Nah Nah Nah Nah BATMAN!

I don't know if I've made this *quite* abundantly clear yet, but I am a huge Batman fan. I can't claim to be the biggest. I have not, for example, ever worn a Batsuit or gone out to fight crime. Not unless you count riding around with my friend Marty looking for his (ex now) wife's stolen bike (we totally recovered it, because we're awesome like that). I can't claim to be the biggest Batman geek out there but I'll be damned if I let someone try to tell me that Superman would win if they were in a fight.

So people are always surprised to learn that I've never actually finished Arkham City. This isn't because I don't think the game is awesome. It really is. The little bit I've played was amazing. Here's the problem: I made the mistake of playing Arkham Asylum with my brother Aaron. Playing video games as a family is a bit of a tradition with us. When one of us sucks at one part, another takes over. Not to mention, it's always fun to have someone else to laugh at all the stupid stuff you do. You're probably wondering why such a thing would be a mistake. Well, after playing Asylum with Aaron, I discovered that City wasn't nearly as fun without him. And between the two of us moving and moving back and school and work and just everything, the two of us haven't had a minute to sit down to play the game together. And I just couldn't bring myself to take it on until we could do it together.

But! Right now we are in the same place at the same time, so I am at last getting to enjoy some Batmany goodness! It's super exciting. So exciting, in fact, that I spent money I don't really have obtaining all the DLC for it. Which brings me to the actual point of this.

I love Robin.

I realize that makes me worthy of mocking, but I can't help it. You can keep Dick Grayson. He's cool enough as Nightwing, but I never really liked him as Robin. And Jason Todd? Please. Him dying was the best thing that ever happened with Jason Todd. (The second best was him coming back as Red Mask) It's Tim Drake I can't get enough of. (I know he's now Red Robin, but for various reasons I haven't read the comics yet so he's still Robin to me)

Tim is fantastic. He's just the right mix of brilliant and cocky. I freaking love that (Surprise!) He was my (second) favorite even before Bruce acknowledged that Tim's smarter than him. Plus, much respect for a guy who figures out who Batman is without first living with him. And the fact that it's now an option to play him? I am downright giddy! I just wish there were actual game-related missions as him, like with Catwoman.

My only issue is that my brother is currently the one playing. And he's more interested in playing the story than entertaining me as Tim. *Sigh*

PS. Surprised I made it through the holidays? Because I am!

Holidays Are A Killer...

I fully intend a fantastic post in the coming days. Maybe even one with pictures and font effects. You know, fancy. But alas... I work in retail. Which means, at this particular point in the year, I am just fried (look at that! Font effect!). Because that just wasn't challenging enough, I also just got promoted (feeling very mixed about that... I feel very mixed about my job in general, though, so I guess that's not surprising). That has made it difficult for me to properly string together a series of sentences on anything resembling a regular basis. Making them entertaining enough that I don't groan at the thought of posting them up for the world (or 3 people... Whichever) to read? Well let's just say the guy holding his breath for that moment is no longer with us. It's a tragedy, really.

Anyway. I thought it was important that I mention the giveaway I just set up over at Goodreads today (when Nathan pointed out I'd neglected to even put Forgotten up there yet... Where is my head at???) So yes. Look over there ---> Then enter. And enjoy wonderful Kaie-themed goodness in the new year.

Assuming I survive the next 15 days... More soon!

Oh, and happy holidays!

Drumroll Please!

Well, that day I've been killing myself for is finally here: Forgotten is available!

Just in case you missed it from the spectacular widget on the right, the ebook is available through Amazon. The print version is on it's way, as is the Nook and Apple Bookstore versions. So, if those are your books of choice, stick with me for a little bit longer! By this time next week, I'll be able to say "available wherever ebooks are sold... and also in print!" Heh. For now, be content with the fact that for the month of December (plus one day, because I can't plan) Forgotten is available for only $0.99! On January 1, it will go to it's usual price of $2.99. I just thought, hey, new book and Christmas? Why not?

Oh! Right! Link. Here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFB2ENA

Bring On The Guilty Pleasures!

So anyone who knows anything about my taste in characters knows I've got a bit of a thing for anti-heroes. They're just fun. With a hero, you know what you're in for. Good is good, right? But an anti-hero? Who knows! Sometimes they're good, sometimes evil. Sometimes they're good for bad reasons or bad for good reasons, or both for no reason at all. I love surprises, and no type of character can pull that off the way anti-heroes can.

Lately this 'thing' is manifesting in a *slight* obsession with The Vampire Diaries. (I blame Anthony for this, by the way. He's completely responsible!) Specifically, the character of Damon Salvatore.

Now, this isn't because Ian Somerhalder is sexy. I mean, yeah, he totally is. Won't even pretend otherwise. That's why he got the gig, right? At least partly, anyway. But even if he was gross, I'd still be pretty fascinated with Damon. Aside from the fact that the character's role in the series wouldn't work at all if he was ugly, that is.

He's really just terribly interesting. Everyone he's ever loved has disappointed and/or rejected him. Often times more than once. Occasionally to the point of doing him great physical and emotional damage. Once it even killed him. To deal with this, he's built this terrific defense: he's cast himself as the villain. He'll go to extraordinary lengths to prove to everyone around him that it's who he really is. Despite heaps of evidence to the contrary, those actions he takes are typically so extreme that the people in his life can't help but to believe the act. Call it self-destructive if you want, I'm intrigued by his flair for the arguably evil.

Despite, or maybe because of this, I think he actually hates himself more than anyone else ever could. Normally this would lead to a bunch of stupid emo bs (Stefan? What?) but instead he channels it into a very amusing cockiness. I appreciate that in a character. (I know that's a shocking revelation. No one ever suspects I enjoy cockiness.)

He's also terrifically honest. Even when he lies. Which is probably my favorite thing about him.

Those same people who know my tastes will be the first ones to tell you I have 0 interest in gushy lovey-dove stories. They're boring and unrealistic, often causing me to make violent gagging noises. So no, I'm not a fan of the Elena/Stefan relationship. At best, that's the 'pure' love that you can only experience in a vacuum. Pure love can't survive the real world. It's too messy for that.

Damon doesn't love pure. He love deep and dark and completely. Which is also interesting. For all that people call him selfish - he calls himself that at least as much as everyone else does - I find him the least selfish in the show. He's willing to suffer the hatred of the people he loves, if that's what it takes to protect them. He cares more about keeping Elena alive and well then he does what she thinks of him. This, despite the above mentioned constant disappointment and rejection. It's actually spectacularly admirable. The fact that it's never once brought on the gag reflex is a sure sign that this very difficult kind of love is both well-written and well-acted.

Damn fascinating.

So Lyn, you ask, why the hell are you going on about a fictional character from a show that is gets you teased by most of your friends (damn you, Anthony!) and you wouldn't dream of watching two and a half years ago? I'm not sure, actually. I'm in obsession mode. It always leads to some fantastic idea or project, but that's later. Right now I'm just going to go on with the obsession.

Of course, this is probably the gateway drug to YA romance novels... *shudders* (kidding! Sort of...)

Look! It's That Weird Girl Again!

My goodness, it has been a while...

So. A while back, my uncle died. The one I dedicated Burnt to, by the way. I didn't do well with it. Not that there's an actual 'well' to do in such situations. But I'm particularly skilled in the not dealing with death area. I do this thing where I refuse to face it in any way, shape or form. To the point of being absurd, actually. I'm fine. Just fine. Fine.

Until I'm not.

That usually lasts a bit longer. Especially when the friends who know the signs are scattered across the country, and the ones near-by don't know any better. Without anyone calling my BS, it tends to be one hell of a funk I let myself fall into. As evidenced, this time, by my complete withdrawal from all things social. Except going to Anthony's to watch Supernatural. I'd have to be comatose to willingly skip out on Boy Night.

So. Now I actually am fine again. For real, this time. Although I am somewhat (and by somewhat, I mean EXTREMELY) exhausted. It is the holiday season, and I do work retail. So really, I think the fact that I am managing this post at all is pretty impressive.

And that's the story I'm going with. Impressive.

Shut up.

I love you Uncle Brucy

Oh, and expect another update soonish. I've got some things to discuss and a tiny smidge of motivation the season hasn't sucked out of me yet. Barring any further family tragedies, I should be good to go.

Oh, and Forgotten is coming out soon too. But more about that later.

A Thing! A Somewhat Important Thing!

August 1st will make it 2 months since Burnt went into print. That might not seem like much to the rest of the world, but for me that is EPIC. (Not in the least bit related to the fact that I have a fascination/potential obsession with the number 2.) And I want to celebrate. Because I never pass up a chance to celebrate. So!  Since consuming impressive quantities of booze is always fun for me, I decided to try to do something fun for other people too. Which means what? Another giveaway! This time, it's through Goodreads, which means all I needed to do is push a few buttons and type in a date to make it all happen. I love pushing buttons! Especially when it is making things easy on me! Because then I can go back to being lazy, you see. It was very exciting.

Anyway. I might be rambling about unimportant things. So now to the important one. How to participate... See the widget on the right! Just underneath the Amazon one! 

There you go! The giveaway starts August 1st and runs through the month. I'll be giving away 4 books, and if this goes well I might consider doing another one and/or one with ebooks in the near future!

About Freakin' Time

Well, this is it folks! After 6 years (6? Hmm... Might be more like 7...) of working on (the main character of Burnt and the upcoming Forgotten) Kaie, he FINALLY settled on a theme song!!

What, you ask, am I going on about? And why should you care?

Well I really don't think you should. Caring about this might actually be something along the lines of unhealthy. Not sure about that. Except that I'm talking about it! So it must be interesting!

Anyway, as to your first question, here's the deal: Whenever I write a character, I always take a little bit of time to find one song that really reminds me of them. This song almost always makes it into the soundtrack I assemble for each book I'm writing (assuming their in it), and can even change as the character grows and evolves and as I find new and more appropriate songs. Now, it's this last part that has caused me no end of grief from Kaie.

You see, no matter how long or hard I searched, he never really connected with one song. There were several that hit on one element of his personality, or how he is feeling in one particular scene. But nothing that could be considered his theme song for more than a handful of chapters. I'm not sure if this is because he's especially complex (I happen to think he is) or if it's because he's a stubborn prick (by far the more likely answer) and that is manifesting in song selection. Regardless, it's been like a scab that I can't help but to pick at for the better part of those 6/7 years.

But! All of that is over now! Because he has a theme song! Now, of course, I have to go back and retool the whole soundtrack to fit it in. Which will be an hour or more that I should probably be spending actually writing it. (This goes along with that whole stubborn prick theory). Oh well. Procrastination is an old frienemy.

Wait, you ask, what is this mythical song that so aptly captures that obnoxious character of yours?

Well, I say, quit with the interrogation! I was getting to it!

P.S. I'm considering posting my Forgotten soundtrack... Oh ye 30-some followers, any thoughts? I'm new to this whole "having people read my blog" business, and clearly need a hand in establishing what is remotely interesting.