Thursday, January 31, 2008

A Public Service Announcement

Do you have a firewall on your computer?


Up to date antivirus software? Spyware detector?


Do you use them on a regular basis?


Please. Protect your computer.


We got hit with a particularly nasty computer virus/malware issue Saturday morning. My middle child had gone on the computer, and had just booted up the Internet home page when a "request to access Internet" box popped up on the screen. All my kids know to ask before clicking on anything like that, so I was fetched. I didn't recognize the program, so I marked it to block. Unfortunately, the program was already there (not sure we'll ever find out how), and the damage was done.


All those things I mentioned above? We do. I'm pretty vigilant about stuff like that. It still wasn't enough. Something bad hijacked my 'puter, loading various spyware and malware programs and replicating itself so that every time we opened an internet page we'd get a "you have spyware!" message, either a series of pop-ups, or a notice under the address bar on the page, or a pop-under that shows up when a page is closed.


I, of course, didn't click on any of them. I ran Spybot and (I thought) took care of the problem.


Soon, the pop-ups were showing up even when we weren't on the Internet. Our wallpaper photo switched to the Red Screen of Death, which was actually another pop up ad cleverly disguised as a background image.


Four days and fifteen hours of frustration later, I finally (knock wood) cleaned the computer. Props to Geeks2Go, for the amazingly helpful forum, and SUPERAntiSpyware (free edition), which found 28 nasties hiding on my computer and actually got rid of them.


Still working on the book edits. I'll be back in force by next week sometime. Hope all are doing well!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

RIP Heath Ledger




I just heard the news that Heath Ledger passed away today.



Too young. My heart just breaks.



Thoughts and prayers are with his family, especially his two year old daughter.


:(




(photo copyright askmen.com)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Blogging At Samhain Today!

Stop by Samhain's Weblog today and keep me company! I'm blogging about the awards season and the writer's strike.

:)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Book BIN Tuesday -- His and Hers



Tell me what you want…


Sitting in her favorite coffee shop, Jane Ellingson realizes a frappucino can’t fix a broken heart. She used to have a cool job, a best friend, and a fiancĂ©—and she she lost them all in one really bad day. Hey, can she have a do-over? How about a whole new life?

…What you really, really want


But Jane is about to get a second chance when she finds a stone that comes with a wish. With nothing to lose, Jane figures she’ll go for it—and suddenly she finds herself in Victorian England, meeting the dashing Curran Dempsey. Before long she’s smitten—and completely unable to stay in her corset. In fact, she feels just like the heroine in a romance novel, madly in love with a man who’s too fabulous to be real…and too sexy to give up.


I loved Dawn Calvert's debut novel, Hero Worship, and this new release looks to be as much fun as the first. Plus, she's running a contest on her website to celebrate her new book. So bop on over and enter -- and then hit the bookstore to Buy It Now!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Meet Maia Strong

I am thrilled to introduce to you one of Samhain's newest authors --


Maia Strong!


Maia is one of my dearest friends -- we've known each other since college -- and I'm just bouncing off the walls that we're now writing for the same publisher. She's been writing for years, but I harangued her into submitting to Samhain, and I'm so glad I did. We've been beta-reading for each other for a while now, so I've actually had the chance to read her upcoming book already. It's a m/m fantasy romance that just rocks.

And if you read Samhain's first line contest on their blog last summer, you've read the first five lines of the book. Hers was one of the ten finalling manuscripts chosen for an editor read.

So here are the details:

Maia's website
Maia's blog

And The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing will be available later in 2008. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

You Know It's Going To Be A Long Day...

...when your four year old throws up in your purse.

Sigh.

Hope your day is going better than mine!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #36 -- Bardic Edition

1. Rimmer quoting Richard III in Red Dwarf



2. Eagles "Get Over It" -- let's kill all the lawyers, let's kill 'em tonight (Henry VI, pt 2)



3. ST:TNG -- Lwaxana and Picard. Trying to save Lieutenant Troi's mom by quoting Shakespeare. LOL!



4.Buffy S5 finale -- we few, we happy few.



5. The Prince and Me. Julia Stiles needs tutoring on Shakespeare from hunky prince in disguise. (Go to about the 3 minute mark.)



6. Third Rock from the Sun



7. Patrick Stewart on Sesame Street.



8. Moonlighting's riff on The Taming of the Shrew. Brilliant!






10. Ten Things I Hate About You. (Another, teen-centered take on Taming of the Shrew)



11. "Kill the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast. ("Screw your courage to the sticking post" -- quote from Lady MacBeth.)


12. Doctor Who -- my buddy m-dith mentioned several instances, but The Shakespeare Code is an obvious choice.

Book BIN Tuesday -- Boomerang Love



Why is Boomerang Love my Book BIN title of the week? Simple.




1. I love Australia.


2. I love the cover.


3. The story sounds fabulous!




Also, the author, Melissa Lopez, is busy with some family stuff this week and I wanted to help her get the word out about her new release. Here's the blurb:


Take a walkabout on the wild side.


Book one, The Thorn Brothers


When you toss a boomerang, you know it will come back. But all bets are off when it’s a lover you’ve let go.


Cohen Thorn and Hayleigh Davenport shared one night of wild sex neither of them can forget, then went their separate ways half a world apart. But now Hayleigh’s back in Australia for one more weekend of passion. If she can’t get this Outback rancher out of her system once and for all, she’ll at least have memories to last a lifetime.


They’ve only got three days to steam up Sydney and the Outback, but in the place known as Never-Never, anything can happen. Soon they realize there’s a powerful force drawing them together.


Is it simple lust, or lasting love?


****

I, for one, can't wait to find out. :)


Won't you join me over at My Bookstore and More to Buy It Now?

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Spent the day at my folks' house, celebrating Grandpa Ed's 94th birthday.


NINETY-FOUR.


Pretty amazing, huh?


Almost the whole extended family was there, too, which was wonderful. I don't get to see them enough.


Hope you had a great weekend!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

It's that time of year again...

Read something good this year? Preditors and Editors want to hear about it. Now through January 15, you can vote for (and nominate) your favorite novel, short story, book cover, publisher, e-book retailer, etc....


Just visit this link to see what's up for consideration -- and cast your vote!