So I'm a cynic? Ooooh, really?

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love. You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Okay, I promise I'll post something properly tomorrow. Honest.

Puppy puppy puppy!

We're getting a puppy!

She's about three weeks old, a black lab/collie cross, and completely gorgeous! No name yet...will apprise you when we've picked one out (because I know everyone is dying to hear). Went to see her today, only girl left in the litter, and when she licked my mum's fingers I knew we were sold.

Puppy!

The Doctor is back!

I've missed him! Okay, we know I have a massive crush on David Tennant. I'm so happy to report he'll be back on my TV (and yours, if you get BBC One) next Saturday.

Have no idea what I'm talking about? Clicky here for trailers and associated gubbins. The site has sound, but you can click it off at the bottom right of the picture.

Incidentally, The Doctor was my most gigantic inspiration for Finn of Duty and the Beast. After months of trying to persuade internet friends that David Tennant is 100% adorable and failing, I realised that it's because all I can do online is send pictures (I don't know why, but even after three modems and two computers on broadband, I have the worst trouble streaming video files). And in pictures, it's hard for David's charisma to shine through. On film though... Krisma city. With a kicking K.

Hey look, I have a crush on someone because of his personality, not his looks. Does this mean I'm growing up?

Dogs and hats

So, today we went to Wood Green Animal Shelters to see about getting a new dog. Sadly, while they had some really lovely dogs, none of them could be rehomed with cats, and the Sugar and Spikelet are obviously our first priority here. Well, mine anyway. So we'll keep trying them, and in the meantime check with the vets and in the local papers about puppies. But, things are definitely progressing!

On a totally unrelated note, look at the hat I bought for Patrick's wedding! Thank you, Patrick, for giving me an excuse to buy such a monstrously frivolous creation. I shall be bugging several other people of my acquaintance to get married now, so I can wear it more than once.

Thursday Thirteen: fictional characters I have a massive crush on

Thirteen fictional Characters I have a Massive Crush on 1. Acheron from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. I mean, obviously. Man's a gorgeous babe. 2. David Tennant's Doctor Who (see yesterday, man in kilt). Enthusiastic, eccentric, like a giant puppy leaping around the universe. Completely adorable. And in the Madame de Pompadour episode, where he got Reinette's letter? Oh, I was crying for him. 3. Phin Tucker from Jennifer Crusie's Welcome to Temptation. Have I mentioned how much I love this book and worship JC? Not in the last five minutes. Phin is hawt, and he's smart, and he loves his daughter, and he's stuck doing the job in front of him, even if he doesn't really want to. 4. Richard Sharpe from the Bernard Cornwell books, but especially from the ITV films. Oh, Horny Sean. How thou makest my petticoats flutter! 5. Benedick of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. He's just very, very funny. And he treats Beatrice as an equal. And he'd do anything for her. "I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?" Swoon! 6. Captain Mal Reynolds of the Firefly class Serenity. Embittered and angry, but incredibly loyal, committed to his crew, and when he believes in a cause he doesn't give up on it, no matter the cost. And he's damn funny. And he's pretty hot. 7. Daniel Craig's James Bond, Casino Royale. A blunt instrument? Well, maybe. But he's a hammer with feelings. That bit where he sits down with Vesper in the shower, fully dressed, turns the heat up, and puts his arms around her...oh, my. That's not a blunt instrument. Plus, those eyes! 8. Luke Sharpe, the Sophie Green Mysteries. Is this cheating? I don't care. Luke started out as a boilerplate sexy, suave spy, not a lot of depth to him. Then he revealed a love of Buffy reruns, a family who didn't care for him, a liking for cats, and a slowly developing tendre for Sophie. And now I'm totally in love with him. Does anyone know how Pygmalian did it? 9. Lara Croft. Hah, that's done you! I have a total girl-crush on her. come on, who wouldn't? If I did girls, I'd so do her. 10. Joe Morelli, the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. Tough call between him and Ranger, but you know, Ranger scares the shit out of me. You could take Morelli home to your parents. Well, probably. 11. Sam Vimes, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. He does the job that's in front of him. Hes not that bright, not very well educated, his second- and third-in command can run rings around him, he's fathoms out of his depth at any social occasion his wife drags him to, his boss is a Machiavellian genius...but if you want something doing, and you want it doing thoroughly, and you want some entertainment while he's doing it...get Sam Vimes. 12. Striker, Almost Human. Striker actually has several books of his own, but they're a big old mess and the stories suck. But I fell in love with him aeons before he became Chance's father. He's a complete psycho, he doesn't like anyone, he enjoys hurting people, he thinks explosions are fun, he has the emotional intelligence of a child. He's be an evil overlord if he could be bothered. He's the opposite of that bible passage about love being forgiveness and all that. He's basically a monster. But, if he loves you then he's your monster. And he'd do anything for you. Plus, he's inhumanly hot. 13. Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Come on, you didn't think I was going to forget him, did you? What can I say that I haven't already? The hotness is a given. The sarcasm still makes me shiver. That narrow-eyed, sideways-slant, cheeks-sucked-in look makes me go fluttery in places that are usually private. He's not a master vampire, he's not all-powerful. He makes mistakes all the damn time. He has the soul of a poet and the brain of a monster. But he tries. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

It's snowing!

Which is mad, because on Friday I was sitting out in the sun, in a short-sleeved dress. March, eh?

Er...that's really all. Unless you want to hear about the entire hour I spent at the blood donors. There'll be some happy vampire out there...

I'm the best mummy in the world

It's official. My cats said so. Well, not them, but the card they gave me. Well, not that they gave me exactly, but the one my mummy bought on their behalf. But, at least my mummy thinks I'm the best! And look, Sugar must have approved, because here she is with the card, and she's not glaring at me or anything.

Anyway. Obviously, today is Mother's Day in the UK, which means that yesterday was Fathers Desperately Trying To Buy Flowers And Cards Day. Except in my house, because a) it was my birthday, b) my brother and I are quite old enough to do this for ourselves (although you wouldn't believe the times I've got a phonecall late on the Saturday before from my brother, asking if I can get him a card, because he's forgotten) and c) this year, as the year before, my mother requested no cards, no flowers (she bought me 25 purple tulips yesterday) and no presents. Well, she is impossible to buy for anyway. Instead, bro and I are making lunch and dinner for her. That's what she asked for. Oh, and obviously that we clean up afterwards.

This works fine for me, because spending money I don't have on presents she won't want is acknowledged by both of us as a really stupid thing to do. However, I will just raise my hand and boast that I did get her the best Mother's Day present ever a few years ago, when we took her to see Bryan Adams, who she adores. We're going again this year, but not today. Obviously.

What's the best present you've ever got someone?

Nearly 25

Yes, I know. It's a horrible age. Well everyone seems to hate me for it. But you know? I'm going Lucy Diver on this one.

I've been away since Monday and this is just a fly-by to let you know I didn't relax myself to death. I know, it's a constant worry. Tomorrow, I will be 25. Tomorrow it's St Patrick's Day. Tomorrow my brother and my dad will come home fromAustria and tell me repeatedly how silly I was to not go skiing with them this year (because in their hotel there was a salad buffet for the entire duration of dinner! How could I say vegetarians weren't catered for??).

While I was away I got my first review for Sophie and it was FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC (if you don't like my language, then you will hate the book; also, what the frilly heck are you doing here in the first place??). So, picture me flying high. Even after a week of pizza and cider.

This week also marks the Maneater cover being on display at the Changeling Press blog; go and have a gander at Sahara's fantasitc cover work. Also, tell us what you think about St Patrick's Day, Irish themes, SciFi, Nathan Fillion, whatever.

Also, today is Red Nose Day, which for those who don't know is when the Great and Good of British comedy talent get together to raise money for charitable causes, most noticably those in Africa, and those at home in the UK. Intersperced with the funniest comedy you'll see today are the most touching films about poverty, AIDS, abuse. This year's lineup includes David Tennant (look close and he's in a kilt), Dawn French, Sting, Richard Armitage, the Little Britain team and Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, people!

Last I saw, they'd raised about £15million. Yes, that's great--but it's also equal to about 25p for every person in Britain. Even I can afford that, and I'm broke beyond belief. National minimum wage is well over a fiver per hour (minimum wage, how I miss you!).

So, here's my birthday wish: since I'm 25, this year, go and donate 25p to Comic Relief this year. Or more. While you're there, go and see how damn entertaining they are--and tell me if you can't find someone there who either makes you laugh or turns you on or both. Because if they can't do either, what are you doing here?

Offski

I dunno why I titled it that. I'm not going to Russia and I'm not going skiing. Although dad and bro are. Skiing, that is.

I am going away for five days tomorrow, so won't be here until Friday. And even then, probably not a lot. Saturday is my birthday (you can send cards and flowers, magnums of champagne, etc. via my publishers, darlings) and Sunday will be spent recovering from it, so don't expect much from me until maybe Monday!

I shall leave you with these two, who already know something is up and are being deliberately adorable in the hopes I'll take them with me.



Oh, and while I'm gone, do find time to read either I, Spy? or Maneater--depending on your preference, see how democratic I am?--and tell me what you think!

ETA: oh, and yes! I forgot I was going to post the winning I, Spy? contest entry today. Well, here it is. The winner is DawnM, and here's her tale of woe.

This happened a few years ago now, just a couple of days after Concorde crashed in France, and I was due to fly out from Luton or Stansted. It was one of those rare blindingly hot, humid days that you get in England. The departure lounge wasn't so bad, not the most comfortable seating but at least it was air conditioned. After waiting about an hour they finally let us go through boarding, only to find ourselves in another lounge. This one however had even more uncomfortable seating and not enough to go round all the passengers. So, of course I'm one of those left standing. And standing . And standing. Because they wouldn't let us on the plane, or back to the departure lounge. And there weren't any facilities and no air conditioning. Well, I don't do well in the heat and by the time another hour had rolled by, I'm close to passing out. Finally, they let us on the plane, and we all think we're about to go.

Only, it turns out the plane had an engine fault, as they informed us once we were onboard, and they're waiting for a part. Now they knew all this so I can only surmise it was pure sadism on someone's part to get all of us out of the departure lounge, where we could have been reasonable comfortable in the first place. Inspires great confidence in airlines, especially coming straight after a plane crash. And of course, no engine = no air conditioning. And 2 or 3 hours wait before they get the part and get it fixed. So everyone's baking in their seats, and you're not allowed off the plane and back into the terminal. And this was supposed to be a short flight, so there aren't any drinks or food. Well, you can imagine.

Just to cap all this off, I'm sitting right at the front of the plane, just behind the pilots' cabin and the stewards' alcove. And right on the other side of me is a woman who's informed the steward that she's terrified of flying. Oh, joy! Now, having worked in hospitals for longer than I care to think, I have the medical sense of humour and can find just about anything funny in the most inappropriate situations. So I kinda appreciated the stewards take on the plane crash because I understood institutional humour. Only the problem was, they'd forgotten (maybe that's being generous they might have thought it amusing given there was someone frightened of flying in the front seat) that you could hear them quite clearly through the curtain, and their humour was morbid to say the least, and didn't go down to well with most of the passengers.

Definitely not the most pleasant flight I ever had, especially as the long delay meant that it was night by the time I got to the hotel, and the kitchens were closed.

Sophie sympathises: after all, she worked at Stansted and often experienced its erratic air-conditioning. In fact, she's such a geek she could probably figure out where you were flying to: was it Belfast, or Derry?

Dawn wins a free download of I, Spy?. Thanks everyone else for entering--there were some truly terrible tales in there!--and keep your eyes peeled for the release of my next book from Samhain, Ugley Business, due out in May.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about ME 1. I've never done one of these before so I had to go and visit the Thursday Thirteen site to figure out what the hell it was about. 2. In nine days it will be my birthday. On Monday it will be my cousin's birthday, and she's nine years younger than me. 3. I have a new book out today that I wasn't expecting until Friday! 4. I think smock dresses make people look pregnant. 5. I still wish my hair was curly, even though I know it's way more work than I could ever be prepared to do. 6. I haven't brushed my hair for about three years, not counting ruby weddings or funerals. 7. There's a black and white cat who thinks he lives in our house, even though someone else has put a collar on him. We named him Jess after Postman Pat's cat. 8. I eat chocolate muffins for breakfast. They're low fat and used to be really nice, but recently they changed the recipe so they're not. Now I'm wondering how many Weight Watchers points there are in the proper ones. 9. I first went to Center Parcs when I was about three and have never lost the sense of childish wonder I had then. In fact, I'm going back next week all by myself. 10. I have never read Pride and Prejudice. Or any book by Jane Austen. Does this mean I'm not allowed to be a romantic novelist any more? 11. My favourite song in the whole world is Fall At Your Feet by Crowded House, and has been since I was about fourteen. 12. I still can't remember which button makes a space, which makes punctuation, and which cycles through options when I'm writing a text message, even though I've had my phone nearly a year. 13. Even though I got a B in maths I never actually learned my times tables. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Cats and Sophie and birthdays, oh my!

Remember how in June last year I posted a gushing blog about Sophie? Well, nine months later, here she is, pink and shiny and about as clever as a newborn. And I'm just as proud of her!

So proud, in fact, that I'm running a contest for one lucky person to win a free download. It's super-shiny, too. See, Sophie works in an airport--at least, to start with. And we all know airports are ideous places. In fact, I believe there is a circle of hell that very much resembles Terminal Four of Heathrow.

Anyway. What I'm asking you to do is just this. Think about your worst airport story. Or your worst air journey. Or tell me the lengths to which you've gone to avoid flying. Email them to me before Sunday 11th March, when I shall pick a winner. For more details, check my website. While you're there, check out the Extras.

Also speaking of things that happened last year, you may remember nearly a year ago a completely ballistically ecstatic post from me on the occasion of my birthday when I was given an IOU for a cat. Well, actually, I got two (no, did I? Funny, I never mention them here).

Well, today my babies are a year old! Yes, the tiny little Sugar-plum and Spikelet are officially grown-ups. And, as predicted when they were still small enough to reduce grown men to cries of, "Awww!", they turned out to be super-gorgeous.

Yes, I'm smitten with the...cats. So, happy birthday Sugar and Spike!

Oh, and don't forget to check out my March news, in case I've forgotten anything today.

Catch-up

Wow, I left it a whole week? And I still don't have a lot to report--been busy the last week preparing for not one but two releases this week! I, Spy? is out tomorrow, and Maneater on Friday. I also suddenly realised I sort of need to get working on the next Sundown book, which doesn't quite have a title yet, but is about a fae and a vampire in New York. I think.

Also, I'm going away next week for five days, so I need to...I dunno, fiund a suitcase and some clean clothes. Given the state of chaos in which I live my daily life, this may prove timeconsuming.

Oh God, yes, and I need to get my newsletter out!

In the meantime, have a cat picture. It's been a while since we had one of Sugar. Here she is, trying to figure out how the door works.


Oh, and just for fun:

Boromir
With good intentions but misunderstood motives, you are a hardy, if somewhat unreliable, companion.
I ask only for the strength to defend my people!
Boromir is a character in the Middle-Earth universe.