Réponse à un collègue schizophrène

La schizophrénie est une maladie grave, qui n’épargne pas le monde des bibliothèques, et principalement lorsqu’il est question de la numérisation du domaine public.

J’en veux pour preuve la réaction d’un de mes collègues au billet que j’ai consacré au problème du « domaine public payant » (il publie anonymement sur son blog « Des Bibliothèques 2.0″ ; je ne citerai donc pas son nom. Je précise simplement que nous nous connaissons pour avoir été camarades de promotion à l’ENSSIB).

Reversible tarot card. Par Wm Jas. CC-By. source Flickr

Dans ce texte, je m’opposais à la proposition faite devant la mission Lescure par Pascal Rogard de la SACD d’instaurer une redevance pour l’usage du domaine public. Je faisais cependant remarquer que dans la réalité concrète, ce système du domaine public payant est en fait déjà appliqué par la très grande majorité des institutions culturelles en France, qui s’arrangent pour recouvrir le domaine public de diverses couches de droits afin d’en contrôler l’usage et souvent, le faire payer.

Ce faisant, elles détruisent petit morceau par petit morceau la substance même du domaine public, tout comme Pascal Rogard rêve de le faire… Et elles se livrent à ce que d’aucuns appellent le copyfraud, c’est-à-dire l’inverse du piratage.

Pour illustrer mon propos, j’ai pris comme exemple la toute nouvelle bibliothèque numérique Rosalis, développée par la Bibliothèque de Toulouse, dont les mentions légales portent atteinte à l’intégrité du domaine public :

[TUTO] Avoir les donuts infinis dans le jeu Les Simpson – Springfield sur iOS

Bonjour
Je vous propose aujourd’hui un tutoriel afin d’hacker le jeu Les Simpson – Springfield sur iOS.

En effet c’est un très bon jeu de construction avec l’univers des Simpson mais il est lent, très lent en progression à moins que vous ne passiez à la caisse. N’ayant pas vraiment le temps et le budget (ou la patience), je vous propose donc ce cheat pas très simple à mettre en place mais qui fonctionne parfaitement. J’ai testé ce hack sur mon iPhone 3GS iOS 5.1.1 mais il doit fonctionner sur tous les iPhone, iPod ou iPad avec le même iOS.

Avant de vous lancer, vous devez avoir :
- Un iPhone jailbreaké.
- Mobile Terminal, iFile et Ldone. (à installer avec Cydia)
- Et savoir comment accéder à votre iPhone en SSH (http://www.iphone-info.fr/forum/tutoriaux-f4/acceder-en-ssh-copier-des-fichiers-sur-votre-iphone-ipod-ipad-en-wifi-usb-t46.html)
Si vous avez déjà le jeu d’installé, vous devez le supprimer puis le réinstaller depuis l’App Store mais sans l’ouvrir! C’est bon? Vous êtes prêts?
1 – Tout d’abord téléchargez le fichier hacké à cette adresse -> http://www.multiupload.nl/R64CVRX1YR
2 – Mettre ce fichier dans l’iPhone à l’emplacement /var/mobile. (en SSH)
3 – Renommez le fichier « Tapped Out » en « Tapped » (en SSH ou depuis iFile)
4 – Ouvrez Mobile Terminal et rentrez les commandes suivantes :

su

Rentrez votre mot de passe root. (si vous ne l’avez pas changé le mot de passe est alpine)

ldone Tapped -s
chmod 775 Tapped
respring

5 – Renommez le fichier « Tapped » en « Tapped Out »
6 – Déplacez le fichier de /var/mobile/ et le mettre dans le dossier /var/mobile/Applications/Tapped Out/Tapped Out.app/ à l’aide d’iFile. Confirmez l’écrasement.
7 – Faites de nouveau un respring
8 – Lancez le jeu et profitez des 4096 donuts. À chaque lancement du jeu, vous retrouvez le même nombre de donuts!
Vous n’avez plus qu’à construire la plus belle ville du monde! À bientôt!
ζ۱۱๔К -d(o_0)b-

[Rétro] Parodius

Un monde déjanté
Parodius est un shoot’em up qui a marqué son époque (j’y ai rejoué sur Super Nes, mais bien d’autres consoles ont leur version) par une bonne qualité de jeu mais surtout par un univers complètement barré. Impossible de décrire un quelconque scénario, on peut à la limite déduire que nous combattons au final une espèce de monde gouverné par des pieuvres, mais leur moyens de vous attaquer sont tellement variés que tout autre déduction est impossible. Ainsi votre personnage devra affronter des pieuvres cachées dans leur jarre, des manchots qui glissent sur leur ventre, des statues de l’île de Pâques à lunettes de soleil qui crachent des crottes de nez, des cochons ailés, une danseuse de cabaret géante, des bouches qui se lèchent les lèvres, un bateau pirate à tête de chat, un oiseau flibustier obèse, des pandas en tutu, un aigle qui imite l’Oncle Sam, un octopus géant qui se lave les cheveux, des poussins qui prennent leur douche ou encore un sumotori à tête de rat qui tape du pied devant le mont Fuji en éruption d’aubergines… une variété d’ennemis qui fait prendre tout son sens au sous-titre du jeu : a non-sense fantasy.

Mais outre le fait de n’avoir absolument aucune cohérence, cela permet à chaque passage du jeu d’être simplement hilarant. Chaque nouvel ennemi est une source de rigolade tant l’absurdité est poussée à son comble. L’ensemble étant visuellement très beau, bien animé et accompagné par des reprises de musiques classiques ou populaires bien connues.

4 joueurs et plein d’armes
Nous avons le choix en début d’aventure entre 4 héros : un vaisseau spatial au design sérieux, un vaisseau rigolo qui envoie des gants de boxe (Twin Bee, pour les fans), une pieuvre toute mignonne qui crache des projectiles ou un manchot volant. Chacun ayant des tirs qui se ressemblent mais avec des variantes de largeur d’impact ou de précision. Mais quel que soit notre héros, le principe est le même.

Chaque power up fait avancer un curseur sur une barre en bas de l’écran qui contient les désignations des atouts à choisir. Libre à nous de sélectionner l’atout quand on souhaite l’obtenir. Ainsi, on pourra cumuler une vitesse de déplacement accrue, des bombes roulantes, une attaque frontale plus puissante, des tirs vers le haut, des pods complémentaires qui suivent votre vaisseau et rajoutent à votre puissance de feu et un bouclier. Sans oublier la case « ? » qui va déclencher une roulette russe et choisir un atout au hasard ou encore une annulation totale de tous vos atouts.

De quoi approfondir l’expérience de jeu et bien équiper votre personnage donc, pour traverser une jeu assez dur au demeurant, mais permissif grâce aux continue infinis qui n’obligent à recommencer que le niveau en cours.

A noter également les cloches bonus qui changent de couleurs et sont projetées en arrière quand on leur tire dessus nous permettant, si on gère correctement leur transformation tout en s’occupant des ennemis alentours, d’obtenir des items de scoring, une bombe qui détruit tout à l’écran ou encore une invincibilité éphémère.

Un grand classique qui mérite donc sa popularité passée et qui se redécouvre avec grand plaisir, ne serait-ce que pour la débilité délicieuse de son univers.

Ci-dessous une vidéo de l’intégralité du jeu. Cliquez par ci par là sur la timeline pour voir un peu le genre et les magnifiques musiques^^

An Ode To The Other

They are sometimes called OH, sometimes SO but mine is more than that. I have sat here trying to think of abbreviations that do him justice but alas am failing quite significantly. Whichever way I look at it, my husband is pretty special. As cliché as it sounds, he really is my soul mate and my best friend.

 

I have paid tribute to a number of people in the years since my first post but have yet to pay tribute to the person who has most effect in my life now. My husband. It has been four years since we became husband and wife yet 13 years since we first entered one another’s lives. I no longer can remember a time that he was not a part of my life. He has become someone I can tell anything to, someone who always has my best interests at heart. He is my home and I am incomplete without him.

Becoming pregnant has definitely bought us closer together and with all the unknown that surrounds pregnancy, nothing fazes me. It might be unlucky for some but I have a strong feeling that our thirteenth year together will be our defining year. The year that everything comes together. In the thirteen years since we e-mailed into each others lives he has become my best friend for so many reasons:

1- He makes me laugh (even if sometimes by accident).

2- He always listens whenever I need to talk (and that is A LOT).

3- He supports me in my dreams (no matter how far-fetched they seem to be).

4- His arms protect me from all monsters (perceived or otherwise).

5- He never makes me feel second best (or takes advantage of my people pleasing outlook on life).

6- He would willingly drive four hours to save me travelling on public transport while 5 months pregnant. .

7- The touch of his hand still sends electricity through my veins.

8- His arms are always open for a cuddle (even if he has to go out of his way to give me one).

9- He never has a single bad word to say about anyone.

10-He  will be an amazing father.

11- He has adopted my country and culture as his own.

12- He breaks down my insecurities one by one and builds up my confidence (no matter how painstaking the process becomes)

13 – Finally he gives me reasons to love him more each and every day.

Marriage has  really become that fairy tale image conjured by my five-year old dreams. Although our marriage has not always been plain sailing (which marriage has?), we have always reached the other side stronger than before. I have no doubts that we will have problems in the future but I know that like before we will always make it through.

The Rose Petal Beach: Book Review

What it says on the back:

‘I could kill them for what they’ve done to me’.

I said those words. And I meant them at the time. But what would you do, what would you say if your husband was accused of something terrible and the accuser is someone you trusted with your life?

That doesn’t mean I wanted this to happen. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. And I didn’t want to be scared that every knock on the door is going to be the police, coming to take me away. What’s going to happen to my children? What’s going to happen to me?

My name is Tamia Challey and this is my story.

—————

As I eagerly accepted the book shaped parcel from the postman one morning and ripped open the packaging, I knew that great wonders lay beneath.

Dorothy Koomson outdoes herself each time and she definitely has provided her readers with a tension packed tale of love, lies and unforseeable twists in this emotional, heartbreaking tale. As you tentatively turn each page you will find yourself wanting to cry, smile, even hide behind a cushion all at the same time. The Rose Petal Beach is definitely the penultimate emotional  thriller which keeps you guessing until the very end.

A number of people have remarked on the pastel shades of books adorning my bookcase, querying how I can read such ‘chick lit’. I reply with the well founded come back that Dorothy Koomson is not chick lit (not that there is anything wrong with such books), Koomson has in fact created her own genre of emotional thrillers. The Rose Petal Beach for me also read like a crime/who done it, to the extent that it could easily hold its own among the Patricia Cornwell’s of the crime genre. The lesson here, is to never judge a book by its cover, no matter how beautiful and stunning it may be. I must mention here that the cover to Koomson’s latest work of art is in itself magnificent and my current favourite. Even when I wasn’t reading the book, I would want to stare at the cover and take in its mystery and beauty.

In my opinion, Rose Petal Beach is Dorothy’s most  confrontational and thought provoking and what I can only imagine as her most emotional demanding. There are a number of leading characters involved in the story each with their own agendas, I was amazed at how Koomson flawlessly adopts each persona, writing so powerfully from each perspective that you forget what you are actually reading is fiction. During her public engagements, Dorothy often states she gains her inspiration for her writing from real life stories from the news and newspapers. For this reason, she is so concerned with portraying the victims’ stories correctly that her research is so detailed that she steps into each character’s shoes and describes human nature so perfectly that I had to remind myself to breathe as I furiously read the story of the Rose Petal Beach with bated breath. She has provided justice to the victims of such crimes so successfully that you feel you can actually touch the reality. Koomson is so in touch with her characters that you actually hear them talking to you; they very quickly get into your head and you begin to understand them. You feel and empathise with the desperation in each character. As someone who has experienced an aspect of the story, Dorothy’s depiction is so close to reality it sent shivers through me. Koomson soon has you feeling the emotions right down to your bones. Rose Petal Beach definitely comes across as a labour of love on Dorothy’s part  - the fast pace of the story keeps the reader on their toes to the point that even when you are not reading it, you are thinking about it, longing to go back to it. I personally carried it around with me in the hope that I could steal five minutes alone to immerse myself once more in the story.

The Rose Petal Beach is ultimately a lesson in denial, in understanding yourself, in questioning what you would do in similar circumstances; putting your own coping mechanisms into perspective. Essentially it is a reminder that your past never leaves you but very often catches up with you in later life, highlighted by the back story with which Dorothy Koomson develops the legend of The Rose Petal Beach. It attests to the love is blind belief of many and proves that everyone is capable of both good and evil.

Throughout reading the book and in writing this review, I have tried my hardest to find negative aspects of the book and/or Koomson’s writing but have failed to do so. This story will stay with you long after the last word has been devoured.

With A Little Help From My Friends

I finally find myself in the long-sought after position of reading and writing all day long and I have enjoyed testing myself by accepting new writing challenges, one of which I now need your help with.
I have decided to write an informative, pictorial essay on life in Iran that will be downloadable from my blog for free. It may not be a subject close to many people’s hearts and minds but as every writer is told, you need to ‘write what you know’ so that is exactly what I’m doing.
There seems to be a lot of rhetoric about Iran, most of which is negative and most of which from my perspective is largely based on misunderstandings. I plan to conduct thorough research, expand upon my findings with my own first-hand experiences and observations and hopefully provide a different perspective for my readers than they previously have been used to.
This is where you come in. I am inviting you to contact me with your perceptions of Iran via my proofreading e-mail address: lighteronwords@gmail.com or alternatively by commenting on this post. You are more than welcome to contact me anonymously and please feel free to express your true opinions and/or perceptions of Iran. I will not identify anyone in the write-up but would like to grasp a cross-section of understanding from people.
I genuinely really look forward to hearing from you and hope you will share your thoughts on Iran with me. You do not need to be Iranian, know an Iranian or even understand Iran. Just write what is in your mind.

The Green Green Grass Of Home

one of those events that lead you to examine your own life and relationships. My Thalassemia prevented me from joining in some of the celebrations, which at first I regretted but now not so much. It gave me time to think and review my life with a writer’s brain (hence this particular post). I’m not particularly insecure about many things except what people think of me. I now think this has stemmed from the subconscious understanding from childhood that I always had to do as I was told. As the youngest, I have felt my elder siblings enjoyed a larger amount of freedom than I was granted. I don’t resent them at all and my parents were in no way stricter in raising me than my siblings, it was more a choice on my part than a forced reality from my parents.
I never really fought for anything – even down to deciding which subjects to study at further education, I did not appeal against the “no” I met with when choosing my options. I just accepted it was a “no” and moved on. This led me to studying subjects that others believed I chose because I had a teenage crush on the teacher (even though he had since left the school by this time). It just seemed easier at the time to let people believe this, thinking it would go away but this misconception still follows me. It doesn’t matter now though. I have finally found the path to my calling or true vocation in writing and have lived in between. I have stories to tell that I would not have if I had ‘got my own way’ to begin with.
During the family gathering last weekend, people aware of my health complications asked how I was coping with the pregnancy. As I so often do, I played down the complications for their sake and instead talked about their lives. Everyone likes to talk about themselves but I have the habit of playing everything down for the sake of other people. Even if I wanted to change, how can I go against a lifetime of teaching? It goes against my grain to effectively put my needs above others. Now, I’m not painting myself out to be a saint but sometimes I wish I could talk about myself. I wish I could speak the truth when people ask me how I am. Even during the various medical appointments I now have, I do not emphasise enough how bad I really feel.
I don’t believe I am the only one who does this, in fact I believe we all do. We all believe the ‘grass is greener on the other side’. We all paint our lives to be better than it is. We all pretend to be happier; more content than we really are. In effect we are painting over the straw-like texture of our own grass with deception not for our own sakes but for the sake of everyone else. We all have parts of our lives that we  would rather not dwell upon, parts of our lives we wish we could change but are unable to do so. What we so often forget is that nothing can thrive without water. What we need to do more than anything  is to accept the good and bad in our lives. We mustn’t forget the bad because those times are what make us who we are. They give us a chance to change the future, they give us lessons to learn by.
What we must do is nurture what we do have, to pick through the weeds and tend to our own garden before even glancing across the fence and comparing what we have with that of our neighbour.

Meningitis: 14,000 At Risk In Deadly US Outbreak

American health officials say 14,000 people have been exposed to contaminated drugs linked to a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.

Fourteen people are dead and at least 170 infected across eleven states after being treated for back pain with tainted steroid injections.

The US Centres for Disease Control released the new information as the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) reported that 50 vials of the medicine had tested positive for fungal meningitis so far.

Doctors are rushing to warn people who might have been exposed, many of whom might not experience symptoms for around 30 days after infection.

Fungal meningitis is rare and not passed from person to person, but it is a very serious condition with symptoms including neck ache, fever, headaches and extreme sensitivity to light.

The batch of steroids linked to the outbreak has been recalled, and the Massachusetts pharmacy that manufactured it, the New England Compounding Centre (NECC), has said it is co-operating with authorities investigating the outbreak.

But Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the NECC may have misled regulators and done work beyond the scope of its state licence.

An FDA official said the NECC had assured federal authorities that it was producing safe products, and that the meningitis outbreak showed the need for a new scheme to oversee the specific type of drug associated with it.

The legal backlash has already begun with a Minnesota woman launching what is thought to be the first of many lawsuits against the NECC.

Barbe Puro says she suffered "bodily harm, emotional distress, and other personal injuries" after being injected in September with doses of the steroid medication.

She is waiting for the results of a painful spinal tap to confirm if she has the illness.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and class-action status to cover fellow patients in Minnesota.

Feds raid Massachusetts lab tied to meningitis outbreak

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal agents on Tuesday raided the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a widespread meningitis outbreak that has killed 16 people and sickened more than 200 others, federal prosecutors said.

Agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration searched the New England Compounding Center, or NECC, in the Boston suburb of Framingham, with officers from the local police department providing support, Framingham police said.

The raid took place as calls came for an even wider probe into whether the once obscure pharmacy may have broken federal laws dealing with controlled substances, and as additional meningitis cases were announced.

Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, said in a statement, "I can confirm that this office and our law enforcement partners are investigating allegations concerning the New England Compounding Center."

Ortiz said it was "entirely premature" to speculate about what might be uncovered.

A lawyer for NECC, said the raid was unnecessary and that "asking would have produced the same result."

"It is difficult to understand the purpose of this search, since we have been clear that (NECC) would provide, and has provided, anything requested. We've been clear that warrants weren't needed," Paul Cirel, of the firm Collora LLP in Boston, said in a statement.

The entrance to NECC's headquarters - a squat, nondescript brown brick building - was cordoned off with yellow "caution" tape.

An officer with the Framingham motorcycle unit guarded the front door. Lights were on inside, and a number of people, including uniformed agents, were seen moving around inside the facility into the night.

The FDA's criminal unit, the Office of Criminal Investigations, is a team of agents with specialized knowledge and training to investigate violations of food and drug laws. It pursues about 1,200 criminal cases each year.

The raid came as a leading U.S. lawmaker called for an investigation of whether the compounding pharmacy violated federal laws covering potentially addictive drugs.

The U.S. meningitis outbreak is widening. A 16th death was announced on Tuesday, a patient from southwest Virginia, that state's Department of Health said in a statement.

Overall, there are 231 confirmed meningitis cases, according to Tuesday's tally from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of 19 on the day.

"We will see more patients reporting in ill and we'll have to treat many more," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said on "CBS This Morning."

The FDA on Monday widened its investigation of the cause of the fungal meningitis outbreak to other drugs made by NECC.

Nearly 14,000 people nationwide are at risk of infection because they received injections from suspect steroid medications shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states.

Besides the meningitis cases, two additional patients have a different type of fungal infection from injections in their joints (as opposed to back injections).

Massachusetts Democratic Representative Edward Markey, a senior member of the committee that oversees business, called on the Justice Department to investigate whether NECC violated federal laws designed to stem illegal activity in controlled drugs.

The company already faces multiple investigations by the FDA and several states, but Markey's request could launch an even more serious probe involving the Drug Enforcement Administration, which oversees sales of potentially addictive, or "controlled" drugs.

'CAN'T ASSURE THE STERILITY'

The FDA said on Monday it was looking into two other drugs made by NECC.

The agency said it had received reports of a patient with possible meningitis who received an injection of a different steroid from the one found to have caused the deaths. It said on Tuesday that one transplant patient was infected with a fungus after receiving a drug used in open heart surgery made by NECC. The FDA originally said two such patients were infected.

Another patient identified by the FDA received an injection of the steroid triamcinolone, also supplied by NECC.

During a conference call on Tuesday with doctors on the meningitis outbreak, FDA official Janet Woodcock stressed that the two additional products had not been linked to confirmed infections. She asked doctors to contact patients injected since May to make sure they had no signs of infection.

NECC said in a statement that it was reviewing the new information from the FDA.

The FDA has been inspecting the NECC facilities. Woodcock said that based on the condition of the plant and other factors, "we really can't assure the sterility of these products."

The legal threat to NECC also mounted as more victims of meningitis filed lawsuits, including two filed by Michigan residents this week.

All but eight of the 23 states that received suspect medications from the Massachusetts specialist pharmacy have reported at least one case of fungal meningitis.

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever and nausea. Fungal meningitis is not contagious.

The outbreak has raised questions about how the pharmaceuticals industry operates. NECC engaged in a practice called drug compounding that is not regulated by the FDA, which generally oversees drug manufacturers.

In compounding, pharmacies prepare specific doses of approved medications, based on guidance from a doctor, to meet an individual patient's need.

A Reuters investigation found that NECC solicited bulk orders from physicians and failed to require proof of individual patient prescriptions as required under state regulations, emails to a customer showed.

State pharmacy regulators have said that NECC violated its license in Massachusetts by not requiring patient prescriptions before shipping products.

The states reporting cases of meningitis are Tennessee, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Florida.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Michele Gershberg in New York and David Bailey in Minneapolis; Writing by Greg McCune, Dan Burns and Ros Krasny; Editing by Prudence Crowther and Peter Cooney)

Sylvia Day, A Hunger So Wild

Second in the Renegade Angels erotic paranormal romance series revolving around three separate supernatural species—angels, vampires, and lycans. The couple focus is on Elijah Reynolds and Vashti.

My Take
A good read. Day set up a massive conflict, the underlying series theme, in A Touch of Crimson and expands on it beautifully. It’s making me itch to read the next in the series, A Taste of Seduction.

Day teases very well! She has also written some hot love scenes. I do like the balance Day is managing with all the conflict that arises. Vashti’s traumatic past and the frustration she’s feeling along with the pull on her loyalty between Syre and Eli. Then there’s Eli’s own complex path involving his need as Alpha to protect a pack he doesn’t want, the importance of Lindsay’s friendship, and his own sense of loyalty to Adrian. As for Adrian…he and Lindsay have a minor role here although I did want to cry in the scene where Lindsay confronts Adrian over his growing humanity.

I had been wondering how Day would resolve Adrian’s sin of loving Lindsay. Several interesting possibilities including the truth behind Helena and Marcus’ deaths.

Okay, Vashti’s reluctance for the alliance may convince the lycans of the vampires’ sincerity, but the vampires’ desperate need will come out immediately. I wish Day had put a touch more separation into “we need each other” before leaping into “we need so much help”. Heck, Vashti was fine with pushing at Syre for a few days NOT to do this!

Oh!! LOL, I did enjoy Eli’s introductory position with Vashti. He just put it right out there—this is what I am, suck it up! The whole bit where each hates the other SO much and yet they leap into sex SO quickly was too fast. Although I also have to say that the fierce hatred and attraction also worked. I know, I know, I’m being contradictory.

Interesting questions being raised as to the truth behind the origins of the lycans—what the lycans learn as opposed to what the vampires believe. Then there are the revelations at the end. Eli is taking all this betrayal too easily—Rachel’s reaction in the beginning. I’m wondering if Phineas is alive.

While I enjoyed the whole confrontation scene in Shreveport, Vashti’s reasoning was off. That, or Raye was pulling one on her. It is creating an interesting conflict with Syre. I do like Eli’s reasons for loving Vash…sigh…

Whoa! That encounter in Louisiana certainly brings additional clarity as well as many more questions.

The Story
Evidence of the stricken vampires is becoming apparent and Syre makes a bold move sending the lycan-hating Vashti as his ambassador to the rebelling lycans and their Alpha. Primed to hate, to rip each other apart, Eli and Vashti do. Only not in anger, but in lust.

Facing an unexpected partnership, both are loyal to their own with the added conflict of their own attraction to the enemy. A development that gives them the breathing space to discover a more perfidious enemy.

It’s Grace’s need for information the requires the Lycan-Vampire alliance.

The Characters
Vashti is a Fallen angel. A vampire and Syre’s second-in-command. Vicious and brutal, she loves Syre very much. As a friend. Her commander. Her team usually includes Raye who can’t keep it in his pants and Salem. Charron was her mate. Both were angels who Fell when they fell in love.

What did happen to Ice? Is he a party to this?

Elijah Reynolds is a lycan and one of the very rare Alphas. Loyal to Adrian and a friend to Lindsay. The sudden revolt leaves him in charge of the rebelling lycans. Rachel was Micah’s mate. Eli owes her a revenge that can be paid with the death of Vashti. Stephan is his beta. Sarah is a young Omega. One of many female wolves attracted to the Alpha.

Ben and Andrew are two lycans who return to the Sentinels.

Lindsay Gibson held two souls. Her own and Shadoe’s. Syre was Shadoe’s father and it was necessary to turn Lindsay into a vampire to release one of the souls. She’s a vampire now. One who can walk in daylight.

Adrian Mitchell leads the Sentinels. He is the captain and he’s flouting the rules by being in love with a mortal. The same rule that Fell Syre, Vashti, Charron… Malachai, Geoffrey, and Damien are fellow Sentinels.

Raguel Gadara may be an archangel, but he sounds more like a demon. His territory covers all of North America. Evangeline Hollis works for Raguel and offers contact information on his allies to Adrian. Anything to shaft Raguel.

Syre was the first angel to Fall when he fell in love with Torque and Shadoe‘s mother. Adrian cut off his wings and Syre became the first vampire and their leader. Torque is naphil—part angel, part mortal. His wife Nikki was killed in A Touch of Crimson.

Sentinels are the warrior angels charged with policing the Fallen and their vampires and minions. The Fallen are angels who fell in love with mortals.

Dr. Grace Peterson is a vampire scientist struggling to find an antidote to the disease destroying vampires, turning them into Wraiths. Her counterpart on the Sentinel side is Siobhán.

The Cover
The cover is orange. Against a titled backdrop of a nightlit downtown scene, a shirtless Eli adopts a casual stance, thumbs hooked in his front jean pockets and three nasty scratches marring his right pectoral muscle.

The title really sums up Eli and Vashti’s mutual attraction with A Hunger So Wild.

Jacqueline Winspear, Birds of a Feather

Second in the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series which takes place in England just after World War I.
My Take
It’s fascinating to watch Dr. Blanche’s psych techniques in action. Mimicking body postures and movements to understand the underlying thoughts of another. The playacting in character roles. A bit of introspection, an understanding of human nature, and a knowledge of a person’s back history is enough to yield many ideas.
How Maisie uses open areas and walks, body positions and movements to open up any person or know when questioning is futile. She opens her mind to sense the atmosphere, spirits, tension left behind at crime scenes.
You can’t help but like Maisie Dobbs—the character and the concept. As a detective, her use of a more spiritual and observant approach is a fascinating twist on the usual. As the character, she is beautifully strong-willed and compassionate.
Winspear takes you back in time as she captures the nuances of that era. Its manners, its dress, and the interactions of the different classes whether in the heights, the gutters, or the pub.
Be warned, you will cry.
The Story
Maisie’s detective agency is doing well and, at first glance, the commission from Mr. Waite doesn’t appear all that out of the ordinary. It’s that notation on the card from Maurice that has her wondering. When she and Billie meet with Mr. Waite in his home, interact with the staff, and sees Charlotte’s bedroom is when the first whiff of curiosity arises.
It’s the small things that lead to bigger that causes Maisie to begin to see strands tying together seemingly disparate deaths that leads to the truth behind Miss Waite’s running, running, and running.
She has cause. Both good and bad. A father’s preference over another can result in very bad reactions.
The Characters
We meet Maisie Dobbs living in a second floor suite at Ebury Place and using yoga. She rose above her working class roots, starting as a thirteen-year-old tweeny, and gained a formal education at Cambridge. Her practical psychological education was with Dr. Blanche and Khan. Successful at a time when most of the world is in breadlines, she’s on her own now as a detective with Billie Beale as her faithful sidekick (Doreen is his very worried wife—Billie’s leg is acting up and he’s taking cocaine). She’s now moved her office to Fitzroy Square and she still has Lady Rowan’s little MG; Lady Rowan’s fall during a hunt precludes her driving herself.
Maisie is welcome upstairs and downstairs but is having trouble connecting with her dad Frankie who is running the stables down in Kent for Lord and Lady Compton. It takes a nasty accident to pull father and daughter back together. Frankie and Lady Rowan have plans to raise Derby winners. Mrs. Crawford, the cook, keeps saying one more year.
Dr. Maurice Blanche has retired and bought the Dower House from the Comptons. Khan is a blind Ceylonese mystic who taught Maisie to see without her eyes. Detective Inspector Stratton is more interested in Maisie as a woman than as a detective. Sergeant Caldwell is a pricker in Stratton’s backside.
Joseph Waite is a self-made man who rose up from being the sole support of his mother and siblings as a butcher’s boy to a man with a string of successful grocery stores—Waite’s International Stores. He’s generous with those he feels deserve it and he must be in control at all times. Mr. Harris is his butler; Mrs. Willis is the housekeeper with her own burden; Miss Arthur is his secretary; and, every one of his employees respects him. It doesn’t mean that they like him.
Charlotte Waite is Joseph’s daughter with her own shameful secrets. Ones she won’t face. Perkins acts as Charlotte’s maid. Gerald Bartrup is Charlotte’s former fiancé and happy to be out of it. Joe, Junior died in 1916 in the war along with a lot of Waite’s Boys. Mr. Jempson at Waite’s warehouse remembers all the boys from there who enlisted. As well as the why.
Lydia Fisher drinks and Magnum married her for her money. Phillipa Sedgewick seeks solace in her garden and her poor hubbie John is distraught. Maisie suggests opening windows and walking in Phillipa’s garden. Dame Constance Charteris is a Benedictine nun whom Maisie knew at college. She is now the abbess at Camden Abbey in Romney Marsh.
Rosamunde Thorpe reads to battered vets. Mrs. Hicks was Mrs. Thorpe’s housekeeper. She doesn’t believe it was suicide. It also seems that Mr. Waite paid Mrs. Thorpe a visit. Dr. Andrew Dene is a Bermondsey boy and a student of Dr. Blanche’s and attracted to Maisie. He’s the physician in charge at All Saints’ Convalescent Hospital in Hastings and he knew Rosie Thorpe from her visits there. He doesn’t believe it was suicide either. Maisie consults him regarding Billie’s problem and later her father’s.
Gideon Brown, formerly Günther Brown, uses exercises devised by an American, Joseph Pilates, to help the wounded. I just thought this was an interesting bit of trivia.
For the past six months, Maisie has been visiting Simon at the nursing home.
The Cover
A very 1920s cover with the style of the design, Maisie’s hat and coat, and the grille of the car behind her. The greyed-out colors are perfect for the depressing times along with the idle cranes. White birds flit through the sky. Just another reminder.
The title is so appropriate for Birds of a Feather did once hang together. And they die together.

Harry Connolly, Circle of Enemies

Third in the Twenty Palaces urban fantasy series revolving around Ray Lilly, a man with a ghost knife who is both attracted and repelled by the organization for which he works.
My Take
Phfft…this is a bunch of “friends” Ray is much better off without! Friends who betray and rob each other at the drop of a hat.
How sick is this? Wally claims he’s doing these things to his old circle because Ray helped him in high school???
Why is it people never seem to grasp when to shut up and be still in a dangerous situation?
Ray’s had questions about the Society and about Annalise before, but Csilla’s actions are just beyond, way beyond, acceptable. Nor is Talbott’s attitude a help. The pressure Annalise uses on the boat captain…
Connolly will keep you on your toes and flipping pages to learn the why of it all. Will Ray survive it, save the world? And another small step for Ray to move forward in his own evolution…eee-yewww.
So much greed. The betrayals. That panting desire for the easy way. Taking from someone else to feed your own wants.
The Story
A touch from the past when Caramella appears in Ray’s bathroom with a message from Wally. His old friends are dying because they knew him.
Wally found his old crew and needed a few favors. How better to pay Ray back for everything—high school and that fiasco back in Seattle. The crew? Well, they’re all greedy enough to jump on, too greedy to question it. And Arne believes Ray owes him one.
One more job. But it never stops there. Betrayals and abandonment. Future promises that aren’t what was thought. Predators coming through bathtubs, the back of the couch, the floor.
The Characters
Ray Lilly finds odd and menial jobs trying to keep his head above water. He’s an ex-con specializing in car theft and he fell into a situation with Twenty Palaces. Now he’s one of them. More accurately, he’s Annalise’s wooden man. A pawn whose purpose is to take the heat. Besides some spell tattoos on his body from Annalise, his only other weapon is his ghost knife.
Annalise Powlis and Csilla Foldes are peers in the Society and while both are incredibly powerful, Csilla is very old and getting ga-ga. Talbot is new and Csilla’s wooden man. His future will depend on Ray’s.
Ray’s old gang includes:
Caramella Harris is with Luther, a loyal dumb idiot who was the first to take Wally up on his offer; Arne Sandler is their leader; Leonard is still a guard; Ty is a fitness instructor now (Dale is his boyfriend); Fidel Robles, a.k.a., Robbie, is Arne’s second-in-command but has set up his own crew with some of Arne’s team; Bud and Summer are married; and, Violet Johnson was Ray’s old girlfriend. She’s not the loyal type in spite of what Ray did for her brother Tommy. Jasmine is her little girl and Maria is Vi’s mother. King has given them powers and they’re heading for the big time. Too bad King didn’t define what he meant by “big time”.
Wally King is a psychopath whom Ray met back up with two years ago. One who put a spell on Ray’s best friend, summoned predators, and caused too many to die, all while claiming Ray was his friend. Now he’s filled with predators and they feed upon each other. Wally has plans for the world. Really short-term plans.
Lino Vela is an historian caring for a house full of antiquities. Magical ones. The house belongs to the owner of the Bugatti, Steven François whose ancestor, Georges François, stole one of the spell books. Wardell Shoops was a pro football player until he beat his manager so bad that he went to prison. Now he’s hired muscle for François.
The Twenty Palace Society is an organization “of sorcerers committed to…hunting down magic spells and the people who used them”, taking a scorched earth policy to the extreme. The Empty Spaces, the Deeps, are on other planes and filled with predators, creatures eager to enter our world and feed.
The spell books that made the primaries, secondaries, etc. seem to be a small group of types which are repeated within a “family”: The Smith Book of Oceans, the Jones Book of Grooves, the Mowbray Book of Oceans, the Lilly Book of Motes, the King Book of Oceans. We’ll see how much information Connolly dribbles out in the next book.
The Cover
The cover is orange (the title), browns, and black. Inside an old building with open-back wooden stairs and a wooden floor pierced by a hole and rimmed in flames leading to the Empty Spaces.
The title is too right. Ray is surrounded by his own Circle of Enemies.

Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith, Greyfriar

First in the Vampire Empire steampunk fantasy series about a world split into a Northern Vampire and a Southern Human worlds.

My Take
What were they thinking? Totally unprepared. No clue how to take down a vampire. Yet, in their smug superiority, they decide to send both heirs to the throne out on this chancy tour? Lord Kelvin definitely bears watching.

For the most part, gag. The Griffiths have a good story going with the requisite heroes and villains, but their characters do so many stupid things… The only characters I really liked are Adele, Anhalt (Simon doesn’t count), Greyfriar, Gareth, and Morgana. Both kings are pretty out of it, controlled by the people around them.

After 150 years, you’d think they’d know a lot more about their enemy instead of hunkering down and cowering under the heat.

One undercurrent is a shunning of religion, the metaphysical. It’s all about the science. Not that they’re doing much on the vampire analysis.

interesting that Gareth is fascinated by humans. He points out that vampires “make nothing and create nothing”. He’s appalled by the laziness and decadence into which the vampires have fallen. The Griffiths have certainly played up the nastiness of the vampires by pointing up the filth, bones, and stench. Ragged remnants, broken windows the norm.

How stupid of Adele to slay Ghast in front of all those vampires, especially Cesare when she knows how tenuous things are between Gareth and Cesare. What did she expect to accomplish?

The bad guys—I include Clarke here—are almost caricatures. Even Gareth is in some ways—such a noble, suffering hero.

The Griffiths’ writing needs a greater maturity in the sentences—those uttered by characters and as text. The scene where Greyfriar reveals himself is so hokey. As well as Adele’s snide comments later. No, don’t get me wrong. She’s perfectly entitled to be somewhat skeptical, I would also expect that she would be intelligent enough to weigh his actions with his words.

I did appreciate the subtle difference, point(?), Gareth is making about wanting the worthy to survive. Wanting to maintain the balance of the clans. He is planning for a more honorable survival for both sides whereas Cesare wants to wash in the blood of humans.

The discussion about writing was cute between Gareth and Adele. An unexpected perspective. Oh god, it’s so sad how excited Gareth is about his library. It sounds so wonderful and then Adele sees it.

Interesting background on vampire babies.

The Story
The vampires rose and destroyed humanity and its infrastructure in the Great Killing of 1870, forcing mankind to flee to the warmer climes where vampires could not follow. It’s been 150 years since that cold winter night and the marriage between Princess Adele and the great American hero, Senator Clarke, will unite two of the strongest empires, paving the way to take the battle to the north, destroy the vampires, and reclaim their homelands.

Only it all goes awry with the attack on the fleet and the kidnapping of the princess. She’s Prince Cesare’s prisoner and he intends to manipulate his clans to war!

It’s Greyfriar who disrupts those plans. The human hero and his weak brother Prince Gareth. Both a thorn in Cesare’s side.

The Characters
Princess Adele is the heir to the throne, the future empress of Equatoria. Prince Simon, her younger brother and second in line to the throne, has all the desires of a little boy and he idolizes the Greyfriar, “a hero who fights the vampires in the North”. Greyfriar treasures books, especially Sir Geoffrey Randolph’s book on vampire anatomy.

Mamoru is a samurai who has been teaching Adele the power of weaponry and spirituality. Too bad he hasn’t covered magic yet. Selkirk is a geomancer and spy for Mamoru in England. Colonel Mehmet Anhalt, a Gurkha officer, is in charge of the princess’ White Guard. Lord Kelvin is the prime minister and totally and completely hung up on protocol. Laurence Randolph, Lord Aden, is one of the richest men in the Empire and his wealth is derived from coal, timber, and oil. His Imperial Majesty, Constantine II, is the emperor of Equatoria.

Nzingu Mamenna is a sorceress from Zululand and Sanah the Persian collects arcane religious rituals. Sir Godfrey and Mamoru have something going on behind the scenes.

Prince Gareth is Dimitri’s heir, but prefers to live in Edinburgh in the castle with his faithful vampire servant, Baudoin. Gareth really needs to be more politically savvy. He appreciates humans, but is mystified by their absorption in art, books, reading, and writing. Morgana is a human servant at the castle who provides human perspective on Gareth.

Prince Cesare is lord of Ireland, a totally de-humanized Ireland. He actually expects Adele to tell him their war plans as well as about any spies in England. He wants to lead the clans to war so he will be acclaimed heir. Flay is Prince Cesare’s war chief and is a formidable warrior. King Dimitri rules England and his barbaric, ruthless, younger son Cesare rules him.

Senator Clarke is Adele’s Intended. A war hero and vampire killer. All based on one battle for one city which he lost the following year. He’s only in this marriage for the notoriety and the power, using everyone around him. He arrives early for the wedding in his ship, the U.S.S. Ranger, captained by Root. He prefers show battles. Major Stoddard is Clarke’s second-in-command and doesn’t like the senator.

The Cover
The cover is all grays and blacks with the blackest forming Greyfriar and Adele making a stand. It’s possible that it’s his brother’s airships hovering far overhead.

The title introduces a fantastical folk hero, The Greyfriar, almost the only hope left for humanity.

Simon R. Green, Spy Who Haunted Me

Third in the Secret Histories urban fantasy series about the Drood family who are the hidden protectors of the world.

My Take
Well, this was interesting. It was a lot of short stories woven into a larger tale of six of the world’s greatest secret agents invited to play a game with the winner to gain all of Alexander King’s, the Independent Agent’s, secrets. And Green has brought Walker from the Nightside in as one of the participants.

I love it! The Hiring Hall is incorporated as Pound of Flesh, Inc. with a tagline of We always take our cut. How very Shakespearean, LOL. Oh, then there’s the Druid Nation with Let’s put the fear back into Halloween!

It’s funny, it’s outrageous, it’s full of snark as the agents all take jabs at each other. It makes fun of, well, you name it. And this time around, Green brings in a bit of the Nightside with Walker as one of the gamesters. It was rather odd reading a story in which Walker is not treated as scarier than God.

In between it all, there’s Eddie trying to make peace with everyone, to foster a sense of teamwork.

There’s an attempt to bring sex into this, but it falls flat. Then there’s Walker using his Voice. Once. After that he supposedly doesn’t have it. Huh??

Oooh, a Drood at Strangefellows in the Nightside. I suspect Eddie will be quite happy never to return!

The Story
Another upheaval in who rules the Drood family and Eddie can’t decide if he’s happy or not about it. All of which becomes moot when he’s invited to participate in King’s game to discover which of six of the world’s most promising agents will survive a game he has devised.

They are to go out into the world and solve five mysteries, starting with the Loch Ness monster. Each agent brings their strengths and contacts—where communications are possible—to solve each mystery. Most of the mysteries require intuition and knowledge to even figure out what the mystery is!

It’s a deadly game with helpful results. Well, helpful to the inhabitants anyway. And threats from some very capable enemies.

The Characters
Eddie Drood, a.k.a., Shaman Bond, ruled his family—the one that rules the Universe—for a short time, but he’s back in London as a field agent. Molly Metcalf has moved back to the wild woods and Eddie spends as much time as he can with her although it’s not much in this story.

Martha Drood is the Matriarch of the Droods, Eddie’s grandmother. William is the whacko Librarian with Rafe as his assistant (and nanny); Uncle Jack is the Armourer who has way too much fun in his workshop (think of James Bond’s Q); Cousin Harry is still around with his partner, Roger, the half-demon, his half-brother, AND his lover; there’s still a Cedric as Sergeant-at-Arms, but he’s sneakier than his predecessor; Ethel is still happily involved; and, Callan has recovered…mostly.

The other agents include the Blue Fairy with his stolen torc; Honey Lake is CIA; Walker is…well, he’s Walker from the Nightside, a force to be reckoned with; Peter King is the Independent Agent’s grandson who specializes in industrial espionage; and, Lethal Harmony of Kathmandu uses her sex to sway those around her.

Queen Mab has re-taken her throne from Oberon and Titania and has designs upon our world.

Big Aus is part of an Australian gang interested in embarrassing the Queen. He’s already hired on Coffin Jobe who has a tendency to fall down dead; the Dancing Fool who is the fastest fighter in the world with his déjà fu; and, Strange Chloe, the Goth’s Goth, who can crumble the world with her gaze.

Philip MacAlpine is paying for the mistakes of Daemons are Forever. Silly bugger, he should have known better!

The Cover
The cover is quite a colorful collage of events in its bright lime green electrifying the U.S.S. Eldridge with a beautiful royal blue sky behind and a decrepit pier before it. One of his fellow spies and Eddie are in silhouette in the foreground.

I’m not really sure where the title came from. There are several possibilities from Eddie feeling the losses, the Independent Agent’s history, and/or the mysterious person who keeps following them. Any of these could be The Spy Who Haunted Me.

The Rose Petal Beach: Book Review

What it says on the back:
‘I could kill them for what they’ve done to me’.
I said those words. And I meant them at the time. But what would you do, what would you say if your husband was accused of something terrible and the accuser is someone you trusted with your life?
That doesn’t mean I wanted this to happen. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. And I didn’t want to be scared that every knock on the door is going to be the police, coming to take me away. What’s going to happen to my children? What’s going to happen to me?
My name is Tamia Challey and this is my story. 
—————
As I eagerly accepted the book shaped parcel from the postman one morning and ripped open the packaging, I knew that great wonders lay beneath.
Dorothy Koomson outdoes herself each time and she definitely has provided her readers with a tension packed tale of love, lies and unforseeable twists in this emotional, heartbreaking tale. As you tentatively turn each page you will find yourself wanting to cry, smile, even hide behind a cushion all at the same time. The Rose Petal Beach is definitely the penultimate emotional  thriller which keeps you guessing until the very end.
A number of people have remarked on the pastel shades of books adorning my bookcase, querying how I can read such ‘chick lit’. I reply with the well founded come back that Dorothy Koomson is not chick lit (not that there is anything wrong with such books), Koomson has in fact created her own genre of emotional thrillers. The Rose Petal Beach for me also read like a crime/who done it, to the extent that it could easily hold its own among the Patricia Cornwell’s of the crime genre. The lesson here, is to never judge a book by its cover, no matter how beautiful and stunning it may be. I must mention here that the cover to Koomson’s latest work of art is in itself magnificent and my current favourite. Even when I wasn’t reading the book, I would want to stare at the cover and take in its mystery and beauty.
In my opinion, Rose Petal Beach is Dorothy’s most  confrontational and thought provoking and what I can only imagine as her most emotional demanding. There are a number of leading characters involved in the story each with their own agendas, I was amazed at how Koomson flawlessly adopts each persona, writing so powerfully from each perspective that you forget what you are actually reading is fiction. During her public engagements, Dorothy often states she gains her inspiration for her writing from real life stories from the news and newspapers. For this reason, she is so concerned with portraying the victims’ stories correctly that her research is so detailed that she steps into each character’s shoes and describes human nature so perfectly that I had to remind myself to breathe as I furiously read the story of the Rose Petal Beach with bated breath. She has provided justice to the victims of such crimes so successfully that you feel you can actually touch the reality. Koomson is so in touch with her characters that you actually hear them talking to you; they very quickly get into your head and you begin to understand them. You feel and empathise with the desperation in each character. As someone who has experienced an aspect of the story, Dorothy’s depiction is so close to reality it sent shivers through me. Koomson soon has you feeling the emotions right down to your bones. Rose Petal Beach definitely comes across as a labour of love on Dorothy’s part  - the fast pace of the story keeps the reader on their toes to the point that even when you are not reading it, you are thinking about it, longing to go back to it. I personally carried it around with me in the hope that I could steal five minutes alone to immerse myself once more in the story.
The Rose Petal Beach is ultimately a lesson in denial, in understanding yourself, in questioning what you would do in similar circumstances; putting your own coping mechanisms into perspective. Essentially it is a reminder that your past never leaves you but very often catches up with you in later life, highlighted by the back story with which Dorothy Koomson develops the legend of The Rose Petal Beach. It attests to the love is blind belief of many and proves that everyone is capable of both good and evil.
Throughout reading the book and in writing this review, I have tried my hardest to find negative aspects of the book and/or Koomson’s writing but have failed to do so. This story will stay with you long after the last word has been devoured.

The Green Green Grass Of Home

I recently attended a family event and it was one of those events that lead you to examine your own life and relationships. My Thalassemia prevented me from joining in some of the celebrations, which at first I regretted but now not so much. It gave me time to think and review my life with a writer’s brain (hence this particular post).
I’m not particularly insecure about many things except what people think of me. I now think this has stemmed from the subconscious understanding from childhood that I always had to do as I was told. As the youngest, I have felt my elder siblings enjoyed a larger amount of freedom than I was granted. I don’t resent them at all and my parents were in no way stricter in raising me than my siblings, it was more a choice on my part than a forced reality from my parents.
I never really fought for anything – even down to deciding which subjects to study at further education, I did not appeal against the “no” I met with when choosing my options. I just accepted it was a “no” and moved on. This led me to studying subjects that others believed I chose because I had a teenage crush on the teacher (even though he had since left the school by this time). It just seemed easier at the time to let people believe this, thinking it would go away but this misconception still follows me. It doesn’t matter now though. I have finally found the path to my calling or true vocation in writing and have lived in between. I have stories to tell that I would not have if I had ‘got my own way’ to begin with.
During the family gathering last weekend, people aware of my health complications asked how I was coping with the pregnancy. As I so often do, I played down the complications for their sake and instead talked about their lives. Everyone likes to talk about themselves but I have the habit of playing everything down for the sake of other people. Even if I wanted to change, how can I go against a lifetime of teaching? It goes against my grain to effectively put my needs above others. Now, I’m not painting myself out to be a saint but sometimes I wish I could talk about myself. I wish I could speak the truth when people ask me how I am. Even during the various medical appointments I now have, I do not emphasise enough how bad I really feel.
I don’t believe I am the only one who does this, in fact I believe we all do. We all believe the ‘grass is greener on the other side’. We all paint our lives to be better than it is. We all pretend to be happier; more content than we really are. In effect we are painting over the straw-like texture of our own grass with deception not for our own sakes but for the sake of everyone else. We all have parts of our lives that we would rather not dwell upon, parts of our lives we wish we could change but are unable to do so. What we so often forget is that nothing can thrive without water. What we need to do more than anything  is to accept the good and bad in our lives. We mustn’t forget the bad because those times are what make us who we are. They give us a chance to change the future, they give us lessons to learn by.
What we must do is nurture what we do have, to pick through the weeds and tend to our own garden before even glancing across the fence and comparing what we have with that of our neighbour.

Dstwo Supercard Will Prove the Power of Inventions and Tune New Ways of Delights

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   In making the list of benefits about the supercard dstwo one can make good decisions over these nice cards and its functions towards the person on play. Good adaptive nature of all types of memory cards will offer great flexibility to the user to progress witch the art of entertainment. With the choice of plug and play mechanism the means of processing is made simple and all can make the right progression with it in simpler ways for attaining the real means of satisfaction from these units. Different functional options that strengthens the applications done with these supercard ds two is well defined GUI functionality for making all to have the flexible interaction with the different action performed. To make the user bt0o have the reliable products of fun the chance of anti piracy makes the trusted products into our usage levels.


          Supercard dstwo 3ds are making the offer of extensive cheat codes for making the gaming to o unlimited means. With the help of the cheat codes the game can be extended without any halt due to the hits and crashes. Also to make the user in best functional gaming the chance of acekard 2i 3ds is extending its support for the user to make great legends of powerful gaming. Faster execution of the process makes easy controls with the characters of the games, well compatible for different memory cards, build in editor for cheat functionality makes the co player to have thrill in gaming. With great benefits of these cards great fame can be owned as remarkable player. Also ez flash iv is one of best video game card which provides wonder-full moment of video game playing to all video game fans and addicts

Cat Adams, Isis Collar

Fourth in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series revolving around Celia Graves, a bodyguard-turned-vampire in Los Angeles.

My Take
Eeek, this one was filled with drama and tension with all the worry about the children and the creeping necrosis as well as many of the cops whom Celia used to go drinking with who want her dead and they keep doing their best to trip her up. Adams created a tricky story here. Hard-to-find clues that just didn’t add up until Adams pulled it all together at the end.

It cracks me up when Adams refers to a couple of bad guys as “hired wands”. A quirky restatement of a standard phrase.

OH! What kind of jerk agrees to perform horrible spells on children, but sends his own kids into hiding?!!

Okay, I still don’t get why Celia taking that job for the chemical company down in Mexico would make a difference…

Fascinating to read about Rizzoli’s intuition and how it works. Boy, talk about trust.

I do love what Adams has created in this series. Such a range of characters and then taking that twist with the vampire and making Celia part siren. Then her issues with her mother and the spillover onto her Gran.

It’s a complex life Celia leads, and it’s full of friends who care for her. I’m certainly enjoying the romances that ebb and flow in this. With the ending in this story, it looks like it could become extremely interesting in the next installment, The Eldritch Conspiracy. I can’t wait!

The Story
Just like real life, the authorities don’t always know everything and the school’s refusal to take her seriously is driving Celia mad. Still she’s there when the bomb does go off, only it’s having some serious, long-term effects and her damned health insurance refuses to cover her. They claim she’s dead!

She thought this was all bad enough. Until Rizzoli comes to get her and explains just how bad it really is and the Center for Magical Disease Control has to get involved.

That’s the easy part. What’s hard is that children are dying. Someone is setting off bombs in the schools. Good thing Creede’s specialty is offensive magic.

The Characters
As part of a plot, Celia Graves was almost completely turned into a vampire. Then she learned she has siren blood. Now she battles the state of California, insurance companies, demons, and a psychotic witch. Ivy is her ghostly sister, still roaming the earthly planes and worried about their alcoholic mother, Lana. And Ivy discovers the joy of overshadowing. Gran is in assisted living and quite the active enabler.

Dottie Simmons is a very powerful, secretive clairvoyant and a friend of Celia’s; she helps Dawna out at the office to supplement her pension. Dawna is the receptionist in Celia’s office building. And a friend who gets some gory lessons in self-defense from Alex and Celia. Ron is one of the tenants in the office building. He’s a lawyer and a first-class jerk—I am just dying for him to find out that Celia inherited the building!

Bruno DeLuca is a several-times former boyfriend of Celia’s and a level nine mage while John Creede who runs an extremely reputable security agency, Miller & Creede, is a level eight-plus. Both are very interested in Celia. Andrew is John’s assistant; Gillian is his sister. Both are extremely worried that John has been out of touch. Glinda Miller is George Miller’s daughter. The dead George that John and Celia killed in self-defense.

Detective Heather Alexander had been Vicki‘s lover before she died and it was through Vicki that Alex and Celia were friendly. Now, Alex is under intense scrutiny for what contact she does have with Celia. Terrance Harris is a Santa Maria de Luna cop and a six-level mage. His daughter, Willow, is attending the school. Officer Bob Danson has it in for Celia and his partner hasn’t a clue. Danson and Gerry, a guard at the clinic, are cofounders of the “Celia Graves Must Die” Club.

Special Agent Dominic Rizzoli is FBI and needs Celia’s help on a case; turns out he’s a level-eight Intuitive. His son Mikey has a bruise on his hip that his wife Karen just discovered. Gail Jones is FBI and is normally based at Quantico. She only comes in on high-profile cases. The negative is that her father is a magical hit man who has forced Celia to work for him in the past. Agent Indira Matumbo is half-demon, half-witch and can impersonate anyone.

Julie Murphy and her sister Bev have siren blood. Mick and Molly are their parents. Dr. Gwen Talbert is Celia’s therapist. Dr. Thomas Gaetano is with the Center for Magical Disease Control and he’s Christopher’s father. Baker and Natura are siren guards looking for Celia’s mother who escaped.

Warren “El Jefe” Landingham, the head of Paranormal Studies at the university, and his son Kevin, a werewolf, betrayed Celia so she’s not so friendly with them anymore. Emma, his daughter, is a clairvoyant and still one of Celia’s best friends. Dr. Aaron Sloan is frequently consulted for his knowledge of curses and the demonic.

Principal Sanchez is within her rights to refuse to evacuate; you just know it’s gonna turn out bad. R. Jamisyn is the school security guard who is sympathetic, but determined. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is a medical doctor specializing in Orvah magic, so don’t be surprised by the live goats and chickens wandering the office.

Isaac Levy is her magical tailor—hmmm, I wonder what he could do for me??; he and his wife Gilda also do the best artifact work.

Gavrail is one of the hired wands—the one with kids! G. Linda Thompson owns MagnaChem and is overbearingly pushy about hiring Celia as a bodyguard. The same Thompson who married a Jamisyn.

The Cover
The cover is feels like an explosion of light with Celia at its center in her black leather pants, knee-high boots, and very low-necked scoop black tank top. She has knives in forearm sheathes, but it’s the Egyptian-style collar around her neck, framed by all that white-blonde hair blowing back from her face, that really grabs your attention.

The title is the trauma in this installment—The Isis Collar has the potential to wreak havoc on the world.

Be certain Youre Picking the best R4I Card For ones Ds lite lit

The greater outlined issue together with the is usually a worry which is thanks to the R4 Card itself. The fact is, the most typical issue, the Nintendo R4 Card do not working in your own NDS console, is consistently on account of someone purchasing the wrong version inside the R4 DS Card. There are numerous version, and here We will be referring to the R4i SDHC DSi Version of the R4 cards. The R4i SDHC DSi version was built targeted at the favored Nintendo DSi. It is nevertheless entirely backwards befitting for each prior versions with the Ds lite. Much like you??ll find unique versions from the Nintendo DS console, you can also get unique and different versions with the Nintendo R4 Cards. There??s a version for that Nintendo ds lite and Nintendo ds lite Lite and, there is certainly likewise a really specific version for your Nintendo DSi. Also it can be around where the difficulties start and folks experience reactions thus to their Nintendo R4 Card. Apparently, help not actually when using the nintendo ds r4 in the instances, rather it really is while using proven fact likely, when your main Nintendo DSi just isn??t booting approximately the cause menu combined with R4 Card inserted, or else you just aren??t able to see the R4 icon to the menu itself, you possess probably purchased incorrect version through the R4 DS Card. Initially clearly there was just one version in the r4 ds card and simply the initial NDS console itself. The first Ds lite R4 worked with virtually no troubles inside initially revision while using NDS handheld system. While using making of your respective Ds lite lite lite version from the NDS, there exists not really a whole lot that??s modified providing the insides or hardware from the console was involved. The changes were really just cosmetic changes. The Ds lite lite was slimmer, smaller and lighter. The insides, the firmware and devices, remained unchanged and were similar to the Nintendo ds lite lite itself. That each those changed however , when the Nintendo DSi was published. Not only did they remove the GBA card slot, ensuring playing your Gameboy Advance games was no longer practical for the DSi, they totally redesigned the menu system rendering homebrew gaming impossible. While using hardware change came other changes and updates too. The firmware that the DSi changed too. Along and also the internal modifications inside the Nintendo DSi, the R4 DS Card itself now been forced to evolve and alter what worked as well. The very first Nintendo R4 was no longer can be used to engaging with the brand new menu system around the Nintendo DSi. The Nintendo R4 menu strategy is made for that original NDS naturally. Following discharge from the DSi system, the organization behind the R4 produced up to date edition of the brilliant R4 Card available since the R4i SDHC DSi Version, developed exclusively to be a give a merchant account towards innovative DSi system. It will be the updated and advanced version within the R4 DS. The R4i SDHC DSi version got its begin of one's ground-up, those who use amongst the Nintendo DSi console. The menu system was re-written and support was added for the people newest 1.4 edition while in the Nintendo DS firmware. Without it update inside the R4i SDHC Dsi card itself, it genuinely can??t function within the new Nintendo DSi. This there are numerous ways almost using the mix-up enters the image to execute, additionally , the reports on the R4 Card not running while using the new Nintendo DSi system. Most folks don??t recognise the main difference, and unfortunately, most internet vendors don apparently fnd out either, because undoubtedly are not educating the clientele to be sure an appropriate version for the R4 DS Card is purchased. Purchasing an remote controller wii, which was made to develop the NDS and NDS Lite isn??t going to work equally, or perhaps in the smallest amount of, with the new Nintendo DSi. Customers buy for them, erect them, plug them in, and next are upset by its news who's doesn??t stop here work, assuming rightfully that their R4 Card is damaged or broken. And many of the amount of time, the issue is quickly resolved as long as they receive an aftermarket card which might be inspired to operate in their specific version from the NDS console. Like i said previously earlier herein, the R4i SDHC DSi version is more connected with a universal means to fix your homebrew gaming and applications. Searching out the R4i SDHC DSi version is usually your safest choice. The R4 SDHC version works not only about the modern DSi systems, but is 100% backwards compatible and definately will eventually become employed inused inutilized indoing work ininworking at the primary Nintendo ds lite and lite systems too.

With A Little Help From My Friends

I finally find myself in the long-sought after position of reading and writing all day long and I have enjoyed testing myself by accepting new writing challenges, one of which I now need your help with.
I have decided to write an informative, pictorial essay on life in Iran that will be downloadable from my blog for free. It may not be a subject close to many people’s hearts and minds but as every writer is told, you need to ‘write what you know’ so that is exactly what I’m doing.
There seems to be a lot of rhetoric about Iran, most of which is negative and most of which from my perspective is largely based on misunderstandings. I plan to conduct thorough research, expand upon my findings with my own first-hand experiences and observations and hopefully provide a different perspective for my readers than they previously have been used to.
This is where you come in. I am inviting you to contact me with your perceptions of Iran via my proofreading e-mail address: lighteronwords@gmail.com or alternatively by commenting on this post. You are more than welcome to contact me anonymously and please feel free to express your true opinions and/or perceptions of Iran. I will not identify anyone in the write-up but would like to grasp a cross-section of understanding from people.
I genuinely really look forward to hearing from you and hope you will share your thoughts on Iran with me. You do not need to be Iranian, know an Iranian or even understand Iran. Just write what is in your mind.