Thursday, September 8, 2016

Thursday At the Movies: SUICIDE SQUAD

I love the Super Hero movies. Spiderman. Iron Man. The Avengers - and the individual character movies as well. Batman (I loved Christian Bale as Batman. And I have to admit Ben Affleck killed it too!) All of them.

So the idea of a movie about all the "Bad Guys" was more than intriguing.

Bring in the August release - SUICIDE SQUAD.


Heli Dad and I went to see this movie for our anniversary last month and we loved it. There were a couple bits that elicited a questioning "Huh?" from one or the other of us, or both... cough Will Smith - great guy, we're both just getting tired of seeing him on the big screen in action movies cough. I haven't decided whether I prefer Jared Leto as Joker, over Heath Ledger's version of the villian in 2008's The Dark Knight, but I still enjoyed his take on the character. The music and soundtrack were killer - Tuesdays Tune, HEATHENS was one of the singles from the soundtrack album in fact. And can I say... Harley Quinn - you crazy, psycho loving killer chic, I love you.

But you know, overall it was a pretty kick ass movie. One we will definitely be getting on blu-ray and dvd when it comes out in that format.

So have you seen it? Did you like it, hate it? Are you ambivalent?

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Tuesday's Tunes: HEATHENS

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One of the highlights of this summer was the constant discovery of new music. Some by artists that I’ve known, liked, loathed or ignored in the past, and some that I have never even heard of.  However the last couple weeks of summer inevitably brought out the worst in the Corner Table Kids, so after discovering this song over the summer I decided to make it my theme song of the past week.

Enjoy! 

Heathens - Twenty One Pilots



ps… Did you see Suicide Squad? But more on that later....

Monday, September 5, 2016

Summer Holiday's Are Over


Hey There Everybody!

It’s been a long summer… Okay, truth, some parts of the summer seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye, while other parts did seem to drag on. However, truly accurate descriptions of this summer would be – active, busy, fun.

July passed in a blink and was full to the brim, scratch that – overflowing with family activities, kid activities, friends, trips, and more. August, always an eventful month for the Corner Table Family, was also busy though I’m happy to say we were able to find a couple days here and there when we simply had nothing to do and could kick back and relax. But summer holidays are (as of tomorrow morning) officially over and we’re all going to be back to a regular schedule and able to focus on things, work or otherwise.

Photo Credit: LD Ferris, 2016

There will be a few feature changes on Ups, Downs, Ins & Outs – nothing major; a few simple changes in schedule or additions. Inside My Mind should see more regular postings – I’m hoping to start with weekly and then bump it up to twice weekly in a month or so. On both of these blogs I will also be trying to look for folks interested in doing guest posts.

A Corner Table in My World will also start to see more regular postings. Honestly I’m not sure what the final goal will be there besides simply more. There a lot of things that happen in our daily lives that I could talk and write about but I’ve always shied from simply regurgitating everything I do everyday. So I guess one goal will be to figure that shit out.

So that’s what I wanted to let you know today. If you take nothing else from this post make sure you catch this: Hi everyone, we’re back!!!

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Grand Prize Giveaway WINNER Announcement...

Hey there everybody! As you may be aware, the GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY CONTEST for the Another Year of Books Celebration Event wrapped up a couple days ago. Now it is my happy duty, and my pleasure to announce the winner of the prize bundle is...

Lisa Morgan!

She will be receiving a $50(CAD) Amazon gift card, $10 PayPal Cash, and a paperback copy of NO PERFECT DESTINY by Jackie Weger. 

So here's a great big congratulations to Lisa!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

COVER REVEAL: Viewing Room by LP Dover & Heidi McLaughlin

VIEWING ROOM: A Society X Novel
by L.P. Dover & Heidi McLaughlin
Cover designed by: Regina Wamba at Mae I Design
Release date: September 6, 2016

Viewing Room Rules:

The rules of Society X are simple . . . break them and you're out.


Rule #1 - No names.

It doesn't matter if you want to know, it's forbidden.
 

Rule #2 - No exchanging numbers

It doesn't matter if you want to call, it's forbidden.
 

Rule #3 - Everything is to remain strictly anonymous.

It doesn't matter if you want to tell, it's forbidden.

Whatever your desire.

Whatever your fantasy.

The Viewing Room will make it happen.

For Kennedy Vaughn, it’s an escape.

For Hunter Miles, entering the Viewing Room means he’s been selected.

What you witness in the viewing room will have you asking for more . . .







AUTHOR BIOS:
 
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.

Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can't forget the passion for singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols.

Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over seventeen novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, the Gloves Off series, and her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.

L.P. Dover is represented by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

You can find L.P. Dover here:
www.lpdover.com
Email: authorlpdover@gmail.com
Twitter: @LPDover
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lpdover

--

Heidi is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author.

Originally from Portland, Oregon and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup, and their newest addition of a Highland Westie/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL.

During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she's writing one of the many stories planned for release or sitting courtside during either daughter's basketball games.

Find Heidi here:



Hosted by:

COVER REVEAL: Burned By Fire by Danielle Annett

BURNED BY FIRE
Blood & Magic, Book 3
by Danielle Annett
Publication date: September 2016
Genres: New Adult, Urban Fantasy

Aria's pyrokinetic ability has always been hard to control, and being pulled in so many directions, isn’t making it any easier. Now she has to help Inarus, a foe turned friend who is being targeted by the Human Alliance Corporation—the very organization he once worked for.

But the HAC has more than just Inarus in their sights. Aria finds herself going deep into enemy territory to save a witchling child with never before seen powers, that the HAC has kidnapped to further their own ends.

Aria has been hired to save a child once before, and she failed. That failure has haunted her even to this day and she won’t let herself fail again. With the HAC closing in, and complications between herself and the Pack rising, Aria has no choice but to succeed. A child’s life is on the line and Aria will risk everything to save that life.


BURNED BY FIRE is the third book in the Blood & Magic series. Go back to the beginning and enjoy...


About the Author:
Danielle Annett is a reader, writer, photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood & Magic series.

Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her attention.

You can learn more about Danielle on her website or follow her on Facebook and on Twitter


 
Right now Danielle is having a giveaway to celebrate the BURNED BY FIRE cover reveal. You can enter here.... Good luck!


Hosted by:

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

How About a NEW Giveaway?

As a book blogger I am forever thankful to the authors out there who are happy to donate prizes for me to give away... And of course I'm also thankful to all the folks who read my blog(s) and follow my social media pages, because let's face it - with out you I'd have no one, and no reason, to give stuff away. A little earlier today I was happy to announce the winner for the last FAST giveaway (THE NIGHT by N.R. Larry). Now I'm equally as happy to announce ANOTHER FAST GIVEAWAY!!!

Up for grabs now is WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS by Scott K. Haskin. This book is a bit of a detour for me (as far as the genre is concerned) but if there is one thing I love almost as much as reading and writing, except my kids of course, it's travel. Having been to Las Vegas, and having been one of the multitude of tourists walking aimlessly up and down the strip, very likely gaping in awe at the sights, sounds and people I encountered, I can honestly tell you that WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS is a book that I personally do look forward to reading and looking through.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS
by Scott K. Haskin

Take a walk down the famous Las Vegas Strip, bobbing and weaving through casinos, restaurants and shopping centers. See the sights and, more importantly, hear the sounds. “What Happened in Vegas” takes you on a journey down this world-famous street so you can experience one of the true, yet often overlooked, treasures of this magical town: people watching.

You’ll get a peek at the random, curious statements and questions you may very well hear at any given moment With 450 captured random moments, you are sure to find plenty to make you smile, laugh or just wonder what exactly is going on.

To bring the experience even more to life, over 75 pictures are included that are just as random as the phrases themselves, rounding off this truly unique Las Vegas experience. The only things missing are the smells of alcohol and stale cigarettes…


So... take a minute and enter to win this fascinating book today and you could win!



The Winner of THE NIGHT is....





It is with sincere pleasure that I say congratulations to Janeen Garner - winner of the ecopy of THE NIGHT by N.R. Larry in our recent FAST giveaway. 







 





Our next FAST giveaway will be announced shortly but don't forget that you can STILL ENTER the GRAND PRIZE CONTEST GIVEAWAY too! That contest is open until June 16th. Good luck!


Saturday, June 4, 2016

Your Chance to Win... The New & Updated Contest for THE NIGHT

Continuing the giveaways on the Another Year of Books Celebration Event page seems to be a bust. No ones visiting (officially, according to FB, the event ended on Thursday after all) and at this point I'm not even sure whether the posts I've been putting up are even visible still. So I'm changing things up.

Contests will still be posted on Facebook on my page but they will officially be run here on Ups, Downs, Ins & Outs, and on Inside My Mind. To increase visibility for the contests and hopefully get a few more people interested in winning them, I'll also be sharing the contests on my other social media pages - Tsu, Twitter, G+ and Instagram.

And you can help out too.

If you see one of the contest posts - share it, like it, retweet it, whatever. The truth is I run all these contests to the benefit of readers and to help out my fellow authors to spread the word about their work. I don't get anything in return - except a "thanks" from a friend, and I'm using a large amount of my own time to run them. So really, anything you can do to help spread the word - it helps those authors more than you can know, and that's what it's really all about.

But enough of this chattiness.

Here's the giveaway. Please note that all giveaways will now be run powered by Rafflecopter for ease of sharing and choosing a winner.

THE NIGHT by N.R. Larry

Kinsley will do anything to forget she may have killed someone.

No one knows more than Kinsley Lane that nothing good happens when the dead walk free. A year ago, she was possessed by a ghost and her life forever changed.

Luckily, on this All Hallows’ Eve, the witches of Harker Heights have offered her protection from the dead spirits who will roam free. Mac Harker is appointed her guardian and everything goes smoothly, until a mysterious guy arrives on the grounds. One that only Kinsley can see.
Mac is determined to protect her from Charming, leaving Kinsley torn between wanting his protection and the strong pull to a guy who won’t even tell her his real name. She must make a choice; the one she makes leads to the biggest heartbreak, and greatest love she’s ever known.

All over the course of one night.








Friday, June 3, 2016

The First Weekend FAST Giveaway

The takeovers for the Another Year of Book Celebration Event are finished but we're simply NOT DONE CELEBRATING yet! 

Why? Because I'm just not done giving stuff away!

THE NIGHT by N.R. Larry 

Kinsley will do anything to forget she may have killed someone.



No one knows more than Kinsley Lane that nothing good happens when the dead walk free. A year ago, she was possessed by a ghost and her life forever changed.



Luckily, on this All Hallows’ Eve, the witches of Harker Heights have offered her protection from the dead spirits who will roam free. Mac Harker is appointed her guardian and everything goes smoothly, until a mysterious guy arrives on the grounds. One that only Kinsley can see. 


Mac is determined to protect her from Charming, leaving Kinsley torn between wanting his protection and the strong pull to a guy who won’t even tell her his real name. She must make a choice; the one she makes leads to the biggest heartbreak, and greatest love she’s ever known.



All over the course of one night.

This new release promises to be a wonderful read and it could be yours...

All you have to do is tell me this - and all entries need to be made on the pinned contest post on the event page - what is your favorite supernatural creature?


Is it werewolves? Shape-shifters? Vampires? Gods or Demons? Ghosts, ghouls, goblins? Elves? 

Tell us what your favorite is and you could win! 

This FAST Giveaway Contest is open until 4PM MST on Saturday June 4th - when a winner will be chosen at random from the comments and announced. 

ATTENTION: Due to lack of entries on the FB Event page, this giveaway is being renewed, revamped and restarted. Information will be posted shortly (in a new post) about how to enter. As I still have several books to give away I will be running all the giveaways here on the blog, as well as on Inside My Mind and on my Facebook page. Contest links will also be shared on Tsu, Twitter, G+ and Instagram. Please watch check back for further information and contest details! (updated Saturday June 4th, 3:50PM MST)

And here's a shout out of congratulations to Rebecca Piazza, who won the ecopy of FINDING HOME by Jackie Weger from yesterdays FAST giveaway.

And don't forget that the GRAND PRIZE CONTEST is open until June 16th - but don't wait to enter... Do it now!

So This Happened Yesterday

Yesterday was the final day of Takeovers for the Another Year of Books Celebration Event, we had a guest post on Ups, Downs, Ins & Outs by Ani Gonzalez, and the Tom Fallwell FAST Giveaway of the day was awarded.

I talked about Ani Gonzalez yesterday and gave you all of her stalking info in this post here. And then of course, she came back to do a Guest Blog and delighted all of us with her discussion about the Fox TV show - Lucifer. If you didn't catch that, you can find it here. Needless to say we were happy to have her around and enjoyed hearing from her again.

The daily FAST giveaway contest begun on Wednesday night - the one for the first two books of Author Tom Fallwell's Rangers of Laerean series, was awarded just after 6PM MST last night to Tamara Lawyer... So we extend a very happy congratulations to here and wish her happy reading!



The new FAST giveaway contest was posted and you can get all the information about what to do and what you could win here.

Erotic Romance Author Selena Rivera spent an hour last night and shared a bunch of stuff about her books. Selena is a relatively new author - her debut release came out just last fall. Her second book Unexpected Love came out a couple months ago and from everything I've seen, heard and read, it's a wonderful read.

Selena LOVES Fan Stalkers - So you can start your stalking here...


Before the night wrapped up Tom Fallwell stopped in and spent an hour talking with us about his writing. His books to date have been pretty firmly in the Fantasy genre, but he told us that he's got ideas (and plans) for a sci-fi and for a dective-thriller book in the future. His Rangers of Laerean Series includes A Whisper in the Shadows and Where Shadows Fall (These are the books that we gave away earlier in the evening.) and he's currently working on the 3rd Rangers novel, as well as the Chronicles of Hir - Hir being the world that the Rangers of Laerean Series is set.

You can follow Tom a number of ways...

All in all it was an interesting, entertaining, and illuminating night and I hope that those who were around enjoyed it as much as I did.

Oh... I spent a couple hours asking questions and sharing a bit more about my own writing too - and again, I'll talk more about that on Inside My Mind in a bit.

As always - make sure you enter the GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY for the Another Year of Books Celebration Event - it's the biggest giveaway we've ever held!

Thursday, June 2, 2016

What's The New FAST Giveaway of the Day?

Here it is... 

Today's new FAST Giveaway features Finding Home by Jackie Weger. 


What is the book about? Well --

Twenty-four year old Phoebe Hawley is on a quest to find her family a home. On the road with two siblings, twelve year-old Maydean and five year-old Willie-Boy, Phoebe is out of money, out of gas and out of patience. Now the only things she owns in abundance are Hawley backbone and Hawley pride--neither of which she can trade for food or gas.  A collision with Gage Morgan puts Phoebe's mission in even worse jeopardy--until Phoebe discovers Gage Morgan owns the perfect place for the Hawley clan. But! Gage Morgan has a bruised ego, a tight fist on his land, an iron fist on his heart, and is the unlikeliest man in the universe to succumb to her schemes. Phoebe wields all of the pride, backbone and country smarts she owns to claim his home, plow his land and pilfer his heart. Nothing works. With time running against her family, she plies one last inducement--her scarce feminine wiles...and hopes it will be enough.

Interested in the book? Want to win it? 

As always it's super easy to enter to win. First - visit Jackie's Website and take a look around, then - pop on to the Another Year of Books Celebration Event page and comment on the pinned post with the title of one of Jackie's other books. 

GOOD LUCK!!

Don't want to wait for a win? Buy your copy of Finding Home today.

And of course, you'll want to enter the GRAND PRIZE CONTEST if you haven't already - Jackie has donated a paperback copy of one of her books here too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Still Time to Enter the Tom Fallwell FAST Giveaway

While Author Tom Fallwell will be hanging out with us at 10PM MST for an hour tonight at the Another Year of Books Celebration Event, before he gets there I'm giving away a copy of the first two books in his Rangers of Laerean Series.

It's super simple to enter. On the event page answer the question in this picture... (the contest is pinned at the top of the page until 6PM MST tonight when the winner will be announced!)


Don't miss out on your chance to win these books! Enter now!

And don't forget to enter the GRAND PRIZE CONTEST too... This contest is open until June 16th when a winner will be awarded!

Guest Blogger: Author Ani Gonzalez Talks About A Current TV Fave

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Hi! I’m Ani Gonzalez and I write lighthearted paranormal romance. I love paranormal stories, genre-smashing, and humorous situations so when LD invited me to write a guest post on a television show I knew exactly which show I would pick.




Lucifer.



I didn’t have high hopes for this show. I loved Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, and Lucifer Morningstar was one of the best characters in that series (Death, of course, was the best). Tom Ellis as Lucifer? I wasn’t really convinced. Lucifer in the comics looked more like Alexandr Skarsgard. Plus I didn’t find the concept of Lucifer as a detective particularly compelling. I’m not a big fan of police procedurals.



But I am a big fan of paranormals, particularly the ones with a contemporary feel. So, I tuned in.



And I was hooked. The show is funny and smart. I don’t find the mysteries all that interesting, but that may just be me. Like a said, I’m not a fan of procedurals.



When the series opens we learn that Lucifer has a fast care, a weird way to identify (and satisfy or manipulate) people’s desire, a nightclub (called Lux), and a surly employee (called Maze). Maze, we find out, didn’t leave Hell to become a bartender.



I feel for you, Maze.



Lucifer also has an older, angelic brother called Aminadel, a therapist, a grumpy partnership with a local police detective (Chloe) who he’s weirdly obsessed by, and a huge daddy complex.



As the series progresses, Lucifer tries to help/interferes with the local police, tries to work through his daddy issues, and builds an odd crushing/partnering relationship with Chloe.



Lucifer is snarky and funny with an idiosyncratic view of crime and punishment. The series, however, doesn’t quite figure out what to do with him. It’s not clear whether the humans around him think he’s crazy, eccentric or a real supernatural demon. We never figure out why he left Hell or why he chose Los Angeles as his new abode. It’s all very unsatisfying.



But I still I loved the series. The crimes, frankly, were not that interesting, and I could never figure out why Luci (as he’s called in the show) wanted to be a police detective. The paranormal aspects were intriguing, but were oddly relegated to the sidelines (none of the crimes are supernatural in origin). The worldbuilding, however, was great, the supporting cast was amazing, and the music was fantastic (here’s Tom Ellis singer Sinnerman. I died.).



I was pleased when I found out the show was renewed for a second season. The season finale established some great relationships (particularly between Lucifer and Aminadel and Chloe and Maze) and hinted to a stronger paranormal feel in the second season. I’m looking forward to watching it.



Did you watch the series? Did you like it? Are you sticking around for season two?



If you want to know more of my Lucifer thoughts (I’ve had many) you can check out my Lucifer recaps in my blog. If you like magic and humor you can explore my Banshee Creek series (romance and paranormal hijinks in a crazy haunted town) in my website or sign up for my newsletter and get some free books!



Logo/Picture belongs to Fox Network.

Don't forget that Ani has a couple giveaways still open on the Another Year of Books Celebration Event page... And remember - the event's GRAND PRIZE CONTEST is open until June 16th - enter today!


Day 2 Event Wrap Up

Day 2 Takeovers at the Another Year of Books Celebration Event included a number of things...

We had Paranormal Romance Author Ani Gonzalez with us for an hour and she talked about her Banshee Creek Series. Ani has 2 giveaways that will remain open until Thursday (June 2nd) afternoon and you can still enter to win one of the books that she's giving away! We'll be hearing from Ani again as she'll be posting a guest post on Ups, Downs, Ins and Outs today - I look forward to seeing what she's got in store for us!


You can follow (aka stalk) Ani online here:

We also visited briefly with Nathalie, the PA for Paranormal Romance Author Rebecca Hamilton. Nathalie shared some info regarding Rebecca's Forever Girls Series including the new covers for the books! I've got big plans to go back and (re)read this series, especially the stories I haven't previously read because I remember how much I enjoyed Come the Dark when I read it.


You can follow (okay who are we kidding, I mean STALK) Rebecca here:


A new giveaway was started - this time for a copy of the first 2 books of Author Tom Falwell's Rangers of Laerean Series... Find out how to enter the contest here.

I also spent some time this afternoon talking about my own writing and the book I'm planning on publishing this summer. But I'll be talking more about that on Inside My Mind.

And don't forget that the GRAND PRIZE CONTEST is open until June 16th for entries and continued donations... Have you entered? Don't miss your chance!


Wednesday, June 1, 2016

COVER REVEAL: Darkness Savage by Rachel A. Marks

 Darkness Savage by Rachel A. Marks 
The Dark Cycle #3

Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: October 13th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

The forces of Darkness have only gotten stronger as Aidan struggles to control his newly awakened abilities that seem to be his only hope for fixing the mess he made by waking up his little sister, Ava, who seems to think it’s all a game as she taunts him and begins a torturous game of cat and mouse. And while Rebecca isn’t sure where she fits in the fight, one thing she does know is that something has gone very wrong inside her. And uncovering what it is could upend any hope Aidan has to save the lives of everyone he’s grown to love.

Everything he’s built, everything he’s fought for until now, hangs in the balance—as well as the fate of the world. Now Aidan and the Lights he’s brought together must take their true place to fight the forces rising from the shadows at a startling rate, forces trying to tear them apart. But when Aidan can’t save the one thing he needs the most, he begins to wonder if he’ll have anything true left to hold on to in the end.


 





AUTHOR BIO:
Rachel A. Marks is an award-winning author and professional artist, a SoCal girl, cancer survivor, a surfer and dirt-bike rider, chocolate lover and keeper of faerie secrets. She was voted: Most Likely to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, but hopes she'll never have to test the theory. Her debut series The Dark Cycle, described as Dickens' Oliver Twist meets TV's Supernatural, is now out through Skyscape, beginning with DARKNESS BRUTAL.

Author links:

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

You Could Win... The Deepest Black by Rainy Kaye

Recently released THE DEEPEST BLACK by Rainy Kaye is up for grabs tonight at the Another Year of Books Celebration Event on Facebook.


THE DEEPEST BLACK by Rainy Kaye

Ember has a little problem...fairies want her dead.
Ember spends her Friday nights lurking in the bad parts of town, killing fairies. It’s either that, or become a victim to their flesh-eating hunger.

Then she meets Remy, a fae who, despite getting on her nerves, isn’t evil. He tells her that a shadow has been consuming his world, changing its inhabitants and letting destructive beasts into his city. He is searching for his brother who went missing during the catastrophe.

When a team of mercenaries come for Ember, she has little choice but to join Remy in his quest. Together, they decide to bait a trap. What they find reveals the destruction of the fae world means the end of the human world, too–and it’s Ember’s fault.



You can get your copy of THE DEEPEST BLACK today here... Or try your luck and try to win a copy - it's easy to enter. Find out how on the event page tonight! (This prize will be awarded at 11AM MST on Wednesday June 1st!)



And a BIG CONGRATULATIONS goes to the winner of this book - Sandra Bunning!