I'm scared that if I talk too much I'll start to stutter. 

4.) I still have my favorite stuffed animal from when I was a little kid, Little Foot (a.k.a. Foot Foot) from ''The Land Before Time'' movies.

5.) I dress up for Halloween as book characters and go Trick or Treating with my boys.

6.) My best friend, other than my husband, lives on the other side of the country from me but I talk to her at least 3 times a week if not everyday in some weeks. 

7.) Moths and butterflies scare the crap out of me, I find them extremely gross.

8.) I hate shopping for anything other than books. I can shop all day if I'm looking for good books.

9.) My favorite color is not really a color at all, it's a pattern: camouflage.

10.) I have a weird and irrational fear of never having enough toilet paper. I freak out if I have less than 50 rolls in the house, which is weird and irrational because I've never had a time when I've been left without any.
11.) I am a Sunday School teacher and the youth leader at my church. 

Questions  From My Nominator's
Selina's Questions

1.) What is the first book you remember reading?

For the life of me I can't remember it's exact title but when I was like 5 years old I had a set of alphabet books where each book focuses on a letter. I remember setting and reading the letter F book like a million times. I'm not sure what ever happened to those books either.

2.) Which do you prefer; EBook, Hardcover or Softcover?

I prefer a hardcover book but have an assortment of EBooks, hardcovers and paperbacks. I love the feel and smell of a ''real'' book in my hands but sometimes it's just more convenient to have an EBook. I prefer hardcovers over paperbacks because it so easy to bend or damage the cover of a paperback and with hardcovers you just have to remove the dust jacket and put it up somewhere safe.  

3.) Do you read more than one book at a time? If so, how many?

No, I've tried to read more than one at a time but I really didn't like it.  I prefer to focus just on one book.

4.) Do you prefer a Standalone or a Series?

Series definitely. Almost every single book I've read has been part of a series. I love getting to see all the different things that happen in the characters life through out each installment. I feel like I get a deeper look and sometimes I love the characters so much that I don't want to let them go just yet and with a series I don't have to.

5.) Who is your favorite author(s)?

My all time favorites are Jennifer L. Armentrout and Suzanne Collins. Jennifer Armentrout writes amazing stories quicker than anyone else I've ever seen. I'm also a little biased when it comes JLA because she's a West Virginia gal just like me. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games was the first book that I had a full blown fangirl moment out of. I loved the story and Collins' writing style with the trilogy.

6.) Do you have a favorite Standalone or Series?

Jennifer L Armentrout's Lux series and Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy.

7.) Coffee or tea?

It all just depends. I have to have my coffee first thing in the morning or I can't function. Later in the day I can't drink coffee, don't know why I just can't. So if it's later in the day and I want something hot to drink then I'll drink tea. I like hot and iced tea if it's sweetened but I can't stand my coffee iced. It has to be hot with cream and sweetener. And I prefer hazelnut flavored coffee to plain coffee. 

8.) Is there a Standalone or Series your really wanted to like but could not?

Yes, as much as I tried to I just could not get into the Twilight series. I'm not saying that it was horrible it just wasn't for me. I kept seeing and hearing about how everyone loved the books and the movies but as hard as I tried it just wouldn't happen. I was only able to make it through the books once. I felt that all the pieces were there for a wonderful series but that the author missed the mark. I like the movies a little better though.

9.) What is your dream career?

I would really love to work in a library. Being surrounded by all those books all day long would be pure heaven. 

10.) What was the last book you read?

The last book I read was We Are Watching by M. Stephen Stewart and I am currently reading The 13th: Destiny Awaits by Ela Lond.

11.) Night out or a night in cuddle up with a good book?

I'm going to go with a night in cuddle up with a good book. I've always been like that though. It's not that I was a goody goody but going out all the time never really appealed to me. Every now and then it's good to go out to the movies or whatever but mostly I would rather sit and read at night. 

These questions are from Maggie.

12.) What is your Zodiac sign? Do you feel that your sign’s characteristics fit your personality? Why or why not?

My Zodiac sign is Cancer. I Googled my sign's personality traits do fit into my own personality. Here is the link to the page I looked at: http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/zodiac-signs/cancer.htm I do have the tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve and sometimes I am extremely moody and oversensitive, just ask my husband and kids. I am fiercely loyal with my friends and family. 

13.) What book were you required to read in school that you loved or despised the most?

You may find this quite odd and looking back I do myself, but the only book that I was required to read when in high school was "Lord of the Flies" by: William Golding. Back 10 years ago I thought the way my English Language classes were normal but now I realize that wasn't the case. Things may be different now at my old high school but I don't know. I really enjoyed reading "Lord of the Flies".

14.) Do you have a favorite or lucky number or charm? If so, what is it and why does it bring you luck? What ultimately caused you to choose your unique charm?

No lucky numbers or charms here.

15.) Are there any songs that correspond with and remind you of defining moments or experiences in your life? If yes, what songs bring back memories?

The first song that comes to mind is "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. Thirteen years ago when I was a sophomore in high school I started dating my husband and my parents didn't like him and they kept wanting me to break up with him. After so long they just kind of put up with the fact that we were together and it was like that for 3 years, and the day after my 18th birthday we got married. All is good, now they love him.

16.) Do you keep a journal? Why or why not?

No journal anymore, I used to keep one when I was a lot younger. I just don't have the time or want to keep one now.

17.) Do you have animals? If yes, let us know all about them! If not, why don’t you have pets?

Yes my house is a zoo lol! I have one dog, a 16 year old Lhasa Apso, that we inherited when my mother-in-law passed away; all kinds of fish, two hermit crabs that belong to my boys, 5 cats, a gatder snake, and tadpoles. 

We have neon tetras, GloFish, a Dragon Fish, snails, and bottom feeders. 

Tadpoles

Garter Snake that we found in our fire pit.

Tiger is the tiger striped one in the bottom right hand corner, Sasha is the striped and white one in the upper corner and Hobo is the gray and white long haired one in the left hand bottom corner. These kittens were found under my son's bedroom window. Tiger looks striped but along her sides she is spotted like a leopard, my husband claims her. Hobo is the laziest of all of them, the only boy and my kids claim him and also Sasha who is totally wild and crazy.

Colt and Wesson, the two kittens that I've had to hand raise because their mother died shortly after they were born.  Wesson is the one on top, she has a small white patch on her right hind foot and a small one on her chest. Colt is the runt out of all the kittens and my little sidekick where she has had the most issues in getting her to eat. She looks just like her momma. These are my babies, after their mom died there was no way I could not help but to get severely attached. Their mom, Gunpowder, was a stray cat that I fell in love with and when she became pregnant we brought her into the house so the coyotes wouldn't get her. We had intentions of keeping her and giving the kittens to some friends, but after she died I told my husband there was no way I could part with these two because of me becoming their surrogate and the amount of time that we were bonding. 

I don't have any pictures of my dog Lucky or the hermit crabs.

18.) If you could emulate any author, whose writing style would you choose to possess?

I'm not sure that I would want to emulate an authors style per-say, I would want to keep things all my own. But, I do like the way that Jennifer Armentrout is able to write out a whole book in a week or less. And while writing I would love for things to come to me that easily and that quickly. 

19.) What is your honest opinion of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series?

Okay so I know that I'm going to get a whole lot of head shaking with this answer but I've never read any of the books from the Harry Potter series. I know, I know, have I been living under a rock all these years. With all the hype and everything you'd think I would have read them by now but sadly I've just never gotten around to doing it.

20.) What is the very first book or story you remember reading? How old were you and why does the tale resonate with you?

For the life of me I can't remember it's exact title but when I was like 5 years old I had a set of alphabet books where each book focuses on a letter. I remember setting and reading the letter F book like a million times. I'm not sure what ever happened to those books either.


21.) List your five favorite blogs!

Okay, that's a loaded question. I have 101 blogs on my blog roll and I'm not sure that I could pick any favorites because all of them are unique.  

I'm going to use the same questions I answered as the questions for my nominees. You can choose which 10 or 11 you would like to answer.

1.) What is the first book you remember reading?
2.) Which do you prefer; EBook, Hardcover or Softcover?

3.) Do you read more than one book at a time? If so, how many?

4.) Do you prefer a Standalone or a Series?

5.) Who is your favorite author(s)?

6.) Do you have a favorite Standalone or Series?

7.) Coffee or tea?

8.) Is there a Standalone or Series your really wanted to like but could not?

9.) What is your dream career?

10.) What was the last book you read?

11.) Night out or a night in cuddle up with a good book?

12.) What is your Zodiac sign? Do you feel that your sign’s characteristics fit your personality? Why or why not?
13.) What book were you required to read in school that you loved or despised the most?
14.) Do you have a favorite or lucky number or charm? If so, what is it and why does it bring you luck? What ultimately caused you to choose your unique charm?
15.) Are there any songs that correspond with and remind you of defining moments or experiences in your life? If yes, what songs bring back memories?
16.) Do you keep a journal? Why or why not?

17.) Do you have animals? If yes, let us know all about them! If not, why don’t you have pets?

18.) If you could emulate any author, whose writing style would you choose to possess?
19.) What is your honest opinion of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series?
20.) What is the very first book or story you remember reading? How old were you and why does the tale resonate with you?
21.) List your five favorite blogs!

My Nominees are:

Just click on the name and blog title and it will take you to their blog page.

Cody-Leigh @ Literary-ly Obsessed

Thea @ Gizzimomo's Book Shelf

Erica @ Read It Note It

Emma @ Emma Likes Books

Rachel @ Dashing Good Books

Joey @ Books and Goofy

Yazzi @ All The Books Are Ours 

Gillian @Gillian Zane

Barbara @ Banosaur

Amanda @ The Darling Bookworm

Patricija @ The Ink Mess

Top Ten Tuesday # 15

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is Top Ten Books we'd like to see made into Movie/TV show. 

A couple of days ago I did a post similar to this one for ABEA 2015. I love when a book is made into a movie but only if it is done correctly. A lot of the time film companies get a hold of it and they mess it up. Directors change things ''in the heat of the moment'', some very bad actors are cast as a main character and advertisement and promo work sucks. Then there are the times when a book to movie adaptation is absolute gold. The perfect actor is cast, the director does a phenomenal job and the advertisement and promo is spot on. Here is a list of books that I would like to see made into a movie or television show.


1.) Lux Series by Jennifer Armentrout

2.) Maximum Ride series By: James Patterson

3.) Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent

4.) Need series by: Carrie Jones

5.) Vampire Academy by: Richelle Mead

6.) The Survival Trilogy by: Morgan Rice

7.) You'll be Thinking of Me by: Densie Webb

8.) We Are Watching by: M. Stephen Stewart

9.) Fracture by: Megan Miranda 

10.) Bloodlines by: Richelle Mead

So, What are the books you would like to see turned into a movie or TV show?

May Recap

Saving London by: Taylor Dawn

Run (NOLA Zombie #1) by: Gillian Zane

You'll Be Thinking of Me by: Densie Webb

Book of the Month:

Zombies are on the loose in New Orleans and of all the End of the World scenarios, Alexis Winter wasn’t prepared for this one. But, an apocalypse is an apocalypse and she should have this covered. She has been “prepping” for the last three years. The problem is location and timing. She’s stuck downtown and she has to get to her house on the outskirts of the city so she can get her supplies and bug-in (for the “non-preppers” this means hole up and stay safe).

Agreeing to work on a Saturday is now coming back to bite her on the ass big time. Hopefully, it won’t be a literal bite by the walking dead.

Luck favors the prepared, and as luck would have it, it comes in the form of the ridiculously hot Blake Miller. Former military man, current mercenary, Blake Miller, the man with the plan, his goal: steal a boat and trek up the Mississippi until they find safety. Alexis thinks this is a great plan and she decides to team up with Blake. The two team up in unexpected ways as they find they can’t keep their hands off of each other even when the world is falling down around them.

Can Alexis and Blake survive the end of the world, and if they do make it through the night, find a place that is safe and secure? Can their newfound attraction lead them down the road to love or heartbreak?

Zombies, sex, romance and carnage…you can’t get any better than this.

Coming Soon: 

We are Watching by: M. Stephen Stewart

The 13th: Destiny Awaits by: Ela Lond