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Something Wicked is a paranormal romance with a vampire theme.  It’s interesting how authors each take a different slant on vampires.  One of the most unique vampire series is Christine Feehan’s Dark series that I have written about before on this site.  In Something Wicked, Nash, the hero, sees being a vampire as a curse, and he’s looking for a way to cure himself.  Regan is a journalist looking for a story, but finds herself a target of vampire revenge.

The plot takes some interesting twists, but for me, it is the author’s writing style and character development that makes the story so appealing. I was only a little disappointed in the ending.  It seemed to be wrapped up very quickly and at least one aspect of the story could have been tied into the ending a little better, but overall the story was fast-paced and interesting.

I’ll definitely be checking out Catherine Mulvaney’s next book.

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I just finished reading The Loved Dog by Tamar Geller.  She is Oprah’s dog trainer, and her approach to dog training is positive and playful.  I agreed with her philosophy, and have seen it work in my own dog.  Marlie’s obedience classes are based on positive approaches to dog training.  I’m also trying to use a clicker with Marlie, but I’m not certain I’m going to stay with that yet.

My husband is a fan of the Dog Whisperer show on the National Geographic channel.  Cesar Milan is the Dog Whisperer, and he mostly handles what he calls “red zone” cases.  These are dogs who are usually very aggressive and dangerous.  He uses methods and dog psychology based on “the power of the pack” and achieving a “calm, submissive” state for the dogs.  Tamar Geller’s philosophy is different from Cesar Milan’s in some areas, and my husband seems to want to go with Cesar’s philosophy.  I don’t agree, because my dog is not a “red zone” case.  So far she has responded very well to positive dog training methods.

We have agreed that we need to be consistent with her training.  So since my daughter and I are the primary trainers for Marlie, we have decided to go with positive dog training methods, and my husband is supporting us.

I recommend both The Loved Dog by Tamar Geller and Cesar Milan on The Dog Whisperer show.  Take the best from each method, but only you can decide which method is appropriate for your dog.

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If you’ve been following the Dark Series, you already know about the Carpathians.  Basically, Christine Feehan has created another species with the same traits as vampires, but they are not evil.  There are vampires, but these are Carpathians who have basically chosen the dark side.   I’ve lost track of how many books there are in the Dark Series, but the story and concept behind the Carpathians is extremely complex now.

In this book, Manolito and MaryAnn are lifemates.  However, Manolito after having been injured saving a Carpathian woman in a previous book, is now living in and out of the spirit world and physical world.  To complicate matters more, MaryAnn is discovering the psychic side of herself she never knew existed.

This book did not knock Dark Prince off the number one position in my Christine Feehan favorites, but it definitely was great read.  It held true to the Carpathian world that the author has created.  No matter how many books she writes showing a Carpathian male finding his one true lifemate, she still makes the romance and chemistry unique.  I love how she brings together an alpha male character and a strong independent heroine.

I also follow 2 other Christine Feehan series, the Ghostwalkers and the Drake Sisters series.  I’m very anxious for the next Drake Sisters book.  It should be Joley’s story, and I’ve found her to be an interesting character from the beginning of this paranormal series.   The Ghostwalker series is more romantic suspense, and with each book, it continues to build intrigue and mystery.

If you love paranormal romance, Christine Feehan books are not to be missed.

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I have a very unusual last name, and anyone with this last name is related to my husband.  The name was misspelled as his great-grandfather immigrated and came through Ellis Island.  Doing a Google search of our last name shows nothing but relatives, and the last time I had to ask a store to look up my rewards card number, the cashier used my last name.  She listed 5 other relatives in another state, uncles, cousins and in-laws.  If I want to maintain any privacy at all  online, I have to use a pen name.

There are benefits to using your real name online.  Certainly you want to use your real name if you want to built your reputation in a community or industry.  Many bloggers have built brand recognition around their name.  A good example would be John Chow of johnchow.com.  His blog is extremely popular in the making money online industry.  Problogger, however, is even more popular, but unless you are a regular reader you may not even know that Darren Rowse is the owner.

Obviously privacy is the key issue in the choice to use a pen name online.  However, with that is the freedom to express yourself online without bringing controversy into your life.  For example, if I wanted to create a blog ranting about the frustrations of my job and its industry, I would want to be extremely cautious of using my real name.  Needless to say if I did , I would not want to name specific companies in my rants.

Another reason is differentiating yourself for specific niches.   If I have a blog on romance writing and another on mathematics, the two don’t seem to go together.  I might create a pen name for one or both of those sites.  Some bloggers will use variations of their names for different blogs.  For example, you might use Christopher Smith for one blog and Chris Smith for another.

By now you probably have figured out that Faith Perry is not my real name.  It’s a pen name based on a variation of my name and a family name.  As much as I might share from my life online, I still prefer to keep it private.

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I have wanted a German Shepherd since I was a little girl. Last month, I finally got one.

I have a nearly 12-year-old daughter who loves animals. While other children watch Cartoon Network, she is watching Animal Planet. She has wanted a dog since she was at least 4. We moved to a new house 3 years ago, and the first thing she noticed was the large fenced yard. Since then, she has been asking for a dog. She reads books about the best breeds and how to train dogs. I did some serious thinking about this, because we all know that Mom is going to be the one taking care of the dog. That brings me to why I chose a German Shepherd Dog.

I have read all the negatives about a German Shepherd, and went through each one.

1. They are large dogs. This one is easy for me. I prefer large dogs. I always have. Small dogs just aren’t my thing. It’s a personal preference. I think everyone has a tendency towards certain classes of dogs. Mine is the herding group.

2. They shed a lot. Well, so do my 2 cats. I have 2 long hair cats, and I already vacuum nearly daily.

3. They are protective. This is probably the only one I struggled with. First, I do not have small children. My daughter will be 12 this summer, and my son is 16. Also, my daughter is very anxious to train the dog and so am I. I see it a bit as a mother daughter activity. We already have the puppy in a Puppy Socialization class, and we take her with us everywhere we can to expose her to all types of situations.

4. They are very smart dogs. Thank God. I need a dog who can be trained. This puppy is amazingly smart. She is now 14 weeks old, and she understands Sit, Down, Drop It, Stay and Leave It.

5. They need lots of exercise. This is a commitment issue. My daughter and I have both committed to regular walks and training.

There are other issues, but the final decision had to do with my own choice for a German Shepherd. I have always wanted one. They are one of the most beautiful breeds in my opinion, and because I felt that if I was going to commit the next 15 years to a dog and do the whole puppy training thing, I wanted my first choice of a breed. For me, that is the German Shepherd Dog.

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So, how do personal blogs find focus and an audience? I’m still not quite sure. I’m going to go with just posting things from my life and watch for a trend. Anyone else have any ideas?

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I subscribe to a PLR (private label rights) membership site for most of my content. I also write my own original content and rewrite PLR articles. I’ve been at this for a few months now, but really my first sites went up in July. So far, I’m seeing a little traffic and some adsense earnings.

I hope to make some supplemental income from these sites. I’m still not sure what the potential is. This blog is a personal journal, and as of now it doesn’t have any monetization on it at all.

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There has been a lot of talk about the Baby Boomers beginning to turn 60 this year. No, I’m not turning 60, but imagine my surprise when for the first time in my life I realized I’m a Baby Boomer. When did 1963 get thrown into the Baby Boomer mix? Talk about making me feel old! I guess I never really looked at the date range for boomers until recently. When I was younger, I didn’t care much. Now it seems like old age keeps creeping closer and closer. So putting me in with those turning 60 just isn’t fair.

Here’s how old I feel… that pop song called “1985? yikes, I’m even a bit older than that! I graduated in 1981. Celebrating a 25th high school reunion this year. How scary is that? Oh, and let’s throw into the mix that my high school was the setting for the original book “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” later made into a movie. It was a Southern California high school, and I was a grade younger than the graduating class in that movie. I loved how the teachers’ characters were all exaggerated but still so true! (If anyone from that class just happens to read this…leave a comment, would you?)

So, I’m feeling old. The one positive is that I could be older. That’s what my 11 year old daughter keeps telling me. Happy Birthday to me!

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This is my personal blog, just my thoughts on all kinds of random things. Someone wrote recently on a blog that one thing they wish they had done differently when they started their blog was to remember that someone would read it. I think it is really easy to forget that with a personal blog. It’s a diary, and it’s actually quite hard for me to even believe someone would read this. I mean, how exciting is a suburban mom’s life?

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