November's ROCKIN!!!!!

The Coming Attractions for November are absolutely amazing!


Wow, how can it POSSIBLY be November already!!!????! I don't know where the year's gone. Sigh.

Oh well...it's here! So, hellllllooooo November!

We've got an exciting month in store for you, so fasten your seatbelts. As always, along with the delightful and always fun darrlin bands who'll be here giving thanks and talking turkey, we have some fabulous guests this month.


On November 2 it's the ever-popular, totally fab Terri Garey! This Rita-award-winning author will be joining us to celebrate the release of the fourth and final book in her brilliantly popular Nick Styx series. In Silent Night, Haunted Night, a sexy spirit sets her sights on Nikki's boyfriend, Joe. The unwilling ghoulfriend to the dead will have to fight to be sure this Christmas isn't her last!


On November 3, science fiction and fantasy author Ann Aguirre makes her first visit in the Lair to celebrate the release of Skin Game, her romantic suspense debut under the pen name Ava Gray.

Just the cover alone on this one should have everyone stopping by!








Speaking of cool covers.....

On November 4, award-winning and best-selling author Karen White makes her first visit to the Lair to chat about her southern set novels. We'll look particularly atThe Girl on Legare Street, which features a real estate agent confronting ghosts and the past--and hoping she doesn't have to dig up her own.


Now, I don't know about your area, but here in the US, it's also voting day - Nov. 4th that is.

So I'm going to be celebrating November 5th that all the stupid political ads on television will FINALLY be gone! Woohooo! :>

(Edited note: Limecello pointed out that it's actually Nov. 3 for voting so I'll celebrate on Nov. 4 AND 5 that the ads are over!)






Along with that minor celebration, on 5th November, multi-published author Cathleen Ross (www.cathleenross.com) visits us to talk about her course, Writing Category Romance, which is available all around the world on CD.



She's also giving away a copy of the Harlequin anthology, THE NAUGHTY BITS: SHORT EROTIC FICTION, which includes her story "Psychic Sex".


Gotta say that I adore the title. Grins.




November 6, Julie Kenner returns with Tainted, the first volume of her new urban fantasy series, the Lily Blood chronicles.



Check out the sword-wielding heroine on the cover! Whew! You GO girl!








November 11 is a day to celebrate all our Veterans! Let's make sure no matter what country we're in, that we either say a quick prayer for those who serve, or thank a veteran you know!

On November 16, Dee Davis pops in to discuss her wonderful new matchmaker novel, Setup in Soho.


What a cool cover on this one too! :>









On November 18th join the marvelous duo of Anthea and Lawson, writing as Anthea Lawson, who'll be with us to talk about their new book.

"This husband-and-wife team’s second romance sweeps from the shores of Crete to the streets of London.…readers will enjoy the characters and the beautiful descriptions in this nice tale."

– Romantic Times

A brooding hero with a mysterious past meets the only woman who can bring him out of the shadows and into the light. Not what he expected... but ALL HE DESIRES.

That just sounds delicious!!


On November 21, we celebrate the launch of a brand new book blog, The Romance Dish.

The blog may be new, but the names aren't - The bloggers, Buffie Johnson, Gannon Carr, Andrea Williamson, and PJ Ausdenmore will join us for the party - and you already know how much these Bandit Buddies and FABULOUS reviewers love to party!!

WOOHOO! Party in the Laaaaiiiirrrr!

November 23rd Susan Heino is with us to promote her debut Regency release, MISTRESS BY MISTAKE which is a December release. You won't want to miss this one, Susan's a great author and a lot of fun to chat with!

Now in the States, November 27th is the best day of the month....

THANKSGIVING!!! WOOHOOO!

This day is one where Americans use the holiday as the perfect excuse to eat turkey, pie and other delicious stuff, watch football and either enjoy their families or spend time telling stories about them. Ha!


On November 27, another amazing day in the states, affectionately referred to as Black Friday - the first official shopping day in the Christmas season - we'll have debut author Lori Brighton with us.

Lori will join us to chat about her Victorian paranormal, Wild Heart. So if you're one of those who's going out on Black Friday to do your Christmas shopping, finish up quick and join us for a FAB day!







And last but not least, check out the cool prizes and fabulous contests on our very own Anna Campbell's website:

Christmas with a CAPTIVE OF SIN!

OK, that title is slightly misleading. Anna Campbell wants you to tell her your new year’s resolution. Extra points for saying ‘read CAPTIVE OF SIN’. OK, maybe not! Her two favorite answers receive signed copies of CAPTIVE OF SIN plus a couple of mystery books from her prize cupboard. Just email Anna on anna@annacampbell.info with your answer. The contest closes 31st December, 2009, and Anna will draw the winner soon after that.

For more information, please visit her contest page: http://www.annacampbell.info/contest.htmlSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

An Epitaph

huh,
I betcha somma ya dawght I wuz ded?

Wrong!
I'm still here, alive and kicking. I took a little hiatus from the blog, to get new information, new insights, new knowledge from the HOBONETWORK, which is more powerful and deeper reaching than the SKEKSIE-NET. The Skeksie-net can most of the time carry incorrect or blatantly egregious information.

Well, I'm fine. I needed a break, and now I'm depressed over it all. I want there to be a world in which I can move through, feel my way through, and no. I just have my little world around me, which gets smaller and smaller. Today, it's choking me. I feel myself breaking inside, fraying at the ends. It's a lot of work being a shut in. Being me.

It's times like this that I find blogging to be beneficial. It keeps my head out of the oven, the knife from my hand, the muzzle from my mouth. IT lets me say my piece and get it off my chest, and tonight I have a big piece to get off of my chest. I'm growing sick of being broke and pinching pennies and living on a reduced lifestyle. I'm tired of being on social services and crawling on the ground to their wishes. I'm growing exasperated with this shit.

I'm supposed to go see my shrink today, but I'm not in the mood. I'm flat out not in the mood for doing anything. Other than vegetating. I'm pissed with myself that I have so little of an agenda. I had a bag of them earlier, and now I have none. I have to re-orient myself as to the direction that I need this life to take. I need to take stock in what I'm doing and to make changes that would make for personal happiness or else it's back onto the streets.

I've got to get my ass in some kind of gear and make a living out of living. Right now, I'm fucked.

God, nothing feels right to me now. Nothing.

I had a hard week coming up, and now an even harder one coming up on Halloween. I can't seem to get out of the way of my own skin. I'm rolling and rolling and rolling into myself and it's suffocating. I can't seem to fight my way out of a paperbag if it was wet and I had scissors in my hands. I'm a mess of a man, a hot mess. I don't know what to do any more . I have no guiding star, no rudder, no mast. I'm cast adrift on raging seas and I don't even have the strength to hold onto the raft any longer. I thought at one point that I had all of this solved. I thought that at one point I could FEEL the direction that I was going in, but now it's not true.

I am deaf, dumb and blind to my future.

But then again, who of us can divine our futures? Am I so alone in this that I don't know what my future holds? There was a time when I didn't care much. I just went along with the program. Now I want to write the script. Is this not being presumptuous? Who of us is out there making their own future? Or are they just living their lives the best that they know how? Are we all just working, and spending our occasional free time cleaning our houses and hanging out with friends and doing shit?

Isn't that what we are doing?? Why is this not enough for me? Why do I have to do more? Why can't I just get in with the groove, and do the thing. Get busy and be busy. Why do I need a future? What good has a future done for me? Fucking Future. I've looked around for it, but as soon as I find it, it becomes the present, only to turn into the past. Just that fast.

Maybe I'm getting old rapidly. I'm complaining that things on me are no longer working. How about my brain? That shit is corrupt as ever now. I can't remember shit. If all of this keeps up, there'll be nothing left of me in another five, six years. I would like to find certain things before I kick the bucket, like a new life for one. How about a new love? Someone to lust afterwards? I know about lust? Don't we all? How about a job and gainful employment? Maybe sell my book.

And then the story makes a complete U turn. I'm back to square one. Things suddenly click. I'm a writer and when I don't write, I feel lost. I feel as if everything is racing past me. I feel as if there is NO FUTURE. Without writing there is no future hope for me. Without dragging pen to paper, without sitting for hours before my computer pounding away on the keyboard, I have nothing at all to talk about, to dream about, to think about. I have nothing. I am lost and alone without goal or aim. I am completely defeated in this life without writing. I am a writer, and this is what I strive to be. I work at it, hone it, form and shape it. I take it seriously, and look for constructive criticism. I would like to get one shot at the big lights, and to do that, I have to keep on writing. Keep on cranking out prose until I fill the earth with it and it can no longer be contained.

I am a writer first. All other considerations are secondary.

HobobobSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Gophers vs. Badgers Hockey Tickets

I know it's still a while away but the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers home hockey game is going to be a HUGE deal! It takes place on Sunday, March 7th at 1pm at the Mariucci Arena. As always, we have some of the best seats in the house! Our Gophers vs. Badgers hockey tickets currently start at $135 each for the home game. There is also an away game taking place next Friday, November 6th at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Get your tickets today before they're gone!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Steve Miller Band Mystic Lake Casino Tickets

Saturday, January 2nd at 8pm, Steve Miller Band will be at the Mystic Lake Showroom in the Casino!! These guys have been selling out clubs, arenas and selling albums since 1966. I think it's safe to say just about everyone has heard of these guys. Their style includes a mix of psychedelic-blues with rock. If you haven't heard of them, check them out now! We've got some awesome seats for the upcoming performance too! Our Steve Miller Band Mystic Lake tickets currently start at $145. This is the last stop of their tour and these guys don't come around too often so buy tickets while you can!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Verrrrrrry Scarrrrrry....

by Jeanne Adams

BOOO!!!

Did I scare you? BWAH-Ha-Ha-HA!!! It's Halloween! Tonight is Trick or Treat! Tomorrow, All Soul's Day...Are you ready?

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Grins.


All of you know, by now that I ADORE Halloween. Almost every year we have an annual Addams Family Halloween party - in hiatus this year because I was on deadline, alas.

*huge, long-standing pout*

However, it is an event like no other. We've had up to 65 people in our house and garden for this affair. One year, early on while it was still just "Jeanne's Annual Halloween Party" (i.e. Pre-DH) I did a scary movie fest.

That was a strange one - not that they all don't have their strange character! - but this one struck me as odd because half the group was in the family room of my then-condo watching the scary movies, devouring popcorn, beer, and cupcakes with the same abandon as the monster on the screen devoured people.

The other half were in my miniscule kitchen talking as loudly as they could so as not to hear the scary noises or gasps of the populace from the TV screen.

Hmmm. I drew a frightening conclusion. Some people are really frightened by scary movies! Imagine that!

Did I mention that I'm REALLY missing the party this year? Can you tell? So I thought we could have a Virtual Halloween Party here.

Let's talk about Scary Movies! And Scary Books, Shaaaaall we?

The scariest movie I ever saw (nightmare producing scare and I was an adult!) was Aliens II. The one on the ship. *shudder* Something about that one just gave me the flat out willies. I literally did have fall out of the bed nightmares after that one. Could'a been the cold medicine too, but jumpin' heebie jeebies, Batman! That one was a doozy.

Second to that one in the "gives Jeanne the collywobbles" category is American Werewolf in London. Now before you go all Hollywood Critique on me and tell me it's a parody, I'll say that yes, I do know that. Doesn't matter. That scene, where the werewolves are dressed as Nazis and bust in the house? Huh-uh, oh no you dinnna!?! I truly did walk out of the theater. Well, run on wobbly legs might be a more writerly description. Ha!

Others that were on the "Sleep Disturbing" list are : Jagged Edge; Body Heat; and Wait Until Dark.

Alien (the first one) didn't get me. The Halloween movies didn't bother me. Neither did any of the Elm Street movies. Frankly if you are boneheaded flat out stupid peabrained enough to get yourself IN to that situation? Damn if you don't deserve to get dead. Snork!! And hey, Jamie Lee Curtis? If you go in the house to get something, come back out and the car doors are locked and the windows fogged?

GET. THE. HECK. OUT. OF. THERE. Yeeesh. Too Stupid to Live. Seriously.

What really seems to get me are not the slasher/gore movies. No, it's the pscyological ones. Hitchcock. The Birds.

I still have an unnatural fear of things that flap.

Gaslight. Are you mad, or are you being "gaslighted?" Grins.

Then there's the books and movies-from-books like The Exorcist and The Omen and Rosemary's Baby. Oh, and all the Anne Rice books.

Ohhhh yeah. Scarwy.

So I knew what scared me. I figured I'd ask some of the Banditas.

For Suz, it's the old school thriller - Rear Window; Midnight Lace; Charade; and the aforementioned Gaslight.

For our own AC, The Talented Mr. Ripley made her shiver, along with the end of the world flick 28 Days.

Nancy says Wait Until Dark had her covering her eyes. She also cited Dead Again and Terminator as among the collywobble films. (Now, with passing time, she's decided Michael Beign made all the Terminator fear worth it.)

Joan, despite her love of blood thirsty Romans, assures me she does NOT watch scary movies. Of course, she went on to list three....Exorcist (the mere discussion of it had her worried); Jurrassic Park (especially the part with the raptors in the kitchen...but you know, she doesn't watch scary movies); and What Lies Beneath. I'm sure she saw this for Harrison Ford, never THINKING it was a scary movie. Right JT? Grins.

Our own Anna says the first Halloween scared her to death, along with The Shining. "Daddy's home!" *shudder!* Anna likes thrillers. Movies like Fatal Attraction, Dressed to Kill, Sleeping with the Enemy, Seven, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Suspect. Suspect's one of my favorites, but Anna says Notorious is one of the best.

Tawny too refuses to see the scary ones, but says her kids think the REAL scary movies are: Dead Alive, Sixth Sense, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Quarantine, The Grudge and the Evil Dead.

So what about you? What's YOUR scary movie?

Any of them give you nightmares?

Do you get more frightened by the psychological stuff - Jagged Edge, Mr. Ripley, Gaslight, and so on - or the blood guts and gore, like Saw, and Halloween and Elm Street?

What about books?


Lisa Gardner's Say Goodbye had me seeing spiders everywhere. *shiver!!* and I certainly wouldn't want to meet any of Linda Howard, Karen Rose Smith or Lisa Jackson's villains in MY town!

Last but not least...I always buy at least three new Halloween books for my children each year. This year, the best is:

Tell Me Another Scary Story by Carl Reiner
Now....last but not least, for all my Pagan Pals...

Blessed Be and HAPPY SAMHAIN!!!!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Have a fun weekend.

My lovelies, what are you up to this weekend? Our friend Tasha (of gorgeous wedding fame) just opened a new restaurant, Tipsy Parson, in Chelsea, and we're really excited to try it out. (The menu includes mac n' cheese, deviled eggs and sweet potato beignets. Yum.) Have a wonderful weekend, and here are a few great posts from around the web...

Glitter pumpkins.

French brand Petit Bateau just released this adorable swimsuit. Too bad it's October!

A fabric resume, pine needle embroidery, and pretty stationery.

I'm so impressed by this DIY Audubon paperweight.

A plaid shirt for cyclists.

Pretty wedding photos (especially the couple wrapped up in a quilt!).

Alex and I get spooked in big houses. This little one would do just fine.

Ew, a meat hand!

Love the graphics in this Swedish house.

A documentary about WASP culture.

Knitting for British soldiers.

Nicole and Evan's new Parisian artwork.

Damn, Mike Perry can draw.

Have a great weekend! xoxoSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Smile in Milan

The bangs + the bow = too cute.

(Photo by The Sartorialist)Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Gophers vs. Duluth Hockey Tickets

Ticket King has some great deals on Gophers hockey tickets for the entire season! We've got a few seats left for tonight's game against Alaska. Prices currently start at $35 each. The next game is this Sunday afternoon against Alaska and we've got some excellent seats starting at only $25 each! Below is a list of the remaining Gophers hockey games for the entire season at the Mariucci Arena. Get your tickets today while the selection is at it's best! GO GOPHERS!!

11/14 & 11/15 vs. Bemidji
11/20 & 11/21 vs. Duluth
12/4 vs. Mankato
1/2 vs. Bowling Green Falcons
1/3 vs. Northern Michigan Wildcats
1/8 & 1/9 vs. Harvard Crimson
1/15 & 1/16 vs. North Dakota
1/23 vs. St. Cloud State
2/19 & 2/20 vs. ColoradoSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Antique jewelry

Gorgeous antique jewelry at Erie Basin.Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

City vs. country

I love Manhattan, but sometimes the garbage trucks are too loud and the mice are too in-our-living-room. Emersonmade makes me want to move to the countryside and hang out on haystacks.

Are you a city girl or a country girl?

(Photos by Emersonmade)Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Taylor Swift Xcel Energy Center Tickets

Hey Taylor Swift fans!! We've got great news for you! The ever-so-famous Taylor Swift is coming to the Xcel Energy Center on Friday, May 7th at 7 pm. This show will definitely sell out (if it hasn't already) so get your tickets now if you would like to attend! We have a very limited supply left but you should check our website periodically since people call and sell us their tickets often. We currently have Taylor Swift Xcel Energy Center tickets starting at $175 each in the lower level. Get them now before they're gone!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2009/10/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection