Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Devil's Trap release!



Blurb:

Regan is the best vampire hunter money can buy. But, when she’s paid to kill one of the most powerful vampires in existence, she doesn’t realize she’s in way over her head. Things go terribly wrong and there is no escape…

Zarek is so powerful he scares other vampires. One little hunter should be no challenge. However, Regan is different, and as soon as he sees her, he will do anything to keep her. But she’s a stubborn woman, who refuses to let someone else control her.

When a powerful enemy comes to town, she’s forced to trust Zarek with her life. Who is the larger threat? The man out to destroy humankind? Or the vampire determined to own her heart?
Excerpt:

I reached the wooden bar and slid onto a sleek black stool with a groan of relief. In front of me, a shirtless vampire buffed the countertop, muscles flexing with each circle he made. Now this was a guy you actually dreamed about seeing naked. He was built like a god. Every muscle toned to perfection. He had probably been a big, chiseled guy before, and vampire blood washed away any flaws he might have had as a mortal. His raven-black hair gleamed in the lights. He was the perfect thing to bring in young women for a bite on the neck.

I sighed in pure feminine pleasure. Just because he was a vampire didn't mean I couldn't appreciate the view. But, a black aura and raw vampiric strength bled from him. He would have been jump-his-bones hot if his power didn't creep over my skin like spiders. I suppressed a shudder. No matter how enticing their form, vampires always made my skin crawl.

His gaze met mine, and I drew in a breath. He had the most gorgeous violet eyes. They were filled with an ancient intelligence. His lips curled into an amused grin, as if he knew I was ogling his body.

I frowned. It annoyed me that he read me so easily. I shook my head. I needed to remember the real reason I was here. I was here to kill Zarek, not drool over some gorgeous vampire. I was in a den of evil creatures, and he was one of them. Now really wasn't the time to do any lusting.
The smile widened and he raised his voice over the music. "What can I get you?"

He had a subtle accent I couldn't identify, and the deep, growling bass made my toes curl. It soothed my nerves in spite of what he was and caused another kind of excitement to bubble in my stomach. God, this was not the right guy to get that good down-low tickle for. Focus, Regan!

I cleared my throat and leaned closer to him. "I'd like to see the owner."

The smirk turned wicked and suggestive. "I'm Zarek. I'm the owner." He scanned my body, eyes finally resting on my throat. The scrutiny made me flush and wish I could hide my neck. Unfortunately, my black tank top and ultra-short shorts didn't leave much to cover up with. People who went into vampire clubs usually favored bare skin and a gothic appearance, so I'd been forced to blend.

Had he fed tonight? Vampires were twice as dangerous when they were hungry. The better question was, had he killed tonight? For some strange reason, I found myself hoping he hadn't. I tried to shake the ridiculous feeling. Even if he hadn't killed tonight, he had in the past. And even if he'd stopped, like Alaric and his brothers, it didn't change what he was, or the fact that someone wanted him dead.

He licked his lips before meeting my gaze again, leading me to believe that he hadn't fed. Great, I wouldn't leave this place without giving a little blood to him, even if I ended up killing him. If a vampire wanted blood, he'd find a way to take it.
"Again, how can I help you?"

I barely kept my curse of frustration to myself. I'd hoped to meet with him in private. Fighting to the death in the middle of his bar was a bad idea.

You can read the first two chapters on me website: www.honoriaravena.com

Sunday, August 21, 2011

15 (16?) Weird Facts

Okay, originally this was a YouTube tag, but I really didn't feel like doing a video, so I figured I'd could use it for the blog. People do these sorts of things on blogs all the time. Besides, I think I need to try harder to keep this blog active, because I suck lately.

#1. What's a nickname only your family calls you? Mom and Dad call me Pooh. I'm rarely called by my name, it's always Pooh.

#2. What's a weird habit of yours? Uh, damn, just one? I've got a few. I think the weirdest that everyone comments on is that I wear my socks inside out. I don't like the fuzzies on the inside, or the seam at the toes that always seems to lay right under your toe nails. However, the other that's commented on is my relationship with food. I have this thing where my food can't touch on a plate. I will actually get multiple plates just to avoid things touching. I will RARELY mix any food (like some people mix their corn in their mashed potatoes. That freaks me out). I also don't like anything soggy that wasn't originally soggy. That means: no cereal in milk, no cookies dunked in milk, and who knows what else.

#3. Do you have any weird phobias? I'm a fount of phobias. Chief among them is a fear of spiders and riding on ferris wheels. I hate driving. I don't think that counts as a phobia, because I still do it, but I avoid the busier highway in my town, and stick to back roads. One of my weirder ones is a phobia of open closets. One time when I was little mom said something about skeletons in her and dad's closet (probably to keep me out of Christmas presents) and that weird thought just stuck.

#4. What's a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you're alone? That changes all the time. I like almost all genres of music. Just when I think I've found something I hate, someone will come out with a song in that genre that I love. I think the biggest shocker to most people would be Miley Cyrus's See You Again. Or Taylor Swift's Our Song and Love Story. Considering how opposed I used to be to country and pop (seriously, heavy metal/punk rock all the way). There's a lot of belly dance, and some weird Balkan brass bands. Right now its You And I by Lady Gaga (usually not a fan of hers, but I like that song). Or it's In Ruins by Fol Chen.

 #5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves? I don't know. I have so many and can never think of them when someone asks me that. I guess its mean people. I don't get mean people. I try to be nice to everyone (with the exception of mornings. I'm not a morning person). #6. What's one of your nervous habits? Pfft. Pick one? There's nervous laughter, fiddling with my hands, clothes, fingernail polish, etc. Nibbling my lips.

#7. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Well I used to sleep smack in the middle. I have a queen size bed and I like to take advantage of the space, but lately I've been sleeping horizontally across the center. I like it because I watch TV when I sleep, because I tend to have nightmares, and wake up in the middle of the night, and it's just comfortable. And I had some kind of stomach virus a few months ago, and after that dizzy spells, and it just helped to sleep that way, so I've been doing it ever since. I don't particularly like it, my feet hang off the bed, and after seeing Paranormal Activity, that kinda freaks me out...Well that's not true, before Paranormal Activity it was the childish phobia of monsters under the bed. Seriously, the only thing good in Paranormal Activity that actually freaked my shit was when the demon dragged her down the hall and the very end. The rest was boring. Can't believe they made more than one.

 #8. What was your first stuffed animal and it's name? I have NO idea. I had like a million stuffed animals as a kid. I couldn't tell you the first, and I don't think I ever named them.

#9. What's the drink you always order at starbucks? Depends on the time of year. Soon it will be fall, so we're coming up on triple tall pumpkin spice latte time. Yes always triple tall. Don't judge my caffeine intake. All the barristas have been questioning it lately. It's like 'Whatever Starbucks worker! Like you don't consume much more than that."

#10. What's a beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice? Uh, quite a few. Lets see, I pop my pimples, and tug on my eyes to apply liner. I think those are my major offenders.

 #11. Which way do you face in the shower? Usually away from the shower head. But it depends on what I'm washing I guess. This is a strange question.

#12. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'? Well, that really depends who you are. I'm a belly dancer, and while I can't seem to choreograph jack shit, I can do some interesting muscle isolations. I've had people say my spine must be a bendy straw. But if you're also a belly dancer, you might not find back bends, undulations, or really deep vertical chest figure 8's to be all that out of the norm.

#13. What's your favorite comfort food thats 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways? Anything sugary. I'm a sugar junky. I'm trying to cut back.

#14. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say? That changes a lot. It's usually a curse word. I'm famous for my potty mouth. Well, not famous, but whatever.

#15. Time to sleep, what are you actually wearing? T-shirt and underwear. Pants push up to you knees and get tangled around your legs and are too hot. I like to wear as little as possible because I like to be covered by blankets no matter how hot it is. It hasn't been possible all summer. Makes me grumpy.

#16. I figure I should include something writer/book related. So for writers, do you have any weird writing habits? For readers, do you have any strange book habits? I'll answer both. Respectively: I like to drink hot tea when I write. I think it helps me focus (haven't been able to do that all bloody summer either!). I skip ahead in books looking for a good part, and then I'll read for a while when I find the good part, then curse myself for doing that and try to go back to read the part I skipped, but then I'll put down the book, because I get frustrated, because I was at a good part and had to go back. I've started to just go with the flow and if I skip ahead I figure I'll just catch the part I skipped next time I read the book.

If you do this tag let me know in the comments! I'd love to see some of your answers.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

First Books and Dyslexia

Elle Fowler (a YouTube beauty guru for those of you who don't watch her videos) talked about her favorite childhood book in a recent post and, well this sparked an idea for a blog post, so I'm just gonna roll with it, cause I don't blog enough.

I didn't read a lot in my early childhood, so almost every book I enjoyed sticks out in my mind. I have dyslexia, so getting me to read was always a struggle. I'm over it now (with the exception of lowercase b's and d's. If they're in a word, okay, but on their own? I really can't tell which is which) but back then I was a very picky reader, and had to be forced to do any reading. I'm kinda really surprised I ever learned how.

As I said, every book sticks out in my mind, and as I look back on them, they all have something in common. They ALL had a paranormal element. I guess that's always been my thing. I know I liked everything paranormal even before I could read. Like Buffy. Which I think started when i was six.

The first books I ever read were scary short stories. I read them over and over again, because they were short, and could hold my attention.


The first Harry Potter book came out when I was in 4th grade...Well I think it did, that's when our teacher started reading it to us anyway. And while I liked the teacher reading it to us, the prospect of reading a book that thick was a little too much for me, so I didn't start reading them until a few years later.

The first books that change my WORLD were the Everworld series by K.A. Applegate. My mom bought it for me to take to camp in 5th grade, because we had to have an hour of rest/reading time a day. Ugh. I dreaded that. They were taking something that was supposed to be fun, and they were putting an hour long torture session in it every day. I could have napped, but I've never been capable of that either. No matter how tired I am. So it was either stare into space for an hour, or read that blasted book. So, grudgingly, I picked up the book. It was the 11th on in the series, so I was more than a little confused. But even with that confusion, the world was absolutely riveting.


As soon as I got home, I begged for the first book in the series. Well, actually, I sincerely doubt I had to beg, considering my mom was probably desperate for me to read something. I finished the whole series before the 12th and final book had even come out. This was the first time I had to drum my fingers, and wait (not so) patiently, for the release of the next book in a series. I hate the way it ended by the way (well...if I remember right. It's been a while).


After that I moved onto the Fingerprints series by Melinda Metz. After that I pretty much read every book with paranormal elements I could get my hands on. Eventually I stumbled into Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, which made me a writer, and then a friend's mom loaned me my first romance ever. But those are separate stories for another time. I'm pretty sure I've told everyone about Atwater-Rhodes anyway.

Okay, peoples. I'm done typing. Hope you enjoyed my long pointless post. I guess it kinda does have a point. I guess it tells parents not to give up if your kid is dyslexic. Just keep gun forcing them to read books from different genres, and hopefully they'll stumble into something they can't live without.

Ooh, ooh. I can add a little promo at the end:

Running from an abusive husband, Natalya encounters more than she can handle…especially when she becomes a vampire’s target. Buy Fear of Darkness here.





Friday, July 15, 2011

Fear of Darkness rerelease

Fear of Darkness is out today!

Buy it here

Read the first two chaperes here.

Blurb:

As a Watcher of the King’s Guard, Vahe Patten hunts rogue vampires, ones who break their vampire laws. When dead bodies are left for the human authorities to find, their secret is out, and Vahe takes on the mission by seeking the next victim before the killer does—only to find her blood tasted sweeter than any he’s ever had.

Natalya Woods just wants to avoid her abusive husband and live a normal life, but the small town of Haven has been anything but safe. When she’s attacked in the streets, literally, by the man of her dreams, she finds herself kidnapped and putting her weapon skills to use—surprisingly not on her husband. Attraction and desire throws Natalya and Vahe in a bind as they work together to fight the killer, but will Natalya overcome her distrust of men and allow herself to take the risk to love?

Excerpt:

"Need a hand, Natalya?"

I spun around but before I could even get a word out, I was pressed against the wall with a hand over my mouth. I realized I’d forgotten my gun. I hadn’t thought to put a different one in my other purse, and I should have. Vahe was the least of my problems. Okay, so maybe not the least—a vampire was a big problem, especially if he was the murderer. It was also unbelievable.


"I’m going to take my hand away, and if you scream, I’ll snap your neck. Understand?" I nodded. "Good."


Vahe brushed the scarf away from my neck to reveal his marks. He ran his fingers lightly over my throat. I flinched when he touched the bite. Even with such a light touch, it was painful.


He leaned his face toward me, moved his palm, and then he was kissing me. I hesitated before I gave in to him. The kiss was soft, like he didn’t want to scare me off. So at odds with the threat he’d just spoken. My tongue brushed his fangs, and I broke contact.


He slid his mouth to my throat, and I stood there dazed for a second before I jerked back. I would have slammed my head on the wall, but his hand was between the bricks and me. He tangled his fingers in my hair. His tongue flicked out across the bite mark, and then his mouth clamped down. He sucked hard, making the tiny holes bleed.


I gasped in pain and pushed at his chest. He moaned against my throat and sucked harder. His erection pressed against my stomach. He gave my throat one last sweep with his tongue before he drew back. His eyes were unfocused and his breathing labored. I was glad we were in the middle of the street and not somewhere private. I don’t think anything would have kept him from fucking my brains out, and nothing could stop him from draining my blood.


He cleared his throat. "God, your blood is almost addictive." He shook himself. "Come on. I’ll help you with all this food. I’m surprised you eat so much. You look so thin."


I narrowed my eyes at him and didn’t respond. Seriously, idle chitchat? With a vampire and possibly a murderer. He picked up the food and carried it easily down the street, expecting me to follow.


I raked a shaking hand through my hair. Did I really have any choice but to go with him? It seemed like a bad idea. Before Hollywood had gotten a hold of them, vampires had been considered evil. He’d attacked me. But wouldn’t he have killed me already if he’d planned on it? I followed him before he found a way to make me. I watched my feet as I walked. My heart pounded as I tried to think of a good way to get away from him.


He didn’t struggle to carry the food, but maybe it would take him a few seconds to realize I was gone, drop it, and chase after me. Maybe a few vital seconds were all I needed. I doubted it.


I was starving and wanted to cry at the thought of leaving my food, but I wasn’t willing to go wherever he was leading me.


He stopped abruptly and looked over his shoulder. He arched an eyebrow. "Go ahead. Try running for it. You won’t make it three feet."

Monday, June 27, 2011

Pizza Recipe

Okay, so I know for people who have read this blog, this post will be pretty random. But for those of you who have been asking for my pizza recipe, this is it. Making your own pizza is nice because you can control salt content. And if you eat a lot of boxed pizzas, well this has no preservatives, or whatever other little yuckies the manufacturer might slide in there.

Pizza Crust

2 1/4 c. bread flour
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
1 T. white sugar
1 t. Italian seasoning
3 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder
1 c. warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Combine sugar, yeast and warm water in bowl. Rest for 5 minutes.
Combine flour, salt, and spices, in a large bowl. Mix in olive oil and yeast water. Let dough rest 5 minutes. Flour your hands and level surface. Knead dough until it's no longer sticky before rolling it out with a rolling pin. Transfer to a lightly sprayed pizza pan and spread it out. Poke holes in the crust with a fork. Bake crust for 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Top as desired. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before cutting. Cheese: italian blend cheeses, mozz cheese.

This recipe also makes good breadsticks.


Pizza Sauce #1 (Tomato)

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
2 t. oregano
2 t. basil
1/2 t. onion powder
1 t. ground paprika
2-3 large cloves garlic (fine chop)
1 t. sugar

Directions
In a medium bowl, Mix together tomato sauce and tomato paste until smooth. Stir in other ingredients

Suggested toppings with this sauce: Pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, Canadian bacon, or anything else your little heart desires. My favorite is pepperoni and onions.


Pizza Sauce #2 (Alfredo)

3 tablespoons salted butter
8 fluid ounces heavy whipping cream (you can cut it with milk if you don't have enough cream)
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
2 cloves crushed/finely chopped garlic
salt to taste (keep in mind that there is salt in the butter, so you really should taste the sauce before you add more)

Directions

1. Beat egg yolk in a separate bowl

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and heavy cream, stirring constantly. Stir in nutmeg, and grated Parmesan cheese. Stir constantly until melted.

3. Add about ¼ cup hot heavy cream/cheese mixture slowly to egg yolk, stirring constantly, and then gradually stir egg yolk mixture into the rest of the sauce. Simmer over medium low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with additional grated Parmesan cheese and salt, if desired.

Suggested toppings with this sauce: Spinach, Canadian bacon, grilled or baked chicken, artichokes.

Note: This sauce isn't just for pizza. If you want to try it over pasta, feel free.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

New Blog

Hey. It's Naomi. :) I just thought I'd post that I've actually started my own blog now. Honoria guided me through the scary blogger and now I finally feel brave enough to branch out on my own. I've actually been planning to start my own for some time. I've always wanted my own website, though I'm not going to actually pay for one until I have writing contract. I have deemed myself unworthy of my very own dotcom until then. For now I have my own blogger, which I am very excited about.
I'm sure you are feeling very skeptical about my blogging abilities since I seem to be quite the procrastinator when it comes to posting, but I truly am going to try and keep up with both blogs.
If you get the chance please come by and check me out at http://www.NaomiHunter.blogspot.com
Oh and don't forget to check out Honoria's new and improved http://www.honoriaravena.com!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

A Little Bit of Everything...

Oh, I’m such a dork! I almost forgot to add this! I decided to put it at the beginning because its big happy news: I got two new contracts this week. It’s been on twitter, but who knows if anyone who reads this blog (does anyone read this blog?) follows me on twitter. Breathless Press will be re-releasing Fear of Darkness, and releasing another book called The Devil’s Trap. I can wait (but am also dreading) edits. You know how it is. Fun, but lots of work, especially with the lengths of these particular books. And the fact that Fear of Darkness was the second story I ever finished, so its bound to have problems galore!

Okay so today I’m going to be pretty random. I’m going to talk about my day, and the stuff I bought so its like a haul video, without the video part because I have no camera. I’ll also do a writing update. There’s not much to tell, but I’ll tell everyone anyway.

I got my haircut today so I have bangs and more layers now. The woman who cut my hair was really nice. I love Regis, they always do a great job. A pretty good rule is to never get your hair cut at a place with “cuts” in the title. I’ve never been happy with a SuperCuts hair cut. It just never works out.

I also toured the Macy’s and Dillards makeup sections just to see what they have. It was fun. I always enjoy looking at the makeup. And then I saw something that terrified me…There were these kids at the mall for a field trip. They looked like middle school age I guess. They were wearing these big furry hats. They covered their whole heads. Almost like…I don’t know, anime hair I guess? There were like three of them…Seriously, is that in style now, because BOY does it look really really stupid. I had to keep myself from staring open mouthed in horror.

Anyway. Away from that topic. Far away. As far as I can get. .

So I bought quite a few beauty products today, and really shouldn’t have because now I have $30 left to my name. I’m supposed to get paid soon though . Hopefully its before Urban Decay goes on sale at Hautelook.

Okay, at the salon I got It’s a 10 Miracle Leave In Product. It’s a leave in conditioner that’s supposed to:



Repair damaged hair
Add shine
Detangle
Control Frizz
Protect hair color (which I don’t need because I don’t color my hair, but whatever)
Prevent split ends
Stop breakage
Create Silkiness
Enhance natural body
And has a heat protector

If its not the best thing I’ve ever tried I won’t get it again, because my tiny four ounce bottle was $17.79. But my hairdresser said it was their best seller. I can test it and see what I think.

Next I got Maybelline Falsies mascara. I accidentally got the washable one…I don’t know what my problem is! I need to look closer when I buy things. Hopefully it doesn’t do anything weird and melty. Why do they even make mascara that’s not waterproof? Blair Fowler says Falsies is the best, so I figured I’d try it out. Maybelline makes good products anyway. I have their Lash Stiletto right now.

I also go the Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush, and the Cashmere Ultra Smoothing Bronzer in Light because I’m pale as hell. The brushes they come with are totally crap (especially that blush brush! I’ve never seen such a useless brush) but I have my own brush so its no big. Any of these cosmetics you can find at Ulta.com or probably most drugstores so I won’t include linkage.



And I didn’t get this today, but it’s become my most favorite product EVER. It’s the BH Cosmetics 120 Eyeshadow Palette in 1st edition. Every color under the sun. Any makeup look you want to do, you can pretty much do with this. It’s my baby, and I’ve been raving about it for a while now on Twitter.



Now on to what I should be talking about on this blog: Writing.

Lately in my writing I’m really trying to focus on internal conflicts and making them more concrete. I’m also trying to focus on the characters and their emotions. Now I have to be honest, lately I’ve gotten REALLY lazy with doing character charts and all the other groundwork I should do before starting to write a novel. And so I was wondering why I just wasn’t feeling these characters in the ménage I’m working on. Well, duh, I’ve done no character charts.

Since I’m focusing on internal conflicts and emotions I decided to dig even deeper with that, so I took a list of character questions from Leigh Michaels’ On Writing Romance and I’ve been doing that and I think its really helping, because I’ve been brainstorming some pretty good ideas that make the characters more alive in my head.

Another thing that helped today was this Lindsay’s Ramblings post on quirks. You might want to check it out of you want more insight into creating in depth characters.

So before I let you go, I want to ask, does anyone care if I tell you about the beauty products I’m buying? Should I do that somewhere else and reserve this blog strictly for writing related stuff? I feel like I have so little to talk about that I’d really just like to throw everything at one blog and see which writers I can drive insane with my cosmetics talks.

Also, does anyone out there have any questions they'd like to ask about writing or the acquisitions process? I am a published writer and an Acquisitions Manager so if you have questions, I'd like to try and help. It also might give me something to blog about so Naomi and I aren't just posting every six months.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Critique Partner/Group

Hello Everyone.
I know I am officially the worst blogger ever. My lack of blogging is pretty sad, but I still want to blog if I can ever just get myself to do it. Today's blog isn't without reason. I am close to finishing my novel and I am looking for a critique partner or group to join. I looked on google in search of one, but I came up empty handed. Any suggestions or ideas of where I should start would be great. I'm looking for a partner who will give it to me straight and I will do the same. If anyone is interested please comment this post!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Snowday (Or Week)

Okay, so this blog isn’t really going to have anything to do with writing, because I barely got any done. This blog is more about the crazy (yet boring) week I’ve had.

So, if any of you don’t know, Texas (and like the whole South) got slammed with snow and ice. Originally they just said ice, but Tuesday morning I woke up and there were huge snowdrifts everywhere. I was delighted. I didn’t have to go to school. So I took my Health test online, read my English assignments, read a submission, and worked on rewrites. And that was absolutely the last day I worked this week…

I was supposed to hang out with Naomi Hunter on Wednesday and we were going to have a writer day. Exchange what we'd written, talk about books and writing and of course whatever else we happened to blab about. We like to talk a lot. But, alas, we never got our writer day which is bad, because apparently I really could have used the encouragement to keep me on track. Hopefully next week has no horrible winter weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

Wednesday morning the power went out starting at 6:30. So we froze our butts off in the living room for like an hour. I’m just grateful they got the power back on and it wasn’t like that all day, but it came on and then went off again and did that like three times.

During the day Thursday I was bored out of my freaking mind, because you can only watch so much TV before you go insane and I’d been reading a lot before the snow, so I’m kind of temporarily booked out. BUT I’ve also noticed that not being able to go out and do anything makes you lazier than ever. Because there was plenty I could have been doing instead of watching TV or reading. I need to write, and rewrite the story I’m working on. I could read submissions, I could do school work (snort). I should have done anything but what I did!

I started to shop. Not like actively purchase, because I’m looking at makeup and I like to go to the store and actually see the colors, and maybe put a sample on my hand before I buy, but I’m making one hell of a list.

I bought some makeup not too long ago from Albertsons for stage make up (because I’m actually performing belly dance every once in a while). I REALLY liked the black eyeshadow I got by NYX. It had the most amazing pigment I’d ever gotten. Most black is really weak and I expected to really have to lay this one on thick to get anything, but I figured I’d make it work. Not this one. You need one coat, and you’d better go light. It’s sooo dark.

So I went to the NYX website just to check out what they had and I saw they had a tutorials page. I figured it would be like ELF Cosmetics and have the steps written out but instead they had videos. So I watched a few and of course got the overwhelming urge to put on make up. And then I saw that both the girls I was watching on the NYX site had their own YouTube channels. By now I’d already decided to purchase a few more NYX products so I’d started my list, and I’ll put my list up at some point in this blog.

When I got to their YouTube channels I watched stuff on hair, and I watched these things called haul videos where they go shop and show you everything they got, which is just awesome. I need a YouTube channel just to do that, because I love sharing what I buy with people! And they kept mentioning Ulta (which is a make up store for those that aren’t into make up or from around here) and I was like “Ulta? We have a new Ulta store in town that I haven’t been to. Ooh, I see fun shopping coming up.” So that’s where I will be going as soon as I can get down the bloody driveway and past all the stupid snowdrifts.

So I did my make up. My whole face. The water went out at like seven that night, but I figured they’d actually have it fixed when the water company said they would. They said it would take four hours. No, they never got the water turned back on. And I shower at night, so I hadn’t showered since like 10pm on Wednesday. So that night all I could do was take off my eye make up. I had to leave my icky foundation on. The water didn’t come back on most of Friday either, but I still put on eye makeup in a different way. I was dying of thirst all day. We melted and filtered snow, but it tastes like freezer burn, and I just don’t like the taste of freezer burn.

So Friday night I finally got to take a bath, but there just wasn’t enough water pressure to take a shower. I just would have been dripped on. A bath isn’t my favorite method of bathing because the soap stays on you no matter what. You just can’t rinse all the way. I also couldn’t use conditioner, so I couldn’t blow dry my hair and since I’m on my new crazy beauty kick I wanted to. BUT, a bath is better than nothing.

We finally had enough water today for me to shower. It was pure bliss. I conditioned my hair and blow-dried it and I’m hoping to get out of this house to go to Ulta. I want to go with some one, because its boring to go by myself, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to find a shopping partner, and I’m so desperate to get out of the house that I’ll probably just go on my own.

I’m sad. I’ve got books and mango coconut tea sitting at the post office and I can’t go get them until Monday.

So here are the links to the two girls I’ve been watching on YouTube.

Elle Fowler
Blair Fowler

They're great, and they do tutorials on makeup, hair, and other stuff. There's even one on applying false eyelashes.

Here’s the little version of my list. I trimmed it down, because I’ve still got some products I’m using and so I might as well use them all up before I get something new and awesome. Also, I really don’t expect this make up/beauty phase to last me very long because usually I get to a school day and say “to hell with it all” and I don’t bother doing my hair or make up or anything. I get super lazy. But I’m going to try and do my make up everyday. I also doing want to spend a whole truck load of money because I just don’t.

I want at least one lip gloss. Maybe two because I want one neutral everyday pink color, and one kind of out there color.

Concealers in green and skin tone. I’ve honestly never owned concealers, because I just figured foundation was good enough, but its really not, so I’m hoping a concealer will hide some of those icky zit areas.

Eyeshadow base because eyeshadows really do stay on longer if you add a base.

A black eye liner pencil. I know, what am I doing without one of these? I accidentally bought a charcoal gray one last time I got eyeliner. Also I’m in the mood to try something new. I really need something creamier for my water line and it really should be waterproof.

And lastly I want to get a red eyeshadow. That one is kinda weird right? Yes, but I saw Elle Fowler do a look inspired by Twilight’s main character Bella Swan and while I’m not crazy about the books (except the first one. That one was pretty good) or her character I’m absolutely crazy about the look Elle did and I don’t have anything even approaching a red eyeshadow because I’m really not a red girl, and its just a weird color to have on hand anyway.

I thought about getting a blush, and eventually I will. I don’t use blush a lot because I get really flushed on my own and hate to add any more color to my cheeks.

Now things I decided not to get at the moment:

A brush set. It would actually be the cheapest thing for me to buy; because where I’d get them it would be twelve brushes for $12. But I think I’ll just work with what I’ve got. I haven’t used brushes a lot before and there’s no pressing reason that I must start now. They’d just be handy to have.

Bronzer. I have one I’m going to use up first. I just wanted a new one because mine is kind of light. But then again, I’m kind of light (see very light. Almost as white as snow. Okay so not really. I’m white but I’d like to think I look a little healthier than snow.)

I also want Mabelline Falsies mascara. I hear awesome things about it, but I already have some very good mascara that I’m going to use up first. It’s pretty close to death anyway, but I can still wait.

I also want a new leave in conditioner. The one I have I love, but it always has this funny scent. Even when it’s brand new, so I’m going to try something different, and hopefully it will have a better smell AND be a better product.

I also want to try a new acne treatment. I miss the days when I had clear skin. I didn’t start getting the heavier breakouts until I was 17. This other beauty vlogger suggested Neutrogena Rapid Clear. Specifically the 2 in 1 toner. Again, this is something that can wait, because I’ve still got some face wash left. It’s also probably something I can put on the grocery list for Mommy to buy so I don’t have to!

The same woman that suggested Neutrogena Rapid Clear also isn’t a morning person. Which Hello! So me. I’m not even human in the morning. She hates to wash her face in the morning because of this lack of humanness so she uses Neutrogena deep clean oil free makeup remover wipes. I’ve always known I should wash my face in the morning, but again, humanness is something I have a problem with. Also, the water in my bathroom sink really has a problem getting hot, and in the winter that’s a real problem. If I don’t want to wash my face in warm water, there’s no way I want to wash it in finger numbingly cold water.

Wow, that was a long, boring, rambly blog. I guess I need to write so I don’t dump on everyone when I finally doe sit down and decide to write a blog.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Gracing you with one blog before school starts

Okay, so not really. I'm going to try and blog more, and not just have this be the last blog you get until May. But no promises. It's hard enough to keep up with school, dance practice, writing, and acquiring manuscripts. My blogging hardly gets any attention (though it should).

What have I been up to lately? Lots of dancing. I performed for the first time ever December 9th. And then again on the 16th. Talk about nerve wracking! Especially since one of the pieces I did on the 16th I'd only learned the Saturday before.

Christmas was good. I got lots of belly dance stuff for that too. Costume pieces, DVD's (instructional and performance). I'll have 'Christmas presents' arriving all of January. I actually kinda like Christmas like this. It's stretched out over all of January, which is fun. Fun to get almost weekly presents in the mail.

I've only just started to get back into the writing groove. I bought the Write Or Die desktop edition, and it really seems to be helping. Though it makes you think things like "if I can write over 900 words in 30 minutes, what could I accomplish if I wrote for like four hours"?

While I have been writing the past few days, everything I write still sucks. I need to start doing some rewriting to see if I can fix it. It has no tension, and nothing is really happening, which is really weird for me. Usually my books are tension and action packed. Meh, at least I have something to edit. It's better than having a blank page mock me.

What am I working on? The ménage I've been working on forever that I meant to do for NaNo. But my computer died in November so there was no attempt at NaNo. I'm hoping the story will be like 15k. I was hoping to finish a first draft by the end of this week, but I don't see that happeneing with the problems I'm having with it.

I've been reading Jaid Black's Viking series, and it's really good, so if you're looking for an interesting erotic romance, check out her books. Her book Warlord was also excellent.

I'm going shopping for more books tomorrow with Naomi. We're hitting a Recycled books. I want some yoga books and of course, I'll be checking out the romance section.

Until next time (when ever that may be)!