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Much has been written about Michael Jackson’s life, death and legacy in the past year, particularly these past few days as the first anniversary of his untimely death approached. Regardless of what anyone thinks about his lifestyle, his eccentricity, his body-image and family issues, one thing is clear: his music changed the lives of generations and will live with us for a long time to come.

Rest in peace, Michael–and thank you, for the many hours of joy, past, present and future.

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Now, for the substitution game.

Reading this article written on occasion of said first anniversary, this paragraph struck me: (more…)

Creativity, people.

Some of us are blessed with it, some of us *raising hand* really aren’t.

Ms Walker, author of the excellent Through the Veil (my review here and author Carolyn Crane‘s reaction here), is running a contest for ARCs of the sequel, Veil of Shadows. Please notice that it’s not a giveaway–one of those “post a comment and random.org will select the winning entry” or even even one of those “winners will be drawn randomly from entries with correct answers” or some such. No, this one is a contest, and Ms Walker is the judge, jury and ex… erm… award giver *cough*

She has all the rules (with big and small print) over at her blog, here, but the nitty-gritty is this: to qualify, let alone to win an ARC, the entrants must be witty and creative, stating in amusing and original ways why they should receive one of these shiny, coveted ARCs, above all the other greedy souls who want them…

...my precioussssssssssssssss...

erm… Yes.

*cough*

And therein lies my problem and sadness.

(look at the sad: (more…)

During a recent conversation I was told that, as long as a relationship is ‘virtual’ then it’s not ‘real’ and therefore it cannot be cheating on a “real world” relationship; that the “standards” of what is cheating and what isn’t have changed now.

Really?

Considering that I fell in love with my beloved online, I find the argument quite faulty myself, but let’s try to be open minded *cough* and say that the two people involved never meet face to face. Are their feelings for each other less real?

And if those feelings are real, is it not emotional cheating?

Because I wasn’t aware that anywhere in the promises couples make to each other is there a caveat in small print, i.e. “as long as there’s no physical contact, harboring intense emotional feelings for someone else behind your back is fine” or some such.

What do you think?

A few days ago I read an article in msnbc.com about a Florida teacher who had been fired from a private Christian school because she conceived her daughter a few weeks before her marriage, to the father of the baby. Apparently the school director told her that “fornication” was grounds for termination (but only, of course, outside of the sacrosanct institution of marriage).

I fumed over this and wondered whether such a clause was spelled out in the employment contract–since in the article the teacher stated that the whole thing came at her out of left field, during a discussion to arrange for maternity leave.

Well, it seems the teacher and her husband thought it worth their while to check on the legalities of the issue, and found a lawyer that confirmed that nope, it’s not legal to fire a qualified teacher for having premarital sex*. Based on this lawyer’s advice, the teacher is suing the school for unlawful termination–and now the school has the gall to ask her to drop the suit and “consider the testimony of the Lord.”

Me, I’m thinking of that little thing about having compassion and charity for your fellow human being–you know, the kind that would make it easier to forgive this sin in order not to fire a pregnant woman, let alone a widow with five children, particularly in this economy.

But then I’m not a self-righteous asshole 😉

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*At least not when it’s not in public, with a minor, with a student, in school grounds and the like–you know none of those pesky illegal or criminal possibilities; this was consensual, adult-adult, private sex between two people in love.

We’ve Got The World In Motion…

Friday, June 11, 2010
Posted in: Uncategorized

I’ll see you guys after the World Cup is over. You’ll be able to catch me on Twitter now and then, in the mean time…..

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!

I’m finding blogging to be a chore these days. I really am.

I always swore to myself that I’d quit when blogging started feeling like hard work. It feels like hard work.

Even keeping up with other blogs feels like hard work these days. I’m reading fewer romance books than I ever have before and I have no interest in anything that’s going on in RomLand. In short, I just can’t be arsed.

This blog turned five in April, and somehow I managed to miss such a milestone. Or should that be millstone?

Of course work is crazy at the moment, but I also find that I want to spend more time actually being with TTG, rather than worrying about what to write on my blog. Also, it’s summer, which means that I should make hay while the sun shines.

I’m not going to quit blogging, but I sure feel like doing so. I wonder if I’m just having one of those days…

Not above bribery: Ann Bruce

Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, Contests
(not that I, azteclady, ain’t above bribery either, but in this particular case–amazing as it may seem–it’s not about me. Shock, I know)

Anyhow…

Ms Bruce has a release with Carina Press next Monday, June 14. It’s a contemporary titled Parker’s Price, and to celebrate the release she’s holding a contest in her defunct-but-not-really blog, with three $50 gift certificates as prizes.

She’s sexy, smart…and not for sale. But that won’t stop him.

When Parker Quinn is forced to accept an outrageously high bid at a charity auction, she has no choice but to go out with the last man on earth she wants to spend time with. Dean Maxwell may be one of Manhattan’s most eligible bachelors, but he’s also the man who had an affair with her sister and abandoned her when she became pregnant with his child.

Dean doesn’t know why Parker hates him so much, but he’s determined to show Parker the type of man he really is. Whisking her away to a private island in the Bahamas for a sensual, sun-drenched week together, Dean leaves Parker’s preconceptions shattered and her desires inflamed.

But even as their passion reaches irresistible heights, Parker has a decision to make. Can she allow herself to fall for the seductive magnate, or will family secrets and a dangerous ex tear them apart?

The details:

The Contest
Up for grabs are three (3) $50 Amazon gift certificates and there are three ways to enter:

  1. Post a review of Parker’s Price on a blog or review site.
  2. Post a review of Parker’s Price on Amazon.com.
  3. Share this contest on your blog.

Do any two and get a bonus entry. Contest is open to anyone with an e-mail address. Send your name and link(s) to the review(s) or blog post to ann @ annbruce.net (no spaces). Contest ends July 15, 2010. Winners will be announced on July 19, 2010. Good luck!

To read an excerpt of Parker’s Price, click here; to read the first chapter, click here; and here, to buy the story starting next Monday.

The last time there was a spree killing in this country was on March 13th 1996. It was also my 21st birthday.

When I heard about the Dunblane massacre, I cried for about a month. I didn’t sleep properly for ages. Every time I closed my eyes, I envisaged those babies being shot by that psycho.

When an adult is murdered, of course it bothers me, but the murder of innocent children is something that always gets to me on a personal level.

Anyway, earlier this week, an apparently ordinary man, Derrick Bird, got two guns, got in his car, and went on a three-hour murderous rampage. His first victim was his twin brother.

Nobody seems to know what triggered Derrick Bird’s killing frenzy, and as is typical in these cases, he killed himself, so we may never know.

These are the names of the people he killed:

David Bird 52 Lamplugh – Twin brother
Kevin Commons, 60
Darren Rewcastle 43 – fellow taxi driver
Susan Hughes, 57
Kenneth Fishburn, 71
Jennifer Jackson, 68
James Jackson 67 – Husband of Jennifer Jackson
Isaac Dixon 60s
Garry Purdham 31 – Former rugby league player, brother of England captain Rob Purdham
Jamie Clark 23
Michael Pike 64
Jane Robinson 66

May they all rest in peace.

America has the KKK, and I guess here in Britain they have the rather scummy EDL.

Any excuse to cause trouble or to avoid doing something useful with their lives…like working for example. Ignorant twats.