Newest Edition to my Family

So, I realized I haven't blogged for a while. I've been busy. I wanted to share pictures of Braleigh (like Bailey, with an 'r') with you, though. She is a one-of-a-kind original doll, handmade by Jen. I picked her up at this year's Spoutwood Faery Festival. Braleigh is extra special as she was the proto-type for this pattern. You can buy patterns, patterns with the fabric, or the dolls already made at the site below. Braleigh is all over the site.

http://www.thedragoncharmer.com

And as she is my baby, she loves bling. She is wearing the "Tink" necklace given to me by my good friend, Tonya. And some Tinkerbell bracelets. I picked up the teeter tot at a antique mall in Frederick. It was the best way I could think of to display her. And I think she looks comfortable in it. What do you think>=?

The Book Faery (2)

The Book Faery returns:



The House of Night, Book 5: Hunted by PC and Kristin Cast

What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you?

At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer. But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses. Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down. Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems. The red fledglings have cleaned up well – they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home – but are they really as friendly as they seem? On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Eric, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs. Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us?

The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint

On the Day of the Dead, the Solona Music Hall is jumping. That's where Altagracia Quintero meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.Altagracia – her friends call her Grace – has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder, she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg, and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that it'll never wash out. Grace works at Sanchez Motorworks, customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling. Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. A few blocks around the Alverson Arms is all her world -- from the little grocery store where she buys beans, tamales, and cigarettes (“cigarettes can kill you,” they tell her, but she smokes them anyway) to the record shop, to the library where Henry, a black man confined to a wheelchair, researches the mystery of life in death – but she’s got unfinished business keeping her close to home. Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business – he’s haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible. Like Grace in her way, John is an artist, and before their relationship can find its resolution, the two of them will have to teach each other about life and love, about hot rods and Elvis Presley, and about why it's necessary to let some things go.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess’s personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl’s soul and plan the Master’s fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages.

Wake, Book 2: Fade by Lisa McMann

SOME NIGHTMARES NEVER END.

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.

Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared...

Fablehaven, Book 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull

Brace yourself for a shocking secret. Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth? The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next? Find out in Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.

***

And YAY! for Borders Clearance. Got all these books for under $20.

Lots of good stuff to read.

The Book Faery

Look what I got in the mail!


The Mortal Instruments, Book 3: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters -- never mind that enter-ing the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City -- whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servents. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.

Raven by Allison van Diepen

Zin dances with fire in every step, speaks in a honey-sweet voice, and sees with eyes that can peer into your soul. Nicole's friendship with him is the only thing that saves her from the boredom of school and the turmoil of her family life. It's no wonder she is madly in love with him. But she can't understand why he keeps her at a distance, even though she can feel his soul reaching out for hers.

Zin is like no man Nicole has ever met, and he carries with him a very old secret. When Nicole uncovers the truth, her love may be the only thing that can save him from it.

Diary of a Teenage Faërie Princess by CB Smith

Jaynie Morrison is a sixteen-year-old girl with an insatiable need for adventure. This she satisfies by causing all manner of random mischief, making her material nuisance number one. But with her seventeenth birthday a snag in her material world arrives. Random magical happenings. Her father once claimed that her mother was a Faërie Queen. But this Faërie Queen vanished shortly after Jaynie turned three. Jaynie wonders if her father is telling the truth. She wonders if her mother really vanished after all. But mostly she is confused and wonders if her mother's Faërie magic is causing the magical happenings that have invaded her world. In Diary of a Teenage Faërie Princess, Jaynie sets out to answer these questions.

Black Pearls: A Faery Strand by Lousie Hawes

'. . . and they lived happily ever after.' Remember the fairy tales you put away after you found that no princess is as beautiful as common sense and happy endings are just the beginning?Well, the old tales are back, and they’ve grown up! Black Pearls brings you the stories of your childhood, told in a way you’ve never heard before. Instead of lulling you to sleep, they’ll wake you up—to the haunting sadness that waits just inside the windows of a gingerbread cottage, the passion that fuels a witch’s flight, and the heartache that comes, again and again, at the stroke of midnight.Make no mistake: these stories are as dark as human nature itself. But they shine, too, lit with the fire of our dreams and our hunger for magic.

The Immortals, Book 1: Evermore by Alyson Noël

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

Magic in the Mirrorstone: Tales of Fantasy an anthology

In this anthology for teen readers, fifteen best-selling and acclaimed authors--including Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci, Cassandra Clare, Eugie Foster, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Gregory Frost--weave all-new stories filled with magic. Comic and dark, epic and entertaining, these stories will introduce readers to the new voices of Mirrorstone beside the treasured favorites of Young Adult fantasy.

Why I Let my Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood

Being sent to your room is one thing. But being sent to another country?
Morgan's boyfriend dumped her on the last day of school-it seemed the only thing to do was to hack off her hair and dye the stubble orange. Unfortunately, Morgan's parents freaked and decided a change of scenery would do her good. So they're sending her off on a bike tour of Ireland.

But Morgan gets more than she bargained for on the Emerald Isle-including a strange journey into some crazy, once upon a time corner of the past. There, she meets fairies, weefolk, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus, and figures out that she's got some growing to do-and she doesn't just mean her hair.

How I Found the Perfect Dress by Maryrose Wood

On a bike tour of Ireland last summer, Morgan Rawlinson fell for Colin, the hunky guide, and entered a portal that turned her into the goddess Morganne. Now she’s back to her painfully normal life and her relationship with Colin has fizzled to the occasional e-mail…until he writes saying he’s coming to Connecticut—just in time for the prom.

But when he arrives, he’s exhausted. It seems that when Morgan crossed the portal as Morganne, a spell was cast on Colin. In his dreams he’s being forced to dance ’til dawn with the faeries, who want to boogie with him for eternity. Somehow she has to break the spell on her date, help plan the prom, and find the perfect dress. Oh, what a night…

Book Review: The Seraph of Sorrow and Hunted

I just read THE SERAPH OF SORROW (Jennifer Scales, weredragon, book 4). This is the YA (young adult) series by MaryJanice Davidson (also writes: Betsy the Vamp Queen, Wyndham Werewolves, and Fred the Mermaid). If you like her other stuff, you will love Jennifer. It's my favorite series of hers. Jennifer Scales is a weredragon. Like a werewolf, only Jennifer grows scales and wings instead of hair. These books are funny, and I hihgly recommend them. One of my favorite series.

http://jenniferscales.com/

I recently bought the book, HUNTED (House of Night, book 5), by PC and Kristin Cast. Loving it so far. It's better than the previous 4 in the series. PC's other stuff is way better, but these are fun. What I like about this is even though it's YA and vamps (which has been done a thousand times), her vamp mythology is very different than many. For one... they follow the goddess, Nyx... and they are not soulless. They are marked as fledglings and are basically taught how to be a vampyre.

http://www.pccast.net/
http://houseofnightseries.com/

Hi All!

Well, I have no followers yet, as I created this blog only 15 minutes ago. I don't know how much I'll post here, but I'm excited. I've wanted to create a blog for a long time.

So, um... a little about me.

I'm a 26 year-year-old female who currently rents out the basement of her friend's house. It's nice and roomy... and sometimes loud. She has two boys (almost 8 and 10 1/2), and they have no idea that you're supposed to walk inside. But I've known them and taken care of the boys since the almost-8-year-old was just a few months old. They're like family. This is the first time being on my own. My favorite thing about it? Not having to share a bathroom with my little brother!

I love reading and writing. I'm actually working on my first novel. It will be for young adults, and it will be in the fantasy genre. I'm still playing with ideas. I have many, so I'm not sure who my main character for the first novel will be. There's a good chance it will be Astrid, the mermaid character who I've been playing with for years in terms of writing short stories starring her. I love faeries, mermaids, unicorns... really any fantasy creature... though not all of us think these beings are pure fantasy. Brian and Wendy Froud are my favorite faery artists. I currently have two original Wendy Froud dolls. You can see them at the top left of my blog (the taller one is Little Olaf and the other is the gardner Rufus Sprout). These are how I imagine true faeries. I have a fairly large collection of faery statues and faery jewelry.

Speaking of jewelry, I also love making jewelry. There are two types of jewelry I currently enjoy: beading and wire wrapping. Beading... well, that's pretty obvious. For wire wrapping, I create stone clusters (any kind of stone: amethyst, moonstone, rose quartz, etc...) and wrap them in a wire cage to make a pendant. I will post some pictures of this work later. I would love to do more metal work, specifically casting. I enjoy sculpting with clay, but don't so much have a knack for that

Back to literature... I love reading anything in the fantasy/paranormal genres. I have many folklore books with old tales from centuries ago. But I also read new stuff and have a large TBR (to be read) list of books from my personal library. In addition to faeries and mermaids, I love reading about vampires, witches, werewolves. I've recently discovered the joy of graphic novels with FABLES and Jack of FABLES. They take the old fairytale characters that we know and love and bring them into our world.