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Prince of Shadows: not your mom’s Romeo and Juliet!

Rachel Caine has written several popular urban fantasy series (the Weather Warden, Outcast Season, Red Letter Days, Revivalist), as well as young adult (the Morganville Vampires).  Ms Caine lives in Fort Worth, TX, and will be attending the DFW Writer’s Conference on May 3rd and 4th.  Her newest novel is Prince of Shadows:  A Novel of Romeo and Juliet.

The Capulets and Montagues live for one reason:  power.  They don’t care how they get it or who they have to kill.  Their children aren’t people, they’re pawns in a game of chess to be used to cement alliances and show prestige.  What they want doesn’t matter.  Only the family matters.

Benvolio Montague knows how little value his family—especially his domineering grandmother—places on him.  His job is to protect the family’s honor, do as he’s told, and keep his cousin Romeo safe.  During the day, Benvolio follows the rules.  But at night, he roams Verona as the Prince of Shadows, stealing from his enemies and doing as he pleases, sometimes with his friend Mercutio at his side.  But one night, the Prince of Shadows encounters Rosaline Capulet, destined for a convent, and everything changes.  Rosaline isn’t like anyone Benvolio has ever met, and he and the girl who wants more than her family has given her forge a connection.

Mercutio hides a dark secret as well, a secret that will forever haunt both families.  Benvolio’s job is to keep Romeo—the family heir—safe, and prevent him from doing anything foolish.  Safety is one thing.  But when Romeo’s rash actions embroil the Montagues in a bitter clash with the Capulets, only the Prince of Shadows can keep tragedy from destroying both families.

Prince of Shadows follows Shakespeare’s storyline, but focuses on Benvolio, Mercutio, and Rosaline.  The ill-fated Romeo and Juliet are minor characters at best.  Ms Caine brings fair Verona to life, and the lives of the Montagues and Capulets as well.  She uses Shakespeare’s famous lines, interspersed with more natural dialogue, to incorporate the play into her storyline.  Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, but Prince of Shadows explores the behind-the-scenes action, delving into the secrets in the shadows, and exploring the darkness there.  This is not your mother’s Romeo and Juliet!

I’m Listening to “I Look So Good (Without You)” by Jessie James (on Cowgirl Kiss-offs) http://songza.com/listen/cowgirl-kiss-offs-songza via @Songza Android app

Happy New Year!

I did start writing the new story. Not much, only 1,000 words, but it’s a start. I’ll do some more work on it today, whether planning or actual writing, I’m not sure which. Since I intend to spend this New Year’s Day doing things that I plan to continue doing throughout the year, writing is a must.

Normally, I would have a whole list of “goals” for the new year (I don’t call them “resolutions” anymore). This year, not so much. Last year was too overwhelming, too awful, just too much. So I only have two goals this year. 1) Have a better year than last year. 2) Keep writing.

HNY

Some things I’ve needed to hear lately

“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”
–Charles R. Swindoll

“An obstacle is often a stepping stone.”
–Prescott

“There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.”
–David Burns

“The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.”
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
–Aristotle

“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”
–Benjamin Franklin

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
–Helen Keller

“Storms make oaks take roots.”
–George Herbert

“That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
–Denis Waitley

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
–Steve Jobs

“You will not let this break you.”
–Me

True of Blood, by Bonnie Lamer

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True of Blood is the first in the Witch Fairy series by Bonnie Lamer.  This series, available only in eBook format, combines witches, fairies, and ghosts in an intriguing contemporary young adult fantasy world. 

Xandra Smith has gotten used to living a weird life.  Home is a remote, snowbound mountain, and she and her little brother, Zac are homeschooled and have no friends.  Not to mention her parents are ghosts….killed three years before in a car crash.  Now their scientist aunt takes care of them so people don’t ask questions about their unique family life.

Things get even weirder on Xandra’s 17th birthday, when she finds out that her mother was a powerful witch who fell in love with the King of the Fae and got pregnant.  The child was prophesied to open the Fae realm, bringing death and destruction to the human world.  In an effort to save to the life of her unborn child, Xandra’s mother renounced her magical heritage and fled.

Now, with Xandra’s powers unbound, the Fae have tracked her down, aiming to deliver her to her evil father, who wants to use her dying blood to complete the prophecy.  But not all of the Fae want the prophecy fulfilled.  Kallen, a true-blood fairy, agrees to protect her and teach her how to use her magic.  However, Xandra’s Witch Fairy powers are greater than anyone suspected, and learning to control them proves a dangerous and difficult task.  Now Xandra must fight not only the evil Fae who want her dead, but also her own untamed magic to save her family and her world from those who would see it in ruins.

 True of Blood is a well-written, engaging read that combines witches, fairies, and ghosts together in a unique way.  Xandra is a typical, if somewhat unconventionally raised, teenager, and her interactions with her family and with Kallen are believable and enjoyable.  The bickering between her and Kallen is amusing, and the growing feelings between them subtle and well done.  True of Blood is a good beginning to what promises to be an enjoyable series.

The Summer My Life Began, by Shannon Greenland

The Summer My Life Began

The Summer My Life Began is Shannon Greenland’s newest novel, set to release on May 10th. With summer vacation just around the corner, this novel would make an excellent beach read, or if vacation is beyond your reach, a great way to pretend you’re on vacation.

Elizabeth Margaret has always done what’s expected of her. Straight A’s. Admittance into Harvard. A planned career as a lawyer. But when she graduates high school and discovers an aunt she never knew about, her life takes an unexpected turn. Soon she’s left her younger sister and her stuffy, controlling family behind for a month on an island with her free-spirit aunt.

Free to do what she likes for the first time in her life, Em indulges her love of cooking as she grows to love her aunt and island life. Then there’s Cade, whose easy-going surfer attitude compels her. She feels more at home than she ever did with her family, and starts re-thinking her options for the future. But her newfound happiness is rocked by her discovery of family secrets she never suspected, and she has to decide who she wants to be: Elizabeth Margaret with her safe, planned life; or Em, risking it all to follow a dream.

Em is a great character, full of confliction over what is expected of her, and what she wants. Her love for her family motivates her to do things she doesn’t like, but she’s aching to push the boundaries of her life and find out more about herself. Her aunt’s breezy take on life shines through on the page, and Cade’s laid-back mode of living brings island life to shining, shimmering life in The Summer My Life Began.

The Sausage Maker’s Daughter, by Ags Johnson

The Sausage Maker's Daughter (BiblioFile Press)

The Sausage Maker’s Daughter is the debut novel by Ags Johnson, a woman who grew up surrounded by other women, and this familiarity is evidenced by the complicated tangle of relationships that fill the pages of The Sausage Maker’s Daughter. If anyone ever wondered what it would be like to grow up with sisters, this novel might make them re-think any desire they ever had to be part of such a family.

Part journey-to-the-past and part soap opera, The Sausage Maker’s Daughter tells the tale of Kip Czermanski, accused of murdering her brother-in-law…who just so happens to be her ex-lover. Set in the 1970s, the novel flashes back to Kip’s rebellious childhood in her tiny Wisconsin hometown, a childhood which always had her at odds with her beautiful, blonde, perfect older sisters. It also recounts her wilder college days as a member of the Counter Culture movement, protesting everything from war to women’s rights.

Her troubled history now comes back to haunt her as she finds herself accused of murdering the first man she ever loved: her former professor turned brother-in-low, who ended up naked—and dead—under circumstances Kip cannot quite recall. Her widowed sister, Sybel, who has always hated Kip, does nothing to help the case, concerned as she always has been of maintaining the family’s prominent image.

The Sausage Maker’s Daughter flows seamlessly between the present—Kip’s trial for murder—and the past, bringing to life Kip’s childhood, and making the reader understand her overwhelming desire to cut all ties with her family. The sisters’ relationships are vivid and complex, tangled with truths and old animosities. The trial itself is full of painful memories as well as a surprising twist that leaves everyone—Kip included—reeling.

A Perfect Blood, by Kim Harrison

A Perfect Blood, by Kim Harrison, hit shelves a few weeks ago.  The tenth book in The Hollows series is another exciting blend of action, magic, and a little bit of romance.   Ms. Harrison is finishing up the book tour for A Perfect Blood (sadly, no stops in Texas), but she’s also working on a new young adult series, and there is a chance The Hollows could end up on television—bringing a new twist to the current crop of vampire shows.

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Rachel Morgan has finally accepted who she is:  a demon.  She’s accepted it, but she hasn’t made peace with it yet, having cut herself off from her magic.  The real world hasn’t accepted her yet, either.  She’s no longer shunned, but demons have no status as citizens, and she can’t even get her driver’s license renewed.  As if dealing with bureaucratic red tape isn’t bad enough, bodies have started showing up all over Cincinnati, bodies that have been mangled and twisted into demon-like shapes.

Called in to help investigate, Rachel soon realizes a terroristic hate group is responsible; intent on creating their own demons to wipe out all Inderlanders.  And her demonic blood makes her a prime target.  With vampire Ivy and the pixie Jenks at her side, she’s eyeball-deep in the investigation, and determined to put a stop to the horrific deaths.  But being cut off from her magic leaves her almost defenseless, and she finds herself turning to elven businessman Trent for help.  Is he helping her to alleviate his own guilt for her situation, or is there something more going on?

A Perfect Blood is full of Harrison’s wonderful details that bring the Hollows to life.  From humans’ fear of tomatoes—and, therefore, pizza–to Jenk’s Tinkerbelle-based cursing, the whole world is vividly detailed and imagined.  The book is full of action as Rachel manages to wedge herself ever-deeper into trouble in her quest to help others…without getting herself killed in the process.

New Year and I’m a Little Late to the Party…

Okay, so 2012 is underway, the first week already done and over with, and I realized something: for the first time in…well, ever, I didn’t make any resolutions. Or set any goals. None. Nada. Zilch. That’s new for me. Normally, I’d be twitching and foaming at the mouth at the very idea, since I’m nothing if not an overachiever with a never-ending to-do list. But…I find myself okay with it. For now, anyway. That’s not to say that I don’t intend to accomplish some things this year, but I don’t have any clear and concrete expectations in mind.

I’m not sure if this is due to a change in my outlook, or if it’s more because of the shift my life has taken over the past few months. Lately, my focus has been on school and work, and also….the adventures of Fatburger, Milkshake, Spare Rib, and Sweet Tea. (Yes, those are code names. No, I’m not making them up. Yes, it’s actually quite funny.) I haven’t had time to write or revise for months, but I did start a new story a couple of weeks ago, and I’m on the verge of revising the werewolf story again. I’ve been so focused on school, even reading has fallen by the wayside, much less blogging.

But I intend to remedy that. Along with the writing and revising. And reading. And working out. But still, no goals. Just…intentions.

How Cool is This? (Yes, I’m a Star Wars nerd…get over it.)

I’ve been so busy with school the last few weeks, I haven’t really had time to even check my email, but I had to check out this link: a Tatooine planet? Pretty cool, huh? Okay, so it’s uninhabitable and like a billion light years from Earth, but still awesome. And now I’m going back to do homework…and daydream about double sunsets.