Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

I love it when a plan comes together... Err... No, wait... I mean... I love it when someone else likes books / authors I like! Six authors mentioned on this list of Paranormal Staff Picks. And five of those six write books (and series and short stories and...) I really, really really (really, REALLY really) enjoy! Five authors I love and one I've never read. Guess I know whose books I'll be looking up today! * Doing a Happy Dance while heading over to Goodreads... * Check out Paranormal Staff Picks from Hope Ellis - Penguin USA Blog Posted by Anne Bishop's Courtyard on Friday, 12 June 2015

I love language and especially love reading books and stories that play with language or show the author's love for language. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is one such story. I'd known the story of Alice in Wonderland for years before actually sitting down to read the book as an adult. What struck me was not only how much I enjoyed the fun and craziness of Alice's adventures, but how much I enjoyed the author's way with words. The simple yet exquisite beauty of the words on the page as they come together into a whimsical whole is simply amazing to me. Source: Quote HD.com I also love tales set in magical or fantastical worlds like the amazing Anne Bishop's Black Jewels books or J. R. R. Tolkien's extremely intricate world of Middle Earth . Alternate realities are very interesting to explore as well, worlds that are similar to yet different from our own. I like how they often provide great insights into our own world and our own thinking, despite so...

Source: Daily Mail Online A friend shared an article on Facebook today entitled " Zombie Organism Created in Laboratory " (Zombease.com). Intrigued by the title, I simply had to go and read the article! After Googling "zombie cells" and finding several articles from websites I'm more familiar with, it seems authentic which makes this SUPER COOL! While I enjoy science fiction and fantasy stories, I've never quite warmed to zombies. The closest I've come to liking zombie stories is reading about Anita Blake's work as an animator aka someone who raises zombies for a living. Anita Blake is a character created by the amazing Laurell K. Hamilton - Check the links on the right to visit her website and read more about Anita's world and her work. Zombie cells...  Using silicic acid to 'embalm' mammalian cells  (Daily Mail)...  Building structures at the nanometer scale  (Huffington Post)... I understand the words themselves however the sci...

Today, totally out of the blue, I came across a review in the St. Louis Post - Dispatch for a new book by one of my favourite authors. The reviewer sounded like he enjoyed the book and explained a bit about the books in the process - always fun to read a review like that! I first picked up a book by Laurell K. Hamilton a few years ago after being introduced to her work by fellow fans of Anne Bishop's books. Enjoyed the first few books in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series a lot and by the time I'd read those, was hooked enough that I kept on reading as more books came out.  The Anita Blake books have taught me a lot and have helped me deal with real-life issues. The question " What would Anita say / do ?" crosses my mind several times a month even when not actively reading or re-reading the books. Anita Blake starts off as a tough as nails animator and vampire slayer - a professional who is good at her job, enjoys it and draws a lot of satisfaction from livin...

I am trying to decide what to read next. Could do with a re-read of a loved book or series. Could read a new and inspiring book. Which one, though? I've just re-read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Have also read several Laurell K. Hamilton books in the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series. I'm familiar with the worlds created by the authors and know the books and the characters. I am looking for a similarly familiar series to read or re-read. To explain 'similarly familiar' : I love stories about vampires, were-animals, dragons, aliens, magical worlds and such and know those genres. Whether one reads Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris or Stephenie Meyer, they are all writing about vampires and how these walking undead interact with humanity and with the world around them. Whether the vampires sparkle, fly, question organised religion or fall in love - the basics of vampirism (is that even a word?!) stay mostly the same and thus the story feels familiar. I like b...

This week was a lot of things all in one. Hectic, fun, relaxing, enjoyable, busy, quiet, and best of all, it ended really, really well! Watched the second part of two-part TV series Alice last night. I love the story of Alice in Wonderland , found the books to be some of the most amazing I've ever read, and enjoyed this version of the story immensely. Andrew-Lee Potts plays the Hatter in Alice, and seeing this brilliant actor play a lovable clown like the Hatter reminded me of another lovable clown slash geek role of his - that of Connor Temple in Primeval . Realising I hadn't yet seen any Season 4 episodes of Primeval, I browsed the Net and found some very helpful websites :-) Just finished watching Episode 4 of Season 4 and while Primeval's changed again as it does every season, I'm still loving it a lot.The new characters seem interesting, the new sets are amazing, and seeing " Doctor Bashir " (the role Alexander Siddig played on Star Trek: Dee...

I'm a big sci-fi and fantasy nutter really - as long as a story involves aliens, magic, time travel, strange creatures, vampires, werewolves, dinosaurs, or really anything paranormal or supernatural - count me in. Think I've watched pretty much every episode of oh let me think... Star Trek (all series), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Tru Calling, Dollhouse, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Primeval, Charmed, The Vampire Diaries, Torchwood, Supernatural, Earth: Final Conflict, Babylon 5... I'm sure the list is longer than this, but hey, you get the message. I'm a Trekkie, Trekker, Star-Trek nutter, call it what you will. And I'm proud of it! Deep Space 9 is my favourite series, however I also enjoyed Enterprise a lot. And Voyager. And The Next Generation. And the DS9 relaunch books. And the books set after The Original Series. And... Well, you get the point. Supernatural is currently in it's 4th season on TV over here, and while I read episode des...