Seriously, that move - holding down the frog with the one paw and watching it trying to struggle away - that could have been my lost beloved Murphy with his grasshoppers...

Amazon.com Widgets

Hey lookee all the kindle available goodness that is mine-all-mine or that I have contributions in! (and the widget was fun, too!)

Back when I was a kid, I lived in an era when 45 rpm records (the singles) were still around, everywhere, ubiquitous - and we had PILES of them at home.

One of them, one I remember from my childhood, one I listened to over and over and over again, one I loved deeply, was this:



I always sang along to that fading "I will remember Massachussetts" at the end of it, and Massachussetts was a magic place for me back then, just this weird long word with lots of double letters which might as well have been in Fairyland or on the Moon as far as the young me was concerned, growing up in a different culture, on a different continent.

But today... today, I will remember Massachusetts - not the one I finally did get to visit, all those years later, as an adult, but the one that was so magical to me back than, back when I lived in the world of my imagination and Massachussetts was a place of magic. Because Robin Gibb is dead.

And so it goes. It drifts away further and faster every year. The memories of my childhoon seem even to me as though I am talking about a differnet era, a different lifetime. And those who peopled the greater sphere of my life are starting to fall away. The writers I read when I first took flight in the worlds of fantasy, like Anne McCaffrey. The singers of my youth, like the Bee Gees (of whom now only one, Barry Gibb, remains - dear GOD I went and saw these guys in concert once, and even THAT now seems like a dream).

My hair is silver gray.

When did that happen?

When did I blink and find myself looking over my shoulder and childhood, and youth, and even the early adult years - when did I step into middle age, when did the world change around me?...

"Instant Worry Removal", trumpets the subject line of the spam email that slipped through the filters (er, how? Filters, sit up and pay attention - this is SO not legit!)

This is vaguely worrisome, this instant worryectomy. Do they give anaesthesia for this sort of thing...?

(And the bonus award goes to the guys from whom I've received, several times now, an offer for "Clear Skin All Over!" Those of you who have read my "Spellspam" book know why this one always causes me much hilarity...)

The reviewer posted a heads-up to the thing on Facebook already, and she said: "We're so happy to feature Alma Alexander's newest book on The Uncustomary Book Review today. What a timely read! For those of you wondering how to prepare for the end of the world as we know it, this is a good start."

You can read the whole thing at the Uncustomary Book Review site (yes, really - the name does clarify the book review!)

I loved the structure of this thing. There is a section for "New Words" - presumably unfamiliar to or just seen as rare by the reviewer, complete with the classic dictionary definition followed by an example of usage... except that the examples come from my own book and it's a new and deligtful experience being used as a dictionary definition! And then there are the Five Favorite Quotes from the book, and I was fascinated to see which ones got picked (if you've read the book, do you agree with these choices? If not, what was yours?) And then there's the "conversation with the reader" part which really made me feel as though I was sitting across the table from this reviewer in a cosy little coffee shop having a nice and intense discussion about this particular novel.

I am so, so, so delighted with this review. Go read!

I was talking to my hubby about eye-candy the other day (hey, I'm MARRIED, I ain't DEAD) and I said I wanted a single TV show with a bunch of my eye-candy faves in it. To wit, these two:

( Under cut, because HUGE... )

And then we watched another episode of "Person of Interest", which made me want to add this dude:

( Under cut, because hey, it's only fair... )

- and hubby said, "Charlie's Angels".

Hell, YEAH. Charlie's Hell's Angels. Version 2. Make Charlie a Charlotte and have her run this mob of gorgeous men. *I* would watch this. In a heartbeat.

Back to work, now, I guess. (But in the meantime - who would YOU cast? And if we had a Charlie's Angels - Male Edition - Senior Citizen issue - who then? Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, Sean Connery?)

ETA: Because I can't stop thinking about this now (I'm playing with writing a screenplay for the pilot of this show!) Here's ( the British cast... )

I think he is magnificent.

i.e. the May events coming up -

5 May 2012, Sudden Valley (a.k.a home) - at the Dance Barn -

*The Friends of the Sudden Valley Library invite you to
"Authors & Artists Afternoon"
In the Sudden Valley Dance Barn (Gate 2)
* --- Saturday, May 5 -- 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. --- *

With a dozen authors from around Whatcom County
and ten artists from the Valley Arts Group who will display
their paintings, photography, handbags, jewelry, postcards, fused glass.

There will be Refreshments and Admission is FREE!"

A percentage of the profits for this event (and that means Books Sold) goes to the SV library fund. So if you're local, if you want to support libraries, writers or art, and if you want Refreshments (you gotta love the capitalization - it really makes it sound like the Refreshments will be Royal...) come on by!

And then,

19 May 2012, Third Place Books at Lake Forest Garden (address and other details here) -

2012 : Midnight at the Spanish Gardens by Alma Alexander

Start: 6:30 pm
End: 7:30 pm

On the eve of the end of the world, 20 December 2012, five friends meet in Spanish Gardens, the cafe where they had celebrated their college graduation 20 years before. Over Irish coffees, they reminisce - and reveal long-held and disturbing secrets.

If you're in Seattle come say hi!

I can add here that I am putting together an event with Village Books in Fairhaven for June - but more about that when we have the dates and times nailed down firmly. While we wait for that, there are two places where you May see me this month (so I'm still an addicted punster. COme by at either event and tell me off... [grin])

...The one I had a story in recently?...

A review surfaced, and lo, mine is a story singled out as one of six within the antho which the reviewer says she LOVED. To wit, she says:

"Rum Pelt Stilt’s Skin, by Alma Alexander
A Rumpelstiltskin variant – it's the king that's really the problem. Strong tone shift toward horror (which I prefer) from the bubblegum fantasy stories that preceded it, and very cleverly done. I'll have to check out more from this author."

Happy author.

Free Will Astrology Cancer Horoscope for week of April 19, 2012:

The devil called together a committee meeting of his top assistants. He was displeased. Recruitments of people born under the sign of Cancer had fallen far below projected totals. "It's unacceptable," the dark lord fumed. "Those insufferable Crabs have been too mentally healthy lately to be tantalized by our lies. Frankly, I'm at wit's end. Any suggestions?" His marketing expert said, "Let's redouble our efforts to make them buy into the hoax about the world ending on December 21, 2012." The executive vice-president chimed in: "How about if we play on their fears about running out of what they need?" The chief of intelligence had an idea, too: "I say we offer them irrelevant goodies that tempt them away from their real goals."

TERRIFIC. Everybody go buy a copy of "Midnight at Spanish Gardens" (that's the Kindle version. There's a link there for the paperback...)

Buy it for your best friend. Let's pretend it's an "irrelevant goodie" - and give it BEFORE Christmas (because this year Christmas falls after the End of the World, which is inconvenient... [grin] I declare this Distraction Week, just like my horoscope says.