My writer friend, Adele Dubois, tagged me and asked me to blog about “My Unspectacular Quirks.”
Luckily for you, my husband doesn't get a say in this because you'd have way more than six to contend with.
First, here are the rules for the Tag, You’re It! game with other authors:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. List 6 of your unspectacular quirks. 4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them. 5. Leave a comment on each person’s blog to let them know they’ve been tagged.
Stephanie Julian's Six Unspectacular Quirks
1. I can't write after lunch without popping some Junior Mints.
2. Until I have the perfect name for each of my characters, I can't start their story.
3. I run every other day, at about a 10-minute-mile pace. If I don't get my run in, the rest of the day is off somehow.
4. I don't like to eat raw tomatoes but I love tomato sauce.
5. I love to plot to music but can't write to it.
6. Almost all of my heroes have long hair but my husband shaves his head.
*****
I’m tagging the following authors: Judi Fennell, Tracy Montoya, Allyson James, and Passion's Muses: Catherine Berlin, Rowan West, Dawn Halliday and Annmarie Ortega, where I will post this, as well.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The screen door slams...
Mary's dress waves...
And Bruce Springsteen made my night when he played my favorite song,
My husband's been a rabid Bruce fan since the 70s. He proposed to "I Wanna Marry You." And I don't think I've ever seen him more happy than last week when we took our two boys to see The Boss in Hershey.
Three hours, 29 songs--including rarities Boom, Boom and Darlington County--and an 8-song, hour-long encore including Jungleland, Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freezeout and Rosalita.
Bruce and the E Street Band don't need pyrotechnics or theatrics to make the night amazing. They just are. They never stop, they never falter and they are consummate musicians. What more can you say.
And Bruce Springsteen made my night when he played my favorite song,
My husband's been a rabid Bruce fan since the 70s. He proposed to "I Wanna Marry You." And I don't think I've ever seen him more happy than last week when we took our two boys to see The Boss in Hershey.
Three hours, 29 songs--including rarities Boom, Boom and Darlington County--and an 8-song, hour-long encore including Jungleland, Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freezeout and Rosalita.
Bruce and the E Street Band don't need pyrotechnics or theatrics to make the night amazing. They just are. They never stop, they never falter and they are consummate musicians. What more can you say.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Ancient elephants, mythical creatures and Pinocchio
The summer of my musical education continues.
Friday, I took my 13-year-old son to the Mayhem Fest. It's a little harder than Taste of Chaos, which we saw in the spring and where I got to appreciate my metal faves, Bullet For My Valentine, and became a faithful and devoted Avenged Sevenfold fan.
The Mayhem Fest includes hardcore and metal bands Suicide Silence, Five Finger Death Punch, Underoath, Mastodon, Dragonforce, Disturbed and Slipknot.
I do enjoy some metal. I like what I've heard of FFDP. I really like Disturbed and I was surprised at how many Slipknot songs I actually knew considering I don't really listen to them.
My son knew every word to every Disturbed and Slipknot song. He sang along, he headbanged, he even moshed a little. Thankfully I wasn't there to witness that. He had a great time and thankfully returned with no bruising and his glasses intact.
Me, I sat at the main stage, wide-eyed, trying not to giggle at the bombastic overindulgence of a too-intense Mastodon. And appreciating how an onstage fan can make the flowing locks of Dragonforce look like a picture-perfect 80s metal moment. The band members' long hair is as much a part of their show as their dual shredding guitarists. And when the keyboard player jumped off his platform with his little portable keyboard in hand and started to run all over the stage, I let myself go and had a good laugh.
Then Disturbed and finally Slipknot took the stage and what had been merely an attempt at a grand stage show became musical theater.
After wheeling out Disturbed front man David Draiman on a gurney in a straightjacket and Hannibal Lector mask, the band lit into a blistering hour-long set that showed how good metal can make your heart pound and your blood boil. In-your-face guitars and drums and straightforward lyrics mixing politics and heartbreak make for music young men and women can get into and connect with.
Slipknot...now, they know exactly how to put on a show. And they do it with no apology and with the skill to pull it off.
Supported by a light show, pyrotechnics and hydraulic lifts, Slipknot produced Grand Guignol with a metal soundtrack. Nine members strong, including three drummers and a deejay, the band wears grotesque masks to enhance the spectacle and performs an aural assault heavy on rhythm and full of furious energy.
Singer Corey Taylor's deep-throated rasp can easily transform into a more melodic instrument. Deejay Sid Wilson's broken and booted feet require him to crawl across the stage at various times to sit on the levitating drum kit of Sean Crahan. And during the finale, drummer Joey Jordison's kit rises into the air and turns on its side, requiring him to be belted in like he's on an amusement park ride.
The show truly is a spectacle worthy of theater and their music has that elusive extra power that transforms them from just another metal band into one worthy of the fierce adultation of their fans.
Next up, Bruce Springsteen on Tuesday.
Friday, I took my 13-year-old son to the Mayhem Fest. It's a little harder than Taste of Chaos, which we saw in the spring and where I got to appreciate my metal faves, Bullet For My Valentine, and became a faithful and devoted Avenged Sevenfold fan.
The Mayhem Fest includes hardcore and metal bands Suicide Silence, Five Finger Death Punch, Underoath, Mastodon, Dragonforce, Disturbed and Slipknot.
I do enjoy some metal. I like what I've heard of FFDP. I really like Disturbed and I was surprised at how many Slipknot songs I actually knew considering I don't really listen to them.
My son knew every word to every Disturbed and Slipknot song. He sang along, he headbanged, he even moshed a little. Thankfully I wasn't there to witness that. He had a great time and thankfully returned with no bruising and his glasses intact.
Me, I sat at the main stage, wide-eyed, trying not to giggle at the bombastic overindulgence of a too-intense Mastodon. And appreciating how an onstage fan can make the flowing locks of Dragonforce look like a picture-perfect 80s metal moment. The band members' long hair is as much a part of their show as their dual shredding guitarists. And when the keyboard player jumped off his platform with his little portable keyboard in hand and started to run all over the stage, I let myself go and had a good laugh.
Then Disturbed and finally Slipknot took the stage and what had been merely an attempt at a grand stage show became musical theater.
After wheeling out Disturbed front man David Draiman on a gurney in a straightjacket and Hannibal Lector mask, the band lit into a blistering hour-long set that showed how good metal can make your heart pound and your blood boil. In-your-face guitars and drums and straightforward lyrics mixing politics and heartbreak make for music young men and women can get into and connect with.
Slipknot...now, they know exactly how to put on a show. And they do it with no apology and with the skill to pull it off.
Supported by a light show, pyrotechnics and hydraulic lifts, Slipknot produced Grand Guignol with a metal soundtrack. Nine members strong, including three drummers and a deejay, the band wears grotesque masks to enhance the spectacle and performs an aural assault heavy on rhythm and full of furious energy.
Singer Corey Taylor's deep-throated rasp can easily transform into a more melodic instrument. Deejay Sid Wilson's broken and booted feet require him to crawl across the stage at various times to sit on the levitating drum kit of Sean Crahan. And during the finale, drummer Joey Jordison's kit rises into the air and turns on its side, requiring him to be belted in like he's on an amusement park ride.
The show truly is a spectacle worthy of theater and their music has that elusive extra power that transforms them from just another metal band into one worthy of the fierce adultation of their fans.
Next up, Bruce Springsteen on Tuesday.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Seduced and Enchanted release and cover
SEDUCED AND ENCHANTED, the fourth book in my Magical Seduction series from Ellora's Cave, will be released November 12.Rio de Feo has just met the woman of his dreams. Rosalia Bianchi is smart, sexy, sweet...and cursed. She's got an evil dead witch on her tail and a secret even she doesn't know anything about. Love will need a little help and a little luck but where there's enchanted roses and three godmothers, there's magic.
And talk about magic-look at that absolutely gorgeous cover by artist Les Byerly. He's done all my covers and I can't express how absolutely amazed I am by his work.
Before SEDUCED AND ENCHANTED makes its appearance, be sure to check out SEDUCED BY MAGIC and SEDUCED IN SHADOW, available now, and SEDUCED AND ENSNARED, coming September 10.
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