Darker Than Ink...

So I did at one point say that I was going to update and tell you all a little bit about the NaNoWriMo that I did this year. I used the Arcanum Universe again just like last year, only this time, instead of writing about Gotterdamerung, this year I wrote about the Black Tattoo also known as "The Scythe". Here is a preview of the story of "Darker Than Ink":

Darker than Ink

Prolouge

Chester's day was not going well. He had lost the small amount of change he was going to use for the soda machine and now he was down on carbonated caffeine high that he was due at this time of night. Working the overnight shift was always hard on him, but he looked forward to getting the secondary boost of energy that was due to him about this time of night. He stuffed a hand into his pocket and then pulled out a single wrinkled dollar. Just his luck, no change and a crumpled dollar and here at the Lab, he had the one machine that only took change.

Chester looked at the watch on his wrist. It was two in the morning. He really needed a soda. He thought about it and then he realized that there was another soda machine, but it was all the way across the campus, so there was no way that he was going all the way there. He stopped and thought about it for a moment and then he remembered that there was another machine only another building away. He smiled to himself when he remembered that the machine there took dollar bills.

He happily smiled at himself and then began to walk towards the second building. He walked down the hallway and then made his way to the door. He checked the hallway behind him and saw no one and then opened the door. He double checked it to make sure that it wouldn't lock when he closed it behind him and then opened the door and then walked towards the next building.

The air outside was brisk and the wind was blowing. Chester was more than sure that it was below freezing outside. The air was so cold that even his shirt seemed to hurt and the hair on the back of his neck stood up on end. The sky was partially cloudy and the moon was fairly non-descript. It was a normal night and Chester was more than willing to let it go. He continued to walk towards the other building when he thought for a moment that the sky darkened. He looked up and noticed that the clouds in the sky were moving really fast.

He made it to the next side of the small commons area and then reached the door. he tried to open the door and then realized that the door was locked. He jerked at the door handle a couple of times and then cursed. He remembered that at this time, they tended to lock the other halls even if the Labs were kept open twenty four hours a day.

He frowned and then turned around and was about to make his way across the commons again back to the lab when he once again thought he saw the shadow across the sky. When he looked up however, he saw that there were no other clouds in the sky close enough to the moon to cover it. He looked around to see if he could see the shadow. Over the sky, there was another showed in the sky. After that it vanished and then another dark shape crossed across the sky. At that, Chester bolted for the Lab buildings. As he ran, he could hear his heart beat in his chest, thumping like a sledgehammer.

He slammed into the lab building and tried to open the door. The door however remained locked. Chester cursed and then slammed his fist against the door. He jerked on the handle again and the door remained stuck. He cursed and then fumbled in his pockets. Looking at the door he saw that the security lock was on. He continued to fumble with his pockets and then realized that he had left his security badge on the table next to the computer. He kicked the door in frustration.

Chester heard another sound and then he heard a sound behind him and then he turned. He looked around and saw a dark shape loom up in front of him. He was about to say something and then the shape leaned in on him. There was a split second before Billy saw nothing but black.

December is here?

Is it December already? I am terribly sorry. I got a little lost after NaNoWriMo, I'll be honest. I was lost in the rewrites that were a part of my Latest NaNoWriMo novel "Darker than Ink". December is usually a month where after I have hankered down in November to type over 50k words, I now try to revise it, add to it and make sure it all makes sense. I call it revisional December. However, the other thing that happens in December is the cool and yet delusional part of the year where all is covered in snow, and sugar plums and Shoping, Shoping, Shoping! I have to shop to death.

No really, what I really wanted to say was that I am supposed to write a smal parable of teh season. This years is going to be a satire on cookie baking. I will post it sometime around Sunday night or Monday. I'm sorry that this post is so short at teh moment, but I am secretly at work.

Cookies will be known as god, and women wil aplaud what I shall be naming this year's Christmas Satire as "Baking Wars"... look forward to it.

A Glorious Response!

Indeed! I am alive! I wish to tell you all a belated Halloween! Yes, I did in fact miss Halloween, but that was due to a wonderful trick-or-treating experience, which included a party! Also, I was on my iPad getting ready for the grand starting of National November Writer's Month (Also known as NaNoWriMo - go the the website to read more on it).

Now for the rest of the month, I will admit that updates will be a little spotty. I will however, occasionally update on the story that I am writing for NaNo this year and give you some peaks at the story. For starters, the new story will take place in the "Artifacts Universe". This is where the story of "Gotterdammerung" took place as well as the current stories of "Amaretto", "Tenth Musae", and "Reliquary" have also taken place. This one, called "Darker than Ink" will be about Artifact that is known as the Black Tattoo. Of course, it's wilder will be the main focal point of the story, but at the same time, I am toying with a character who is not in anyway related to them and therefore will be looking at the Artifact through different eyes.

Yes, that does mean that I am typing two stories at the same time from different viewpoints this first week to see where it goes, but that's neither here nor there. I'm still not even sure what I will be naming some of the characters! After all of that, I still have some things that need to be dealt with, and sadly, the tale of Amaretto will have to be placed on hold this month.

The next thing is the Pernishia Blog. As this is a detailing of what happens in between the "geek sessions" that we call gaming, they will still continue to be updated, if only because of the fact that I try to update it whenever we have a game. The other thing to take into account is that some of it will be changing. The old blog was accidentally deleted, so I am in the process of rewriting everything that was on it. That was a lot of entries, and it only contained about three months of what was going on in the world. The adventurers are already on their 8th month of a twelve month year. It could very well be a disaster in trying to catch up, but I am sure I can do it.

Well, good luck to me and I will try to drop some of the story when it comes to the halfway point in week two... which started today! So I am off to go type up a storm then. Ciao!

Electric Literature and You

So, I have to ask, how many of you actually have used a ePub reader? How many of you own a kindle, a kobo, a nook, or even an iPad? Those of you who do, how many of you love your eReading experience? Is it better? I'm sure that many of you have considered getting one or another eReaders, and may have even toyed with teh idea. I am also sure that many of you have more than likely shunned the idea all together; the feel of books is what you need to survive. I'm not here to discuss the pros and cons of reading on an eReader though.

Let's talk about somethign else all together. Let's talk about ePublication,and lets talk about it on a scale of refering to an iPad actually. I just came across an article about a published author whose works are avaliable as an eBook, but has also made an app for his book. This is not a way to get around having to buy his book, but instead as a way for people who are fans of his to have a different experience when reading his book. The article is here.

IT's almost as if there is now going to be a new way for books to be published besides the three formats that most people know (namely hardback, paperback, and eBook) It even goes into the company (Electric Publishing) and the services that they offer for making avaliable single to whole libaries of books avaliable in this new app format. Check it out. It's actually an interesting way to self publish.

The Guinness World Record Holder...

This is HUGE.

I don't think that anyone should ever look at something that is so large. I mean, this thing is huge! It is so large it made even my jaw drop and I have seen some pretty big tools in my day. Whose tool is it might you ask? It is none other that the Wenger's Swiss Army Giant as seen here:

Swiss Army Giant

This knife has over 87 implements. It performs "an astonishing 141 different functions" according to the website. One must think that this thing is a monster and wighing in at a little ounder 3 poound, it is an amusing gift for all. That is, if you want to spend over aa thousand dollars (The price on the site is $999, estimated retail is $1,400).

Need a laser pointer? It's got one, need a Nail file? There's two. Say you need to open a can, it has a can opener and just in case you need to cut down some wood for the fire, it also has a minature wood saw as well. Among tools you wouldn't normally see on a swiss army production is a cigar cutter, the shoe spike wrench and my favorite one to say: the Golf Club Groove Cleaner.

This knife, expensive as it is, is also the Guiness World record holder for the "most multifunctional penknife" in the world. If you don't know what to get for yourself or for someone else, then this here is the perfect gift.

A Plethora of Blogs....

So I know that there was a long time there where this blog was not updated at all. Even still, when I did start updating, there were two other blogs that were added to it, one for the Grains of Amaretto's Tale, and yet another one for something called "The World of Pernishia". Perhaps some explanation is called for. The reason for the blogs is because of financial difficulties, I had to get rid of the Archivus Hub. Till I get somethings in order again, I am going to add some blogs there. So here is the explanation:

The blog that is called "Hourglass Grains" is going to be exclusively for the "Grains" or parts of Amaretto's Tale, an ongoing experimental storyline. I will soon be adding some pieces to it besides writing. This includes multimedia of all sorts like pictures, audio, perhaps if I get the chance to learn Flash, maybe I'll make some mini movies, and actually, I was talking randomly with a friend and they suggested a full feature movie (like meaning 5 - 7 minutes). I told her I would think on it, but it would require some massive work to do.

The second blog which is attached to this one is called "The World of Pernishia". I was originally just typing stuff up on there which was a secondary addition to the geek fest that I have at my friend's house on fridays: D&D. That's right, I am an original geek. While I have players and other such (since I am the DM), I decided that the world around them still turned. So I wondered what it would be like to hear about the adventurer's from the rest of the worlds point of view. Sadly, the original blog was deleted. So I am going to have to start again. This means trying to remember what happened, and a little bit of recreation. Some of the stories might be a little different, but it will just have to work. You don't necessarily have to read it, but if you do, then realize that there won't seem to be much cohesion, and that the characters won't necessarily explain themselves all the time.

A while ago, there was a suggestion for "Have Spells, Will Travel" to become a blog on it's own. Sadly, it will have to be put on the back burner for the moment. The spell pistols are not necessarily from the "Artefact" Universe, and with NaNoWriMo coming up, I find that I would like to continue to story of the other Artifacts, especially that of the Genesis Glass'. Even still, the parts of these stories, for NaNoWriMo two years ago, I wrote about the ring. This year I would like to write about the Black Tattoo. Hopefully, it will work out alright.

There might be a small section devoted to the other glasses, referring to the stories "Tenth Musae" and "Reliquary". Though I might make a word press to work on that.

I'll give you all some more information later. In the meantime, keep watching out for these two specific blogs updates!
Thanks a lot.

A Literary Book Snub?

So once again, I am late with the news. I swear, sometimes I am not as tapped in as I normally am. On the 14th of October, the Associated Press wrote an article about the face that Johnathan Franzen's novel did not get added to the National Book Awards finalists. The article is here.

Nine years ago, Franzen was awarded for his novel "The Corrections", however, this book, "Freedom", which was considered one of the most anticipated books of the year was not even considered. The book was so lauded it was picked up by Oprah's book club, and as everyone knows, anytime Oprah picks a book, it becomes Literary Gold. Because of this, the Award Comittee is being questioned as to what makes a great book, along with other authors who were also "snubbed".

Anyones guess is what will happen next. Either way, I can't wait till November when they tell us who wins.

National Book Awards

So I know I am a few days late, but, the National Book award finalists were announced in Savanah, GA on the 14th. Two of the finalists were L.A. Times staff members recieved a nod for their nonfiction works as well. The link is here.

Check it out.

A Middle Earth Revival... Finally

So it looks like it has finally happened. We have confirmed that Peter Jackson is back once more and on top of that, it is with something we have all been waiting for: The Hobbit.

The actual link is here. I think you should take a look at it. It's got a lot of info. Though one thing I don't understand is why on earth are we making two movies aabout something that we made a single two and a half hour cartoon about? Oh well, who am I to complain. The first of the two films is suposed to hit theaters sometime in late 2012. Do you think you can wait that long?

I seriously think that I cannot.

About Peter Pan...

So I just discovered this interesting tidbit on the web. Go check out what happens to a first copy and why antique books are so powerful.

Auction of a First Copy

I think it's cool.

Nude writings...

Sometimes, I should just not click the link... Though if I did that, then there would never be anything fun to know about the writing world. You will never look at Hemingway the same ever again.

Next Fridays Fun...

So one of my co-workers mentioned this.

Handmade Tattoos in Manassas, Virginia is offering $13 tattoos for today, Friday the 13th. They are located at 12204 Dumfries Road, Manassas, VA 20112. They open at noon and Kenny, James, and Matt will be tattooing all day.

$13 for the tattoo with a $7 good luck tip for a grand total of $20.

Sounds like a great deal. I'll re-post it again just to remind everyone. She says you should totally get one cause she has already gotten one.

"The State" of Music

So I am currently at the State Theater at this moment. I have come here to see an excilent band called "Dreamscapes". The reason that I am here is because of a fantastic thing called the Dreamscapes Project. This fantastic undertaking is an idea that takes songs that they have created and passes them to other local artists and allows them to create works of art, visual, writen, spoken, photographed, and others, and is a representation of what they are doing.

Now a few months back, I wrote a short vinegette on one of their songs called "Titanic". I will post it later on, but it wad a fantastic success to me personally and of course because I liked their music. I got to know the ban and on top of that I also found a bran of music (folk-rock) that turned out to be fantastic.

Yes I know it seems like a shameless plug that I am typing here, and I will admit that it is.

So here I sit listening to the opening bands and I have to say they are also really nice as well, though I digress. What I really wanted to talk about was the change in the theater itself too.

What once was an actual one screen movie theater is now a band venue with really good sound accoustics. I am currently listening to a band called Fools & Horses, which are amazing at this moment and make me want to buy their CD, and my friend next to me tells me that the State also has a drop down porjection screen for movie night! This means that I will have to come on one of those nights.

Well, Drescapes is about to come on, so I am headed off for the night. A dun night to you all!

Crowdfunding for Fun and Profit?

I know I don't normally post on the weekends, but I was on the internet and I couldn't help it. So I thought that this was an interesting article... read on.

"Crowdfunding"

You know, I too would like to do this. Pay me to write a book, that would be awesome! Oh wait, isn't that what everyone wants?

Marla Mason is breaking some Mirrors...

So I just discovered that one of my current obsessive favorite authors is writing a fifth installment to his series of wise-cracking, sarcastic, ass-kicking sorcerer who is almost always absolutely certain she’s right… even when she’s dead wrong.

I love Marla. She is like my awesome hero. However, in 2008 the whole book publishing world was in an upheaval. Bantam, which was TA Pratt's publisher, wound up having to restructure. Pratt's editor was laid off and on top of that the series was also cut. So what did Pratt do? He started a serialization online. I love it. You all should totally go over to his site and read his new novelization called "Broken Mirrors".

Alright. Have fun!

July 4th!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Diana Wynne Jones Health Update

Diana Wynne Jones has chosen to discontinue chemotherapy. Jones first developed cancer seven years ago, and while that tumor and others were successfully treated, she has developed secondary cancers which have not responded to the chemotherapy.

For the woman who gave us Howl's Moving CAstle, and The Chronicles of Crestomanci, I give all my best wishes and also give my hope. For a little more information, I have this link from the Mailing list that I found on Locus.com

Diana's Medical Update

Here is to hoping that she outlives us all and continues to give us stories that we love.

Bitting the Bullet

So I have just finished the latest installment of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels. I have to say though, it picked up running where the last one left off and was much better as well.

Now I know that is cheating a little, considering that the last novel was more of a novella much like "Micah". That is not to say that it was not an enjoyable book, just that when it hot the shelves, I was expecting more from it. "Bullet" picks up where "Skin Trade" left off. This book starts off with Anita and friend in a school function for a four year old. This is not the place where you would asume things to begin, but it most certainly does. from there it continues on in typical fashion of an Anita Blake novel. There is sex, there is a bunch of violence, and what passes for paranormal politics. I don't mind them at all, but they do tend to die down after a while and get a little annoying as the rules for them seem to change every time there is a new book. Of course, there is always the "Big Bad Evil". This time around, I was not impressed with the "evil" as it was. I mean, I understand that by the time you have done ten books, there is only something you can do. However, even if you are making an amazing series that everyone seems to love, I still expect you to be able to put together a good story line that does not seem convoluted. In this case, it could have been better. Needless to say, this was still a very good book.

Book App

This app people might like to use.

BookLover iPhone App

The Circle Comes to an End

Sometimes, when it comes to the world of authors, some people have it and some people don't. In the case of Stephanie Meyer, she had finally brought the Twilight saga to an end with "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner". This Novella brings a lot of closure apparently. To read more about the story click the Link:


"Twilight", a bleeding success for author and publisher

Tell me what you think on this. Will this be a satisfying conclusion to the Twilight Series or not?

Books and Electronics

The book world has a few concerns, and e-readers are taking the market fast. I found this article and thought that you all might like it.

Changes in the Book World

White Cat

So i started to read holly Black's new novel, White Cat. In case you are wondering, she is indeed the same person who came up with the popular novels of "the Spiderwick Chronicles". This one, part of the "Cuseworkers" Series is actually pretty good. Magic is possible, but not necessarily legal.

Cassel is the misfit in a family full of workers and con artists: since he wasn't born a worker, he has made up for his lack of gifts by perfecting the art of the con. With Cassel's mother in jail for working a man as a part of a con, and his boarding school kicking him out over an episode of sleepwalking, Cassel is left to the unstable care of his two brothers Phillip and Barron, and their grandfather. Haunted by his past, he works on conning his way back into school, uncovering some evidence that he himself is being worked--but by who? And can he save his family in the process of saving himself?

This was one of the best YA fantasy reads I've read in a while. I love the world that Black has created in this first installment of the series. Cassel is a great character whom the reader is going to love. Plus, his conniving family has enough interpersonal problems to keep things interesting as he tries to get to the bottom of the appearance of a mysterious white cat. The ending was a nice twist that left the reader pleasantly hanging for the second installment--while most of the questions have been answered, we know there's still more to the story! I'm looking forward to Book 2, and I hope we get to read more about Cassel and his family in the next one.

A Little Rumi

We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. I want to hold you close like a lute, so that we can cry out with loving. Would you rather throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror and here are the stones.

Tuesday review: White Cat

So I just finished a book called White Cat by holly Black, who we all know from "The Spiderwick Chronicles" fame. Anyways, Cassel is the misfit in a family full of workers and con artists: since he wasn't born a worker, he has made up for his lack of gifts by perfecting the art of the con. With Cassel's mother in jail for working a man as a part of a con, and his boarding school kicking him out over an episode of sleepwalking, Cassel is left to the unstable care of his two brothers Phillip and Barron, and their grandfather.

Now just to let you know about "Curse workers", they can change luck, emotions, dreams and even more just by touching your skin. This makes it easy to con people, the reason for the conning of people is because curse work is illegal. Therefore, they all tend to join mafia families. I digress here though as to what I was hoping to say. The book has distopian mores in it, the enemy here ultimately being a destructive, and obviously adult, power structure within a society that mandates an entire group of people inferior because they are tainted by innate qualities they never chose to have

Almost everyone who reads this book, will find something to equate to Cassel's own problems as he struggles with the problems he has through the book being the only person in a family of Curse Workers who is not able to work one.

I am sure that anyone , young and old will be able to enjoy this book.

A Day...

Happy Mother's day to everyone out there. I don't normaly blog on the weekends, but I figure today is special.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Tuesday Anarchy.

So today is Tuesday. That means that new books have come out today! YAY!

Today, I can say that the books that were coming out were a little expected. The New Sookie Stackhouse book is out today. "Dead in the Family" is the Tenth book in the famous series that has spawned not only a large following but a beautiful HBO television show that I have to say that I enjoy watching. I must also say that Season Three better be good. I starts on June 13th. Can't wait! I'm gonna get the book tomorrow and then tell you about it.

Sorry to make t so short today, I shall probably go home and add on tomorrow.

Thursday Ramble

A bit of the randmness yet again. I have nothing really to say today, but I sure love this idea.

Read while you Walk... no matter what the book

If I did this, I don't think I would ever look where I was going ever again. Though the clunking of the whole thing might annoy me after a while.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Spectacular Tuesdays!!

All right, so I got myself a copy of a book because it had a pretty cover. I will admit that I am totally a sucker for that kind if thing. often times I don't even know what the book is about until I get home. Such was the case with this book called "Incarceron". Silly silly me, I didn't realize that the book was a young adult book.

That however, did not matter as I could not put it down. Let me give you the premise really quickly. Incarceron is the name of a prison, in which many people struggle to survive. The vast prison, made of metal and cutting-edge technology, had a secret however and a fabulous secret at that. It was designed as a grand experiment: all undesirables would be sealed inside and given everything for a model utopia. But the experiment failed as Incarceron grew self-aware and tyrannical, resources dwindled, and prisoners divided into factions.

Centuries passed and soon the prisoners existed under Incarceron’s watchful eyes with a single belief to hold onto: no one from Outside enters, no one from Inside escapes. Finn, a young boy from the Inside, believes he is really from Outside, and after he finds a crystal key that is able to open any door, he embarks on a journey to escape. Outside of Incarceron, Claudia, who is the daughter of Incarceron's Warden, is also looking for escape, from an arranged marriage and from her role in a scheme to end Protocol, an archaic set of laws which forces everyone to live according to seventeenth-century norms, even if they are more advanced. When she also finds a crystal key, she comes into communication with Finn.

It is here that i will end with the synopsis. I don't want to spoil the fun of this book, but it is a fantastic read. I'll be honest, I picked it up because i thought that it had a pretty cover. Instead I discovered the vast world that was within the book. It was a little slow in the beginning, but then, the prison is a perpetual threat and actually becomes a character in the storyline between Finn and Claudia. Even though both of them are trapped in their own perspective prisons of life, Incarceron itself becomes a character whose own problems become the other character's problems as well.

When I got to the end of the book, I was shocked by the ending. I also realized that the story had been left open and it was in fact preparing for a sequel. Imagine my happiness when I discovered (much to my happiness, that there was in fact a second book in the works! This here is the book that I am speaking of.

I talk too much. Check it out.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Just doing some testing

So I discovered that there is apparently a new Jump break and I've have been sitting here doing antiquated stuff. Just testing the break feature:


Is it working?

I'm trying again... Seriously?

So i think this is working just fine, I figured out how to do the whole read more and everything. Iwill start teh new plans on Monday! Yay!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Thursday Randomness

So sometimes, you come across stories and there is just amazement when you read it. this one is really amazing. I think that any kid who writes a short story and then uses it in the manner that he does.

9 Year old Pays for own Heart Transplant

I still think it is amazing.

New Schedual

So now we have a new schedual. The schedual is as follows:

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays there will be an update for the adventures of Amaretto. Those will be updated on the appropriate blog, linkage on the left.

Tuesday is when all new books come out. By this time, I like to do a book review on a book I have just finished. Tuesday is book review day.

Thursday is going to be my Wild Card day. I'll probobly ramble on Thursday and talk about whatever. Really it will depend on my mood.

Friday is a little of a grab bag day. I will add random stuff here and there as well writing in the Hourglass blog.

Other than that, I have nothig more. In the meantime, I must get to work now. I shall tap in later then.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

A Little bit of Madness...

So I have to admit, that sometimes I am a complete geek. Today is one of those days were I must say that the geekdom of my life took over and I laughed really hard.

As you all know, I am a geek of epic proportions and occasionally like to indulge in a little D&D. , also known as Dungeons and Dragons. A friend sent me a great link that I am leaving here. Here is the link:

The 8 Most common ways to Die...

I hope that all of you enjoy this little bit of funny!

I am also going to institute a new schedual that I need to adhear to and will tell you more about within the next two days. In the meantime, please make sure to also check out the other blog that I have. The grains are updated as quick as Amaretto gets me the logs.

Twelve Days...

So the Twelve Days project kicked off at the begoning of this year in an effort to showcase local artists and some really awesome music. Yours truly, and I hate to say this, barely made the deadline and was featured in this months part of the project. The song I'd called "Titanic" and the story was called "Titanic Symphony". You all may recall two characters I am fond of, Brisban and Tallia. This of course was before the events that took place in the short "Weapon's Voice". Yes, they are his parents. The short is told from Tallia's point of view and reveals what happened to Brisban's first love.

The link is as follows:

Twelve Days Project

Hope you all like it.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

More changes...

So I finally changed the background of the blog. I like the parchment feel rather than that garish green that I was using. I also finally got the bookcase up and going. It will have the books hta tI talk about in the blog on it as well as links through Amazon to make them work. I also added in some links some of the blogs that I occasionally like to visit. All of them are listed down the left side, the Purchase list having the same books that are on the Bookcase.

Hopefully, the new changes are going to be remaining for a while. Tell me if you all like them.

Changes to the blog...

So there are a going to be a few changes to the Authorblog. I have a few additions. I am trying to get the Shelfari Widget to work, but it seems to hate me. I have a few links on the side, which are some of the blogs and places that I visit for occasional laughs and other such rot.

Book Review: Black Magic Santion

Once again, our beloved Rachel has gotten herself into even more trouble in this latest installment of the Hollows series. I'm loving it. This time around, it's the coven of Moral and Ethical standards that she has to deal with. Not to mention that she still has to deal with Pierce, the black-magic toting ghost in a dead man's body. The familiars are also there as well, Ivy, Jenks, Nick. Yes, I said Nick, the slimy git-thief who sold Rachel's secrets to demons.

The whole story revolves around the fact that Rachel has been shunned by her own kind, the witches, for being able to kindle demon magic. Since this in itself is demonic it is considered bad. Oh and there is also the added because any children she has will be demons. this of course leads to everybody wanting to control her. This all-star line up includes Trent, the coven, Big Al, and even Pierce. Trent is angry because he's her nominal familiar and says that if she owns him in the ever after, he wants to own her in reality. The coven wants to either lobotomize and sterilize or lock Rachel away in Alcatraz Prison because she's a black magic practitioner.

All right, now for he fun stuff. I have to say, there is only a little but about this book that makes me a little testy. While reading this book, yes, i did think that it was wonderful, but there was something that I could not put my finger on. It might be that I have a bad feeling about Al in the future. He's hysterical and so good at being evil, so good that you love him for it. He wants Rachel in the Ever After, and he definitely wants her all to himself. The only other thing that I can say is that I feel a little off put in this book for Ivy and Jenks. Two characters who were Rachel's best friends, seemed to be used as stock characters in this novel. I just don't hear enough of them until almost halfway through the novel, and even then, Jenks appears to be more of a prop than the character he was fleshed out to be in "A Fistful of Charms".

If you need a reason to enjoy this book, you don't really need one. If you have read the others, this is an enjoyable addition to the series. If you have not then I suggest you start.

Check it out: Black Magic Sanction

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Shelfari

So I have discovered something new online that I will be posting into my blog to help keep up with everything. It is called "Shelfari". Some of you may already know about this aplication and if so, then you know why I laud it. This program allows for you to not only keep track of your books, it also allows for a small list of books that I am reading and a wish list of books to read. I also found a small widget that alows me to place the miniature bookshelf on my blog. I am going to play around with it later tonight.

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