Monthly Archives: February 2012

#CQ – Chocolate and Armageddon

. Curiosity Quills, Food, Funny . , , , ,

This week on Sweet Fantasy Bytes, we’re talking chocolate and end of the world.

Chocolate comes from fermented, roasted ground beans of the Theobroma cacao, or cocoa tree, and can be retraced to both Mayan and Aztec royal and religious events. Priests offered cocoa seeds to the gods and presented chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies. Cocoa beans were so valuable that all of the areas conquered by the Aztecs that grew cocoa beans were ordered to pay a tax, called ‘tribute’.

The Europeans sweetened and fattened chocolate, and in the nineteenth century, Briton John Cadbury created the first chocolate bar by developing an emulsification process to make solid chocolate. The rest is history. Chocolate spread during the industrial revolution to the entire Western world and our little taste buds learned to adore chocolate in every dessert and bonbon manufactured and sold in fancy containers of all shapes and sizes.

Given chocolate’s Mayan sacred origins, the idea of a fantasy story involving chocolate and the end of the world came naturally to me. You could draw an entire outline aimed at plotting the end of the world through the eyes of a character destined to receive a mysterious assortment of chocolates, and every piece he or she’ll pick would trigger a series of events that would eventually seal the fate of the universe. Imagine the elements you could incorporate in a story like this. Possibilities would be endless! I’m thinking time travel, a crazy love story between the two main protagonists and a villain ex-boyfriend/girlfriend who’s chasing the female/male MC everywhere she/he goes.

I’d like to draft a prologue for next week’s post, and I’d love to hear your suggestions, so comment away! Mostly, I’d like your input on the kind of MC you’d like to read about, and what sort of challenges she/he will meet on her/his fantastic journey. And remember, chocolate may be evil, but it’s still horribly delicious.

#Book #Review – The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

. Book Review . , ,

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So here it all began. A friend of mine advised me to read this book and you know, every person’s taste is different, but I said ok. I bought the book without knowing what the story was about. Verdict? I DEVOURED IT.

The writing blew my mind. It starts fast and furious, the first paragraph takes you right down a road you can’t stop following until the very end, and when you finally reach the end, you simply want more. I almost wished I didn’t finish the book so the pleasure could last forever, and I want to start the book all over again and pretend it’s my first time reading it.

The MC is brilliant. Mara Dyer plays the perfect troubled teenager who isn’t obnoxious and gets under your skin, quite on the contrary, she invites you and makes you feel perfectly at home in her disturbed reality. High school awkward moments, first crush, first love, first everything but not the way you think. Mara doesn’t depict the picture of a character you’ve seen somewhere else. She’s unique in her own insanity, or should I say extraordinary ability to control life and death? Her boyfriend Noah struck me in awe from beginning to end. First he’s stunning. He’s smart, he’s handsome, he’s sexy, and he’s a gentleman. Second, he has powers too. Third, he’s simply irresistible. Nobody will tell you Noah sucks. Oh no, he doesn’t suck.

What about the plot? After a tragic event involving the death of her friends, Mara suffers from PTSD and her family decides to move from RI to Florida. New environment, new school, new life… Despite the move, Mara’s still haunted by her past. She needs to find answers in order to stop experiencing awful visions and hallucinations. She sees dead people everywhere. But mostly? Not only does she have nightmares, but she also realizes she’s a murderer. Noah falls head over heels for her and tries to help her the best he can, but will Mara follow his advice and resist the urge to use her evil powers?

Read this book. You’ll love it.

View all my reviews

#Book #Review – The Zona by Nathan Yocum

. Book Review, Curiosity Quills . ,

The ZonaThe Zona by Nathan Yocum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Picture the end of the world as we know it. Imagine our civilization vanished into thin air. Think of a world where the infrastructure and the government are gone. Chaos? Not so much.

A new order has arrived. The Church controls western territories that haven’t been subject to floods, pandemics, and nuclear radiations. The Zona is one of these territories. Lead is a Preacher. He knows how to spread the word of the Lord. His mission? Kill the infidels. Kill men who don’t abide by the Church’s rules anymore. The Church sends him to punish – by the blanket or the rope – a former Preacher, Terrence. But Lead can’t kill him.

Lead has now failed in his holy mission. Cruisader Eliphaz comes after Terrence and him, hunting them like animals. Lead must repent for he has sinned.

The chase forces Lead and Terrence to stick together. Lead has no faith in the Church anymore and wants a way out. That way out is called New Pueblo, a hidden town away from the Zona where life like before the apocalypse is possible.

Will Eliphaz get hold of the fugitives before they reach New Pueblo?

The Zona is a gripping and dark tale that’ll haunt your thoughts until the last chapter. Lead is a stunning character who searches for his true identity in a world where superficial dreams don’t survive.

Back to basics. Be ready to start a journey into the bowels of the human nature.

View all my reviews

Note to Self (122) My Perfect Guy #MaraDyer

. Book Review, Note to Self

I stayed up late reading a book that was so good it actually gave me awesome weird dreams. I dreamed of the main character, the sweet and rebellious Noah Shaw from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (like a friend of mine already said, I want to have this book’s babies).

Ok. If Noah Shaw’s real, please contact me immediately and let’s have a serious talk. Because buddy, you’re the man of my dreams (and you’ll probably remain the man of my dreams because I’ve sincerely never met such an amazing soul like yours in real life). I feel like a man drooling in front of a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and I can’t take my eyes off these almost naked girls wondering how much of their beauty is real, and how much has been altered with Photoshop. Sigh. Why does my imagination need to play such evil tricks on me? I didn’t want to fantasize about a book character. I didn’t want to feel all mush inside like a thirteen year old girl every time I read a chapter and there’s a scene involving him. I don’t even like the name Noah. I actually love the last name Shaw. Sigh again. Can I eat a full bucket of ice cream now?

Why is Noah Shaw so perfect you’ll ask? Well, here are the reasons: he’s tall, he has blue eyes and apparently he has a killer body (oh dear Lord!!!), he’s eccentric, he speaks with an English accent, he’s smart, he’s rich, he’s protective, he’s an awesome lover and he has a dark past… *plants a huge spoon into the bucket of ice cream and gulps a big scoop… chews patiently until the cold of the ice cream goes up to my head and I need to take a break* The absolute mix of a bad boy with a generous heart, the guy that will fight for you and will make sweet love to you and make you melt until you disappear between the cracks of your creaking wooden floor (let’s just imagine you live in an old mansion too and you’re haunted by your dark past)… I want him. I seriously will travel the world and look for him. Where are you Noah Shaw!!! At least with models, you know they exist because their picture can be taken. My Noah Shaw is only the product of somebody else’s imagination – what an imagination though! – and I have to suffer in silence because I know I’ll never find him in any magazine. Maybe there’ll be a movie based on the book and then, I’ll officially die, but my taste is so picky, I fear the actor chosen to play the role won’t be good enough.

Have I gone back to my teenage years where all I thought about were boys? I didn’t have a boyfriend until I turned seventeen, and he didn’t even count as a boyfriend. Sure he had a dark past and he was rich. But he wasn’t tall, he didn’t have blue eyes, he wasn’t eccentric, he wasn’t particularly protective, I can’t say about his loving abilities, he didn’t speak with an English accent and he was somewhat smart but not smart like Shaw. *grabs the spoon again and gulps more ice cream* I cannot say it enough, I’m so in love right now, it’s not even funny.

For those of you who don’t wish to be spared, just go read this book. It’s the best I’ve read in a while.

 

Note to Self (121) Cry For Help

. Note to Self, Writing

I remember when I was married and I got into a fight with my ex. I cried all night and the next morning I looked like crap, but I still put on some make up and I went to work. I didn’t talk about my sleepless night to anybody. My heart felt heavy but I still joked around with my colleagues. From outside, you’d have thought I was the happiest chick in the world.

I lived a lie. I pretended everything was fine when it wasn’t. I came home and I feared another fight would break out. It felt awful to pretend. It felt awful to keep everything to myself. I cried so much I didn’t know how to feel better. I was on the phone every day with mum and dad, trying to hang in there. I resisted until I couldn’t take the abuse anymore. The anger, the fighting, the violence. I had to go, but I wasn’t sure how.

I came home one day and I found my ex locked in the bedroom so I moved to the living room. I slept on the couch and I prayed. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really sleep. I mostly thought a lot. I imagined what my life would be like without him. I felt alone. I felt empty. I waited for things to improve. I still tried to talk to him but he refused to speak to me. He called me names. He treated me like I was worse than garbage. I stayed strong and I waited. And that’s when I saw it. There was a deep cut through my pillow. I could put my finger in the hole and go all the way to the other side. I immediately knew what he had done. I entered the bedroom and I grabbed his switchblade. Then I examined the bed, and found the same cut into the mattress, right on the side where I used to sleep and my head used to rest.

After that incident, I packed my suitcase and I left to stay with my girlfriend. I never came back.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about this now. I slept on my friend’s couch for one solid month, meanwhile I found an apartment in the same building as her and we became neighbors. And then everything started for me. My depression, my journey into writing, my unfortunate encounter with a co-worker who thought he could get in my pants because he witnessed my misery and wanted to be a friend. He actually managed to rape me after he got me so drunk I blacked out. I never filed charges against him, but I raised the matter with HR. I had no evidence and I didn’t want to start a lawsuit – another one besides my divorce. I drank a lot. I cried even more. I thought I had entered another hell by living by myself. I didn’t know how to do things alone anymore. I adopted cats to help me stay sane. I didn’t go see a shrink and I started writing instead. I poured my heart out, I told the world how sad I felt and the world listened. People helped me. People supported me. I was loved again. I was whole again.

My mood is shot. I’m reminiscing about the past. Tomorrow I’m supposed to go to this party to celebrate the wedding of a friend. My mood is always shot when I think of weddings. The scar of my divorce is something that will fade, but it will never completely go away. I loved my husband. I really did. I haven’t loved someone so deeply before. But it’s alright. It was meant to be in a way. I accept the fact we weren’t supposed to be together. I accept the fact I’m destined for something much greater.

I’ll be fine in the end. I don’t enjoy being surrounded by negativity because it always brings me back to my failed relationship. I think I was surrounded by too much of that negativity today. But it’s ok. Writing always cures my cry for help.

I feel better now. See. I just needed to write.

Watch this: Latest Trailer by @KrystalWade for Wilde’s Fire

. Trailer . , , ,

I’m all about promoting the work of authors whom I consider have great talent. Krystal Wade isn’t only talented, she’s gifted. She knows how to tell stories like you’ve never read before. She shapes and builds a world that will kick your imagination’s ass so hard, it’ll take a while before you fully recover, if you ever recover. I’m so grateful to know her and to share an amazing friendship with her, I’d like for you to love her as much as I do because she’s seriously terrific.

But enough praise. Just watch the trailer she just released for her upcoming YA fantasy Wilde’s Fire and let the journey begin!


http://krystalwade.blogspot.com/2012/02/wildes-fire-trailer.html?spref=fb

Note to Self (120) #Islanders

. Note to Self, Sports

I’m a hockey fan. A couple years ago, my former office mate invited me to a game and I fell in love with the Islanders. My ex used to root for the Rangers, so I thought why not add some spice in my life by supporting a team he didn’t like? I think I’d still root for the Yankees and the Giants though, no offense to the Mets and the Jets… But the Islanders, I don’t think I’m being unfair here.

I lived on Long Island for one year while I went to law school, so I had something to share with the team. Long Island was my first home in the US. I bought my car there, I passed my driver’s license there, I learned how to speak and behave… Hum, anyway, I forged my weapons on Long Island and rooting for the Islanders seemed like a logical step to me. The Islanders also offer the cheapest NHL tickets… I think I gave enough arguments to justify my decision. Yet, I’ve never rooted for a sports team so much I wanted to cry at the end of a game. I’d have cried if the Patriots had won the Superbowl this year, let’s be honest, I really hate Tom Brady, but I wouldn’t have made it so personal. Same deal with the Yankees. If they win against the Red Sox, I’m glad, but I wouldn’t slice my wrists open if the Red Sox won the World Series… But with the Islanders. Wow. I felt a total different way.

It isn’t a matter of rivalry. It isn’t a matter of who’s better. It’s a matter of pride. And the same thing happened to me during the 2002 and 2006 Soccer World Cups when France got their ass kicked – actually blown away – during the first elimination round. My heart broke and I decided to never watch soccer again. Well, I’m not saying I won’t watch hockey again because I love hockey too much to quit so soon, but today, I can tell you my heart broke. The Islanders played the Senators and they got beaten 6-0. I won’t go into the details of the game, but seriously… The Islanders sucked big time. They made me sad to the point I rooted for the Senators after the first ten minutes in Period 1. I can tell you more about The Senator’s defensemen and goalie than about my beloved team. Honestly guys, WTF!!!!

The only good part of the whole afternoon was the intermission between the first and second periods. Since it was President’s Day, the Presidents’ mascots paid the Nassau Coliseum a visit. These guys went for a race on the ice and they entertained me so much, I wish they had continued ice skating against the Senators during Period 2. This is the bottom I’ve reached today.

I’m pasting pictures below to give you a little taste.

Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson... The race has begun and Sparky is the referee!

Oh they're going at it hard! Theodore Roosevelt is out already... He fell on the players' bench.

Close to the finish line!

Theodore Roosevelt sneaked up on Washington! He was such a cheater but he made me laugh really hard!

Ah bloody Senators! You got us good this time around! Ok... so I'm not giving up on the Islanders yet because I don't want to be such a bad fan. All I have to say is Go Islanders and try to be better next time so you don't go breaking my heart again, ok? I love you!