On the Stairs by Julie Larios

Illustrated by Mary Hofstrand Cornish

"On the Stairs" is a cute children's book that you'll have fun reading to your children! It's a poem about two little mice, the stairs in their house, and how they have given each stair its own name. Some of the names and connections are pretty imaginative, and some might fit in with the stairs in your house!

The drawings in this book are carefree and fun. There are no harsh colors, and they each reflect that pages section of the poem with fun style. They really bring the story to life - although the poetry is clear enough that the pictures aren't really needed to bring it to life! 

Lost in a Migraine

Lost in a Migraine

Pain.
Brilliant. Blinding.
Consuming.
Huddled in a tight ball.
Praying for it to end.
Whimpering.
Gasping for breath.
Pounding in my temples.
Searing through my brain.
Vision distorted.
Lying down, yet dizzy.
Lost and afraid.
Weak and ashamed.
Needy.
Pain.

The Proposal - a Movie Review

I had a chance to watch "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds the other day. I've always loved Sandra Bullock movies, and I'm a sucker for chick flicks! My poor hubby. He always ends up rolling his eyes and me. I tend to watch them on my computer while I work so I'm not torturing him too badly.

I have a vague memory of seeing this movie advertised and at the time thinking it was really interesting looking. It had slipped into the back of my mind though because I don't have the money to go out and see movies very often, and so I tend to forget what movies I want to watch later until they pop up in front of my face and I'm reminded.

The premise behind this movie is that Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock's character) is Canadian, a bitchy book editor, and about to be deported. I didn't remember the Canadian connection and when I read the little snippet that said she was going to be deported my first thought was, "how on earth are they going to pull off Sandra being from a different country?" I may like her as an actress, but she's not one I can see succesfully pulling off a foreign accent. Then they said she was Canadian and it all made sense. Many Canadians
don't have much of what we'd consider an accent anyway, and it's not hard to believe that she'd cleaned up what little accent she may have had.

Margaret Tate is a bully of a boss. Everyone is terrified of her. They even send IM's around the office warning things like, "The Witch is on her broom" to warn everyone that she's walking around and they better watch out! Andrew Paxton, her executive assistant, gets the worst of it though. Andrew is a determined character. He's willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, even working for a monster of a woman, and letting her humiliate him. He works hard to please her though. He even started drinking the same type of coffee as she does just in case he ever spilled hers on the way to the office from the morning Starbucks run!

When Margaret discovers she's about to be deported because she never took the time to get her paperwork in order she has a brilliant idea - she'll just marry Andrew! Andrew ends up reluctantly agreeing, but they both panic when they realize all that they are going to have to go through to convince the government that they are truly "in love" and not simply defrauding the government.

Things get really interesting when they fly out to meet his family. The tables get turned and Andrew has the upper hand (mostly) for once. Margaret learns a lot about her assumptions, and about herself. The interactions with the family are hysterical too!

The one disclaimer I will give to this movie is that while most of it is fantastic, there is a scene with a lot of
nudity in it. It's not meant to be something steamy, it's a comedy bit, but you should be prepared for it.

Over all - I loved this movie!

Writing ADD #21

Wouldn't it be fun to have a dragon cane? It sure beats the standard thing I have that I think we picked up for $10 somewhere... Oh yes, and the reason I'm picturing a cane this morning? I pulled a muscle in my foot this weekend so I'm using a cane right now. Joy.

Let's take a look at what I did last week:

Week's Total:

Book Reviews: 2

Dalia's Story: In progress

Weather Mage: In progress

Total Words 2897

It's rather strange that I only did two book reviews, and my stacked up pile isn't very happy with me, but I don't mind since it means I got lots done else where!

I made some good progress of Dalia's Story. It's for a writing challenge so I REALLY need to stay focused on it! Fortunately the words are flowing each time I sit down to work on it, so I'm not too worried (yet) about getting it done in time. I'm just over 4,000 words in that story, and it has to be 10,000 to 20,000 for the challenge, so I still have a ways to go! One of these days I'll have to figure out how it ends too... I won't be sharing this story until contest time because it's one of the rules.

I did some of my writing this weekend at the market. It was cloudy in the mornings so I could see my hubby's netbook despite it's glossy finish (argh) and I wrote while it was slow. It got really windy for awhile there and for some reason that gave me the idea to right a story about a Weather Mage who's power's tend to backfire :) Don't really have any plans beyond that for the story right now, but I don't really care. I write because it's fun you know? 

Last week was pretty full of activities and this week looks a lot more open, so hopefully I'll get lots done, both writing, and on my business! 

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

If you've read any of Pratchett's early books than your probably familiar with Rincewind. Rincewind is a wizard, a nice fellow, but totally hopeless at his chosen profession! Somehow he always manages to survive the craziness he encounters though, and says that he's very addicted to living, which is probably a good thing for him all things considered.

In "Sourcery" we encounter a very rare phenomenon in Discworld, a sourcerer. Sourcerers are rarely born in Discworld because for generations wizards have been taught that interacting with women will decrease their magical abilities. This isn't strictly true, although being distracted isn't necesarily a good thing when practicing magic, no this is merely a lie that was spread to keep wizards from having children. Why is this? Well, 8 is a magical number on discworld. The eight son of an eight son always ends up a wizard (although its not the only way to become one). Worse, the eight son of a wizard is a source of magic in and of himself, a sourcerer.

Now if your familiar with the wizards of Discworld you know that they tend to be relatively harmless. So how much trouble could a sourcerer be? The answer is LOTS of trouble! Sourcerers are not bound by the normal constraints that wizards usually face, and they infect everyone and everything around them with magic. Soon you have an almost all powerful sourcerer being supported by power mad wizards, and the world is being turned upside down.

Rincewind finds himself caught up in the middle of all this mess with a strange maiden named Conina. Does her name sound familiar? It should, she's the daughter of the famous Cohen the Barbarian. Conina always wanted to be a hairdresser, but her genetics mean that she can't stand to sit by when there's a fight, or danger, or anyone who needs rescuing. Which is a good thing for Rincewind since he is generally useless in any situation that calls for brawn (or, often, brains either). Will this unlikely duo be able to save Discworld from the horror being unleashed upon it? Will Conina's brawn and Rincewinds bumbling luck be enough? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Ravens Shadow by Patricia Briggs

I first "met" the author Patricia Briggs through her Mercy Thompson series, a modern fantasy full of skin walkers, vampires, and werewolves. I instantly fell in love with her writing and her stories and I've been steadily working my way through her entire bibliography. Whereas the Mercy Thompson books take place in the modern world, "Raven's Shadow" is more of a traditional fantasy.

Seraph is a Raven mage, and a Traveler. The Travelers are similar to what we would think of as gypsies in many ways, but they have a legacy of magic that's been passed down from the days of the great wizards. These wizards gave them "orders," different magical talents, in an attempt to protect the world from great evil. Each order has different abilities and each is associated with a different bird.

Seraph, as a Raven mage, is sworn to protect those around her from evil, but when her entire family is killed she sets aside the Traveler ways for a time. Instead she settles down in marriage with a man named Tier, and unusual man who should not be capable of having the Travelers magic, but does anyway. They have a happy, if harsh, life. Content to work their farm and raise their three children. Content, that is, until Tier turns up missing or dead.

With Tier gone Seraph is forced to re-embrace her heritage as a Traveler, and to reveal to her children the extent that they have inherited the powers of her mother's people. Leaving her youngest behind, Serpah sets off with her two boys to try and find out what has happened with Tier, and to face the much darker forces that are stirring in the world.

Never After by Various Authors

"Never After" is a compilation of stories based on the age old idea of a fairy tale wedding, only these stories have a twist. Instead of the classic "damsel in distress" scenario, the princesses are the one's saving those around them. The stories are each unique and entertaining.

"Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?" is the first story, and it's author, Laurell K Hamilton, is the title author for the book. Despite this, its the shortest of the stories in the book, and I found it to be a little simple. In it a girl named Elinore decides to avoid her fate marrying a man she detests by facing the challenge to save a prince who has been trapped for many years now. Prince Charming isn't quite all he was described to be though, although we will find that he can indeed bake a cherry pie.

"The Shadow of Mist," by Yasmin Galenorn is a companion story to her "Otherworld series." In this novella she takes one of the minor characters from the series, a selkie named Siobhan Morgan, and expands on her story and her history. Siobhan has a dark secret that not even her fiance and the father of her baby knows. She's spent the last 100 years running from the man her parents betrothed her too, the man who raped her, and now he's found her.

In "The Tangleroot Palace," by Marjorie M. Liu we meet another princess who seeks to avoid her suitor, this time by running to a magical forest known as the Tangleroot. The Tangleroot is a place of dark magic, and a prison for an evil queen. As Sally travels to find the Tangleroot and escape her father's plans, she meets a band of traveling entertainers, and begins to fall for one of the men. The two of them find themselves facing the terrors of the Tangleroot together, and the end will be much different from what Sally had imagined.

"The Wrong Bridegroom," by Sharon Shinn, completes our set of stories. In this story we have another princess, and this one is probably the most stubborn of them all. Olivia has spent her entire life defying her father, and in his wishes for her to marry, she's no different. Since she refuses to marry the man picked out for her, her father calls a tournament, allowing men from all over to fight for the hand of the princess. The only problem is that the tournament ends in a tie, between the man Olivia has begun to fall for, and the man her father originally wanted her to marry. But will it turn out that she chooses the wrong bridegroom? Or will the time given her by her brief engagement open her eyes to things she never suspected?