True Blood Interview on Triple J Radio Station

So, you may have noticed that i am a bit of a True Blood fan. I also write for a US based True Blood fansite called True Blood Net. Recently, my hubby was listening to Triple J on the way home from work, when a conversation was started about True Blood, and all things relating to vampires. So being the opportunist my hubby is, he insisted that I send them a text about the show.

So I did.

And this is what happened (you can listen to the whole podcast, but my interview starts around the 29 minute mark):

It's Been a Promotional Whirlwind of a Week!

Last week I announced that an excerpt from Emeline and the Mutants had been added to the Indie Book List blog. Well, this week that same excerpt has been added to a new blog called eBooks of Horror. It is run by the same fabulous lady, but it's main focus is the very specific genre of horror.

So you can imagine my excitement when I also got the news that my interview with fellow author, Gary Hoover (also from Fantasy Island Book Publishers), was going to publish my first ever author interview on his blog, The Artist's Studio. Make sure you check out not only my interview, but all the other great author interviews on his blog!

And to finish up my week, I have FINALLY started editing my vampire trilogy. It has been sitting there on the shelf collecting vast amounts of dust while I worry about how much needs to be slashed from it to make it readable. The first in the series, Indiana Meets A vampire, was the very first complete novel that I wrote, so while I know I need to be brutal in this edit, it also holds a dear spot in my heart.

Indie Book List Blog

So I got my first official mention on a blog today.

Make sure you check out my Emeline and the Mutants excerpt on the Indie Book List. For those of you who don't know much about my book, the excerpt involves Emeline, her vertically challenged friend, Gwennie, a troll and a riddle. Emeline is finding the riddle rather challenging and decides to deal with the troll in a different manner.

Don't forget to share the link to Indie Book List if you feel inclined :-D

Emeline and the Mutants Book Excerpt On Indie Book List

Manu Wins Dancing With The Stars *yawns*

So it was the most expected win on Dancing With The Stars. Channel 7 love him. The audience love him. So why do the Manu-haters appear like rats on a sinking ship as soon as he had won last night?

I'll tell you why: people don't like it when channel 7 celebrities win the show *scratches head* Am I the only one who realises that the only people allowed on Dancing With The Stars are either channel 7 personalities or people who are not contracted to other networks? I mean, wake up and smell the coffee guys - who else would win?

Yes, I was disappointed when Haley Bracken lost to Many Feildel, but it was exactly what I expected. People who watch channel 7, are familiar with the people who appear on that network. While I would like people to use their 25 cents to vote for the person who has the most talent, realistically this isn't the case.

And, on the subject of viewer votes, I must say that I was overly impressed with the order in which people were voted off this year. For the vast majority of the season, viewers got it right. We didn't see anyone in the final who was abysmal. Each celebrity deserved to be there. The only thing I would have changed, voting-wise during the season, was to vote Samantha Armytage off before Lara Bingle.

So congratulations to Manu, and I hope you sober up quickly. Did anyone else watch his drunken interview on Sunrise this morning?

Dancing With The Stars - Aussie Final This Sunday!

Being a ballroom dancer, I normally relish this time of year, since it is the Dancing with the Stars finale.

Not so much this year.

Instead I feel as though I am emerging white-knuckled from a ride on which I never asked to be placed. There have been so many deviations from the successful format, that many people are now starting to predict the demise of the show. Which, personally, I agree with. While the ratings last year were just as high as normal, Channel 7 seem to think that that is not enough. So lets see what has gone down this year:

Brynne Edelston

Brynne was the American that was married to an older wealthy man. We made many assumptions about her. Mostly she turned out to be sweet and so much more adult than we ever expected. While she couldn't dance, it turned out that she was voted off half way through the season, even though we all thought her rich husband would have a crew to keep her in phone votes (can anyone say 'Veruca Salt?')

Joshua Horner

Josh replaced Mark Wilson as the new judge this season. There appeared to be no reason to replace a judge who has ballroom experience and a strong fan base, but Channel 7 did anyway. Josh has LOADS of ballet and choreography experience, but no idea when it comes to ballroom dancing, which is why I created a facebook page in a bid to get Mark Wilson back on Dancing With The Stars. He actually referred to New Vogue steps as 'that free stuff.' He also admitted on the DWTS message boards that ballroom dancing is a social style and not disciplined like ballet. Needless to say he developed a lack of fans among the fans and judges alike.

Todd McKenney

Todd is the mean judge on DWTS. Josh, not being happy with only replacing one judge, tried to also claim this role. It resulted in some magnificent hissy fits from Todd. It also lead to Todd making more sense from a technical point of view than ever before.

'Stars'

Once again, there has been plenty of complaints about the lack of 'real' celebrities on the show. I'm not sure why star-status is more important than being able to dance, but apparently it is. It turns out that a sport star's wife who can dance well, is ridiculed because she isn't a real star {shrugs} I hope Haley wins, personally.

Format

So far this season, we have had a dance-off, a surprise music segment and a re-dance. The dance-off involved all the remaining stars dancing the Jive while the judges picked them off one by one, until a victor was left. The surprise music segment was a fizzer. The stars knew what dance they were dancing, had a routine choreographed, but had only an hour to practise it to music - sounds like an average medalists or competition day to me! The re-dance entailed the remaining four stars having to dance a Cha Cha Cha each. Two were eliminated and the remainder had to repeat their dance. The judges picked the winner. None of which added to anything spectacular or 'new' to the show.

Sonia Kruger

Sonia is the queen of foot in mouth disease. This year she possibly topped the cake with her comment about Brynne and her 'dad.' In true Sonia-style though, she apologised profusely when her she realised that her comments had offended. Fans of Sonia found it funny. Enemies of her, rang the network and complained.

Message Boards

This year Channel 7 and Yahoo finally listened to the fans and upgraded their message boards. They look incredibly pretty now and are loads more user-friendly. Except no one really uses them much any more. They are too busy ringing the network and trying to find the complaints department (of which there isn't one).

Finale

So who will win? My predictions are that Manu Feildel will win because he is loved by the fans of My Kitchen Rules as well as being actively promoted by channel 7. Damien Leith will come second. Haley Bracken will be voted first by the judges, because she can actually dance, but since it will fall to public vote, she will be placed in third position.