Lazy Dayz

I'm having a lazy day today.  Yesterday was a nightmare at the shopping centre.  I spent too much on clothes that I didn't really need... but they were soooo cute, and there were rude people and screaming children everywhere.

So today, I'm going to just lounge around, read a book, maybe play a little bit of AOM (Age of Mythology) and then check out our local deposit library.  Fingers crossed that my parcel is going to be in today's post.  I've been waiting for ages for them.  Still have about 3 or 4 left, but after waiting 2 weeks for them I no longer stalk the postie to see if he puts something in the mailbox :P

I'm going to finish my work on the computer, make up a batch of chilli-con carne and then settle down with either my Kylie Chan series, or start re-reading JD Robb so that when Fantasy in Death hits the shelves, then I'll be up to date.

Thought that I'd add a little pic of my cat.  She's such a pain in the butt about being outside.  Because of all the wildlife around our house, our cats are strictly indoors, unless on their leases.  Yes, you read it right, leashes.  They have an enclosed courtyard to mooch in, but leave a door open accidentally, and this little grey ghost is out the door like a shot, and the rolls around on the bricks outside the back door.  She strops herself along the bricks.  It's kinda cute, but trying to catch her later is not so cute.  It's a good thing that she's a total lap cat :)

Happy Reading

Audio Fix

Okay, I'm now doing something that I never thought I'd do... yep, that's right - I'm listening to audio books!
Since I'm spending part of my days studying, and while I do my vocational placement I end up shelving for quite a while.  So when I suck it up and head out to shelve, I now have my iPod {thank you Santa!} to keep me sane.  I've loaded it up with music, but that can get a bit embarassing in public.  I've been caught more than once either humming away to a song, or quitely singing to myself.  Doh!  The solution was given to me by one of my supervisors.  Sarah told me while we were stocktaking the collection that she listens to audio books.  I thought this was a novel idea, so for the last few weeks I've been hunting for some titles that I think I'd like.

The best ones so far are the Stephanie Plum books read by Lorelai King.  I started with To the Nines, and after the first few sentences I was hooked.  Lula is hysterically funny in audio, and it's a good way to just tune out when doing a boring job.  My only problem was that there wasn't a man doing the Morelli and Ranger voices, but in all, Lorelai does a wonderful job.  I've managed to get my hands on a few of them.  I'm waiting for One for the Money, Two for the Dough and Three to get Deadly (abridged unfortunately) to arrive from Amazon.com - you know I love that place! - and Eleven on Top.  I have Hard Eight, Lean Mean Thirteen and Visions of Sugar Plums already.  I just wish they were in the MP3 CD format.  I'd borrowed a friends copy of A Lick of Frost (LKH), and it was already done.  In chapter form.  It was fabulous.  No mess, no fuss, just load it onto the iPod.  I wish all audio books had the option of being MP3 format.  It would certainly make my life a little easier.

Oh, and if you want to rip an LKH audiobook CD to put onto your iPod, forget it.  There was about 100 tracks just for the first CD of Micah.  That means your either going to have a hell of a lot of tracks on your iPod, or you've got to fiddle around in an audio editor to put them together.  Not really worth it if you have 16 CD's to combine now is it.

I Found It! Earth to Hell is here

I can't believe that after nearly 18 months of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, that I only found Earth to Hell (Book 4) by total accident!  Here's what happened.... I'd been out shopping with my mother, and we'd been cruising through Big W - as you do, and we had decided to meet in the book section.  I was just browsing the shelves and had just about lost interest, when there, on the top shelf, was the book.  It's been soooo long in the works that I'd completely forgotten to check the author's website to find out when it was being released.  So I snapped it up (2nd last copy to :P) and proceeded directly home.  Do not stop, do not collect $200.

I got myself comfy in a little nest... drink... check, nibblies... check.  Now, when I opened up the book I realised something.  It had been so long since I'd read the darn series that I wasn't making instant connections to the names printed.  So I had to down tools, drag out the first trilogy and re-read them.  Not a chore, since as the character were being refreshed in my mind I just sailed into the 4th book, et voila, finis.

Earth to Hell picks up 8 years after Blue Dragon.  Emma Donahoe is now nearing 40, still as scruffy as ever, and is trying her best to look after the Northern Heavens for her love.  Simone is now 16, and a powerful creature.  She and Emma are holding on until Xuan Wu pulls himself together and comes back to them.  But the Demon King still has a few tricks up his sleeve.  His demon children are again causing havoc for Emma and her friends, and they are desperately trying to find the missing Black Lion.

I won't tell you anymore because to do that would be to give the story away.  Rest assured that all your old friends are there, and you will see Emma's snake in action, you may catch a glimpse of Xuan Wu's snake, the White Tiger is still an ass, and there may be one or two little surprises :P

Now, being the complete obsessive compulsive person I am about these sorts of things, I went onto Kylie Chan's website and found out that the other 2 books in the second trilogy - The Journey to Wudang, will be out mid and late 2010.  Wuhooo!

The series works best if you read them in order....

The Dark Heavens Trilogy
White Tiger
Red Phoenix
Blue Dragon

The Journey to Wudang
Earth to Hell (out now in Australia, April everywhere else... sorry)
Hell to Heaven (out mid 2010 in Australia)
Heaven to Wudang (out late 2010 in Australia)

There will be a final trilogy to this series, and I can't wait to see what it will be.  I'm hoping that there will still be enough of a storyline, but knowing the series so far I don't think that'll be too much of a drama.

So I'm finally over my Regency Rut, and thank you Kylie Chan for that.  I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for the rest of the series this year, oh, and there is a small prequel coming out late 2010.  It's Gold's story.  Details are on Kylie Chan's website www.kyliechan.com