Your Fave Xmas Songs

Less than a month till Christmas. LESS THAN A MONTH!!! Are you excited? Are you panicked? Is the Christmas Movie channel on all the time or have you banned it from your home?

Why am I chatting abou Christmas? Well, I want to do something special for you guys and I thought this would be a good way to do it. I want to know what your fave Christmas song or your fave Christmas-themed song is. Is it Michael Buble? The new Kelly Clarkson? What about the latest Leona Lewis? Or are the classics like All I Want for Christmas and Fairytale in New York your faves? Or is it not anything Christmasy at all?

I wanna know. Why? Well, I want to do the top 5 voted for Xmas songs on this blog's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ThePewterWolf). If you're not following the Facebook page, please do. It would be nice to get to know you all!

Anyway, the plan. The top five voted for songs will be put up, one song a day, leading up to Christmas (meaning the first day will be Friday 20th December). Each song will go up sometime in the afternoon on the Facebook page and, after your fave song is announced on the Facebook page on Christmas Eve, a blog post with the top 5 will be up (it will be later in the evening, though).

So, here's the form. All I ask is you give me the name of the song, the artist and, if you have it, the youTube/SoundCloud link so I can put it on both the Facebook and Blog.

That's it. Nothing more to add. Oh, deadline. I will be closing this at around 7pm on Friday 13th December. So that gives me time to add the votes, get the right song and get everything ready. That fair?



Now the form is out the way, you may carry on with your day!

Cover Reveal for BLACK DOG

Ooops! For some reason, this didn't go up at 5pm as I asked it to. Weird. Oh well...

I HAVE A COVER REVEAL FOR YOU GUYS! The lovely peeps of Strange Chemistry have asked me and some other bloggers to reveal a cover for their new novel that should be published in February 2014.

The cover for Black Dog by Rachel Neumeier and TA-DAH!!!

IT'S ALL WINTERY!!! And WHAT is that thing behind our lead heroine? I am not saying a werewolf as the blurb doesn't mention or feel werwolf-y. Let me put the blurb up and you can see for yourself, and you can tell me what you think about the cover! LEAVE COMMENTS and tell me what you think of this cover and the story itself:

Natividad is Pure, one of the rare girls born able to wield magic. Pure magic can protect humans against the supernatural evils they only half-acknowledge – the blood kin or the black dogs. In rare cases – like for Natividad’s father and older brother – Pure magic can help black dogs find the strength to control their dark powers.

But before Natividad’s mother can finish teaching her magic their enemies find them. Their entire village in the remote hills of Mexico is slaughtered by black dogs. Their parents die protecting them. Natividad and her brothers must flee across a strange country to the only possible shelter: the infamous black dogs of Dimilioc, who have sworn to protect the Pure.

In the snowy forests of Vermont they are discovered by Ezekiel Korte, despite his youth the strongest black dog at Dimilioc and the appointed pack executioner. Intrigued by Natividad he takes them to Dimilioc instead of killing them.

Now they must pass the tests of the Dimilioc Master. Alejandro must prove he can learn loyalty and control even without his sister’s Pure magic. Natividad’s twin Miguel must prove that an ordinary human can be more than a burden to be protected. And even at Dimilioc a Pure girl like Natividad cannot remain unclaimed to cause fighting and distraction. If she is to stay she must choose a black dog mate.

But, first, they must all survive the looming battle.

GoodRead - Santa Baby

I know that this is meant to be my "Read Your Own" month. I know! But after the ending that was Allegiant, I decide to mix it up a bit. Am going to speed read a few NetGalley/eProofs in the next few weeks (I have several that I am DESPERATE to read!) and maybe reread Catching Fire after I see the movie... So, that's my December all planned out on the reading front (DANG IT!!!)

So, let's start getting into the Christmas spirit (I heard Christmas music on the radio so I take that as a good sign!) and attack Santa Baby by Ali Cronin, the second in Hot Key Books Unlocked novellas for Christmas 2013. It's coming up to Christmas and the end of Annie's first few weeks as a chalet girl in the beautiful Swiss mountains. Her boyfriend is off travelling so she's not exactly thrilled to look after a stag party of posh boys. And it's not long before one - George - makes a play for her. He makes his intentions clear - he wants her under the mistletoe. And in his bed.

But, while Annie is tempted, she can't help but be more interested in another member of the stag do - the quiet Sam. But Sam's got a girlfriend, George says. And we should trust George's word... right?

As I said in my previous review (All I Want For Christmas by Esme Taylor), I'm kinda only just entering the world of New Adult. So, I was braced for it. Well, I expected strong language, sex, strong urges (if you get my drift). Most people do think New Adult is "YA but kinky" (I still have no idea what New Adult is, by the way). But I was kinda looking forward to see where this would go.

And it didn't go there. If anything, it was the opposite to what I was expecting a New Adult novella to be. Yes, this is New Adult so yes, there is swearing and sex. But it felt more like a romance story. Something, if I'm honest with you, I wasn't expecting.

But I got a romance. It was sweet (but had enough grit to keep me from going "BO-RRRRRIIINNNG!" [you guys know I'm not a mushy romantic reader]), the characters and the humour was engaging. The plot... If I'm honest with you, I feel like I've read it before or seen it in a Christmas movie and, because of this, I felt like I guessed some of the key plot points.

And I think, because of that, this felt like a middle of the road read. I'm not sure if I'm saying that because it was more romance than I expected or because I didn't click with the story as much as I hope, but I do think this is a nice read to get you ready for Christmas and will make you want to go skiing. 

SMILE - I'm a Unicorn!!!

My thanks to MundieMom's tumblr. I saw this and just went "Aww!" so thought I would show it!

GoodRead - All I Want For Christmas

So, after Allegiant and THAT ending (Let's not go there, shall we? In the words of River Song, "spoilers"), I'm going through a phrase of reading short, "happy" reads. I think I'm still in mourning for Allegiant by Veronica Roth. So, I attacked this, one of Hot Key Books Unlocked eNovellas from their launch series/Christmas range.

Ella is dreading this Christmas. After her parents death, she was determined to make a change. After quitting uni and dumping her ex, she's found herself stuck and she's unable to make the next big step.

But while she's working at a Christmas party, she meets Joe and the attraction is instant. Neither want anything more than a fling which is perfect, seeing as Ella wants to become unstuck and Joe is going away in the New Year. But as the big day comes closer, the snow and clothes start falling, Ella begins to wonder if this fling could be something more... And if taking the risk to find out worth taking....?

Now, this is my first real "New Adult" story. I have loads on my kindle but I have not read any of them so, when I started reading this, I was entering new terrority. I guessed it would tackle sex - and I was right. It was sexy and quite steamy (if you follow me on GoodReads, you probably saw my mock outcries of "WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!")

But I liked it. It was a sweet, hot chocolate of a novella, getting the reader ready for Christmas (it kinda reminded me vaguely of one of the stories from the Let It Snow collection, The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson. But more adult and sexy). I kinda want more stories from these characters - I want a story about Amy and Lee (if you read the story, you'll understand), but any of Joe's siblings as well. There's a wealth of characters who stories could be told.

So more, Esme Taylor (aka Keris Stainton). You know you want to...

SMILE - This Isn't Lasagna!

My thanks to CassJayTuck's tumblr for this random pic that had me snorting into my coffee. Thanks for that...

Waterstones NaNoWriMo Challenge

NOVEMBER IS NANOWRIMO! For those of you taking part, I hope like hell you hit your target by the end of the month!

Anyway, I was asked to take part in this - the Waterstones NaNoWriMo Challenge - to write the third chapter of a story with the aid of Rory's Story Cubes to help with inspiration. I had only two rules - keep it between 250-500 words and keep it PG rated. Easy, right? NOPE! But oddly fun!

Anyway, if you want to follow the story, here is chapter 1 at SonnyAndLuca.co.uk and chapter 2 is at RebeccaCraft.com. So, are we all up to speed? Are we all sitting comfortable? Good, then I shall begin...

(And to whoever has chapter 4, I am so very sorry.)

*

As I walked slowly toward the mysterious sunny face archway, my fingers twitched and touched my bare wrist, only to feel some skin raised. I looked down and saw black ink of a tattoo. A tattoo I never had.

                "What the -?" Did I do this last night? What actually happened last night?

                The tattoo was of  sleeping Justice, holding scales in one hand and, weirdly, an apple in the other.

                How drunk did I get last night?

                No. I wasn't drinking last night. So... what on earth happened?!

                I turned down the empty road, a cold feeling creeping up my spine. Something weird happened to me - no, something weird is happening to me - and I had no idea what was going on.

                I was being to get a headache. It felt like an swarm of angry beetles and bees was trapped in a jam jar.

                Could I buy some paracetamol? I felt the strange jacket I was wearing to see if I could feel any cash or my wallet in the pockets. Nothing.

                Great, I thought. Just great. What else can go wrong?

                Famous last words.

                Out of nowhere, a toddler ran out of a shop, eyes wide like dish. He was wearing bright red wellies.

                "Mum! MUM!" He squealed, pointing to the sky. "Rainbow! RAINBOW!"

                The shop door opened and a woman - the child's mother - came out. "You shouldn't run off, Ethan."

                "MUM!" the child - Ethan - wailed, pointing the sky above my head. "Rainbow!"

                The mother looked up at the sky. "There's no rainbow, dear. It's..." She suddenly looked puzzled. "What is that?"

                "Sh-sh-shooting star?" Ethan questioned, pouting his lips out, his mouth not truly able to pronounce the word.

                The mother continued to look at the sky. Then a look of horror and terror crossed it. She snatched Ethan up into her arms and run to the shop door.

                "Get inside!" She shouted. "Run! They're coming! Get inside!"

                The shop door snapped shut behind her as Ethan wailed.

                What on earth -? What would cause a grown-up to freak out like that?

                I turned on the spot, stared up at the sky and felt my brain short-circuited.

                This wasn't real.

                It made no sense!

                And yet, it was happening.

                An army of angry sheep was being parachuted down from the empty blue sky, and all their little black eyes were fixed horribly on me.  

How Tinder Was Inspired By The Thirty-Year War by Sally Gardner

I am THRILLED that I'm taking part in the Tinder blog tour . And I am thrilled that Sally Gardner, author of Tinder, has taken time out to write this blog post, explaining how the Thirty Year War inspired Tinder. So, without any further delay, let me hand you over to Sally:

I have always been interested in the bits of history that tend to be overlooked. My research has shown me that nothing happens in isolation.  Learning historical dates in class is meaningless unless you understand the significance of them, you need to have something to hang them on.

When I was at school it never occurred to me that the reason for the first and second world wars could lie way back, buried in the folds of history.In fact, I think there is a good argument to say that the wars have been mis-numbered and the First European War actually took place in 1618 and went by the name of the Thirty Year War. It was without doubt one of the bloodiest and the cruelest wars that had ever been fought in the Holy Roman Empire and it took place in the many feudal states that made up Germany at the time. Every country in Europe at one stage or other took part in this war including Scotland.  It was the first time that thousand strong armies were employed in battle.   It left marauding soldiers who became mercenaries and were prepared to fight for any army who would pay them. The war was ignited over religion - the Protestants versus the Roman Catholics and ended up, as nearly all wars do, being about land.

Whole swathes of Germany were left abandoned, farms destroyed and crops ruined. Whole villages and communities were wiped out. The combined effect of the plague and the war left an estimated 3 million dead. The cruelty that was unleashed then is hard to take in and once such cruelties had been unleashed it was impossible to put back in Pandora’s Box.

I was very fortunate to meet with extraordinary historian, Peter H Wilson, whose book The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy is a very enlightening read.  Unlike him I am not a historian - my approach to history is to try and make the past come alive so that it can become relevant to the readers of today. I've done a lot of research into modern war and have been fortunate enough to meet serving officers who had returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. All those I talk to said they had been altered by the experience and found civilian street life hard to adjust to.  One said “you only know you’re alive when you are dancing on the edge”.

I wanted to Tinder to tell a story that is true to all wars.  It matters little if you are fighting with machetes, knives, muskets, gunpowder, swords or chemical weapons. The effect is just the same.