My nightstand abounds with new books!

Lucifer Rising and Vampyre Darcy's Desire

First, yesterday, I received two books for review over at Read All Over: 1) Vampyre Darcy’s Desire by Regina Jeffers from Ulysses Press and 2) Lucifer Rising by Barbara Fifield from the author herself, which she was so nice as to autograph for me. Thanks so much Barbara! I can’t wait to dive into your book.

Everyone may roll their eyes at the first book,  but I had to request it. It’s two of my favourite things rolled into one: Jane Austen and vampires. The temptation was too much lol. I myself am even guilty of writing a short story about a vampire during the Regency/Georgian era ;) ‘Tis only natural that I would read someone’s story of the same. Purists would probably gank me though.

Holiday Swap Goodies!

Second, today while eating lunch, I had a parcel arrive. It was addressed from “Book Bloggers Holiday Swap”.

I tried hard to contain the little kid within and to do the proper adult thing of finishing my lunch before ripping into it, but boy was it hard lol. Once my plate was clean, I tore into it! I just have to say, that I had THE BEST Secret Santa ever! *huggles this magnanimous and anonymous person from Houston, Texas*

So what did I get? An adorable ceramic mug with a darling snowman on it (complete with two packets of cocoa, YUM!), a deliciously scented candle (kitchen spice, mmmm), a wonderful card, and two heavenly books: Irish Cooking by Clare Connery and The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary. I am SO ecstatic right now! Already thinking of things I can make from this cookbook for Christmas :)

I’m a little late on sending mine, sadly. So much has been going on, which I cannot talk about on a public forum such as this. But as soon as I’m done posting this, it’s off to the post office I go. I’m sending priority so the gifts will get there in a timely manner.

Ah, all this brings such smiles to my face and brightens my dim mood more than you guys know!

Thank you Secret Santa, whomever you are, and thank you Holiday Swap!!

However, when Katie recommended that I watch the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion starring Rupert as Capt. Wentworth, I found a new devil to pawn my soul to.

Seriously … Darcy who?

Persuasion has more than renewed my interest in MI-5 and now I will spend my Thursday nights at 9pm, planted in front of the telly, watching this fine piece of molecular art do his thing on PBS.

Also, I may or may not be basing a character in my new book on him ;) Oh come on, he make the perfect 1916 British soldier … would he not? Of course, I’ll be working on the sequel to my ‘09 NaNoWriMo book before I begin the historical drama/romance I’m planning.

Now, off for dinner and some movies.

This recipe is in two parts: you have the actual casserole recipe and then you have the recipe for homemade biscuits, which are the topping of the dish (with some cooked themselves for added eating *wink*)

Casserole Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup tuna (tuna in water not oil, drained)
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a sauce pan, on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour, salt and pepper. Add the milk and cook until thick. Add tuna and cheese, put into a casserole dish. Put some uncooked biscuits (look to recipe below) on top until covered. Bake in a pre-heated 450°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Biscuit Ingredients
2 cups of self-rising flour
1/4 cup of Crisco shortening
3/4 cup of milk

In a large bowl, cut shortening into flour with a pastry cutter (or fork, however you normally do this. I personally use a pastry cutter). Do this until the mixture favors coarse crumbs. Take a fork and stir in enough milk to create a soft dough (or until the dough pulls away from the bowl’s sides). On a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth. Some people roll the dough out and use a cutter to create perfect biscuits, but I like to take some of the dough between my hands and roll it into a ball and then flattening it out some, then place it in an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450°F for 10 to 12 minutes. [makes 12-14 biscuits]

Enjoy!!

• Amazon’s “25 Days of Free” Christmas music (also check out their free mp3 section for more holiday music and some other genres)

• Seven playlists of music from Urban Outfitters; lots of indie goodness (iTunes needed).
• The Nylon Holiday Playlist (iTunes needed)
• Free Download of “Christmas Day 1915″ by Celtic Thunder

If you know of another (legal) list of free music, comment so I can add it :)

Plus I have a few people lined up to give it a beta (alpha?) read, of which I am excited about. I really hope people like this book. But back to the busyness of the season, shall we …

Last night, I went shopping with my younger sister to pick up the supplies to make my mum a birthday cake (her birthday is tomorrow) and a few smaller things to go with the secret santa gifts I have to mail out. I ended up buying a three foot tree (see photo) for our house this year since no one really felt like getting up in the attic, pulling everything out and dealing with the hassle a full-size tree (which, in my family, normally ends with everyone being in a pissy mood and we need all the festiveness we can get this year, mmmkay).

After getting the tree ready, eating dinner, and doing an inordinate amount of dishes — I seriously believe evil elves stalk the house when we are distracted and dirty up our plates and cutlery — I wrapped the gifts I bought for the Supernatural Secret Santa on Livejournal (not shown) and the Book Blogger’s Holiday Swap (photo to the left). These shall be mailed out on Monday. I was going to do it today but again, I have so much to do, and I didn’t want to run everything to the post office on the same day (I would honestly need almost two boxes for all I have to mail). Instead, I opted to mail two packages today: one to Cash4Books.net and one to a friend in Belgium who kindly bought an unwanted book from me as I’m trying to clear out my collection.

Tonight will be spent addressing my holiday cards, among other things. I will probably post some photos of that tomorrow. Seriously, my life is beyond exciting. ;)

• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzgerald
• Queene of Light by Jennifer Armintrout
• Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
• A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sneigoski
• Fallen by Claire Delacroix
• Witch’s Canyon (Supernatural) by Jeff Mariotte

Can anyone tell that my normal vampire obsession is taking a break for fallen angels? lol. Only two of those books listed don’t have angels in them. God damn Supernatural and it making me want angels 24/7 these days. I mean, I’ve liked the non-douchey (aka non-touched by an angel) variety for a long ass time, but Supernatural is making it worse. I really wanted Dawn McClure’s Fallen Angels series (Azazel and Asmodeus) but found out they were ebook only so bah … I will wait for later to get those when I feel like staring at a screen to read.

I am happy, however, that I saved over $10 in shipping with their Cyber Monday Free Shipping Offer. Effing love Powell’s. Suck it Amazon. I also sold five more books to them. Ka-chow!Okay, I’m off to curl up with Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand by Carrie Vaughn, so I can be caught up when the publishers send me the new book in the series (and the one before) later this month for review.

51150 words baby! WOO!