Ever After Chapters 1-6! You want it, You got! And a note to followers…
It’s taking a slightly different approach than the usual Harper Voyager link, but it’s easy to access all the same to read chapter 3:
Of course if you’d rather read through part of chapter 6, then by all means go here:
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061957918
Enjoy!
P.S. And forgive me for being a little slow on the posts lately. Assassin’s Creed has pretty much occupied all of my free time! Ezio Auditore is just that amazing (and hott). And this is why I’m glad I’m not a big gamer. But I’ve finished his trilogy and things should return to normal soon (because I doubt Assassin’s Creed 3 will be as addictive)!
Warm Bodies Movie Review – It will leave you with the warm fuzzies
We’ve become so accustomed to vampires, werewolves and the like dominating as love interests in paranormal/urban fantasy realm. We may get the occasional demon or angel, but rarely do we see zombies fill that role, and for good reason. It’s really not that hott when the guy is rotting away and wants to take chunks out of you. Isaac Marion proves that he not only knows the rules, but he knows how to break them too. And it translates very well onto the big screen. We have the initially subtle star crossed lover feel as R, our zombie in question, falls for a human girl and finds himself becoming a little more human himself as they spend more time together. Yeah, he has the usual craving for brains, as do all zombies, but something deep inside of him yearns for more that that–and no, it’s not more guts. He’s the most cultured zombie you’re going to find, loving music, collecting souvenirs, and riding escalators. Believe me, it sounds ridiculous but I really thought it worked here.
Nicholas Hoult was a good choice. He was easier on the eyes for a zombie, which in turn made the love story more acceptable. I’ve taken a liking to the actor since I first saw him in X-Men First Class, though I know has a body of work spanning back to his childhood. His zombie mannerisms were pretty good, particularly the walking and running. I wish his actual speaking started out being more more stilted though. Theresa Palmer was a good choice and I felt they played off one another pretty well. Rob Corddry has some great punch lines, perhaps the best in a zombie punchlines ever, though this movie doesn’t have many contemporaries in that respect.
Movies rarely surpass books and this was no exception. There were a number of changes that I understood were for the better, but there were a number of missed opportunities as well that would have been great to see on the big screen. I think they would have added more depth and interest. But overall it I enjoyed it–the laughs, the love story, and the existential quality all throughout. I finished the book wanting to see the movie right away and I’m glad to have had the opportunity.
I’m sure the comparisons to other zombie comedies such as Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland are inevitable. In my opinion, Shaun of the Dead remains untouched with Zombieland being a distant but solid second, but this is worth a watch. If you’re a zombie fan who doesn’t mind a deviation from the norm, this is the movie for you! Warm Bodies hits theatres nationwide on February 1, 2013.
Warm Bodies – Readable and re-Readable, hope the movie is just as watchable! I’m going to see the film TONIGHT!!
I’ll be honest and say that I really hadn’t heard much about this book before seeing the motion picture preview; it looked really funny and campy. I’m always up for a good zombie satire (I’m a big Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland fan), but in this case I wanted to read the book as well. Why not? It’s only 240 pages. Certainly doable. And boy am I glad I did. It’s a refreshing take on the genre that you may want to read time and time again.
We’ve become so accustomed to vampires, werewolves and the like dominating as love interests in paranormal/urban fantasy realm. We may get the occasional demon or angel, but rarely do we see zombies fill that role, and for good reason. It’s really not that hott when the guy is rotting away and wants to take chunks out of you. But after reading this novel, Isaac Marion proves that he not only knows the rules, but he knows how to break them too. We have the initially subtle star crossed lover feel as R, our zombie in question, falls for a human girl and finds himself becoming a little more human himself as they spend more time together. Yeah, he has the usual craving for brains, as do all zombies, but something deep inside of him yearns for more that that–and no, it’s not more guts. He’s the most cultured zombie you’re going to find, loving music, collecting souvenirs, and riding escalators. Believe me, it sounds ridiculous but I really thought it worked here.
Though it’s not as funny as I thought it would be, it’s well-written with an existential quality that makes me understand why it’s become a big screen adaptation (though that ain’t always the case). And lucky me, I actually have movie passes to see an advanced screening of the film TONIGHT! It’s not officially out until February of next year, but I’m not complaining. I finished the book wanting to see the movie right away. And then I learned about the screening! If only my luck were good enough to hit the lottery! But I digress. After enjoying the book so much I’m now super excited. They’ve made some obvious changes, but I think it will work here.
If you’re a zombie fan who doesn’t mind a deviation from the norm, this is the book for you!
San Diego Comic Con 2012 (Saturday) – Report, Pics, and Vids
Well, this was definitely the biggest day of the con. We dressed up Thursday and then took a break on Friday, but for Saturday we decided to go all out once again (primarily thanks to the genius of my best bud, River). While it was a lengthy 5 hour process, it was well worth it. We ended up making an article cover on Vanity Fair‘s website:
Here is the whole outfit:
No, I don’t recognize myself either. The paint stayed on well, if not too well. It literally felt like a second skin, being somewhat constricting at times. We even tried to avoid laughing! Of course trying NOT to laugh only makes you laugh more…on the inside at least! The paint is pretty resilient!
One of the pluses of having a flashy costume is that you MAY have a shot at getting the attention of some celebs. And that’s exactly what happened. We initially bumped into Katrina Law, one of the lead actresses on Spartacus. She was so awesome that she actually took a pic with her own camera and posted it to her facebook. She’s awesome!
Next up was Nick Tarabay, also an actor on the show who plays a villain, but he plays it well. He was super nice…and hott ~_^
And Michael McMillian (Reverend Newlin) from True Blood stopped us for a pic. Of course we had to get one too, lol:
I asked him if he wanted a shot with some fang, haha. He did! 
We also managed to make G4. The actor, John Barrowman, from Torchwood literally was staring me in the face before shooting. He was impressed with all of the costumes.
It was only for a few seconds, but it was a lot better than last year when we didn’t quite make it. You can see my fangs pretty well:
Here was another really cool video from that Saturday:
So yeah, it was an incredible Saturday. One downside to having this kind of costume is that it can really slow you down when it comes to attending events. Many times you’re stopped for pics, so because of that I missed Gail Carriger’s signing. I was really looking forward to seeing her dress because it was some really cool steampunk outfit. But what can you do!
San Diego Comic Con 2012 (Friday) – Report, Pics, and Vids
While this was a Robert Downey, Jr. impersonator, the real RDJ was there.
So I’ve been holding off on this for a little while, but I guess I should get going on my reports! I would make one big post, but I think I will break them out day by day.
I’ll try not to make it too long, but there is no experience like San Diego Comic Con. This was my second year and I had just as much fun, but the overall experience felt different. And it’s for this reason that people come back again and again…if you can survive the badge process of course.
I’ll spare you the details of Thursday since I already wrote about it. I’ll just move on to Friday:
Just a piece of advice for those of you who would like to go one of these days; become well acquainted with lines. I’m talking about super long lines (there’s 135,000 people there after all, what do you expect?). Many people will camp out for days for a major celebrity panel, and one lady even died waiting for the Twilight panel. As for me, I paid hundreds of dollars per night for a swanky room (in a hotel where the celebs stay; we caught Stan Lee coming out of the elevator), so I damn sure planned to use it every night, and I did. There’s a price to pay for this, however. I was determined to get into the infamous Hall H this year and I did…after a good 6-7 hour wait. If you’re willing to sacrifice most of your day for something big, that’s up to you. But I promise there are tons of little things to do as well. You certainly have enough to keep you entertained.
Luckily I was able to get into the Resident Evil and Total Recall panels. I was SO CLOSE to giving up so that I could make the Spartacus panel, but it all worked out! (more…)
San Diego Comic Con is under way!
Hi guys! So SDCC 2012 is under way and I’m having a good ‘ole time. Just thought I’d post a couple of pics!
I got to meet Chris Daughtry outside of our hotel yesterday:
We also met the Giorgio Tsoukalos, the host of Ancient Aliens:
Not too bad for a Thursday, lol. So Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series, is also here and I plan to get an autograph! Now begs the question, would any of YOU like to be the lucky recipient of a signed copy of her book? Decisions Decisions!
Also managed to take a few creepy videos:
Don’t think I could own one of these
True Blood Premiere Tonight!
Dunno about anybody else, but I’m looking forward to a VERY nice Sunday evening. Can’t be anything but if we get a whole hour to look at exhibit A above…and Alcide ~_^.
I saw The Hunger Games Movie last night
Nothing beats being able to see a major franchise film during its opening weekend for FREE! W00T for movie passes! I was honestly surprised that they accepted it. Normally for new releases theatres won’t allow you to redeem the passes. The film itself was pretty good, I gotta say! I honestly felt like they stayed true to the book aside from a couple of major plot points****SPOILER****primarily that the dead tributes were those beasts at the end, and wasn’t Peeta supposed to lose his leg? Or was that after the second one? ****/SPOILER**** . I read all three books back to back in 3 days so some things kind of blend together for me, but the first book was definitely the best one. I sort of wish there was more carnage, but they were very obviously aiming for a PG-13 rating so that they could make an insane amount of money. It’s interesting to me how the books are YA, but if they showed a little more gore like how I imagined it when reading the books, the film would have likely been bumped to rated R. Did anyone else get to see it this weekend? I know that other countries have a different ratings system. I’m curious about that.
Guess who’s going to San Diego Comic Con yet again?! It’s me! W00T
This means tons of coverage on TV series, movies, games, and AUTHORS. I met Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs last year and we made the news!! That was a lot of fun. Kim won’t be there this year unfortunately, but there is so much to do there with so little time. I had an absolutely fabulous time and I’m looking for this year to be even better!
While last year’s ticketing experience was an absolute 3-hour DISASTER and I only got my tickets out of luck, this year they’ve implemented a new system that had me on my way in 10 minutes. Of course the whole thing sold out in under 2 hours, but at least it was better organized.
Next up is the hotel lottery. I won’t even get into the issue last year…okay I totally will. Being the Comic Con virgin that I was, I had no clue about waiting until their hotel lottery, so I tried to be an eager beaver and book a backup room in December with hopes that the significant con discount could be applied later after badge sales (because I sure as hell wasn’t trying to pay the whole unreasonably inflated price). I booked by phone and specifically confirmed with the associate that my room would not be charged right away and I could cancel up until 2 days before the con. I asked her several times and she said “YES”. One month later, I see a $2,200 charge on my credit card. I’m of course scratching my head and looking at my calendar because I could have SWORN that the con wasn’t for another 6 months! So I called them up and they give me the spiel that when I booked I agreed to paying the full non-refundable rate. HA!! So getting that straight (because I refused to take that laying down) took up the better half of my January. Moral of the story…book everything online where you can read the fine print and you have written proof >_>. SDCC 2012 here we come!
If any of you guys plan to go, please keep me posted! I’d love to meet even more of you.
So many series, so little time!
Hello, fellow Paranormal and Urban Fantasy fans! I figure I will share a little history about myself. For the past 6 years I’ve been an avid fan of The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. Aside from catching up on all of the Anita Blake series, I didn’t really follow much else.
All of that changed this past January when I purchased a Kindle. So far I have read 22 new books. If it’s good enough, I will devour it. Needless to say, my love for reading has been renewed and I’m excited to have a broadened my horizons a bit. Based on this blog’s title, it’s pretty easy to tell that I like vampires. Since branching out to other series, I can safely say you won’t see reviews for only vampire series. I love other series, but after a while I do feel the need to read a good ‘ole vampire story. And no, I did not discover how great vampires were until Twilight (though I don’t consider them as actual vampires; you need fangs, sorry!). With that said, I’ve been a fan long before this craze and will be a fan long after it fades.
The plan for me will be to post all of my reviews–past and present–for related series I have read. You can expect a majority of them to center on adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal series more so than the Young Adult genre; however, I did read quite a few Young Adult series as a teen, so I may include those in my blog for nostalgia. I may also review other genre and media including tv series, movies, manga, and games. I may even review products on occasion.
Over the next few months, I have a few goals including:
- re-designing this blog
- reading and reviewing series, both new and old
- preparing for San Diego Comic Con this July
And maybe not in that order, haha. You can imagine that my schedule will get pretty hectic. For Comic Con alone I will be spending a good deal of time working on creating my costumes (thank goodness I’m collaborating with my friend, and she’ll be doing most of the tough stuff). On top of that, I would like to meet several authors who will be there that may ring a bell to you:
- Kim Harrison
- Chloe Neill
- Patricia Briggs
- Christopher Moore
While I have not read the works of the latter two, by the time of the con that won’t be the case. Here’s hoping they won’t mind my crazy costumes! I hope to provide any coverage I can for those of you who cannot make it, and maybe even meet up with those of you who will be there!
Decisions, decisions, what should be my first blog topic? Of course, the Kindle! Stay tuned!
Your Urban Fantasy 