Thank God It's Monday

My neighbor's white camelia...the same color as my blank blog page.

I was sitting here looking at a blank blog page, wondering what today's post should look like and coming up with nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

So I toggled over to Pinterest (because when it doubt, Pinterest). Someone I follow had pinned a whole bunch of pix of really handsome men, and I thought, "Wow, David Gandy. At least I have that to be thankful for."

Then I thought, "You nerd. You've got a whole lot to be thankful for." And I figured there was no better way to start the week than by coming up with a list of ten things to be thankful for. Not big-picture things like my house and my husband, but the ten specific things that are making today special. 

Your mission - while reading my list of ten - is to come up with a couple of your own and share them in the comments.

Here goes...in no discernable order...my list of ten things I'm thankful for...

1. Pretty Flowers

I'm not gloating, because I know the entire East Coast is encased in a block of ice, but we're having a Northern California winter. The weather is drunk, and stuff is blooming that really shouldn't be, and the husband and I actually got out in the yard and did some pruning yesterday.

2. Taxes

(And no, I don't have a cute picture for this one.) April 15th is still almost two months away, but we met with the accountant last week and we're not going to owe as much as usual. Yay! Which means we're going to be able to replace our God-awful 1948 4x4 tile kitchen countertop with something more like this...

Dream kitchen.

3. The Day Job

It might not work for everyone, but my job as a neonatal nurse practitioner is one of the most satisfying parts of my life and the night shift crew I work with is really a stellar bunch of people.

4. Aqua Follies

I'm happy that this novel is in the hands of half a dozen editors, I'm cautiously optimistic it's going to find a home, and I'm eternally grateful that my agent Margaret seems to have a sixth sense about when I'm starting to twirl myself into a ball of anxiety. Her email and FB messages are consistently well-timed and very much appreciated.

5. The Teenagers

These two possess creative, intelligent minds and incredible humor. They're great friends, and the conversations I've shared with them - individually and together - make me glad I'm alive.

6. Burnsie 

Don't think I need to add anything here.

7. Lady Gaga's performance

I'm throwing this in here because I love surprises, and this one blew me away.

8.

8. Text messaging

It started with something simple. What does Marion Cotillard have hanging off the back of her dress? After that, all bets were off. My sister - in L.A. - was watching the Oscars with a couple of her favorite drag queens, and I couldn't have asked for better company. Forget Twitter; our text convo was the BEST.

9. No-pressure reading

Part of the reason I'm a writer is because I love to read, however there are times when reading becomes an obligation. People ask me to review books, or I pull something off Netgalley, or I check a book out of the library. All of a sudden I have a deadline, which puts a layer of pressure on something that should be fun. At any rate, I've got one more RITA book to read, and that's it. For the foreseeable future, I only have to read what I want.

Last night's read...no pressure....fun stuff...

10. Be Weird

I'm going to hit the Oscar thing one more time, because this is the message I want my kids to internalize and that I believe we all should live by. (And I wanted to post  his full acceptance speech, but couldn't find it on YouTube. Will keep looking.)

So those are the ten things I'm thankful for today. What's on your list?

Peace,

Liv

My Favorite Books in 2014

This year I did something new. I started a Pinterest board to keep track of all the books I've read. Last January, I didn't truly expect to be pinning to the board in December, but here I am, still at it. (Jump HERE to take a look at my board.) There are 117 pins, and while last summer I didn't think I'd ever be able to come up with a list of ten favorites, it seems that having a little time and distance from the stories made it possible.

I'm not going to write full-on reviews here - just record a couple thoughts about why I liked the books. As you read through my choices, you'll likely notice a couple things. I'm not much into the literary fiction, and none of my favorites fell very far from the romance tree. Most of them are from the m/m (queer/lgbt) romance subgenre, and while the interwebs are full of opinions about middle aged straight women who read and write about gay men, it's what's working for me right now.

So here's my top ten list for 2014 - all books I loved, most of them I read at least a couple times, and all books I'd recommend in a heartbeat.



10. The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by Eli Easton.
This was a bit of a departure for me - first time reading Eli Easton and first time reading fanfic. It's about Sherlock & Watson, specifically the version of the characters created by the BBC, and lordy was it entertaining. This one was a free download, but I've got a couple other things by Ms. Easton on the kindle now.









9. This Rough Magic by Josh Lanyon
I love a good historical, and this one pretty much nailed it. It's a mystery with a sidecar of romance, and Mr. Lanyon totally sold me on the early 20th century San Francisco setting.












8. Glitterland by Alexis Hall
I think Alexis Hall is doing some of the most imaginative work of any writer, any genre, anywhere. He made me like Ash, who's really kind of a jerk. ;) Here's a link to my review from last February.










7. Love Hacked by Penny Reid
So...mea culpa...when I reviewed this book last April (HERE), I said I liked it, but it wouldn't make my top ten list.
Yeah.
Wrong about that.
Smart and funny and sexy, this one stayed with me. It's hard to do contemporary romance well - I mean, come on, how many reasons can you come up with that a couple of healthy heterosexuals WOULDN'T get together? - but the conflict felt real and the characters rang true.






6. The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's the first in a trilogy. It's romantic fantasy, the kind of re-imagined history I eat up with a spoon. It's a heckuva lot of fun, and I hope you skip on over to the ebook retailer of your choice and grab a copy!

5. Hold on Tight by Serena Bell
I'm not one for the angst, but a friend (ahem, Amanda) INSISTED I read this one, and I'm so glad she did. The raw honesty in this story of what happens when life tears a couple apart, then throws them back together made for a "stay up way late after a night shift because I can't put the book down" kind of read.










4. Hainted by Jordan L. Hawk
Ms. Hawk has a couple other very popular series, and while I've read parts of them (and liked them a lot), this is the book that grabbed me. I love the combination of mythology and setting and characters (Dan! and Leif!). I can't even tell you how many times I've re-read this one, and every time, I like it even more.









3. Enlightenment (trilogy) by Joanna Chambers
I'm counting these three (Provoked, Beguiled, and Enlightened) as a single entry because the endings of the first two are sort of cliffhangerish, or at least unresolved, so they really can be read as one. The sample of the first book absolutely gutted me, and I knew I had to read the rest. When I think of Ms. Chambers' writing, words like elegant and restrained come to mind (although her naughty bits are fun, too), and I'm absolutely in love with the way she handled the historical setting. Brilliant!






2. Prosperity by Alexis Hall
Yeah, Mr. Hall made my list twice, because he's really that good. HERE's my review of Prosperity, but just to recap, this is one of the boldest, most imaginative books I've read all year. It's a demanding book - all in dialect - but SO worth the effort. Even better, there are a bunch of stories set in the same world that'll be coming out soon!






1. Think of England by KJ Charles
The thing that set this book apart for me was the subtle, unapologetic understanding of it's period, as well as the connection to it's heritage. And yeah, since that heritage is Victorian pulp fiction, specifically King Solomon's Mines, you know you're in for a good time. In the interest of saving us both from embarrassment, I'm going to spare you the fangirl squeeing. Just read it. It's really, really good.
(Here's a link to my Goodreads review.)





Best Anthology - I read a number of anthologies this year - a couple of great holiday sets from Carina, another rather unfortunately called Butt Ninjas from Hell that was way better than it's title, but it was Another Place In Time that resonated most with me. The stories are consistently good, and confirmed my love of historical fiction, especially the m/m variety.









Apparently the only way I could come up with a top-ten list was to let myself go wild with the honorable mentions. Here they are (in no discernible order)...
Hot Head, The Quick, Special Delivery, Liesmith, Circus of the Damned, The Theory of Attraction, Dangerously Happy, Catch A Ghost/ Long Time Gone/ Daylight Again, Snowball in Hell, The Haunting of Maddie Clare, Bad Boys Do, A Companion to Wolves, Cold Copper

Thanks so much for hanging out with me this year, whether on Facebook or twitter, over here on blogspot or on my website blog. It's been an adventure, one I'm happy to have shared with you. Happy New Year!
Liv