26 July 2012

Story Recommendation: Guarding Edward by Katmom


Mystery recommendations continue, this one by author earlier this week.  Guarding Edward has won several awards as noted below. Guarding Edward has more than one mystery.  Edward has a mysterious stalker for the first part and meets Bella as a body guard service.  He recognizes Bella even though never met her before this assignment. Then there is a second stalker. The second one they know is coming and preparations are made to deal with that.

The tension builds nicely as look for the first stalker and what may be happening between Edward and Bella.  There is a sweet interlude with just Bella and Edward. That is interrupted by cousins, before returning to Seattle area and finding out someone else is now after him.
  

Awards for Guarding Edward :
Guarding Edward was Runner Up in the Cute category at the Mystic Awards!
Guarding Edward was the Fan Fiction of the Month....August 2009 at Twilghters Anonymous!
http://forum.twilightersanonymous.com/fan-fiction/
Guarding Edward has won Best Supernatural Award
at the Silent Tear Awards!
http://silent-tear-awards.webs.com/
Indie TwiFic Awards, Guarding Edward was nominated for:
Best Alternate Universe WIP and Most Original Story Line WIP
I didn't win, but  I was in the top 10 out of 94 and top ten out of 114 in the final round...that amazes me!


Guarding Edward by Katmom
A stalker is trying to get close to 24 y/o Human Edward Masen, a concert pianist. He hires Elite Guardians to keep him safe and to find out who is hunting him. Bella Cullen is the owner/operator of the company and she's a 110 y/o Vampire. AU/Canon couples Rated T with 50 Chapters



24 July 2012

Author: Katmom

Katmom has 21 fan fiction stories for Twilight and Dragonriders of Pern on her Fanfiction.net profile. They are a mix of T and M rated stories. There is a mix of one chapter and multi chapter stories. Some are canon; some are very much in a different universe. Some are really just for fun -- beware of your sugar tolerance. There is one Pern story and one almost a crossover between Pern and Twilight.

Katmom writes happy ever after (HEA) and low angst stories. I’ve read all but four. Two of the stories I did read I do not like.  Both are well written. In one, the freedom to choose, was taken away from the characters, at least that is how I look at it. The other is just way too dark for my taste, unusual for Katmom.

She has a pet peeve list of spelling and misused words on her profile that needs a wide distribution to every new writer. She has written some stories from visual cues and has links to those on her profile. Six stories have won or placed for awards in the fandom community.

Stories with awards: Couple in the Woods, EAC: The Journal of Edward Cullen, Emeralds to Rubies, Fairies in Forks, The Gift of the Knife, and Guarding Edward

For fun: Fairies in Forks and Who Needs a Fairy Godmother?

Pern related: Dragon Stones and K’din Bronze Meertanth’s Rider

Five of my Favorites: Dragon Stones, EAC: The Journal of Edward CullenEmeralds to Rubies, Guarding Edward, and Letters from Esme


21 July 2012

Story Recommendations: Cullen and Holmes by persephonesfolly


To continue on with Twilight mysteries, there are three stories with Carlisle Cullen and Sherlock Holmes by persephonesfolly. These are not strictly canon as Carlisle came to America well before Holmes' time, but Carlisle is within canon character.  There is a bonus mystery with Carlisle and Edward working alone.  All four stories are rated T and are multiple chapters. The first one is on both R&T and FFn. In December 2011 another of her stories was  recommended, Christmas in Ashland. She has written some other enjoyable stories that you can find on her profile. Today is mystery day. I love mysteries and having my favorite vampires working with Sherlock Holmes is a real treat. Hope you enjoy too.  Comments are appreciated by the author on the individual stories and by me at the bottom.  

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/854398/persephonesfolly http://www.ramblingsandthoughts.com/twilight/viewuser.php?uid=6389


Dr Cullen, I Presume?
When a patient goes missing, what's a vampiric doctor to do?  Consult the celebrated detective Sherlock Holmes, of course. 
Rated PG13 / T with 4 chapters

http://www.ramblingsandthoughts.com/twilight/viewstory.php?sid=1182
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5598412/1/Dr_Cullen_I_presume


A Mystery in Windermere
In all my years among the undead, I've never met anyone quite like Sherlock Holmes. When he called for my assistance in a perplexing case of murder, how could I refuse? 
Rated PG13 / T with 5 chapters
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5846985/1/A_Mystery_In_Windermere

A Chicago Story
Chicago 1912, a city rife with crime and secret societies, and Dr. Carlisle Cullen finds himself caught up in one of them.
Rated PG13 / T with 10 Chapters


http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6255987/1/A_Chicago_Story

Death and the Vampire
School life has its challenges, especially for a vampire like Edward, but throw a serial killer in the mix, and academia turns deadly.
Rated PG13 / T with 14 Chapters


http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7880894/1/Death_And_The_Vampire

It is getting harder to read the HTML code to get spacing, text colour correct and no background white on text. Your patience while I learn this aspect is appreciated. 

17 July 2012

Authors: Dr Isaac Asimov and Sir Arthur C Clarke

More classic science fiction authors this week. For details use your search engine of choice. Wikipedia links are at bottom. I’m not sure when I started reading either one. Both Asimov and Clarke write non-fiction as well as fiction. Their science fiction tends to be more science based. I’ve enjoyed stories from both, but I have never been a consistent reader of either. It has been a long time since I read a story or novel by either one. I have enjoyed their short stories more than their novels.

I’ve only read the first two books of the Clarke’s 2001 series. Enjoyed the first book and the movie based on it. I don’t really remember anything about the second book. Same happened with the Rama series. There are a couple of short story collections out that I’ve read and enjoyed. He has written a number of other novels that I haven’t yet read. A major novel that I did read was Childhood’s End. I read that novel while on a remote duty station assignment. That was the wrong place to read that novel. I needed people, lots of people, to be around at the end of that book and there weren’t a lot of people available. Few of the people around read a lot of science fiction. The end was very unsettling to me and no one around to talk with about it added to being unsettled about the story.

The one stand out short story, for me, from Clarke, is The Star. This one has a nice twist at the end.  The Sentinel is the short story that 2001: a Space Odyssey is based on. Against the Fall of Night and the expanded revision The City and the Stars were both enjoyable to read and also had interesting twist on things.

I know I read the Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy Series, original ones only. The middle one was not all that good as I recall. Interesting concept ‘psych history’ that was proposed in the books. Also read a few of the robot books/stories. I read more of his short stories in science fiction and mysteries.  He wrote a lot of popular science books. He had a way of explaining things so non-science people could understand the concepts. He also wrote a series about the Bible and some annotated works on classic novels.

He liked puns and twists at the end of his short stories and would usually have the end be a sentence or two on the last page. The one stand out short story, for  me, is Nightfall.  It won a few awards with good reason. It has a bit of a twist at the end. No details, no spoilers, go find it and read it. It is well worth the effort.

While stationed at McGuire AFB in NJ, I attended a lecture by Dr Asimov for Library Week. The title of the talk was “Escape to Reality”.  He repudiated the idea that reading science fiction was to escape. As I recall, the talk was both entertaining and enlightening. Unfortunately, I was too intimidated to take any books with me to get signed or a camera. I did hang around and listen in while he chatted with other attendees after the lecture and signed books. He was very nice to all those that wanted books signed.





12 July 2012

Story Recommendation: Morning

Morning by Carson Dyle is an interesting story. The time frame for the main story is after Breaking Dawn. It is canon. Bella meets a stranger and the next time she sees Edward she screams in terror. What happened, who is this stranger, how did it happen??? The middle section is a look back at Edward's rebellious years. We get those years in well researched details. It is overly long, in my opinion. There are three pay offs for that look back. Only one is really worth the length and time invested, in my opinion, and deals with the mystery.  The mystery did keep me turning pages for an overnight reading session. Overall it was a good read.

Morning by Carson Dyle
What might life be like for the Cullens after the events of Breaking Dawn? So many possibilities. This is one.

04 July 2012

4 July Memories

I have an author post and a story recommendation post nearly ready. Instead of working on either of those I want to write and share my 4 July memories. This is not being preread, all mistakes are mine. Please let me know and I will update with corrections. 


My father was stationed at Scott AFB, Illinois when I was in kindergarten through second grade. We lived in a small town close by. There was a park with a log cabin community center between where we lived and the school. That was where the town celebrated the summer holidays. We had a parade for 4 July - decorated cars, little red wagons, baby prams, bicycles, what ever else came to mind. There was a military unit from the base and boy scouts. Seems about half the population was in the parade while the rest watched.
 
I got roped into being in the parade one year. A neighbor girl and I decorated a pram. We tried to dress up a pet - I can't remember if it was a dog or a cat - and have it in the pram. The pet was not going along with it at all. So being younger and smaller of the two of us, I was the "lucky one" to get costumed as a baby all in red/white/blue outfit. I was not thrilled at this at all either, just couldn't move as fast and slippery as the pets could to get away. At least I was pushed along the parade route rather than walking and pushing the pram. We had a change of clothes for me at the end of parade, so I wasn't embarrassed walking around as a baby. 


As a family we would have a BBQ and make ice cream - usually blueberry or strawberry flavoured. I'd help hand crank it even as a child, just not for very long. I'd sneak some rock salt and suck on it. We did this every year until I went away to college. 


I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB for 4 July 1976. The closest city was small city / large town size. Very community minded with celebrations. There were fireworks planned for the HS stadium. There is a big problem with Northern California coastal areas - fog. It does help keep us cooler in summer, but can make lousy viewing of fireworks. And that 4 July we were very well covered with fog. It was still fun, just hanging out with friends from Church, eating too much, watch what we could of fireworks. 


While growing up I don't remember doing much in way of family fireworks, just the sparklers. Those were fun and colourful. We'd hold on to them and wave them all around - being very careful to keep good distance between us.


Currently at Church we have a flag raising and pancake breakfast for 4 July. Nice company, but the pancakes are always cold by time get to eat. The bacon and sausage are warm. It is the brethren that do the cooking for this. Kind of fun watching them in the kitchen and grill. We have had competitions of table decorations. The children sometimes have a parade of decorated bikes, wagons. It is a neat way to start the day.


There is a regional science fiction convention - WesterCon - around 4 July holiday. I've gone a few times - Phoenix, Mesa, Las Vegas and the local ones. Fun watching the local fireworks with bunches of people. I would see relatives when went to Phoenix and Mesa. 

Those are my personal memories of 4 July celebrations. I invite you to share some memories in the comments. I hope everyone has had a safe, fun and enjoyable 4 July 2012. Take care. aw