Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken

Note: This title’s release date is November  5, 2013. Review is based on a review copy provided by the publisher.

 

This isn’t my normal kind of book. Actually, it’s three inter-related stories. But it blends two of my favorites– high fantasy and romance in a bawdy, rockin’ good time. With a heroine in the lead story whose name is Annwyl the Bloody, you know this isn’t your momma’s romance.

Nor is it the normal for fantasy, either.

It’s a blend of the two, with a contemporary twist. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to write fantasy this way, but could never find an example of it. Now I have it in my possession and it is good. As a reader, it’s a welcome change. a breath of fresh air. A woman warrior and a dragon do not have a conventional courtship, and he practically splits himself in half to win her heart. 

As a writer, it begs the question: what if more of us wrote what we wanted, how we wanted? I once stopped writing a high fantasy story because the main character was talking… well, modern english. Someone made a comment to her, and her response was “That sounds dirty. Did you mean that to sound dirty?”

Hmmm… might go back to that story, now.

But for now, I can whole heartedly recommend Dragon Actually with 4/5 Dragon Roars with a caveat: if you don’t enjoy the sex scenes, you need to skip this one. While they are handled well , they are part of the story (and the romance genre in general). Other than that— make the purchase on November 5th!

 

 

 

Book Review: Dream with Little Angels by Michael Hiebert

I came across this book a little… well, weird. I belong to an online writing community, and Michael Hiebert was involved in it. I “met” him in passing, heard about his book… Then I saw it. Cool cover. Someone called it “southern literary mystery” and I was spooked. Literary, to me, normally means something that normal people won’t get and you have to work really hard at understanding.

I am so glad I tried it anyways. Because as dark as this novel gets, it has a good dose of humorous real life as well. There’s one paragraph that is an ode to bacon and I tell you my mouth watered when I read it. I passed the book on to my sister M, (which I’ve done with a few other books), and she devoured it on the trip home. She enjoyed the same thing I did— the ability to have a balanced novel even though the subject matter was so disturbing.

Instead of a stuffy literary novel, what you get is a coming of age mystery that will grab you by the shirt and not let go until the last page. I loved “Dream with Little Angels”. It’s different from what I normally read, but in a great way.

Go forth and buy it!

My Little Cantelope

Hello there. We’re gonna talk about girl parts today, so if you’re male or disinclined, you might want to tune out.

I kind of want to talk about the elephant in the room. Not with you guys, but with people whom I meet face to face.
I’m a little bit large. In fact, I look like I’m pregnant (and actually just got told that for the first time and yes, I cried.).

I have a cantelope sized tumor in my uterus. The uterus itself is distended (was distended at time of measurement, I should say). at what would be a 14-16 week pregnancy. I am not pregnant. I do not have cancer.

I have fibroids.

My mom had them, too. Hers were well over 20 pounds, but the main reason why they got so large was because not only did she not get checked regularly, but also that it doesn’t show up on the regular pap. You kind of have to know what the doctor needs to look for, sometimes.

See, I quit looking in a mirror a while back ago. I check my face, but NOTHING else. Because (just like Mom), I figured I was just fat. After I left my husband, I lost some weight, but then everything came back. And got bigger. My head was so twisted around because of what I had gone through, that instead of saying “Hey, I’ve been the same size for almost 15 years and nothing’s changed— maybe I should get checked out”,  I just bought bigger pants and quit looking at my body. The other symptoms, I figured were because of early onset menopause.

Yup.

But it’s not only body image. It was fear. EVERYONE wanted to know why I was so terrified of fibroids. My mom died too young after having hers removed. Because she’d waited too long. Her body had been ravaged by carrying around this extra weight: diabetes, congestive heart failure, arthritis.

I don’t care about my body image any more. I just want my energy back. I want to play with my son on a regular basis. I want to be there for my son.

SO. Here’s the thing, girls. It’s time to go get your Pap. Time to go get your bobbies photo’d, if you haven’t lately. Because this isn’t just *our* lives we’re playing with. It’s our family’s , too.

If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for them.

I was 24 when I lost my mom. She was 65.

Save the girl parts. Go take care of them. Don’t put it off, don’t be scared. No matter what, we’ll get through it.

We’re women. God didn’t choose us to be the life givers cuz we’re cute. It’s because we’re tough.

Ok. You can wait till the doctor’s office is open.

Personally, I’m hoping my little cantelope will be delivered in February.

In the meantime, I’ll keep writing, and reading, and talking and being me. Just like you will still be you.