Unputdownable, but not like a colicky baby

Confession: Vicki is a friend of mine, so you could say I am biased. However, if I didn't think this was a fantastic book and well worth the recommendation, I'd just say "oh, the cover on this book is nice, isn't it?" But I read it when it was still just an infant, a mere twinkle in its mother's eyes, and I can tell you it is a great story. If you don't believe me, I have a friend (Hi Claire!) who started reading the first few chapters for free and was instantly hooked, as she breathlessly related to me at a party recently. So if you have an e-reader (and why wouldn't you, they're the best invention since sticky-notes or chocolate croissants) go and grab one while the price is right. Vicki is smart and funny and her voice shines through in this book.

                                                                                     

Here's the big news:

THE TAKEN – out just one month – has been temporarily reduced to $2.99 in e-format. You can get it at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, but that price will pass with the end of July, so don’t wait — and, please, tell your friends. They can read the book and buy themselves an additional frappa-something to enjoy with it.

New Digs

Sorry I've been MIA but we moved from our suburban home of 24 years in the West Island into a rambling old flat in Montreal. I'm slowly adjusting to life in the city, as is Buddy who put up a fuss when we left him alone for a few hours so we could eat outdoors and people watch on Rue St. Catherine. We're still knee deep (well, chest deep) in boxes and it will take a while to figure out where everything goes but we'll get there. Doug is happy happy happy as he now has a five minute walk to his office instead of an early morning commute through construction zones and bumper to bumper traffic. Now he strolls along a tree lined street, past Dawson College, the former Mother House of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame.

I have no idea where I'm going to get groceries or where the post office is or even where to haul my garbage, but I'll go exploring when I get our new digs sorted out. This place is old, built in 1928.  It has a working fireplace (in theory only, since we're in the midst of a heatwave so I'm not testing it) and high ceilings and it overlooks a lovely garden belonging to the squash club next door. All the beauty of flowers with none of the work!

Just wanted to let you know where I was. A whole different set of photos will be happenin' from now on.

But first, another box to unload, another cupboard to fill.

This is something I would do

Anyone who knows me well, knows that this is something I would do.

I wouldn't want to do it, but I would feel compelled to do it.

Like scratching an itch.

Or peeling a piece of dangling wallpaper.

Or finding a piece of chalk and an empty chalkboard.

Or coughing in a huge art gallery in London because the acoustics were so awesome that you just had to see if the echo was worth the dirty looks you would get from the patrons. (Totally worth it.)

For examples of the greatest inappropriate test answers from young children, go here.

The power of love

Or...

It's not about the car.

I mean it is about the car, but it's not about the car.

I put this on my Facebook page, but if missed it, have a look.

Up to my proverbial eyeballs

Our house of 24 years is now officially up for sale! We're packing up and moving downtown, ready for new adventures. I've spent the past month purging, packing, scrubbing and cleaning the house to within an inch of its life in order to make it presentable. I haven't had much time for taking photos, or anything else for that matter. However, this weekend we all drove up to the lake, and spent some time reading and swimming and lounging about like giant slugs. I managed to haul my camera out of storage and snap a few shots of the flowers and odd bits around the cottage and it felt good to be back in the Nikon saddle again.

It's been brutally hot this year, so I missed the peonies, but even as they droop and drop their petals and twist into interesting shapes I think they're worth photographing. I know some prefer flowers that are in full bloom but there is something so poignant about a flower gently fading away. Not sure what that says about me and my time of life, but there it is.

You'll notice a photo of Kicia tucked away in there. She is curled up under a shrub, nestled in the cedar chips in our front garden at home. She prefers that spot over all others, despite the high heat and humidity, and will sleep there quite happily all day long. The fellow that put in our kitchen floor found her delightful as she stretched and slept, oblivious to everyone and everything outside. Odd little duck.(The cat, not the fellow who put in the floor who was quite nice and not odd at all.)

I noticed a lot of "noise" in the photos. I think that's because I had the ISO pumped up to 1600 but I'm not entirely sure that's the reason. Any photographers with more experience and know-how want to chime in and tell me why?

So, what are you doing today?

What you do today

 is important 

because 

you are exchanging

 a day of your life for it.

author unknown

The Taken, by Vicki Pettersson

The amazing Vicki Pettersson, author of the New York Times bestselling Signs of the Zodiac urban fantasy series, has done it again. The Taken is the first of the Celestial Blues series, and it's every bit as clever and smart and stylish as Vicki herself.

Vicki knows Vegas inside and out. She was raised there, lives there still and even worked as a Folies Bergère showgirl for ten years before becoming a full-time author. She can world build like nobody's business and her characters are so real and engaging that they sometimes brought me to tears. (Don't tell anyone. It's embarrassing to cry over fictional characters.)

I suggest you stop what you're doing and go buy yourself a copy right now. I was lucky enough to read this puppy when it was still a wee beta baby and I loved it. It's Rockabilly meets film noir in Las Vegas. If you like the dynamic of Spencer and Hepburn, you'll love this book. It sizzles as it propels you on a dark and dizzying ride to the hereafter, then it bitch-slaps you right back to reality.

But in a good way.

From Vicki:

Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he’s a celestial Centurion, assisting the recently, and violently, dead. Yet just because he’s an angel doesn’t mean he’s a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he’s been dumped back onto to the mortal mudflat to collect another soul—Katherine “Kit” Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped.

Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let this sable-haired siren with hairpin curves come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to find the truth about his own mysterious death — and wreak some vengeance for the murder of his beloved wife, Evie.

Joining forces, Kit and Grif’s search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn’t Griffin’s biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, as well as the answer to the greatest mystery of his long afterlife …

 Read the first three chapters for free HERE  or go to Vicki's website to read more reviews and find a bookseller HERE