hi there.

Dug models the Cone of Shame

Once again I’ve changed the name of this here vanity project. Somehow “inertia” wasn’t quite cutting it… a wee too self-fulfilling perhaps?

And so, behold: Squirrel!

WTF? You ask. She’s gone round the bend again, you think. Au contraire. Allow me to digress…

Took the nubbins to see Pixar’s Up last weekend and was completely blown away. Best thing they’ve put out since The Incredibles. My buddy Stu will (and has) argue this is the best Pixar to date. But he also liked Cars more than The Incredibles and that’s just wroooong… and not on point.

What is on point is that I get distracted. VERY EASILY. You may or may not have noticed that small character flaw. And yet, like Dug the Dog – my new hero – my heart is in the right place. I want to finish the mission and be accepted by a pack of my peers, preferably with applause and ovations and treats. But I must accept that wiley squirrels lurk, striking when least expected, setting me up for rounds with the Cone of Shame. And that’s ok. As long as I get back on track.

And keep moving forward.

coming soon… maybe

So on my way to pick up my rugrats after work I had (imo) a brilliant idea on how to restructure this here blog. After picking up said rugrats, gassing up the Falcon, running the Falcon through the carwash to the absolute delight of previously mentioned rugrats, feeding the familial horde gussied-up box mac’n'chz, and knocking back a half box of wine… I’ve totally lost that initial brilliant spark.

Perhaps it will come back to me over a sturdy lunch of Lean Pockets today.

off topic: the first one’s free, little girl

So last week I’m cruising the blogroll and stop in at SBTB HQ where I find a link for a free e-book from Samhain Publishing. Cool.

As I hinted previously, I’ve got me some new addictions that keep straying me off course from my actual day job and current WIP (and yes, I’ve changed the project AGAIN – simmer down, it’s all good this time. Trust me). One of those is Kindle for iPhone. No, I’ve not joined the iPhone feeding frenzy but I do have an iPod Touch… next best thing.

So I’m still trying to decide if I even *like* Kindle on my iPod. Then I see the link for a free e-book and I think to myself, “Self – nuttin beats free.” So I linked and loaded Frank Tuttle’s Dead Man’s Rain.

Oh. My. God. Seriously, go out and BUY this book! It’s fantastic. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a maiden voyage with a new author quite so much as I did this. In fact, Jenny Crusie’s Fast Women was probably the last one. (ETA: Lani Diane Rich’s A Little Ray of Sunshine. Get it. You won’t be sorry.)

It’s a fantasy setting, but not of your typical LotR and its ilk. I’d say it’s more akin to a Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series. And let’s be clear – I haven’t read sci-fi/fantasy in many, many moons. I was even a little concerned when I realized that’s where Dead Man’s Rain was headed. 

Turns out, the world building is one of the things that tickled me most.

And not that it’s a radically new setting that I’ve never seen before. What truly caught me was the deft parceling out of bits and pieces as I needed them. Not long, drawn out, boring pages of why this world from the author’s head is so sooper kewl – stuff like that is what made me gradually stop shopping the SF/F aisle in the first place. Oh yeah – there’s plot and charcters and dialog, too. Seriously this thing has it all.

Anyhoo, I finished Dead Man’s Rain today at lunch and immediately fired up my Kindle app and loaded the two other Tuttle offerings – with cash money.

Go forth to Kindle, be a lemming with me! This cliff’s a helluva ride.