She's No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren

She's No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren. Romance. Pages 333. All Fiona wanted was a vacation from the politics and harsh demands of her everyday life. The forbidden mortal realm seemed like the best place to get that vacation. Tobias only wanted to get everyone through the paranormal summit without the humans getting spooked. Unfortunately someone out there has a different idea completely. Suddenly they're both stuck dealing with demons and horrific deaths. I enjoyed this book. I'll be interested to see what else Christine Warren has out there.

Magic and Metabolism.

Here is your guest blogger again to keep you amused for the day.

In many books magic seems to have some bioelectrical component. To draw the energy from the surroundings, or just use a spell, the witch/wizard needs to use some of their own energy to start everything off. If this is the case it seems they should be using more energy. So as the human body gets most of it's energy from food, it seems like they should have a higher metabolism. Funny how you rarely hear about that though. Werewolves are almost always given higher metabolisms, eating like the wolves they become. Yet the average magic user in stories is for all appearances normal.

-Bill

Purpose

I am currently reading a book and the author brought up an interesting point. Really most magick is the redirection of energy to do something else. However how difficult the magick is to do really depends on where you are getting the energy from and what you're asking it to do. For instance if you are gathering the extra energy that people give off on a daily basis and using it to energize yourself (like caffeine without the drug) that should be relatively easy (however possibly addictive just like caffeine). However if you are taking energy from say a computer (which is designed to use the energy itself) and then using it to keep a swinging door shut (which is designed to always be open) well that should be more difficult. Basically magick that keeps something from doing it's designed purpose would be more difficult then magick that helps something do what it was designed to do. By this theory glamors are relatively easy to perform because they just redirect the human eye. Humans don't want to see something upsetting. So if you're a large troll and you want to look like a business man the glamor is easy to pull off cause people don't want to see a large troll but expect a business man. However a magick spell to make a liar tell the truth would be more difficult because the liar wants to lie. It's what they do. Well I'm sure I can talk about different bits of this all day but I'm sure you get the idea. Magick that gives people what they expect/want is easier then magick that forces something to do something it isn't designed to do.

Never More...

The raven plays an interesting part in paranormal stories. The meaning of their presence changes based on their numbers. Generally the more of them there are the more screwed you are. In Germany they are known as the souls of the damned. The Goddess Raven, also known as Morrigan, is the goddess of war, fate, and death. However, Native American mythology has a raven as the creator of the world and daylight. It's also said that if they ever abandon the Tower of London it'll fall. So I guess they aren't all that bad. Maybe they just need a better P.R. rep.

Must Love Dragons by Stephanie Rowe

Must Love Dragons by Stephanie Rowe. Romance. Pages 342. This book was very enjoyable. I can't wait to check out what else she might have out. Theresa is desperate for human contact. She's starved for affection. And she is quite literally starving to death. But how to get out and get what she needs. Of course contact the devil. He'll take care of it. Read her funny folly in this fun book.

Dragons, Why can't we find them?

The reason we can't find any dragons is very simple. They can look human. Yep in lots of books I've read the dragon can simply look human when they want to. Although I have yet to see why we haven't found dragon bones since they don't automatically change into human form when they die. The only thing I can think of for that is that they look like dinosaurs. You're probably thinking what about carbon dating. Well you see dragons are very long lived so their bones read as so old that they look to be the right age in carbon dating. So that is why we can't find dragons. Now I just need to work on why we can't find the Lock Nes Monster.

Warlock seeking open minded individual with lots of chalk

(fun dating add post)

Warlock seeking open minded individual for fun, friendship, and immortality. I enjoy summoning lesser demons from hell and look forward to the day when I can summon the devil himself. If all works out as planned I will reach immortality and share it with the love of my life. Blood sacrifices may be involved and lots of chalk will be used. A dust allergy would be a hindrance since I practise out of the basement. I'm mostly a night person and work best between the hours of 10pm and 2am. I hope to hear from you soon.

Hell to Pay by Simon Green

Hell to Pay by Simon Green. 264 pages. Science Fiction. This is another Novel of the Nightside. it's a great series of books that I highly recommend for both scifi readers and mystery readers alike. The infamous John Taylor is hired to find a missing person. The granddaughter of the great Mr Griffin. He may be immortal but he just named his granddaughter his heir cutting off the rest of his immortal family. However someone is blocking John Taylor's talent for finding things. He has to go about doing actual detective work this time. Check it out.

Sorry, post will be late. Thanks for your patience.

Contracts with the Devil

Contracts with the Devil are really really tricky. Basically the Devil wants your soul. He can get it by letting you sin on your own and hope you don't find religion. Or he can buy it. He can offer you what you most desire. So you think hey it's just my soul you might not even believe it's there. After all you don't need it to live kind of like your tonsils. Or you might think I know how to get out of this and get what I want. Well most likely you're wrong cause people always are when it comes to contracts with the devil. There will be some sort of bit about how is you do this or don't do that all your stuff will go bye bye. Or if you use it to save someone from something they'll die of something else. It's typical behavior for the Devil. Plus he wont give you time to read it. You may not even mean to sign it so best just don't deal with the Devil at all. It just doesn't turn out to be a happy moment.

Ghost Rider (the movie)

Ghost Rider (the movie). Well I'm sure that most of you know that this movie is based on a marvel comic book. Now I haven't actually read the comic so I can't tell you how close it was. The idea is that throughout time the devil has gotten contracts with exceptionally talented and daring riders. riders at one point was horse and has now moved onto motorcycle. They are the devils bounty hunters. We were worried it would suck because it's yet another comic book movie and while spiderman and batman have done well pretty much the rest sucked. However I enjoyed this movie the entire time. I would love to say it was a good movie but I'm not sure I can go that far. It wasn't a bad movie. I don't feel bad for paying for it. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Have fun.

Modesty

Modesty is a rare trait amongst werewolves. Basically because they have to get naked to change or go through a lot of clothing they get used to being in the buff. I'm sure it also helps that they are usually very buff in appearance. The theory there is that the change burns a lot of calories. So they get to eat a lot and still be thin and beautiful. So one way for a werewolf to blend in might be for them to live with nudist colonies. It would be a nice change at least. You know since most people who want to get nude are the people we don't wanna see. :) have fun.

Christopher Moore book signing

Yesterday Christopher Moore was in Ann Arbor. It was almost canceled because of snow. But we lucked out and he was able to make it. Chris writes really funny books that you can find in the fiction section of your local book store. He wrote such books as Lamb, Bloodsucking fiends, (his latest book) You suck, and many more. Bill and I had a great time. We met other people from the Christopher Moore boards for dinner and after signing drinks. We also got Chris to sign a picture of him and us from the last signing. He's a nice guy and I suggest you read his stuff if you haven't yet done so. I'm pretty sure there is only one I haven't read and that's because our copy is signed and I will have to look for one that isn't lol.

Keeping up appearances.

There are a lot of things paranormal people don't need to do that regular everyday Joe's do. Sometimes those things are obvious an need to be done to keep up appearances.
Vampires are the most susceptible to being noticed.
*First thing is they don't need to breath where most other paranormals and humans have to do. In order to blend in they should definitely make an effort to breath.
*Eating is important as well. Most vampires can't eat. They would if they could but they can't. However it's important to look like you're eating. Keeping some basic groceries in the house are important. Going to the store every so often is important. Also keeping dishes in the house is important. Even the biggest bachelor has some dishes. They may be plastic or old jelly jars but there are dishes. Without them it's obvious you never eat. Plus some basic appliances. You need like a toaster and coffee maker. OK I know some humans don't have these but most do.
*Bathing is important. I know some of you magical people don't have to worry about it. Some magic and all clean. Well even if you aren't going to use it you should have some bath supplies. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner are easy things and can be bought cheap. You might also wanna think about a razor and shaving cream.
*Clothing should be hanging in your closet. Even if you can zap clothes out of clean air you need to look like you pull things out to wear like everyone else. If you must go to the salvation army and pick things up. It's doubly good to make sure you actually could wear it if you needed too.

Well I'm sure there is much much more but it's time for me to get ready for the day. Have fun everyone.

Hoodwinked

I watched Hoodwinked yesterday and I don't think that it got the attention it deserved. It was a very cool movie. Basically it's a cartoon of Little Red Riding Hood where the wolf may not be the bad guy, the woodsman may not be the hero, and everyone else is suspect. I think fairy tales are the original paranormal tales. They have magical creatures, witches, magical items etc... Well it's a short post today cause I gotta go dig out my car before work (lots of snow).

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Martial arts and the paranormal

I know you're probably thinking why would a paranormal creature bother with martial arts. Well I can think of a lot of reasons.

1 - keep boredom at bay.
2 - You might need to fight another paranormal with the same powers. Mighty skills help.
3 - What happens if your might paranormal skills are currently unavailable.
4 - You can do mighty moves and scare people away without having to actually touch them.
5 - Martial arts are good exercise to keep the fat cells at bay.
6 - Because they're cool.

So you see it only makes sence for paranormals to partake in martial arts.

I'm the Vampires, That's Why by Michele Bardsley

I'm the Vampires, That's Why by Michele Bardsley. 324 Pages. Romance. This was a funny book. It's the first but looks like it's going to be a series. The main character is a single mom raising two kids after her husband cheated on her with another women and then gets killed before the divorce goes through. Then she's attacked by an out of control creature that nearly kills her. Lucky it's handlers are vampires and they change her and take care of her kids for her while she's not able. Of course her true love is amongst the group and makes it his mission to win her over all while avoiding his enemies and trying not to let anyone get else get killed. Check it out.

Now for something serious

One major downside to getting eternal life after you've had a chance to live is that you could outlive your children. There are four options available to you that I can think of.

1 - Let your children live out there natural live spans and let them go. It's hard but it might be better for them.
2 - Embrace them once they hit an appropriate age (probably before they have kids of their own).
3 - Have someone else embrace them. Possible problem is that after a few hundred years you might not like the foster embracer any longer.
4 - Only embrace them should they be dying before their time. Problem is that you might not be there in time or there may be to many people around to embrace them in time.

This seems to be yet another reason that vampires embrace those with few attachments. On top of that yet another reason to embrace younger people. They are less likely to have kids. Well at least at this period in life. I'm not sure what they did when you had kids at 13.

Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur

Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur. Pages 355. Science Fiction. The main character Riley is half vampire half werewolf, has a fraternal twin brother and keeps getting kidnapped. Now she's mixed up in an investigation that she never wanted to be part of in the first place. Plus on top of nearly being killed every day she is being forced to become a guardian when she never wanted to be anything more then a secretary. Watching her dreams of a white picket fence and kids slip through her fingers at least she has many men to make her feel better. I enjoyed this book a lot. It's the second book in the series the first is Full Moon Rising. Have fun

Mixed Breeds

Some books deal with mixed breed paranormals. For example the dhampire. A Dhampire is half vampire half human. They have the strengths of both and none of the weaknesses. One of the more rare is the abomination. The abomination is generally half vampire half werewolf. You never know what you're going to get when you mix these two. It's a very unstable combination. Usually they don't live. Now I bet you're thinking how do you even get one of these. Well there are two methods. One is that before the vampire becomes infertile they have sex with a werewolf female usually resulting in there death. The other way is for a werewolf to be embraced. This one is fairly rare as well. Most of the time the embrace doesn't take and the wolf just dies.

Well I'm sure there are more types of mixed breeds but I'm out of time for today. Have a fun one.

small communities

I was just thinking about small communities that usually stick to themselves. Gypsies are one of them but I'd really know much about them. The one that I was thinking of was born vampires. Which although it is a fake community I know a lot more about. First it's small because it's nearly extinct. They have a hard time conserving and can only have kids with other born vampires. So dating isn't really about love and neither is marriage it's about getting preggers. So the more kids you can have the better the relationship is deemed to be. I can't imagine how ick that is. I mean I love my honey and plan to be with him for forever. I'd hate to think that a decision like that could be made for me by fertility. On another hand I understand not wanting to put people together that wouldn't be fertile. It would be a crappy way to decide love.

Dead End Dating by Kimberly Raye an more

Dead End Dating by Kimberly Raye. Pages 334. Romance (loosely so). This is the first book and I found it amusing. A very a typical vampire names Lil decides to run an dating service for vampires humans and others. She doesn't wear black, she has blond highlights, and she cares about love. In fact she cares about true love. Her mom wont stop trying to fix her up with guys who completely annoy her. It seems that all born vampires are very concerned with fertility rates and orgasm quotients. Funny thing is for all the talk about sex they don't really ever do it as far as I can tell by reading the lit.

Big Fish - Movie by Tim Burton. This is yet again another very good but very sad movie. Dad has always told stories. Fantastic stories that could never ever be true. However somehow they kind of are true. If only his son could see through his stubborn disbelief and just enjoy him for who he is.

Ok a thought on being perfect again when you are embraced. If you've lost your virginity does your Hymen come back and if it does does it come back every night for forever.

Eternity with jock itch?

Most vampire books if you are embraced with a disease it'll be cured. But this one I am reading now when you are changed you are changed as is and you will forever have whatever you had when you were changed. You are the weight you are. No getting rid of that extra fat. It doesn't burn off with the all liquid diet. On top of that if you have a yeast infection or jock itch you are also stuck with that for forever. Now I don't think this would be a problem for long cause if I found out I'd have a yeast infection for eternity I'd walk into the sun or take a bath in holy water with garlic bulbs. I guess one benefit is that if you did have cancer and were embraced you would still have cancer but it would be frozen in time so you wouldn't get any worse. Which again is a catch I mean do you look normal the way you are? Are you always in pain or just feel fine? It's an interesting concept.

necessity is the mother of invention

Well people frequently say necessity is the mother of invention but can it be that necessity (otherwise known as stress) is the mother of anything you freaking need. In several of the books I've read people come upon their destined love when they are about to be killed or some similar circumstance. Could it be that the stress of near death brings us close to whomever we are with and allows for us to open the gates to destiny and find the true love that so many of these books think people are looking for? I think it's a definite possibility just like when people come back from near death or actually death and think they saw a tunnel of light. Most scientists think that that is caused by the neurons in the brain bringing in your field of vision. Well just a thought. Have a nice day.

Are you ready for some football?

Well I'm not sure how interested I am but that's what I'm doing today so everyone have a good day and see you tomorrow.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

The Hero Strikes Back by Moira J. Moore

The Hero Strikes Back by Moira J. Moore. Pages 308. Science Fiction. Second book in series. Lee and Taro find themselves in the spotlight once again when they public doesn't feel they are doing their jobs. They aren't fixing the weather. What regulars don't realize is it isn't there job to fix weather it's their job to fix natural disasters. They have no experience with weather. Plus there seems to be a bunch of religious fanatics running around killing low lords and ladies. Lee finds Taro in the middle of all the danger. He is after all a lord by blood even though he's renounced the title. Follow them as they blunder through social situations and moral difficulties making us laugh the entire time.

Arranged marriage

It seems that paranormal people are subjected to marriages of political and land based ideals more then normal people are.
Vampires are frequently marrying each other for property. Expand the land one controls make a wedding with the next county over. It'll keep everyone in line. Also vampires seem prone to marry for money. But I guess after a few hundred years of watching people you loved die you might not feel the need to marry for love.
Werewolves also seem to marry for obligation. Or at least not marry because of what they are instead of who they love. Werewolves find it hard to trust outside of their clan. They may love you but do they trust you not just with their life but with the lives of their pack. Can you be told. Many packs just simply don't trust people and rule that no no one can be told. Some go as far as to say it doesn't matter if you love them you can not marry them or have any kind of lasting relationship with them. Unfortunately it seems most werewolves just opt not to even try for love. They may marry to get a pup but love seems a concept they are hard pressed to explore.
It seems such a sad thing that love is so hard to find in the paranormal community. I know it's hard to find in the normal community as well but the paranormal community seems even more hard pressed. On top of just finding it you have to get permission to follow through and then you have to figure out if they can be trusted. It's such a prose. Good luck.