Wednesday Review

Lily Ivory is not your average witch. Her spell-casting powers tend to draw mischievous spirits while keeping normal humans at a distance. But now her vintage store could give her a chance to make friends in San Francisco.

Lily hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack vintage fashion--she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry--her store becomes a big hit.

But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime. She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy--especially under the spells of sexy "myth buster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?

Lily is a character that I identified with, a caring "witch" (not that I'm a witch--too bad) who is trying to fit into the "normal" world, a world where she had no personal connections. However, she's trying to change that and it's not easy when she's still learning about her self and her magic.

As the story unfolds with La Llorona, the death of Mrs. Potts and a child missing, Lily knows that magic is involved however, she needs the assistance of Aidan, Bronwyn, the Wiccan, Maya--the vintage clothe finder--and Max Carmichael, the skeptic--and Oscar, her pressed upon familiar who covers his scaly self as a potbellied pig.

This first novel in the Witchcraft Mystery series is a fun read that had me flipping pages to learn everything. I've never been one of those readers who try to solve the mystery instead I allow myself to be taken on the journey. And this book is a perfect example of a cozy mystery.

Juliet blends the magic theme effortless and seamlessly as it touches every characters lives and helps in the characters development that will be expanded and explored in coming series, which is three books in.

Until Next Season

Well, Clay Matthews until next season.  I must wait until the end of summer to see your blonde Viking locks sticking out of your helmet. I must wait till then to watch you sack a quarterback. I must wait to see you thick arms, thick with muscle, against the Packer green jersey.  I must wait to watch you burst off the line at the snap of the ball.

Until next season when I get to see this:

Time Travel without Leaving the Here and Now

Much like other romance readers out there in cyberspace, I love Regencies. I love the era, the romantic notions of the past however, I’m a modern gal. From various authors, I heard how the Regency era was like the 60s. That may have been true however for me, I wasn’t born in the sixties.

For me, I believe that the world events are more similar to the Regency era.  Check out the list below.

Luddites: In 1811, stockingers broke into small hosiery workshops and smashed the frames used to construct the stocking, a highly skilled job while the manufacturers sold lesser qualities hosiery and putting their professions and families at danger.  These protest spread throughout England. Military forces were brought in to quell the violence however, the group only went underground. 

Occupy Wall Street: In 2011 with the economy in the sewer and a generation of twenty-somethings with thousands in debt and believing a college degree would get them the American dream gathered on Wall Street to protest the 1% of the population that held the wealth. The occupation spread from coast to coast. Police arrested them, pepper sprayed them and destroyed their tents. Even Time magazine named the Protestor the person of the year.

Economy: In description of  the Regency era's economy, Carolly Erickson wrote in Our Tempestuous Day, "Despite the drastic decline in trade, the wave of bankruptcies, the falling wages and rising prices that hurt workers so cruelly and the bare lives of the country poor, there were riches adundant, and with them a sense of comfort in everyday life that ought to be the envy of other countries. "

The city, the term for the financial district of England and original boundaries of the town faced financial ruin. The English Pound note depreciated.

In my opinion, that could be written about our state of a nation now and just switch a few terms and you have America now.

War: In 1800s, England fought Napoleon Bonaparte as well as a country called America. They were a nation at war. Red coats were abound. Canon exploded over Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  

Today, we've been a country at war since 2001 and recently pulled out of Iraq. This time England is our ally. 

King, Regent, Father and Son:  Since the king went mad, Parliament introduced the Regency Bill. And England was saddled with a prince unlike his father.  Us Regency readers and writers know his ruling style.

King George III

In America, the closest we came to this was father and son presidents--George W. Bush Sr and Jr. And enough said on that.







Fairy Tale Wedding, Everyone Loves That: In 1816, Princess Charlotte married Prince Leopold. They married in Carlton House. Perhaps not a love match in the beginning, it evolved into one until Charlotte tragically died in childbirth.

This year, Prince William, third from the throne, married his love Katherine Middleton. A love match and hopefully one that does not end in such sad terms.  I don't know about anyone else but I was up to watch Katherine come down Westminster Abbey in her beautiful gown that had the press talking about it for months much as Princess Charlotte's had.

And the Regency wouldn't be the Regency without:  JANE AUSTEN

 Jane Austen, her novels still live.  Recently, her works have been reworked, smashed up, with sequels rewritten even comics.

My Proust Questionnaire

If you're fan of Vanity Fair as I am then you've seen the Proust Questionnaire on the last page. I can't wait for the day when I'm asked but until then I'll answer the questions. Though I won't have the Risko illustration of myself.


What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Listening to a summer breeze blowing through the trees

What is your greatest fear?
Having to stick my hand in poo

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Marie Antoinette

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My defensiveness

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Snobbery

What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying books

On what occasion do you lie?
To spare someone's feelings when the truth can't be said in a constructive way.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My nose. I'll love to shave off some of it.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Anyway or like or but, well anyway...

What's your greatest regret?
That I didn't risk all when I had the chance.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
In one word, Jose.

When and where were you happiest?
Childhood and I never knew it.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Drawing. To create something that's why I love writing.

What is your current state of mind?
That's an answer you don't want to know. A scary place.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To redo life with what I know now but then I would be different, I guess.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
My father would still be alive.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Me.

What is your most treasured possession?
My mac.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Doctor's appointments especially the GYN.

Where would you like to live?
Los Angeles. I've always loved LA.

What is your favorite occupation?
Writing, baby!

What is the quality you most like in a man?
A good heart.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Smarts.

What do you most value in your friends?
Humor

Who are your favorite writers?
Oh the list is long but her is a few--Edith Wharton, Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Philips, Jane Austen, Christina Dodd, Oscar Wilde, Julia Quinn, Suzanne Brockman, Sandra Brown, Bernard Cornwell, Heidi Betts, Karen Hawkins--the list continues but I think that's enough.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Joe Morelli, from Plum Series

Who are your heroes in in real life?
My mother, my niece and my brother.

What is it that you most dislike?
any -ism, racism, sexism and so forth

How would you like to die?
after long and fulfilled life.

What is your motto?
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Female Friday

Of course, it being the end of the year I too have been taking stock of my life and my accomplishments, mishaps, setbacks--since I refuse to call them failures--and my sameness. We all have parts of ourselves or our lives we'd like to change. For me the most important and the focus of 2010, 2011 and no surprise 2012 is one single thing--drum roll please--To start my career as a published author. I've sold short stories but I'm going for the novel, the start of a long career I plan to have.


Publishing is a tough game with many growing and expanding even developing sectors. And I have to stand out from the countless others dreaming the same dream. This week, I turned on CW and there was the French designing genius Jean Paul Gaultier interviewing Lady Gaga.

Two of my favorite people. I watched it, waiting to hear what Gaga spoke about and the designs Gaultier would show her. But I learned something that helped. Gaga in her years as she sang in New York bars, she was like countless others playing those gigs. Sure she had the talent but nothing made her memorable. She decided to stick out of the crowd, for the world to take notice and listen then sing and dance along.
She's not forgettable now.


I admire her strength and smarts for changing and shedding normalcy. But she always inspired me. I guess you can say the light hit my disco ball. I too have to stick out of the crowd and make people remember me. Luckily, I have a name that certainly doesn't blend. You might not know how to pronounce it but you know it when you see it. This year at RWA Nationals, I went to get my book autograph from Christina Dodd. She looked at my name tag and said, "I know you. I remember your name from Twitter." If I was a Victorian lady, I would have fainted though my head felt like champagne popped open and fizz shooting foamy bubbles everywhere.


I'm working on the rest of it, adding the sticking out among the crowd to my business plan. And Gaga helped me. I admire her music, talent and...her Gaga-ness, you can say. She had a dream and used more than just her talent. She used her smarts to create a Gaga world.

Google +...huh?

So, I signed up for Google+.  I wasn't one of the beta users but heard all this hype and as an author, I'm building my brand. Naturally, I signed up.

And I'm utterly confused. I feel like blind mouse searching for the cheese.

Sadly, I may stay hungry.