Halloween Treat: Blog Take Over: Casey Holden - Picking Up Women

In honor of the Falling Immortality Blog Tour starting tomorrow, November 1st, and the first stop being here at Confessions of a Bibliophile, I am sharing with you the second guest post that I'd requested from Robert Downs.  Robert won't be taking over the blog until tomorrow, but today's treat for you is from my new favorite P.I, Casey Holden.

So, here is Casey's advice to picking up women...


Picking up women isn’t as hard as women, or the tabloids would have you believe. I stopped reading the rags years ago after an individual, whom I’m not willing to name, was belittled for what must have been the twentieth time. Since women always seem to have the upper hand, I decided to assert some authority over these beautiful, exotic creatures by turning them to Play-
Doh with the right smile or wink. In order to do it successfully, it has to be about them, not you.

Listening isn’t just some mysterious, three-syllable word that has made its way into our vernacular through sheer will. No, it must be permanently ingrained in the male psyche for you to have a chance on the field of battle. And believe me, it will be a battle. I’ve stuck my head in the trenches, I’ve fired my guns at the enemy, and I’ve covered miles and miles of the blood-
soaked earth with no more than my smile and wits to save me. I’ll say this again because it’s worth repeating: it can’t be about you, it has to be about them. Women can smell the scent of a weak man a half-mile away, and your strength becomes your true power over them. This goes back to the days of the caveman, and it hasn’t changed over the course of thousands of years.

It’s not about being a nice guy, or a jerk, a good man, or a prick, or tall, or short, or any of the countless other adjectives used to describe men from the moment we exit the womb: it’s about your ability to retain and project power. Any woman who would say she prefers some drooling, slobbering weakling over a man is either a liar, or simply not worth pursuing. I’ve met women
who prefer puppets, and I’ve run as hard and as fast as I could in the opposite direction, because in the end, it doesn’t do either of you any good. It’s simply a disruption of the universe, and Darwin needs to strike before it’s too late.

Casey Holden is the main character of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator.
The first in a series of mysteries that compile some of his more interesting cases and endeavors.
Robert Downs is the author of said novel, and while he and Casey have an interesting, yet
complicated relationship, it’s a relationship both of them treasure. A sample chapter of his
MANfiction mystery debut, as well as other interesting information about the author, or his main
character, can be located at his website.

October is Nearly Over

I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone, nor can I believe that Halloween is only six days away.  Scary thought.  As you all know, I've several things planned for the next few days, including a stop on the Falling Immortality Blog Tour that starts here on November 1st.  Yes, I've some exciting things going up for you that day.  However, between now and then I've got three awesome books to review, one of which I've re-read, the other two are brand spanking new and I truly enjoyed them.

The books that I've recently read are:

Trinity I won in a giveaway, Wicked I own and adore, Slopjar was provided to me free from the Author and  Lioness Publishing.  I highly recommend all of them, and my reviews will be coming this weekend rest assured. 

Also, I've currently started rereading Memoirs of a Geisha, love that book and the movie is fantastic as well. I've several other books that I will be re-reading throughout the next couple of weeks (though my time in November will be focused on other things).  

Yes, with the close of October, I am gearing up for National Novel Writing Month and getting things ready for that and HOPEFULLY I will actually finish this year.  Will be doing it via google docs as I will be using other people's computers (unless one magically falls in my lap) and writing freehand (will be buying stock in a spiral notebook company after this).  

I will be attempting to redo the first book in the series I have planned, as I've lost the entirety of it when my desktop crashed.  Book 2 I have, but will need to be reworked because since I've sat down and started doing some planning, has taken a different turn and become more of a YA Fantasty/Steampunk novel.  So, it shall be a challenge, and I will still try and keep all you wonderful people updated with things and try and get a review or three up throughout the month as part of my down time! 

Later! 

Randomness is random

So I am seriously bored out of my mind and not sure what I want to do at the moment other than putter about on the interwebs but I can't since the netbook died and my roommate woke up and got on the comp. Meh! I will figure something out I usually do. Also, gonna be interesting writing reviews on a smartphone until I get a computer that works or just post them on the weekends or days off if I am up before everyone else and can use a comp.
Already have a plan in the works for NaNo when that rolls around in November and then I will be working on a novel....yes I am going to attempt NaNo again and maybe this time something good will come out of it. Will definitely be looking for someone to help with editing or may do it myself and self-publish with Amazon.com or something. We will sew when the time comes.

Alright for now I have domestic duties to attend to and shall be around later.

Mobile Bibliophile

Okay, have posted to goodreads, and Facebook and twitter, that I have no computer right now. My netbook is dead and my desktop has been dead for a while now.  So until things can get worked out I will be updating a bit through my roommate's android phone and the blogger app.

Right now I am reading Trinity by Clare Davidson and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

Anyway! Time for me to get going. Raining and thundering here, and gonna play a game on the Wii I think...or take a nap.

Welcome to October!

As you can see, things have taken on the Halloween spirit around here. I love October, I love the fall and hopefully through the coming days I will be able to get more content to you.  I know I've a lot of things in the wings, and a lot of things planned.  I know you are all expecting a review for some of the books I've read recently, especially Falling Immortality by Robert Downs, but you'll have to wait until November 1st for that to happen because I've got the first day of that blog tour! There will be a review, an interview, and a guest post going up for that!

However, for October, I've got lots of things planned for all you wonderful kiddies out there! Some Bibliophile Eats will have some Halloween featured goodies, as well as the introduction of some of my fall favorites throughout the rest of the season.

Also, I plan on getting to some of those long awaited reviews (my pending review list just keeps growing and growing and I need to make a dent in it).  I've also got a new book on my shelves that I won from a giveaway over on Natasha McNeely's blog not too long ago.  I need to get to that (I've started reading my signed copy of Trinity by Clare Davidson), and I've also been re-reading Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.  I also need to rewrite a couple of reviews and repost them to Goodreads because apparently I'm not allowed to use similar wording to other reviewers in my reviews without someone reporting them and having them removed.

I've also got another guest post to put up from Voluspa Co-Author Ray, and it's gonna be a fun one.  Beyond that, I've got a few reviews that I need to get finished and tossed up to the blog, so I will definitely be stepping things up here because I've been lazy lately.

Also, I've been working on a blog that focuses on my spiritual journey, and you can find it here: Sanctuary for My Soul and I'm working on that as I work on this.  Just starting it, so there is still a lot to work with.

That's just an update and some of the things you can look forward to in the coming days this month in October.

Bibliophile Eats: Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket

Good morning! So, it's been a while since I've shared with you some of my fantastic culinary additions.  I thought I'd kick things off with a dinner we had recently, and this one is great for letting the kids help.  Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket.

For those of you that don't know what these are, they are hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and baked. They are very, very tasty especially if you add a little cheese to the inside.  You can serve them with ketchup, bbq sauce, mustard, or whatever your favorite dipping sauce is for finger foods :) Common side dishes for this are: potato chips (any variety), french fries (my preference is seasoned wedges or the frozen checkers fries), tater tots, or whatever happens to strike your fancy.

What you are going to need:

• One package of hot dogs (whatever your preference)
• One roll refrigerated crescent dough 
• Shredded cheese of preference 

Okay, so ya got your hot dogs all rolled into the crescents with cheese. Baking them for the time on the  packaging for the crescent rolls.  

Finished product! Tasty, tasty little piggies :) Mine are cooked up with fries with season salt and ketchup :) 

Enjoy!

Into the Confessional: Voluspa Author: Ray

This is an interview with the Author of the YA Novel Voluspa.  Review is soon to come.  Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! 

1. How old were you when you got hooked on reading and what book started it all?  

I used to pester my parents to read to me all the time before I learnt how to read. After that as far as I can remember, when I was six or seven I could finally read on my own and I have been hooked ever since. I think some of the first books I read were by Enid Blyton.

2. How did you know you wanted to be a writer and who do you draw the most support from? 

I have always wanted to write. All through childhood and teenage years, I wrote for neighborhood periodicals, journals and so on. It’s only recently due to my husband’s urging, I decided to write a novel.

3. Each writer has their own process when writing, and each process has its own little quirks.  That said, what are some of your little quirks? 

Even though I use my laptop to write the book, I create flash cards to aid in my writing. For instance, I make up cards listing pertinent information about a particular character or some place in book.

4. Have you always enjoyed or favored fantasy over other genres in both reading and writing? 

I personally think imaginative literature has immense scope and it can entertain all age groups so yes, I have always had a penchant for the fantasy genre.

5. What can we expect in the next part of the Voluspa story? I do hope it includes lots more Amy and Drake (not that I'm biased or anything!). 

Absolutely; the next book picks up from where the first one ended. Amy and Drake’s journey continues.

6. If you could spend a full twenty four hours (midnight to midnight) in any city in the world where would you go and what would you do? 

It’s a cliché but I would definitely choose Paris. I would spend hours in the Louvre and the rest, walking along the streets of Paris.

7. If you were to be buried (entombed) like an Egyptian Pharohwhat would you want to fill your tomb? 

Books, books and more books and perhaps my laptop.

8. If you were a citizen of Voluspa, what clan would you belong to? If Morphous, what would be your animal form?  

I think I would love to belong to the Empath clan. Being able to connect to another person  using just my mind sounds fascinating.

9. If you could have two hours with any fictional character what would you ask them? 

It would be Peter Pan. I would ask him to take me to Neverland; ask his fairy friend to sprinkle some magic dust on me so I could go flying with him. Eschew all practicality and just loose myself in one rip roaring adventure after another.

10. In the great debate about e-readers and physical books: are you a lover of e-book portability, physical book feel/smell or both? 

I have grudgingly accepted the whole e – book trend but I love holding an actual book. The smell of old bound leather or crisp new pages is incomparable.