This was how I discovered that:

A – I totally missed an awesome series of book giveaways for the 12 days of Christmas at Book Binge

and B – they are featuring Karen Marie Moning in their author spotlight this month.

I love Karen’s books. The Highlander time travel series and the Fever series, she writes fun heroines, sexy sexy heroes and great dialogue. So yay for Karen!

Right now they are hosting a tournament of KMM heroes, so go and place your vote. Oh, and you can vote for more than one (kinda like having your cake and eating it too…but if I think about that too long in reference to KMM’s heroes I’ll need a cold shower).

Her post got me thinking about the movies that have made me cry the most – and the ones that are sure to make me cry every time I see them (which is why I avoid some of them – they pack an emotional punch I only need to get hit with once, kwim?)

One such movie for me is What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I cry during so many parts of that film, but it’s the moment after the mother passes away and there is the issue with the stairs that I just lose it completely. If you know my family, you’ll understand why, I think.

I cry, of course, during Gone With the Wind, when Scarlett calls for Rhett and he doesn’t know, when Bonnie dies, and of course, when she finally realizes she loves him just a little too late.

I admit it, I cried during Titanic.

I cried during Somewhere in Time, sigh, I love that movie.

I cried during Shakespeare in Love, SIGH, I love that movie even more.

Miz Booshay talks about having the good movie cry  – you know, the joyful cry – tears of happiness – and I’m trying to think of movies that spark that in me, I know it has happened, I just can’t recall any right at this moment…

I’ll think about it and get back to you…

after all, sometimes a solid happy cry is good for the soul.

Especially after watching Gilbert Grape.

Or maybe we know a song is really bad: the lyrics are beyond awful, the singer had enough electronic assistance and back-up singers to start a dozen bands, the tune is obviously trying too hard to be catchy and you MUST resist…but somehow you…can’t…(imagine that last part in the voice of Cpt. Kirk).

Case in point: I just bought a song from itunes from a singer I really can’t stand…really. Lady GaGa is more Lady GagGag to me, and when that new Bad Romance song of hers comes on the radio I shriek like I’ve been bitten by a hyena and clutch at the stereo dial, praying I can get the damn song off before my head explodes from the awfulness. Yet, somehow, I find myself really liking another of her songs. Everytime Paparazzi comes on the radio, I find it still playing in my head hours later – and I like it. So I caved, and for just under $3, bought a series of 4 remixes of the song.  There, I admitted it.

Which made me think of other songs I liked, but if anyone caught me singing it (or rocking out to it in the car, yikes), I wouldn’t deny it, but would feel I had to justify it somehow…or at least acknowledge that I should be embarrassed by my poor taste in music.

So here we go – my list of Top 10 Songs I Should Probably Be Ashamed To Admit I Like

10. As discussed above, Paparazzi by Lady GaGa

9. I am a mom to a 6 year old, which means I have accepted that Hannah Montana is going to be a part of my life. But I admit I really like some of her songs, especially Hoedown Throwdown

Somehow it goes against my principles to like songs from an American Idol winner, but sometimes they are just so darn catchy!  So that reason alone, covers the following 3:

8. That Jordin Sparks song…One Step At a Time

7. Before He Cheats Double Whammy: an American Idol winner AND a country song!

6. Battlefield again by Jordin Sparks – I was kind of irritated by this song when I first heard it, (steal from Pat Benatar much?) but the more I hear it (and it’s rather hard to escape it) the more it grows on me…like a fungus.

5.  1,2,3,4 by Plain White Tees  – Lil’ G really likes this song, and in a year or two, probably could have written the lyrics for it…but I have to say, I like it too.

4. Here I Go Again by Whitesnake Crazy women who go to court for beating their husbands doing  naughty things to the hood of a car aside, there’s something about this song that just makes you want to belt it out at the top of your lungs.

3. Fallout Boy – I Don’t Care Really? Fallout Boy? I know, but I love to run to this song.

2. Taylor Swift – Love Story I suppose I shouldn’t be embarrassed, based on the number of awards this girl has won even Jesus buys her music, which kind of makes me wish I didn’t like it (the whole not wanting to like what everybody else likes).

1. Nickelback….So Far Away Ok, this one I am truly ashamed of…of all the bands out there, Nickelback is one of the biggest jokes – poser rock to the extreme, Google Dolls squared. But this one song, I like it… alot.

I am sure there are more…oh so many more…but those are the ones I could think of right away.

So embrace your bad taste and be proud: what songs do you love when you rather wish you didn’t?

Miss A and her homeschool buddy Mr. J (whom you may remember from the Hawaii proposal) were the first to get behind the mic. These two are anything but shy: both loquacious and precocious, it was sure to be interesting.

My favorite moments (aside from their unsolicited commentary on Michael Jackson) included Miss A singing Feliz Navidad, and Mr J blowing the d.j.’s away by spotting Bob Rivers’ name on their title screen.

Here it is: On the air with Miss A and Mr J!

I apologize for the shaky video at first, I’ve only used my new Flip (thanks Joyce!) a few times and am still getting the hang of it it gets better later on!

And click HERE for an audio clip to skip all the extra stuff and just hear how they sounded on-air.

Currently Diana is on a book tour promoting the recent release of the 7th (of at least 8, I think) novel in her Outlander series, Echo in The Bone. 4 years ago when A Breath of Snow and Ashes came out, I had to miss her visit because the high school show I was directing was in its final dress rehearsal and well, it’s sorta important for the director to be there for that. So when I saw she would be here again, I begged the husband to play superDad  while I made the hour+ drive to meet one of my literary idols.

It was a very nice evening – I met some wonderful women (when you’re in a room of people all as passionate about a book as you are, you make friends very quickly). Before Diana came out, a group of Scottish dancers  performed a variety of numbers.

Sorry for the fuzzy pics, but I have a wimpy point-and-shoot, and didn’t want to use the flash, so I jacked up the ISO and hoped for the best.

I loved the more feminine costumes a few of them wore for some of the dances.

My favorite was the Sword dance – soldiers would perform this dance before battle as a way to predict the outcome (touch a sword or knock it out of place, and things could go bad…talk about pressure!).

Of course, all this Scottish dancing required some music,  and most of it was provided by this fine gentleman.

Then came the part we were all waiting for, Diana herself! She was wonderfully warm and relaxed as she chatted with the audience, describing how she became a novelist and sharing various stories concerning the books and her characters.

She also performed a reading from EITB, the passage she chose made for many giggles from the audience. If you read the book, the part she read involves Jamie and Claire, and a discussion they have involving grey hair and being squidgy.

Then she asked for questions from the audience, and there were many of the usual: when will there be a movie (who knows), when is the graphic novel coming out (fall of next year, she thinks), etc. My question focused on whether she ever found herself working events from her own daily life into her novels and if so, could she provide an example? She said it doesn’t happen too often, but a few she could remember involving direct quotes both came from her husband: one about how bad he smelled and the other while teaching a youngster how to pee standing up. It was an entertaining answer.

While waiting my turn in line for the book signing, I do what I always do these days while waiting for something – I took out Miss Scarlett and began to read.

Did I mention I was in a room full of people who LOVED books? The questions started coming fast and furious…most of them starting with, “Is that a Kindle?” By the end of the night I had several people planning to buy one…one woman even texted her husband demanding he go out and buy it for her 20th anniversary present. As a test driver, I believe I have more than earned the discount I got on my Sony Reader.

Finally, the highlight of the night – I got to walk up to Diana and have 10 seconds with her.

She was very gracious, and smiled for pictures and signed books for the 200+ people in line.  Yet she still took a moment to talk to me and wish me all the best on my writing journey.

Early in her talk, she mentioned she was 35 years old when she decided that if she wanted to write a book, she better get to it. That was so encouraging to me, to know that I can do this, I’m not too old or too late or too anything. I just need to start writing, and more importantly – to keep writing.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year, and if I get frustrated and feel like I just don’t have the time, I’ll remember those words…Keep Writing!

And I will.

And who knows what can happen then.

I love books. I love reading them, talking about them, shopping for them, thinking about them…and writing them.

But trying to share my love of books in a long and boring list of links isn’t really much fun.

And then along came GoodReads. (let’s not talk about noun and verb placement in that sentence, mmk?)

I discovered it today while poking around FrenchToastGirl’s site (she’s a MM). “Hmmmmm,”  I thought to myself as I looked over her Good Reads widget…”that looks interesting.”

And, boy howdy, but is this site fun. A wanderlust of organizational bliss for a bookworm like me. Much like my old string-o-links used to do, it keeps track of all my am reading, was reading, will read, etc. lists of books…only they do it in a much prettier package. Plus you can link to other readers, post and find reviews, search for books…oh, and there’s trivia. Who doesn’t love a little bit of trivia?

So check out my super-slick new GoodReads widget over to the right, then if you’re feelin’ it – join up and add me as a friend. Because I’m a pathetic shut-in who reads all day and has to beg for social connections. Well, not exactly (except for the begging).

Oh, and if you’re thinking, “Wow, this woman reads a warehouse-store-sized-shopping-cart load of Harlequins,” please remember, it’s all in the name of research. As for all the other romance novels, I just love reading ‘em, and I’m not ashamed to say so.

Anyways, so Miss A is now 6 and is obsessed with all things Star Wars.  So there are lots of lightsaber fights  and attempts to use the Force around here. She has big plans to dress as Princess Leia for Halloween (with Lil’ G going as R2D2  of course).

I won’t let her watch Revenge of the Sith until she is 10, but I finally decided she could watch Attack of The Clones. Watching along with her, I saw one of my favorite moments in the movie that I had forgotten about.

I don’t think it’s breaking news to say that Hayden Christensen, while delicious to look at, was a bit weak in the acting dept. Perhaps it was the horrible dialogue that was at fault, or Lucas’ inability to work well with humans, but in any case – his performance fell short.

There was however, one moment I thought he played to perfection. It was done so well it was really believable. Believable and hilarious. That moment when they first arrive at Padme’s little lake house hideaway on Naboo, and she is outfit #456 – she and Anakin are on the balcony, and he is overcome with her hotness, so he moves in for a kiss…she responds for a moment…then leaves the poor boy hanging.  Watch this, if you don’t remember.

The look on his face after she says no is just priceless. Classic “WTF woman!?!”

Lemme see some hands – how many of you boys can remember being in just such a moment? I am embarrassed to admit I pulled that on the husband a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

And we were a tad farther along then a smooch.

Obviously, he got over it.

The problem is, Miss Scarlett is like that gossipy girlfriend: y’know the type:  the one you spend way too much time dishing with over a few drinks when really you should be doing something more constructive?

Aside from returning stuff at Wal-Mart, one of the items on my list of THINGS I HATE TO DO is leave  a book unfinished. I just don’t like doing it. I feel like I failed somehow. Yet, maybe it’s because I’m growing older and realizing life is short and sweet – I am starting to mellow a bit and have grown lax from time to time. (Hence the list of books I have left unfinished slowly yet steadily increasing in number). I’m going to have to add another book to that list. The book  club meeting for this month’s choice was tonight, and I still hadn’t managed to get farther than the half way point in this book.  Hence (I seem to like using that word) why I’m hanging out here rather than out with the ladies sipping wine and talking smack.

Because in the case of this book, some smack talk there would be. (I just love Yoda-isms).

This month’s pick was Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman.

On the surface, the book seemed intriguing enough, if a little weird. All about superheroes and super villains and their personal angst and foibles and…

In the words of my 6-year-old, “IT WAS SO BO-ooo-RING.”

Really. I don’t know why exactly- the writing just didn’t hit me. I didn’t care that Dr. Impossible was a super-genius. I didn’t care that CoreFire (whoever the hell he was) is missing. And I didn’t care that some 1/2 robotic version of the Bionic Woman was getting all excited to join the super heroes (and possibly get into one of the superdude’s tights).

So here I am, trying to force myself to care whether Dr. Impossible will finally take over the world, and there is Miss Scarlett – silently seductive – just waiting, knowing I’d be much happier with her and her stockpile of romance novels just a thumb swipe away.

Over and over again, the e-reader won. And Dr. Impossible just had to stick it.

Sometimes, on the rare occasion I don’t finish the book before a book club meeting occurs, I will still endeavor to get it done. Not this time.

Oh no sir.

CoreFire can stay missing, and Dr. Impossible can do whatever it is he does on his remote island/underground lab/lair.

Miss Scarlett and I are going to get together to read some more steamy sexxoring.

I just can’t say no to her.

And she knows it, the damn little enabler.

You can drink a glass of wine and read at the same time.

As in: the glass in one hand, and the novel (e-reader) in the other. Simultaneous intake of booze and book.  So convenient when lounging on the couch after the rest of the family has gone to bed.

I suppose you could do the same while holding a paperback…but my dexterity isn’t quite up for that. Especially after a glass. It’s sad but true…one glass of wine and my toes are tingling.

Though I think I have made another discovery: the wine at the bottom of the box has a higher alcohol content.

Yes, I drink boxed wine.

Occasionally.

Please don’t judge me.

Oh, go ahead and judge me – I won’t care – I’m too busy getting soused.

Read some e-books! I have been flirting with the idea of e-books for some time now, but have stayed away from engaging in any activity…until now. I was chosen as 1 of 30 lucky bitches (I say that with love) to “test-drive” a Sony e-book reader for the summer. I just need to take good care of the thing and write a review on what I thought of it. I also get $25 to spend on Harlequin e-books, provided I write 2 book reviews for the SB’s (which is actually pretty sweet in itself).

Just 2 weeks ago, I was reviewing submission requirements to many e-pubs…and thinking how that may be the route my writing takes on the road to “publishing.”  Getting this chance to take a closer look at e-book readers and e-books themselves will really help me make a choice. It’s like an answer from the Romance Gods sent down by Fabio dressed as Arch-Angel something or other.

Summer reading just got a whole lot more exciting…I’ll just have to be careful not to spill booze all over the thing.