This is for the Healers

For all my peeps who play a MMO. Especially a healer, this picture is for you.






I can't help laugh everytime I see this.

Reading is So Much Fun

Lately I've been in a reading frenzy. My Goodreads account can attest to that. I still have a ton of books to add to my read folders. I used to be the woman on the train nose into a book. Now I have my nose in front of an iPad mini.

When Amazon came out with the Kindle, I was not enthused. Who would really want to read on a device? Carrying a book was so much better. You couldn't convince me otherwise. I'm known to be stubborn. Then at a point I stopped wearing these oversized pocketbooks (purses to some). They were heavy and starting to hurt my shoulder. I would carry everything including the kitchen sink in there; purse (to some, wallet), book, iPad, iPhone, umbrella, lotion, etc (you get the picture). So I moved to Amazon Kindle App. Why use iBooks? I can transfer my purchases to any device that has it available. Yay, for practicality. It is my husband who convinced me to use iBooks. So now I am entangled in Apples ecosystem. They have me hooked for life.

Anyway, I like to read a variety of genres, but my Goodreads will show that I read a lot Manga. Manga is essentially Japanese comics. I particularly like the Shojo (focused for women readers), slice of life and some Shonen (focused for men). It really all depends on the story. I am not limited to just manga either. They are in more of an abundance between releases from favorite authors.

I love Catherine Coulters FBI series and Brit in FBI series. Please don't get her confused with Ann Coulter. I don't know if they are related, but Ann is a racist jackass (sorry for the language). I'm all for conservatives and what have you. Just don't be a racist jackass and you'd get a better reaction from me. I got off course a bit. The last book I read just came out in September and I finished it within a week. It was called End Game. It was soooo good. I was in serious withdrawal. I have to wait until next year for the next book, very sad face here. Catherine, if you read this, please write faster. I need my Nicholas fix.

Reading is a great hobby. You get brought into a whole new world where the impossible can happen. I love to use my imagination as I read. I have such rich views on what the author is telling in his/her story. I get very disappointed when a book ends too. I go thru some stages of grief. Then I imagine a continuation in my head. Or I imagine how the characters would fit into reality.

I hope I give my readers the same feel when they read one of my books. It would be awesome to have the following some others have but it is a dream. New authors rarely get that great a following unless they tap just the right set of people. I will do my best to try. I would love to be a full time writer and reader. I'd be in hog heaven. But I'd miss my husband, family and friends.

Anyway, this is my nonsensical post for the day. Stay tuned. I will introduce you to Meli. She is dying to meet you.

C.C. Hartley's in the House

The name I'm using as an author is C.C. Hartley. It is a shortened version of my name. It is way too long to put on a book cover, I must say. The name also has a wonderful sound to it.

At first, I didn't really like it. I was never going to use my real name. Then I thought differently. Why hide behind a pen name that makes me anonymous? I should be proud to be seen as an author. Now, if I venture into the erotic (XXX) novels, well.... maybe then I'd use a pen name. I don't want people in my corporate life to treat me differently. Wouldn't want to lose clients.

So what's behind a pen name? Don't we all use it daily in our lives? We make up user names for Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest etc. Why are we afraid of using our real names? Some of us do, because we want to troll others, harass others or want to say lewd or derogatory statements online without being identified. Then there are those of us us, who are normal upright people, who use them for good and are based on things that hold meaning. My user name (I keep the same name where ever I go) is my favorite animal. I love Tigers. White ones more-so because they are more rare. I think tigers are my soul animal. Unfortunately, my Chinese zodiac puts me under "Rabbit". I am so not a rabbit.

This post was about introducing you to my almost complete novel and it turned out as a discussion of pen names. Boy, I am so easily distracted. I could've just deleted above paragraphs and start again but why should I? It's me. Love me or hate me, but I'm always going to be me. So let me continue with my post.

My novel is about to be finished. I just have make it pretty (put in more descriptives), have it edited and then find an artist to illustrate my cover. This particular story is a start of a series. This character has been in my head for nearly 20 years. She needed to be born. It's a paranormal fiction. I would place it in fiction, but since it has paranormal creatures it's going to be placed under horror.

The only thing that is giving me a block is a title for the novel. I've never been good with naming and such. I struggle for titles for blog posts. I want the title to grab people. I don't necessarily want it to be obvious that it's a series either. Maybe I should hold a contest to make a title, lol.

What is the book about? I would love to answer this question, but I'm trying to learn the knack of not relaying too much info and keep you interested in reading the whole book. What I can say is that it has vampires and witches (variety of types). It does have a little romance in it, but it's not the main focus. In a future post I will post introductions to the protagonist and antagonist. I am looking forward to seeing how people react to my introductions.

What sets my novel apart from others? Other authors have created their own myths behind vampires. My mythology is more biological mixed with magic. Other vampires are either lusty or evil. My vampires are sexy yes, but they are not inherently evil. They are more humanized. Just like humans, what they go thru in life is what makes their personality what it is. They just don't switch personalities when they are turned (over even if they weren't). My vampires don't glitter, glow or shine. There is only one distinct feature that sets them apart from humans. I will let you learn about that when you read my story.

I was hoping to have this novel published at the end of this month but this is not realistic. Maybe end of November. I also need to work on my website too. So much to do and so little time.

Ta ta for now.

Times Are A Changin'.....

It's been a while since I last posted. There have been a lot going on; some good, some bad and some in between. Today is not to inundate you with all that's on my mind, it's to tell you about some changes. I will inundate you later. There is a lot to be said.

I have been contemplating what to do with my life now that I have the liberty to do so. So I decided to pursue my independence in a sort if manner. It's not like I'm a slave or an indentured servant or any sort like that. It's more like pursuing what makes me happy. What makes me happy and satisfies my imagination is reading and writing. So I am going to step forward in the next direction. I know I can't afford to go cold turkey. I am working on becoming a freelancer in my current field. That should help bring in some money to pay my bills and still be flexible enough to pursue my current goal.

I started on my goal 2 weeks ago. Since I have a published book prior, I have turned my Goodread's account into an author account. Yay!!!! I was so excited. So now besides people reading my blog posts here, they'll be able to read it on Goodreads. This is going to be my platform to advertise to book lovers and to meet other fellow authors. I am so excited about this. I need to thank my collaborators in my Paranormal and Horror Lovers group on Goodreads to let me contribute to their anthology. Without that I couldn't create an author page until I actually finished my book. That would be too late if I want to generate buzz. But let's leave this topic alone for right now. I will revisit it soon.

What does this mean for this blog? Not very much. I am still going to be the same opinionated woman. I will stay true to myself. However, I may stop posting things that will cause horrible backlash. I don't want to be a Rayven Simone and back peddle on my beliefs because I upset a group of people's feelings. If anyone knows me, they know I don't like to apologize. So I will make sure not to do something that would cause me to. I follow the old saying, "if you don't have something positive to say, don't say it at all". I whole hearted believe that. I do get into moods where I vent and say stuff I believe at the moment but later change my opinion. I'm human and a woman so I'm allowed. I will try to refrain from bad behavior here unless I need the controversy.

I will continue to blog on games, life, book reviews and all that I encompass on this blog. Topics I will refrain from (which I believe I have managed to do so far) discussing religion and politics. I particularly hate politics more-so than religion. These are 2 topics that bring out the worse in human behavior.

I will strive to be as positive as possible. This world is filled with so much negativity that I want to contribute to some positivity. To shine some light where there is an abundance of dark.

This is only the beginning of a new chapter in my life and I hope to bring you along on this journey. I do hope you enjoy the ride.