Books I enjoyed in 2012
January 5, 2013 at 10:41 am | Posted in Reading | 3 CommentsTags: books I enjoyed, reading
Within the first week of the new year is fine for posting these sorts of lists, right? Too bad if it isn’t, because I’m posting it anyway. For the past few years I have posted a list of the books I read during the calendar year that I particularly enjoyed, so here is 2012’s list. If you’re looking for some kind of insightful reviewing, you will not find it here, but hopefully you’ll at least get a sense of why I liked the books I’ve included. I’ve included buy links as well, just in case anything tickles your fancy. In no particular order, we have:
The Christmas Proposition, by KA Mitchell
Christmas tree farm owner Mel takes up with millionaire mining company owner Bryce Campion again after a 3-year break. This was great. The introduction of Bryce was genius, the sex was smoking hot and overall, despite some contact embarrassment from some events towards the end of the book, it was a ridiculously enjoyable read.
Wild Boy, My Life in Duran Duran, by Andy Taylor
Oh, ANDY. As a child of the 80s I of course loved Duran Duran so this was right up my alley. Undoubtedly biased, it was still an easy and interesting read, giving a lot of insight into what it’s like to be thrust into the middle of enormous fortune and fame when you least expect it. John Taylor also has an autobiography out (In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran. Oh, JOHN), and I am all over that like a frigging rash, let me tell you.
Soulless, by Gail Carriger
Spinster Alexia Tarrabotti, half Italian and with no soul to boot, gets under the skin of the grumpy Scottish Alpha of the local werewolf pack, Lord Maccon. She has trouble understanding feelings, and he has a lot of those, plus poor impulse control when it comes to her. He is also prone to stripping in public when he wants to shift, which the gaggle of gay vampires in the book do not mind one little bit. This was fluff, but the type of fantastic fluff that had me laughing out loud a lot, and loving it.
The Time of the Singing, by Louise Blaydon
Gay priest meets late-teen altar boy and shenanigans ensue. I am partial to religious-themed stories, and this one was a great one. I found the struggles that the priest, Raf, went through over his feelings for Nate realistic. From what I’ve seen some people had problems with Nate’s age, but I would say that anyone who masturbates openly while confessing their sins to the object of those sinful thoughts isn’t exactly a naive innocent.
Tigerland, by Sean Kennedy
Sequel to Tigers and Devils, which I LOVED. I loved this one just as much. It’s 3 years on from Tigers and Devils, and Simon and Declan have grown and matured, both as individuals and a couple. These books are hilarious, and also very Australian. If you haven’t read these two books, you are really missing out on some absolute gold and you should go right now, RIGHT NOW, and get them because they are totally worth the time you’ll lose when you can’t put them down.
Once Burned, by Jeaniene Frost
The vampire Vlad (yes, that Vlad) meets Leila, who, after an accident with some power lines, electrocutes everyone she meets. I expected to hate this book. I didn’t. I enjoyed it a lot. I haven’t read the original series for which this is a spin off, but that didn’t matter. Vlad was sexy, and Leila does try to resist him in a non-annoying way. I will be reading the second one when it comes out.
The Channeling Morpheus series, by Jordan Castillo Price
Vampire hunter Michael meets Wild Bill, vampire extraordinaire, and they can’t keep away from each other. Eventually they stop trying. Holy crap, THIS SERIES. I adored it. Absolute, unreserved adoration. The last 3 or 4 in the story are particularly intense, and really shows how far they’ve come over the course of the series. I am particularly partial to Bill’s POV, because he really gives away how his feelings for Michael are developing, in only a word here and there, a stray thought, which is masterful on JCP’s part. The link is to the first one, Payback, but there’s a link to the entire bundle (#1-10 plus a couple of shorts) there as well. Just buy them all, and read them all at once. You won’t regret it.
For Christmas, Santa gave me cover art
December 28, 2012 at 12:29 pm | Posted in Dreamspinner Press, Metal Heart | Leave a commentTags: cover art, dreamspinner, metal heart
Well, Christmas is over for another year, and we are staring down the barrell of 2013. 2013! How on earth did that happen?
I got various things for Christmas, the most exciting of which is my cover art for Metal Heart. Done by the wonderful Anne Cain, it’s all I could have wanted in a cover for my Aussie rocker boys.
Beautiful, no?
New book sale
December 17, 2012 at 6:58 pm | Posted in Anthology, Dreamspinner Press, Novella, Whitewater | Leave a commentTags: anthology, dreamspinner, Whitewater
I’m pleased to announce that in addition to Metal Heart, which will be released January/February, I’ll have another book coming out early-ish next year, from Dreamspinner Press once again. It’s a novella called Whitewater, and it’s about a baker called Luke Henderson and a chef called Cameron Brown, and what they get up to on and around Coogee Beach in Sydney. It’ll be released as an ebook, and also in paperback as part of the anthology Under the Southern Cross, where it will join other stories by LJ LaBarthe, Isabelle Rowan, RJ Astruc and Robyn Walker.
Whitewater means quite a lot to me, for several reasons. It’ll see the light of day in March next year, and I hope people enjoy it.
Music soothes the savage beast
November 11, 2012 at 6:24 pm | Posted in real life | Leave a commentTags: music, real life
So, it’s been a while, internets. Even longer than what’s normal for me. That’s mainly because life is kicking me in the metaphorical nuts right now, and has been since September. First it knocked me down, then it kicked me while I was down there a few times, and just when I thought I was going to be able to get up, it’s kicking me again. So far my health is the only thing that has stayed relatively stable in recent weeks, and even that is only a matter of time, probably.
Anyway! When sucky things like the last few weeks happen, I generally take refuge in music. So I’m going to share with you some songs that have made me happy lately. They are all New Zealand bands/singers, and I encourage you to check them out, because they are fab.
First up, Shapeshifter. These guys are a Drum and Bass band, which is a genre–along with hip hop, soul, and funk–that heavily influences a lot of NZ music. I don’t know what it is about this country, but the Kiwis love their beats. Shapeshifter love their epic, 7-minute, mostly instrumental songs, which depending on your taste can get a little tedious, but this song is a beautiful exception. Paora Apera’s voice shines in this one. He’s got a real yearning quality to his voice which I love.
Something to note, if you’re at all sensitive to strobe-like, flashing lights, skip this video.
On the more rocky side, we have Six60. I have a real soft spot for these guys. They are great live. Singer Matiu Walters also has a yearning quality to his voice that can be really, really beautiful in their slower songs.
The Wyld are a relatively new Kiwi band putting out music that’s a really intriguing mix of genres which took a while to grow on me, but now it has I think they’re amazing. The singer has a certain quality to his voice, something that’s not at all a theme of this post…hmm. But I could listen to 2:15-2:35 over and over again until the end of time.
Last but by no means least, Kimbra. The world knows her as the female voice in Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, but her solo work is fantastic. Judging by how many YouTube videos I found of her doing American promotion, I guess at least some of the world knows that by now? This song is so beautiful I can hardly stand it.
So, there you go. Kiwi music. Not bad, not bad at all.
If only I wouldn’t pay more for postage than I would for the chocolate
September 11, 2012 at 10:19 pm | Posted in real life | 3 CommentsTags: food, real life
This time next week, I will be getting ready to go back to Australia for my birthday. I didn’t go back last year at all, mainly because the universe tried to kill me, and it turns out that spending a few weeks with your body trying to eat itself from the inside out takes a while to recover from, surprise, surprise.
Anyway.
I am starting to think about what I am looking forward to most about the trip. I guess some people would say family? Friends? The duty-free fags and grog at the airport? Not being at work for 10 days? Missing out on the positively disgusting NZ weather we’ve been having lately for the same amount of time?
Those people are not me. What I am looking forward to most are these three things:
Seriously, Strawberry Freddos are delicious and I miss them terribly. I brought Caramello Koalas back for the Kiwis once and they almost died at how good they were. There are chips here called Twisties but they pale in comparison to the real thing so much that it’s not even funny. I’m pretty much going to procure all three things as soon as I get there. And if I can fit two 72-piece boxes of chocolate into my suitcase on the way home I might just do it.
This of course begs the question: what chocolate/lolly/biscuit do you absolutely LOVE that you can’t get where you live? Tim Tams? Junior Mints (nom)? Jaffa Cakes? Fuzzy Peaches? Something that you’ve spent an outrageous amount on ordering online, or that you buy every time you go to the country that sells them. Or that you force your relatives to buy for you, or friends to send you whenever they can. Something that bloody good that you don’t want to live without it.
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Meredith Shayne 