In honor of Bones‘ return tonight and my current favorite TV couple-in-the-making, Dr. Temperance Booth and Agent Seeley Booth, here are some fun quotes from the show:

Booth: (gives Tempe a gun) “This is only for self defense.”
Brennan: “What part do I aim for?”
Booth: “Any part that isn’t me.”

Booth: “We call you people squints because they’re always squinting at things.”
Brennan: “You mean people with high IQs and basic reasoning skills?”
Booth: “Yeah.”

Booth: “We’re Scully and Mulder.”
Brennan: “I don’t know what that means.”

Booth (to Brennan): “Use your mutant powers. Just talk people to death.”

Brennan (to Booth): “You’re ordering a prostitute from my cell phone?”

Brennan: “Why would a gang leader cooperate?”
Booth: “I’m going to ask him really, really nicely, Bones.”
Brennan: “You know that book I’m reading about getting along with your co-workers? It says that sarcasm is never helpful. I can lend it to you if you want.”

Booth: “FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction on a golf course.”
Brennan: “Who does?”
Booth: “I don’t know. Try the PGA.”

Booth: “Well, nothing brings people together like a Christmas lung fungus.”

Fun with YouTube

For those of you who think the men in the Lord of the Rings movies are easy on the eyes…

When people meet me, I doubt one of the first things they think is, “Wow, I bet she’s a headbanger, loves hard rock.” But it’s true. In high school and college, I went to concerts with my friend Jen that included Poison, Warrant (hey, it was the age of hair bands, give me a break), and KISS (during the non-makeup years). Even after hubby and I got married, we have gone to see Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Creed. Jen and I went to our first concert together in years last fall when we went to see Nickelback.

I’ve discovered that I’m also a fan of goth rock, particularly bands let by female singers. I like the combination of the hard drums and guitar with the sound of the female voice. And no, I haven’t dyed my hair black, pierced my eyebrows or filled my closet with an all-black wardrobe. I’m still partial to bright colors and other types of music like Enya and movie soundtracks. Yes, I have varied music tastes. But here are three goth rock bands that I particularly like:

Evanescence

Love the album Fallen and the live album Anywhere But Home. Amy Lee’s vocals are powerful. This band is from Little Rock, Arkansas, not exactly what you’d call a bastion of goth rock, but being a U.S.-based band, they luckily tour in the U.S.

Lacuna Coil

Okay, so I’ve only heard one of this Italian band’s songs, “Our Truth” on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack, but I really like it.

Within Temptation

I just discovered this Dutch band this week. I was curious about the song playing in the trailer for Blood and Chocolate, so I did some Googling and found out the name of the song and the band. Then I found the band’s MySpace site, where you can listen to four of their songs. I really like them. By the way, the song from the movie trailer is “Stand My Ground”, one of the songs available on the site.

So, any other fans of these bands (or similar ones) out there?

Mary tagged me with this listing, so here goes…

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?

I love all three kinds of romances. I started out reading historical and still love them, particularly American-set historicals. But in the last year or so, I’ve become a huge paranormal fan.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?

Mass market for ease of carrying, but I do love hardbacks for the “feel” of the book.

Heyer or Austen?

Austen since I’ve never read Heyer. I know, gasp!

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?

Brick-and-mortar stores. I love the feeling of being in a bookstore, surrounded by so many books, so many stories.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

B&N, just because it’s closer to my house.

Woodiwiss or Lindsay?

Woodiwiss. She’s one of the first romance authors I read back in high school.

First romance novel you ever remember reading?

I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was one of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s books. Perhaps The Flame and the Flower.

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?

Some of it’s random, but I do try to keep the category books organized by line. Since I catalogued on LibraryThing though, I have a wonderful online bookshelf organized by title.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?

Keep, trade on PaperBackSwap or give to friends. Throw away a book? Are you nuts!?

Read with dustjacket or remove it?

With dustjacket.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?
I’ve read the first Anita Blake, so I’ll have to go with her for now.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks??
Both, depending on the situation.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

Crusie or SEP?

I’m going to echo Mary’s answer here. Crusie, though I love SEP, too.

Buy or Borrow?

Echoing Mary again. Mostly I buy, sometimes trade.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?

Recommendation, browsing or books by friends.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?

Depends. I like both, though the cliffhanger only if it’s a series and there will be more books to answer the cliffhanger.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?

I can read anytime, but I typically read at night when all my work is done for the day. Though when I went to the beach in October, it was nice to read anytime I wanted to.

Series or standalone? Stand alones.
I like both, but I’m a big fan of series. J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampire Chronicles, Nevada Barr’s and Dana Stabenow’s mystery series, Lori Handeland’s Moon series, etc.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Hmm, can’t think of one off the top of my head.

A movie that arrived from Netflix this week was Hotel Rwanda. After spending the morning working yesterday, I decided to take a break and watch it. I now understand why the movie received such praise when it was released a couple of years ago. I was at turns impressed by Don Cheadle’s performance as Paul Rusesabagina and shocked and saddened by how cruel mankind can be to one another.

The story is set in Kigali, Rwanda, in the 1990s when bloody fighting broke out between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Rusesabagina, who was Hutu but married to a Tutsi, was a hotel manager. That position led him on an unexpected path to heroism. Using bribes and what little influence he had after the fighting broke out, he was able to protect more than 1,200 refugees (Tutsis and moderate Hutus) inside the hotel. But he wasn’t able to protect everyone. If you’ve watched the news in the last decade, you’ve likely seen the stories of how approximately a million people were killed in the fighting. The images in the movie are powerful, and one small line spoken by a news cameraman played by Joaquin Phoenix says so much. “I’m so ashamed.” This line is spoken as all of the whites are ushered out of the country, leaving all the Africans behind to fend for themselves.

Despite all the daily news coverage of the horrible atrocities throughout the world, it still continually amazes me how people can hate so much and kill just because someone is different. It’s beyond my comprehension. If you’ve not seen Hotel Rwanda, I urge you to watch it. While you may very well cry at times, there’s also a message of hope — that there are people, ordinary people, who can rise to the occasion and do what’s right in the face of so much wrong.

And like any well-done movie, there are lessons to be learned by writers. After you’ve watched the movie, think about how the writers and directors made you feel a certain way, how they framed scenes. Then consider how you can take that knowledge and weave it into your own work to make it more powerful.

1. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water?
Try spelling Evian backwards: NAIVE

2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?

3. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

4. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren’t they just stale bread to begin with?

5. Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety-one?

6. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

7. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

8. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

9. What hair color do they put on the driver’s licenses of bald men?

10. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

11. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don’t they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

12. If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

13. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

14. Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn’t zigzag?

15. If a cow laughed, would milk come out of her nose?

16. Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?

17. As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice: When you put the two words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “THEIRS”?

Saw this story on Yahoo this morning. I’m continually stunned by how crazy the real estate prices are in some markets — Washington, D.C., New York, now this one from London. Guess it all comes back to that old real estate saying — location, location, location.

I’ve been very busy doing freelance editing this week, thus the few days without blog posts. I have another one to edit, plus it’s time to dive into my own revisions on another manuscript. Tis the winter of revisions. The good thing about being busy is that winter flies by quicker. Here it is almost the end of January, and there’s a mental milestone for me getting to Feb. 1. That’s when I begin to feel that spring is just around the corner even though it’s still technically a month an a half away at that point. I start looking forward to getting out and working in the yard, opening up the windows and airing out the house, doing that spring cleaning. And seeing everything begin to bud and bloom — daffodils, Bradford pear trees, creeping phlox (that almost sounds like a disease, doesn’t it?).

Each year, I have at least one bigger home improvement project. Because last year was huge with the new siding stain and new roof, I think I’ll limit myself to painting the upstairs half-room this year. That and staining and putting up some new baseboards in the hall. We’ve already purchased those boards and the stain, so that’s just a time commitment. So what about everyone else? What are your plans for spring and for home improvements this year?

It seems weird to watch the Sci Fi shows on Sunday versus Friday. I mean, I’ve mentioned Sci Fi Friday numerous times on this blog alone. Still, I followed Battlestar Galactica to Sunday and really enjoyed tonight’s spring season premiere tonight. Lots of new questions posed. Anyone have guesses who the final five Cylons are? Who do you think D’Anna saw? I really like this show because it’s not all black and white. The relationships are complex, the mythology makes you think.

Anyone try out the new Sci Fi show The Dresden Files? I liked the show’s debut tonight, though I expected the main character, wizard Harry Dresden, to use a bit more magic. But maybe they’re building up to that.

So, it’s the Bears and the Colts in the Super Bowl. Any picks who’ll win? The Colts are our (Titans) big rival, so I’m going to have to root for the Bears. Plus, I still remember that funny Super Bowl Shuffle from 1985 when I was 14 — the last time the Bears went to the Super Bowl.

We’re three weeks into 2007 — do you know where your New Year’s resolutions are?

I read a quote by author Shelley Bates recently that I really like: “A goal is a dream with a plan.” It speaks to the planner and goal-setter in me.

I’m doing pretty good on my goals for 2007 so far, though there have been a couple of slips in the no desserts department. I’m a touch behind on the writing goals, but I spent more time on the revisions of my YA because I really, really want it to sell and I felt it needed the extra time and attention to make that a reality. I’ve read three books so far and got caught up reading some of my other publications. I’ve done well with the regular exercise though I’ve missed on average one day a week. So, I’m fairly satisfied so far though I’ll continue to try to do better.

How is everyone else doing?

When you become a published author, one of the new things you end up worrying about is reviews of your book. Will they be good? Will they trash the story you’ve worked so hard writing and revising? Will some boob of a reviewer put spoilers in her review, making you want to pull out your hair, call her ugly names and possibly costing you sales? Is all this angst even worth it?

I admit that I’ve read the occasional review that made me buy a book, but I don’t know that a review has ever prevented me from buying one. And I wonder how many romance readers even read reviews? Do they sit down and read Romantic Times magazine, or do they just browse the shelves and see what covers and back-cover blurbs sound interesting? Or are purchases based more on brand (i.e. Harlequin Superromance) or author (i.e. Nora Roberts) loyalty?

I love it when friends get good reviews, and I’m not so happy when I read scathing reviews that are more like personal attacks — doesn’t matter who the author is. I’m okay with genuine criticism if it’s not mean-spirited. As someone mentioned recently on one of my e-mail loops, it’s not what you say but how you say it.

I think we all have to keep in mind that reviews are just one person’s opinion, and the reviewer might have been in a seriously bad mood the day she wrote it. And how many times have you heard a movie getting bad reviews but enjoyed the film anyway?

So, readers, do you read reviews? Do they influence what you buy? How much so?