Romantic Movies

Have you guys seen the movie Just Like Heaven? Most of the time I find that romantic comedies don't work for me on one level or the other, but not only is this movie funny, it's so sweet and so romantic that I just wanna go awwwww and smile...and then watch it again. It's that good.

I think Reese Witherspoon is an awesome actress (mental tangent: have you seen Election? Trust me, it's hilarious) and though I haven't seen much of Mark Ruffalo's stuff, he was great in this. They had onscreen chemistry and most important, they had the emotion. Loved it!

Seen it? What did you think? Any other movie recommendations?

Between The Covers

I'm over here, too! Come visit. :)

Links, Links, Links!

My interview with Fallen Angel Reviews is now up.

The Jan udates for my website have been done.

Editor Lucia Macro talks about what she does When At Work.

Author MJ Rose talks about how the "audio book revolution is ripe to take off".

Gena Showalter is giving away a copy of The Nymph King.

Bookslut has up it's Best Covers of 2006. From my quick glance, I see no genre books in there, so let's hold our own poll - what covers did you love this year?

And finally, you gotta hand it to those Aussies. Apparently a library in Oz has introduced:

...speed-dating nights for lovers of classic texts.

The state library of Victoria in Melbourne introduced dating with a literary twist after the idea was raised at a staff party.

Those who attend must bring a book they either love or loathe as a conversation starter, ensuring there are no uneasy silences during the series of five-minute dates.

I love it! At least you'll know your date can read ;)

Visions of Heat ARC - Week 3

If you haven't thrown your name into the hat to win an advanced review copy of Visions of Heat, here's your chance! We're into the third week of the giveaway.

You can find the full details here, but in basic terms, if you win an ARC, I'm asking you to do a review in the week of Feb 26-March 3. Easy!

I'll pick a random winner Sunday morning my time. Leave a comment anytime before then to be entered into the draw.

Goddess of Spring - P C Cast

This is my second P C Cast book. I picked it up after really enjoying Goddess By Mistake and I'm so glad I did. I read the whole book in one sitting and am dying to get my hands on the others in the Goddess Summoning series. There's a sense of magic in P C Cast's books that's at once beautiful and believable.

Here's the blurb for Goddess of Spring:

Lina's trendy bakery in Tulsa is proving to be less than lucrative, and she must come up with a plan. When she stumbles upon an Italian Goddess cookbook, Lina can't help but think she's found the answer to her problem even if it means invoking a goddess to save her business.

Soon enough, Lina finds herself face-to-face with Demeter, who has a plan of her own. She proposes that Lina exchange souls with Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, who will breathe new life into the bakery. In return, Lina must set order to the Underworld.

Before all this, Lina's problems mostly involved sourdough and second dates. Now that she embodies the enchanting Persephone, Lina has weightier things on her mind, like the formidable task of bringing Spring to a world of spirits. But when the handsome,brooding Hades kindles a spark in her heart, Lina wonders if this Lord of the Underworld might be the man of her dreams.

What I love about the heroine in this book is that she's so sensible. That doesn't sound very exciting, but Lina is a fabulous character. She's thrown out of her element, but she makes the best of it. She's sympathetic, funny and shows the sense of wonder any one of us would probably feel if we were thrust into the world of the Gods.

Hades as a hero is plain yummy. Can you get any more tall, dark and handsome?

I loved everything about this book. Recommended thrice over!

Dear Author

Today, you must go visit Dear Author, if you haven't already.

Not only do they have an awesome video review of Meljean Brook's Demon Angel (me want!) but they have an interview with the fabulous Cindy Hwang (my editor at Berkley (whom I absolutely adore)!).

It's 2007!

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope you have a fantastic 2007! :)

ARC Winner #4

To be totally fair, I picked this winner as randomly as I could - I assigned all the entrants a number, then ran a random number generator. The person whose number came up was:

Robin Snodgrass

Robin, please email me at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com.

Everyone else - several more weeks of winning to go!! :)

Favorite Love Songs

First up, a public service announcement: Tomorrow's post with the winner of the ARC contest will probably be up late but it will appear, so keep an eye out. Secondly, if you won an ARC last time, it's in the mail, baby.

Onto today's post: Sara tagged me to do my five favorite Christmas songs, but I missed the tag in the madness before Christmas, so I'm going to do it now. But since Christmas is over, I'm going to change the tag to five favorite love songs.

Here goes:

1. The Rose - Bette Middler
2. Last Kiss - Pearl Jam (If you haven't heard this, it is the most amazing love song but fair warning, it will probably make you cry).
3. Slow Hand - Pointer Sisters
4. Ordinary People - Clay Walker
5. Friends and Lovers - I don't actually know who sings this!

Tag, you're it. What are your favorites? Spread the love (on your blog or in the comments - take your pick)!

Random Picture Day: Xian

This is a close-up picture of the terracotta soldiers and their horses in Xian, China. The pits where they were discovered are just huge - they were buried with an emperor, to help him in the afterlife.

Age has turned them all brown, but when made, they were beautifully colored. Apparently, the archaeologists may have found some that are sealed in a chamber and remain colored - but they can't open the chamber because as soon as they do, the color will dissipate.

Here's another shot that shows the size of these pits and the enclosure built to protect them. It's a truly awesome sight. The sense of age in the place is amazing.

Lora Leigh's Breeds

If you've been reading this blog over the past month, you'll have realized I've gone crazy over reading lately. One of my 'discoveries' just before Christmas, was Lora Leigh's Breeds series. I raced through Megan's Mark, then began Harmony's Way.

If you haven't read these books, Lora Leigh's world is a place where the Genetics Council has engineered human and animal DNA together to create Breeds. These Breeds were meant to be soldiers and assassins and were kept locked up in labs, but have now found freedom and the world has to deal with them.

Here's the blurb for Megan's Mark (from LL's site):

Cursed with the extraordinary power to feel other peoples' emotions, Megan Fields has tucked herself away in a remote corner of New Mexico, working as a small-town sheriff's deputy. She finds solace in the silence and heat of the desert. But when Breeds begin dying on her watch, Megan realizes that the secrets from her past can't stay buried forever. Someone is out for blood - her blood.

An arrogant Feline Breed, Braden Arness broods with feral intensity. His mission to solve the mysterious murders brings him to Megan, a woman who accosts his senses like no other. Only with him can she let down her guard - and surrender to the insatiable hunger that wracks her body. But as they team up to hunt the elusive killers, Braden and Megan find themselves becoming the prey...

These books are hot enough to singe (talk about sizzling chemistry!) but what really did it for me was that I fell in love with the characters and more importantly, I could imagine them falling in love with each other. Megan and Braden just 'fit'.

I had the same reaction to Lance and Harmony in Harmony's Way. These couples might be driven together by the mating heat, but what keeps them together is how right they are for each other.

It's sexy, it's original and it has great characters - I totally recommend this series. (FYI: Megan's Mark isn't actually the first book - several of the series came out in e-format, but I had no trouble picking up the threads of the world so go forth and read!)

The next book is Tanner's Scheme (Aug 07), which I have managed to get my paws on in advance through various nefarious methods! I'll post on that closer to the release date since it would be just mean to tease you all so far in advance! *g*

Visions of Heat ARC: Week 2

I'm opening up new entries for the Visions of Heat ARC contest. If you want the full details, here's the link to the original post. But basically, if you win an ARC, I'm asking you to please do a review in the last week of Feb 26-Mar 3, just before the book releases.

Everyone who entered originally and didn't win is still entered. If you didn't enter last week, leave a comment on this post and you're in. I'll pick a random winner Sunday morning my time so you can comment anytime before then. Good luck!

Pressies

I've just realized that this is the first year I've blogged through Christmas. It's kind of fun - since the blogsphere is so quiet, you'll all just have to read my blog *grin*

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Want to share any good presents you got? I'm currently listening to one of mine - Westlife's "Love" album. According to my 'cool' friends, I shouldn't admit to liking Westlife in public but I'm at peace with my taste in music.

Ok, your turn!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from New Zealand!!

I hope you all have a fabulous day!

Hugs,
Nalini

ARC Winners: #1, #2 and #3

Yes, you read that right. I've decided to give away three ARCs simply because of the amount of interest. Thank you to everyone who spread the word that this is happening. See, good deeds do get rewarded! Special thank you to Jane at Dear Author who is a goddess for, as one poster put it, "pointing a giant arrow" in this direction. :) And feel free to keep spreading the word (who knows to what heights of generosity I might be driven).

Yeah, I know, you don't care. You just want the names of the winners. Here they are (picked by a combination of me closing my eyes and pointing, a random number generator and the fact that I think any woman with Kat's news deserves an ARC while she's still got free time to read one!):

1.Angela/SciFiChick
2.Liz
3.Kat O+

Email me your addresses at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com and we'll get the ARCs in the mail to you.

As you know, I'm giving away at least one ARC for the next five weeks. Because I think you all are awesome people, I'm not going to make you return each week to re-enter. If you've thrown your name in the hat once, consider it entered for the entire duration. (I'll put up a reminder every week for new entries).

However, as I said, I don't have everyone's emails and some of your profile links aren't working so make sure to drop by on Sundays to check if you've won. If an ARC stays unclaimed for longer than a week, I'll redraw - I figure that's fair.

One sleep to go till Christmas!

Work Post

I know I owe some people replies to emails - hopefully I'll get through them all this weekend so bear with me folks. And if you don't get a reply by end of next week or so, assume it's bounced and send it to my gmail (nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com), as the bounce gremlins have been working overtime this week.

Don't forget - the ARC winner will be up tomorrow so swing by then as I don't have everyone's emails.

And have a fabulous weekend!

You!

I admit I have no idea how I'm going to pick the first winner of the ARC draw but we shall leave that decision till I actually have to do it. Until then, have you guys seen the Time magazine person of the year? It's YOU! It's all about how the people have driven the news this year - bloggers, YouTubers etc. It's interesting stuff.

Do you think the revolution will last? Everyone's blogging now but five years down the track? Any predictions?

p.s. I meant to add this in the ARC post. If you actually review for a review site, then email me so I can make sure the site gets put on my list of places to send to.

Visions of Heat - ARC

Okay, first, I'm giving away an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) of Visions of Heat (Out March 2007). To be in to win, leave a comment on this post. You can even just say "I want!" *grin*

But wait, there's more - I'll be giving away at least one ARC per week through to the end of January, so even if you don't win this week, there's always next. I've had these ARCs made for this giveaway, so they're fairly simple but you'll get the book.

What's the catch? As the whole point of an ARC is to get the word out about a book, I'm asking all the winners to review the book. It doesn't matter where you do it - on your blog/your myspace etc, but please review Visions if you win an ARC. And because I'm giving away copies so early, I'm asking that those reviews be posted up in the final week of February (Feb 26-March 3), just prior to the book's release.

I'll pick a winner this weekend and post up the name on Sunday 9am my time, so drop your name in the hat anytime before that and you're in.

Blog Tour: Venus Envy

I'm working on a giveaway - the words ARC and Visions might feature, so watch this space. But today, I've got a Out of the Blogosphere tour book for you. Check it out.

VENUS ENVY by Shannon McKelden
(TOR Books, December 26, 2006)

Take one hunky firefighter, one stubborn "Cinderella," and one very reluctant fairy godmother and what do you get? Rachel Greer wants no part of Venus's scheme to land Mr. March as her Prince Charming, but Venus is determined to do just that. She's only a few love-life fixes short of returning to her former goddess status, and she's not letting one mulish mortal stand in her way.

It appears the only way Rachel can get rid of the very un-Disney-like fairy godmother is to play along. So she follows Venus's plan to interview Luke Stanton's ex-girlfriends...which Venus believes will cure Rachel's relationship fears, but which Rachel knows will only prove her point that men are never what they appear to be. But, when Venus's plan appears to work, and Rachel and Luke fall in love, does Rachel dare set aside her fears about happily ever? Or will betrayal send her back into relationship seclusion...this time forever? And what happens when a goddess-turned-fairy godmother breaks the most important rule--protecting herself from human emotions?

Excerpt

ABOUT SHANNON McKELDEN
Shannon McKelden has wanted to be a writer since she earned a coveted ‘A+++’ from her 9th grade English teacher. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her high school sweetheart, two kids, two cats, a dog and a crow.


REVIEWS
Witty, funny, and truly original, McKelden’s romance is a standout. -- Booklist

Sexy, clever and fun, Venus Envy is absolutely delightful from beginning to end. Author Shannon McKelden has talent to spare. – Jane Porter, author of The Frog Prince

Debut author McKelden is undeniably talented, milking a fun plot for all it's worth. 3 Stars. – Romantic Times


Website: http://www.shannonmckelden.com

Releases & Catchup

It struck me sometime over the past month that I have four releases next year. This is the first time that's happened. Here's the list:

Bound By Marriage - Feb 07
Visions of Heat - March 07

Caressed By Ice - Sep 07
Novella in Anthology - Oct 07

I'm going through the draft of the novella at the moment and absolutely loving it!

Okay, your turn. What's happening in your life at the moment?