Happy birthday to shiv5468. I hope you have the best birthday ever! ~smooches~

The lovely iulia_linnea has opened this playground:



It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun! ~tempts~

Hee! My gift posted to the sshg_exchange, and it's just wonderful! Go and read The Case of the Insufferable Unspeakable's Unmentionables. ~snicker~ It's brilliant!

If your villain murders an extremely likable secondary character (and yes, that was a huge shock, as I'm sure you wanted it to be) midway through the book, don't have your hero tell me about the villain's capture and/or punishment. Show me.

If the hero is unfaithful to the heroine (for whatever reason), when the heroine confronts him about it, don't have them settle matters between them with a single apology and an ashamed expression. I want to see groveling. Extended groveling. Even if he didn't love her when he was unfaithful, he hurt her badly, and he knows he hurt her badly. A single "I'm sorry" just doesn't cut it.

If your hero and heroine spend the entire book struggling to overcome the odds and be together, don't end the book just as they finally get together. Give me at least one chapter of them being happy.

If your heroine is being threatened by your villain, and the hero is now physically fighting with the villain, don't just have your heroine stand by, wringing her hands. They're fighting in a room you earlier described as being filled with vases and statuary. She could pick something up and hit the villain. Hell, if nothing else, she could run for help.

There's a fine line between sassy and childish. Your heroine should never cross it. Flouncing crosses it. If your hero spanks your heroine, it should be because they've mutually agreed it would be fun. Not because the reader thinks she needs one.

When your villain is far more interesting than your hero, you're doing it wrong. Or at least, you're presenting it wrong. Maybe you meant to tell another story entirely? I wouldn't mind, except, you know, I paid for this story.

Happy Birthday to the lovely ginny_weasley31! I hope you have a great day. ~smooches~

I hate to go begging, but my mom is really interested in joining Pinterest. Does anyone have a spare invitation that you'd be willing to give away? ~bats eyelashes hopefully~

Thank you so much to desigrl! She offered an invitation to my mom.

~squees~ melisande88 has written what she calls a hg/ss PWP entitled Clock Watching (even though I clearly see some plot there - LOL), and she's also asked a very good question: Where has all the smut gone?

She has a point. As a sshg_exchange mod, I can testify that when matching prompts, we run out of people willing to write smut before we run out of people who ask for smut. And we run out of people willing to write bdsm loooooong before we run out of people who ask for bdsm.

So if you're interested in reading smut discussing that question, go over to melisande88's LJ.

If you want to see them, I have a list of preferences here, but the bottom line is that I'll enjoy anything created for me. The fact that someone took time out of their busy life to create something for me is just humbling beyond belief, so don't feel stressed in any way.

I tend to view the entire sshg_exchange as one big gift to everybody in the fandom, so if the prompts I submitted don't call to you, write something else. I won't mind. ;)

RIP, Donna Summer.

I hope you're enjoying your holiday, and I hope you have a wonderful birthday. ~smooches~

shiv5468 keeps pointing out that I don't post enough, but mainly that's because I lead a horribly uneventful life. However, I should try to make an effort, so I'll inflict the recent happenings on you (but only if you click the cut). Otherwise, you can skip my boring life. ;)

( New Cat and Sundry Other ThingsCollapse )

I don't normally embed YouTube videos, but damn, this is just freaking adorable:

( Linus Sings The PoliceCollapse )

Thanks to melisande88 for bringing it to my attention. I've grinned every time I've watched it.

If you want to read the most brilliant fic ever, go and read Working on the Chain Gang. My not-so-mystery author has written the perfect story for me. Lots of hilarious banter, scheming Slytherins, awkward Snape, (sort of) noble Gryffindors, smart lawyers, and Smudger. Oh, what are you waiting for? I promise that you won't regret it!

~blinks~ Are you still here? Go. Read. Enjoy! You'll laugh until you have tears in your eyes, and you'll sigh happily over the romance. Who could ask for more?

Whoo hoo! After months of people working feverishly behind the scenes and of artists, authors, crafters and vidders working their fingers to the bone, the sshg_exchange is open for business and the first gifts have been posted!

Erm, I thought you should know, just in case you missed it. ~grin~

Geez, I almost missed it! Happy birthday, sweetie! ~tosses confetti~ I hope you've had a wonderful birthday. ~smooches~

An update to my post yesterday: For anyone who would rather purchase Grace Draven's Master of Crows from Amazon instead of Smashwords (and really, I can understand not wanting to give credit card info to yet another place), it's up on Amazon now and ready for download to your Kindle, and all with that gorgeous new cover. ;)

I have two shinies to bring to your attention (if you haven't already seen them), and both of them are wonderful things, indeed.

The first is a signal boost for fangirl-turned-author, whitemunin (aka grace_draven), who has re-released her novel, "Master of Crows", with a new and improved cover featuring art by our very own Louisa Gallie.

( Pretty, pretty, pretty...Collapse )

The second is a belated birthday present I received from melisande88. ~does happy dance~ She's written the lovely HG/SS story "Shepherd's Pie for Two", the tale of one of the worst - but possibly also the best - days of Hermione's Life. They say when one door closes, another opens, and in Hermione's case, the other door is dark and cranky and eating lunch in the Leaky Cauldron. ;) Go and read, and don't forget to leave a review!

knight0fswords and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides yesterday. We didn't pay the extra money to see the 3D version, but since 3D tends to give me a headache, saving that money was a win-win. Yea!

Overall, I liked it. It's Johnny Depp playing Jack Sparrow, so really what's not to like?

( specific spoilers ahoyCollapse )

However, as I said, I really did like it, and the Spanish contingent provided lovely eye candy, as did Barbossa's privateer officers. ;)

ETA: There's spoilers in the comments, too. ;)

Honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you skipped this entry entirely. :(

( RIP Lexie LuCollapse )

( House repairsCollapse )

( But I shouldn't complainCollapse )