The Rasmus - live

The 21st May 2012 now holds a special place in my heart. It's the day I finally got to see my favourite band live at last. Woo hoooooo! After missing their UK concert in 2009, I never expected them to ever come back. They aren't huge here. So as soon as their tour was announced at the start of this year and with a London stop listed, I hung on the computer waiting to buy tickets and shrieking in frustration as I saw others getting theirs early!

For those of you who don't know it already, I'm a huge, huge fan of The Rasmus. They rock! It's the one thing I will get silly over. Not all screaming throwing-my-underwear-at-the-stage-and-fainting-in-a-puddle type silly (as happened at the concert) but enough that I go a little weak at the knees when I hear them play. And not only do I love their music, but listening to it again was a part of the inspiration for Keir. I owe them big time. For helping to save my sanity and prompting me to once more put my pen to paper - or at least my fingers to the keyboard.

So how was the concert? Amazing. Fantastic. Awesome! In fact, I'll save you some time and trouble here. Just go to Thesaurus.com and type in 'fabulous'. All the words that come up will cover my feelings over watching the guys play live. :)

Sadly, my new super smart phone wasn't so super at taking photos and video, despite the fact I wasn't far from the front. My view was a smidge better than the camera shows.But here's one semi-decent shot of singer

Lauri Ylönen.

And since my recording of Justify (the song that I'd have as Keir's main theme) was so poor, here's a couple of youtube videos instead. You can't see me, but I'm in there. Somewhere. :-P

No Fear



And the song that some consider their trademark - In the Shadows. Lauri's microphone failed just before the end, but we carried on singing without him, and then all finished together. This was the one that really had everyone going! (I'm somewhere in the second 'everybody on the side' shoutout).



And one of the best thing about seeing them live? Lauri announced another tour coming up very shortly - with another stop in London. I'll be watching, I'll be waiting...

Oh, and this is me. I don't often like pictures of myself or post them - I'm not that much of an exhibitionist. But it was a nice one - for a change.

It's been a euphoric month for me. Seeing The Rasmus live. Having my first full length novel published. My short story reaching its first birthday. And celebrating 19 years of marriage. Can June match that? Only time will tell... :)

Guest Post by Sandra Sookoo - FRACTURED

I'm delighted to be hosting the lovely Sandra Sookoo on the release of her new scifi romance FRACTURED. Please make her feel welcome by leaving a comment! :) (and of course to be entered into the giveaway too.)

Giving fairy tales new life

Thanks for having me on your blog, Pippa! You're very welcome, Sandra! :)

Anyone who knows me also knows I’m a big fan of fairy tales—old, new and retold.  Fairy tales are one thing every reader has in common.  We’ve all read them in various versions.  They’re comfortable.  They’re warm.  We all know going in that we’re promised a happily ever after.

Sigh.

Yup, that’s why I love them.

But, of course, I couldn’t march to the beat of my own drum if I didn’t try to put my own spin on the classics.  When Liquid Silver Books announced their Silver Slipper call for reworked fairy tales, my brain went into overdrive thinking about what I could do with that.  I was in heaven.  I’d already had a reimagined fairy tale (which came out last December) but I needed more.  My muse wanted another shot at something else.

So FRACTURED was born.  It’s a blending of two popular fairy tales, and no, I’m not going to tell you which ones they are in this post.  You’ll have to read the book and see if you can guess!  The great thing about doing fairy tales in the modern day is…well, it’s modern with electricity and technology, but I went a step beyond that.  I set FRACTURED in the future, but I didn’t stop there.  I wanted the heroine to be something other than the usual fairy tale gals.  I made her…well, I won’t ruin it, but let’s just say she’s purple LOL

And, here’s a secret exclusive to this post, the real-life event that set the whole story up was the US discontinuing the space program.  Frankly, I’m still annoyed by that decision.  I guess that’s why my hero Rick is too.

Here’s the blurb:  What happens when beauty is the beast?

Major Rick Keenan has a near-impossible mission: repair his broken shuttle, rescue a missing crew member and get off an almost-dead planet.  Angry that the U.S. is discontinuing the space program, he wants to find a discovery that will revise the government's position.  Unfortunately, that discovery might just kill him.

Marin is one of the last of her people.  Forced to flee to the planet in her childhood, she's kept herself hidden away in darkness, safe in a castle-like fortress, only coming out when she needs to feed--from human blood.  Convinced she'll never fit in, she shuns all contact, yet taking Rick hostage as a food source chips away at her perceptions.

Though their differences threaten to tear them apart, their humanity binds them together.  In a world where only the strong and determined survive, does a happily ever after stand a chance?

Book video:

And a short excerpt from the beginning of the book:

"Major, I'm under attack!" Static crackled over the com-link, but didn't hide the panic in Private Jenkins' voice. "...requesting back-up!"

Rick Keenan depressed the talk button on his handheld com-link. "Where are you?" He'd made the decision to send the lieutenant out alone. The man had escaped from trickier situations than this before. It shouldn't have been a problem.

Another long period of static broke the response. "...castle... couldn't see... Oh, my God!" The static gave way to a man's terror-filled scream.

Rick's gut clenched. "Be there as soon as we can. Hold on." He glanced around the Redemption's interior. Auxiliary power flooded the cramped space with anemic white light. Hoses hung from a few built-in compartments while the crystal panel gave off intermittent flickers then finally blinked off. We're so screwed.

"Reigen, what do we need to get this bird back in the air?" Rick barked out the question as he strode to the crystal panel. Down a power source, they'd be sitting ducks to any being—dangerous or otherwise—on the planet.

"Without a whole crystal array replacement, we're not going anywhere. Power core's busted, but I think we can get moving, given enough time." The wiry, red-haired man turned to face him, his long face tight with stress. "Core's needed for hyperspace; crystals are needed to get airborne. You choose which you want more. I’ll figure out how long we’ll survive without both."

"No time to argue. Grab your gear. We're going after Jenkins." Barely waiting for an acknowledgement, Rick strapped a dagger to his right thigh. "If we're lucky, we’ll find someone who can help us."

"And if we're not?"

"Then we'll have a fight on our hands."

Available at -

All Romance e-books

Amazon 

Liquid Silver Books

I hope you’ll pick up a copy of this book.  I had the greatest fun writing it, and besides, the ending is sigh worthy!




  Want to connect with Sandra?  Find her here:

Website 
Believing is Seeing blog 
Twitter 
Facebook 

Giveaway open to international guests:  One random commenter will receive book swag (bookmarks, postcards, etc.) Please be sure to leave your contact info.  Name will be drawn January 16th.

Thanks so much, Sandra! I'm going to put this on my TBR pile, and I absolutely LOVE that cover. :)

Weird Wednesday #1

A few days ago, my good friend posted this to my Facebook profile, with the note 'this made me think of you. It is the you-est you that ever youed. And you will undoubtedly think it's devastatingly beautiful.'

That told me two things. One, that my friend knows me extremely well. Two, that I am indeed a fan of the weird and wonderful - not a bad thing for a writer. The weird and the wonderful are great inspiration, although the mundane works just as well for me as often.
I have no idea what this is - a type of praying mantis at a guess. But it reminded me of a post on Google+ (yes, I'm there as well) also posted by an author as a piece of inspiration.






So, over the next couple of weeks I'm going to post some of the weird and wonderful things that I've come across, and maybe you'll find some inspiration in them too. Or maybe, you'll just realize what a total weirdo I am and never come back. :-P

My Halloween Celebration.

Hi all! Apologies for the sudden silence that's fallen over my blog. No, I haven't been eaten by pumpkins or anything else appropriate to the season, but I'm deep in edits and with a deadline looming. So, as a very brief tribute to the day, here's my favourite Halloween film!

Happy Towel Day!

As a big, big fan of the late, great Douglas Adams, I couldn't let Towel Day pass without a post. To find out about special deals and events around the world check out the official website at towel.org and don't forget to add the hashtag #towelday to any Douglas Adams related tweets.

So, in honour of one of my favourite authors here's a clip with one of my favourite characters - the Paranoid Android Marvin:

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.



And the theme tune to the series.



Oh, and don't forget your towel! :-P