Dead and Gone best new vampire book

Perhaps not as publicized as the release of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight quadrilogy, I wouldn’t be surprised if nearly as many people had been awaiting the May 5 release of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series new bundle of joy, Dead and Gone. This is her ninth book featuring the telepathic heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, and is the series on which the HBO show, True Blood, is based.

Fortunately, as I now own an Amazon Kindle, I preordered it, and on the morning of cinqo de mayo, it was automatically and wirelessly downloaded to my hands courtesy of the best new invention since the Internet.

I quickly devoured it, having nearly forgotten what happened to Sookie in the last book. Since True Blood was released after I read the last book, when I sped through Dead and Gone, I couldn’t help but imagine all the characters as their TV show counterparts. That’s always been a problem for me. But, enough about my process; the book was good. Very good.

It was almost as if it was from another series; yes, there were a few mysteries to be solved. Maybe it is because it’s been so long since I read the last book, but there was some seriousness about the events in this book that I didn’t necessarily feel in some others. But, as always, there was romance, and anyone who is a fan of Eric, will be VERY pleased. That’s me. I felt pleased. If you’re a Bill girl, then aww, sad for you.

If you haven’t read any of the sookie books yet, I’m SO jealous. I would love to come in with a blank slate and enjoy the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, all over again.

Preggers? We’re not stupid

Darn it, I told myself I’d never use the word “preggers” since I heard my very old doctor ask me if I was during a physical. It’s such an OMG-type of slang word that it sounded wrong when he said it.

I’ve been watching a few recent episodes of How I Met Your Mother, a CBS show that features actresses Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan. First, one of my favorite former witches–Hannigan–became pregnant, closely followed by Smulders. I do agree that their characters, who are sort of young, couldn’t really become pregnant. Hannigan’s character is a newlywed, and Smulders is single on the show. But certainly, there had to have been another option than just hiding the pregnancy with convenient camera angles.

The lengths to which the producers/writers go to, to hide the pregnancy is so ridiculous. Oh, wow, a basketball just appeared right on Hannigan’s lap. Or, wow, Smulders’ character has suddenly began wearing very flowy, loose, and flowery tops. Boy, it seems as if they’re always sitting down at a table … And the big purses, it’s just–enough. I know TV shows have been doing it for years. I think Julia Louis-Dreyfus had something like three kids while she was on Seinfeld.

Ideally though, TV shows should do something like what the writers did for Jane Leeves’ Daphne on Frasier. They wrote her pregnancy into the storyline but simply in a way of her gaining weight and how the other characters were concerned. Then, Daphne went off to fat camp and came back sans pregnancy. It worked out, it was funny, and it made the audience into accomplices instead of treating them as unintelligent and unobservant.

Dead on Arrival

Down and dirty: Dead Like Me: Life After Death is unworthy of the “Dead Like Me” namesake. If you liked the 2003 TV show, don’t watch this. Remember the cast and story as it was.

There are plenty of Dead Like Me fans, and they’re the target audience for this new straight-to-DVD, released just last week. I picked it up at the local alleyway known as Blockbuster–and it was not in alphabetical order, might I add. After having watched the film, I think the misplacement may have been a sign. Some higher power didn’t want me to see this raping of a beloved story.

Often, when shows are cancelled, there’s no time for a wrap-up episode. That’s what happened to Dead Like Me, which met its end after only the second season. Their last episode was something on Halloween. Since the show’s been over, Dead Like Me fans have come out of the woodwork, it repeats all over the DirectTV channels, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the dark, supernatural comedy. So, I understand the need for a film to tie things up.

The only returning actors are Ellen Muth (George), Callum Blue (Mason), Jasmine Guy (Roxy), Britt McKillip (Reggie), and some other peripheral characters, including Ellen’s mom, her boss at Happy Time, and the Happy Time receptionist.

In the new film, Rube (Mandy Patinkin) has moved on, presumably to heaven or some such soft area, and a new reaper boss is in town (Cameron, played by Henry Ian Cusick). Cameron believes that Rube’s way of handing out reaper notices on post-its was archaic and has, perhaps, in thinking his band of reapers were responsible, given them free reign. Before, there were rules, consequences. Now it’s just anarchy and chaos.

Never mind that they didn’t even have the original Daisy (now played by Sarah Wynter), but the script includes a “could be brilliant” scene where George finally tells Reggie that she’s her sister. This is a huge moment! Where’s the build up? It’s just flat. Reggie accepts this with virtually no unease.

There’s no more wit, sarcasm, or humor that made the original show so popular. It’s just dark, like moldy dark chocolate, and no one likes moldy chocolate. Do yourself a favor, don’t tarnish the image in your head of this fantastic comedy by watching this drivel.

Refocusing Big Love

Ahh, I love resolution! The sixth episode of the third season of Big Love aired last night, and as much as it cleared things up for some characters, it also opened up a number of issues. Yay, issues! Fortunately, it appears as if the events that transpired have refocused polygamist husband Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) on what really matters: family.

There’s no escape. When you’re stuck in a car with someone and their secrets are all over the place, more than likely, you get a watershed of truth. When the Henrickson clan (made up of three wives [Barb, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Nicki, played by Chloe Sevigny, and Margie, played by Ginnifer Goodwin] and a gaggle of children), go on a pilgrimage to New York from Utah, the cross-country trip is truly revealing.

Spoilers ahead mate, so stop here if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

How great was it for the writers to give us an episode that wasn’t all about Nicki and her seedy father or Ana (a fourth wife who “divorced” the group after only a few days). Let me just answer that. It was awesome.

Sarah, Bill and Barb’s college-bound daughter who has drawn back from the family, has been pregnant for a few episodes now. Since she’d decided to keep the child, I wondered how long it’d be until her parents found out. The thing is, it could probably have been a long while, something Sarah probably knew herself. Bill had been caught up with Ana, managing a new venture, and the other wives, and had virtually forgotten about his daughter. Sarah and Bill in a car together led to a touching scene in which Bill realized he hadn’t spent enough time with her.

A particularly telling scene was when they stopped at a tourist-y location, and Bill set up the auto camera. He noticed that his entire family looked miserable–uncomfortable with each other and just generally unhappy. Their feelings probably started with Bill accidentally losing his viagra. That night was Nicki’s night (all the wives take turn). My husband calls Nicki man-face, because she does have a somewhat masculine look, so you can imagine it might be hard to perform. So, Margie comes in, in her bikini to try and get him started (what an all-for-one mentality).

Margie lets it slip (while in a car with Barb and Nicki–see, no escape!) that Bill’d been taking Viagra, and of course Nicki thinks it’s only for her, which may likely be true. Margie’s also in some more hot water when she and Ben (Bill and Barb’s 17-year-oldish son) see each other naked. Ben tells Margie that he has feelings for her. Oh boy, this has got bad news written everywhere. It’s gotta be pretty rough for Ben, to be honest. Margie’s not his mom, in fact she’s not much older than he is, yet he has to think of her as a mother.

To make matters worse (better?), Barb finds Nicki’s birth control pills, but assumes they’re Sarah’s. Nicki’s been taking them in secret, which has led to everyone else in the family to believe she was having fertility problems. Bill is furious, and everyone else is just confused. But none of this compared to the final scene. But before that, Bill and his family went to a mormon pageantry-type thing, where, by himself, he pleaded with God in a way to give him a sign that his family would be okay.

That night, Sarah had a miscarriage. She finally told her parents, and they all stopped on the side of the road. I think Sarah thought they’d all be upset, but it was the opposite. It was a family that was disjointed, but they refocused their love, big time, back on family.

From Hockey Central

Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital. This city is not just home to great historical moments, but rather a character itself within history. Do you ever wish you could live some amazing event in your city’s history? Destroy crates of tea in Boston in the 18th century, witness the building of Stonehenge? Right now everyone in D.C., is watching history happen.

All of the big cities have character–New York, Los Angeles Boston–some of them not all good, but only one city has Alexander Ovechkin, left winger of the Washington Capitals.

For D.C. hockey fanatics like myself, Ovechkin means more to the city than possibly all of the American monuments that line its streets and surround its Capitol. And he’s Russian. How’s that for patriotism?

I’m just beginning to learn the detailed timeline of hockey greats–from Gretzky to Orr to Howe–who brought fans to their feet in awe. But I have to wonder, will there ever be anyone as great as Ovechkin?

It’s not just that he’s a skilled player; it’s that his every move and word seem to fly in the face of how a hockey player in the NHL should act. Ovechkin’s response to an amazing goal scored against Montreal on Feb. 18, was priceless. Later, after Verizon Center was buzzing, Ovechkin was shown on the monitor as he put his hand to his ear, further encouraging the crowd. I suppose it was the equivalent of a touchdown dance, but more subdued. When he smiles, you can’t help but smile.

Look at Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who is known around the leage as the ”Face of the NHL.” Why? I suppose his clean-cut image, regular haircuts, and a mouth full of teeth, gets mass appeal, but is that what people need or want? A slick, false, boring side of hockey?

I don’t think so, and neither does Ovechkin, who just is the way he is. Love him or hate him (and please don’t do that), he’s a big part of the city, and together, it’s history in the making.

The Devil’s Creek

“It happened like this,” Mark started to explain, but the odds weren’t in his favor. My grandmother was a human lie detector.

“So I was just walking by your house, you know, because I know Tommy’s visiting, and I think, no—Mizz Thornburg, I know I heard something splashing in the water, and my momma always said I was a good swimmer, so, um.” She raised her left eyebrow—not a good sign.

“Yes,” John added. “We thought someone might be drowning.” He distracted himself with Midnight, Nell’s cat that had come in to drink the water that dripped from our shorts.

“You were in the poisonous, four-feet deep creek that everyone knows is off limits because you thought someone might be drowning?”

I shrugged. The truth was that August in rural Virginia was hot and after only two days here, I didn’t think twice about jumping in. We had just finished playing who-can-hold-their-breath-longest when Mark saw it. It looked like a shiny rock. But then it stood up.

You know those puzzles with the squiggly lines that you had to stare at until your eyes focused and you saw that it was a sailboat or something? Well, it was like that. Only it was my 65-year-old grandfather, naked. We ran into the house, feet crushing the dry grass, because of the nakedness.

“You have anything to say?” She asked me.

I started to speak, but my 13 year old voice squeaked.  “Grandpa.”

***

Read the remainder of the short story here.

Caps, Courses, and Coverup

My bad. It’s been ages since I’ve posted (like two weeks maybe), but if you had my job, you’d let it slide. Anyway, I’m also taking two courses: one on copywriting for ads and technical writing. In this economy, education is good, even if you don’t have ways to pay for it On top of that, the second half of the Washington Capitals’ season has just started, and I’m in D.C. practically every three days. I think I’ve even gotten use to the cold (as I sit here wearing a sweater covered with a blanket), which has been downright arctic for the past week. This weather is not what George, my car, signed up for. And now, all the tourists have swarmed D.C. for the inauguration, which, as much as it’s historic, it’s also a pain in the ass. They’ve actually blocked off the highways from Virginia to get into D.C. Although, it’s gotten me off of work for the day, so I’ve got that going for me.

I’ve also finished a ton of new books, and the only one(s) I think I’ll mention is the “House of Night” series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. It’s about–you may be able to guess–vampires. Anyway, it’s not Twilight by any means, but it is a young adult series with very decent writing. It’s always good to have a story with depth, and this does. Right now, they’ve got four books out: Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, and Untamed. Hunted, the fifth in the series comes out March 10.

Speaking of next in the series, the ninth Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead and Gone, goes on sale May 5. You can even read the first chapter on Harris Web site. Hopefully by then I’ll have a Kindle. Right now, Amazon is all sold out.

I’ve also been getting ready for the big makeup/beauty products run tomorrow morning. Because of a class action lawsuit that contends that big, high-end department stores like Nordstrom’s, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, etc. were price-fixing beauty products. Starting Jan. 20, you can go in to one of these stores listed in the lawsuit, and get $25 of free products. Apparently, the “free” products were specifically made for this event, but hey, free is free.

On top of everything that’s been going on, “Lost” premieres this week, and “Big Love” was on last night (on HBO), and damn was it good. Even Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an “A.” Totally. If you don’t get HBO, you’re SOL, but for those with the network who didn’t see it, thank god for reruns.

Lastly, I managed to see “The Wrestler” the other day. Everyone apparently loves it because of Mickey Rourke’s performance. The movie itself is meh, but yes, I agree that the performance is pretty real and good. You could say it’s real good. Next on my list is “Bride Wars” because … well, just because.

Finding Fairytales

The stomach butterflies were coming, and they weren’t good. Not like when she saw Jimmy Lascher walking down the hall at school.

Jane Kennedy feigned a scream into her pillow. After all, it was 12:30 a.m.; too late to scream, not too late to be arguing, apparently. What Tom and Susan McCullough upstairs don’t understand is that whisper arguing, despite its name, was loud. If walls could talk, Jane thought, they’d ask for peace and quiet. Tom’s temper was always hot, but it was under the surface, and those outside of the family had no idea how just many eggshells Jane and Susan were walking on.

When things were good, her mother said she loved Tom, but Jane knew that whatever love was, it wasn’t this. During the bad times, she talked about Edward, Jane’s father, and regrets that she can never put right. Only once did Jane ask questions—what did he look like, what was his last name? Her mother never answered. Edward was her lost knight, but both mother and daughter hoped one day he would rescue them.

When Jane was 9, she witnessed the first time he made her cry. Right then, whatever relationship Jane had with her stepfather disappeared. She’d read that if a woman was satisfied with her mate at least 75 percent of the time, the relationship was worth it. If it was the same with stepfathers and daughters, then he was 0 for 2.

To read the rest of the short story, click here. 

My Newest Read: A Good and Happy Child

The most recent book I’ve gobbled down to share with ye is A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans. The first novel by the NYU grad is set in Virginia, actually (a town called Preston), and follows George whose wife is on the verge of leaving him. George visits a therapist to talk about his reasons for not wanting to hold, touch, or generally be near, his newborn son. His wife is confused and upset–what kind of man doesn’t want to be around his own child? So in therapy he stays, and his discussions lead to events that occurred when he was a child. The therapist asks him to journal these childhood experiences that may have impacted his adult life and his inability to be a father.

We read what happened to George as a young boy whose father recently died as he meets a spiritual force whom Evans labels “Friend.” The Friend twists George’s reality to the point where many, including George, believe that a honest-to-god (pardon the pun) demon may be involved … either that, or he’s really lost his mind. As a reader, I think it was intended that I wouldn’t know exactly what to think.

The 336-page novel vascillates between current day and George’s struggles with his wife, child, and talks with his therapist, and the journal entries that describe the events in his childhood in great detail.

Those 336 pages were just golden, crystal clear gems of thrilling, creepy, and fantastic images. Although it’s his first novel, and according to his Web site took about five years to research and write, he writes as if he’s heir to the Stephen King throne. If my praise is not enough, consider these reviews:

“A Washington Post Best Book of 2007.” (I should say that this book was on my to-read list for ages, but it was never in stores and I wasn’t amped to purchase it online.) But, if you can’t find it in the store – buy it online. Or here, borrow my copy! Just read this book.

“A satisfying, suspenseful first novel … Young George’s intriguing story unbalances the reader right up to the book’s deliciously chilling end.” — PEOPLE.

Beating Rangers the Best Christmas Present

You’re four goals down after half of the game, nearly half the team are rookies, and your goalie is inconsistent with his saves. You have several choices:

1. Let your shoulders drop, play conservatively hoping your team won’t give up any more goals.

2. Pick yourself up, remember you love playing hockey, and give it as hard as you’ve gotten it. This is exactly what the Washington Capitals did last night during their game against the N.Y. Rangers.

It really looked sad. During the first period, when the score became 3-0, I got so disheartened. I periodically checked on the game — the capitals have been known to come back–and was surprised to see it 2-4. Alex Ovechkin had gotten the first goal, and from there, the team was on their way.

By the end of the third period, the Caps had tied it at 4-4. To sudden-death overtime we went … for approximately 110 seconds, when Morrisson scored on a freak slapshot. I don’t think I’d ever seen him do that before. The team formed a dogpile on Morrisson and Coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t try to hide his smile. It was a great feeling. If this team doesn’t deserve to win the Cup, then no one does.