Fall is upon us and here is a pretty fall colored bush against a very black night. Photo taken in 2016, in Insjön, Sweden.
Picture of the Month — October 2018
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Urban Fantasy Added to the Roster
My new release this month is an urban fantasy story. I’ve read urban fantasy for many years and love writing it too. And now I get to share it.
Here is the description:
As a valkyrie, Tyra escorts the souls of Swedish soldiers who died in combat to Valhalla. In this twenty-first century, she barely works because Sweden has not been at war for a long, long time.
When taking a soldier’s soul to Valhalla, Tyra unwillingly talks to Loki when he seeks her out. Right then, she feels the call from another soul.
Her turn for another calling should not have come that quickly, but off she goes despite her bad feeling.
You can buy it here as an ebook.
Next month is October, meaning Halloween. Which means horror movies, horror games, and horror books, right?
Except, I think more about the sun leaving, cozy lamps and candles lit in the evening. A chill to the air that livens up my skin. Trees in beautiful fall colors.
I can’t wait!
Great Movie: Die Hard and Die Hard 4.0
This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.
They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.
They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.
Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci
Die Hard and Die Hard 4.0
My movie taste runs primarily action. And a classic action movie that I like to rewatch regularly is Die Hard. I also love rewatching Die Hard 4.0 (while double checking the name of Die Hard 4.0 (as I know it), I learned that the North American name for the movie was Live Free or Die Hard).
(Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance (3), and A Good Day to Die Hard (5) are also good, but if I’m not planing to rewatch all Die Hards, I always pick 1 or 4.)
I don’t know that there is much to say about Die Hard (1) that hasn’t already been said.
Christmas, great action, and fun interplay between characters.
Basically feel good with explosions.
Instead I’ll talk about Die Hard 4.0. If I have to pick between watching 1 or 4, I might actually pick 4 because it hits a few more of my favorite things.
I like hacker/action movies.
So what 4 adds is a sidekick that I find funny, a bit sweet, and just the right amount of snark/wit. There are also strong women, a villain that is very Die Hard, and one specific one-liner from the sidekick that I love.
I watch action movies for relaxed fun. Give me some entertaining characters and great action and I’m good. That is what I look for in my action movies. So if that is your thing, Die Hard (all of them) are a good choice.
Picture of the Month — September 2018
This photo is quintessential Sweden. Sweden have many, many lakes, and forest is also very plentiful. This is from a nature preserve close to my childhood home.
A beautiful place where I can always find calm.
This was taken on a walk in May, 2017.
Dear Brother Out as Ebook
Dear Brother is one of my first published short stories and it is now out as an ebook. If you’ve ever wanted to pick it up to read on your device of choice, now you can.
For those who don’t know, Dear Brother is a contemporary short story about dealing with grief.
Here is the description:
A cold and wet autumn makes a visit to the graveyard uncomfortable for twenty-something Silas Stone.
Nothing he notices. Not when more important matters are at hand.
His brother had died with things still unresolved between them.
You can buy it here as an ebook. No other kind of version is available yet, but might be in the future.
On to other things, the first “Great X” (where X = type of entertainment) came out a couple of weeks ago; posted in the Reader category.
These posts won’t always be about books (as the first one), but I hope you’ll enjoy a glimpse into my favorite entertainment and perhaps you’ll even find something you’d like to try.
I’ll see on the first for September’s Picture of the Month!
Great Book: Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.
They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.
They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.
Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
When I decided I wanted to do this series, I always knew what the first post would be.
Once a upon a time, when I was a little girl, I found reading boring. It was hard work and not fun at all.
Until…
I picked up Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce on one of the regular school visits to a library.
I was eleven years old and after reading that book, I’ve been a reader and later it lead me down the writing path.
Alanna was great, both the character and the book. It is a young adult book, at least that is where I would put it, especially with the later books seeing Alanna go from 10-11 years old to 18+. (The series is called Song of the Lioness.)
I loved the book because it fulfilled my biggest fantasies at that age: being a knight in training (aka a page), a girl, and having great magic.
I don’t want to spoil the books even though they are decades old. Let’s just say as the series goes on, it fulfilled more fantasies and went in direction I didn’t expect.
This isn’t Tamora Pierce’s best book (or series) in my opinion, but it was the book that made me a reader, so how could I not love it?
I’ve reread it many times. I read a lot of Tamora Pierce’s work and I’ll feature more of them in this series in the future.
If you like to read fantasy, like empowered girls/women, and like knights, castles, some fighting, magic, and adventure, this is a book for you.
Also, the rest of the series is also great; the fourth book is my favorite, but it is best when read after reading the first three.