Hi TSD Readers! I wanted to give you a quick update on what’s in store for you in the coming months. As you know The Pooka is coming out later this year and I’m hoping my second Persimmon book will have a publication date near Christmas time though that may not happen until the new year. I’ll be taking part in NaNoWriMo 2011 and during those 30 days I plan to complete my foray into Young Adult territory and that project will have a publication date of late spring next year. Coincidentally I will be needing beta readers for my YA project in March 2012 and I will be updating you on that topic in the coming months.

However, the point of this post is to fill you in on my current project which is a short story for the 2011 Scriborium Anthology tentatively titled A Very Scary Christmas which is coming out this Christmas of course. My short story will be included with about 9 other stories from the other Scriborium members and I am so excited about it that I have to share the news with you. The theme of the collection of short stories is a Christmas story with a paranormal or horror twist. The name of my story is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”.

Here’s the synopsis:

Elspeth Stone hasn’t been home since she left for college after high school at the age of seventeen. Her decision to leave wasn’t supported by her family and she went without their blessing.  The only person she kept in contact with after the falling out with her family is her younger sister Erin. Now, 13 years later, Erin is pleading with Elspeth to come home for Christmas. Despite her resistance to the idea, Elspeth relents only because she hasn’t met her 5 year old niece yet and if she doesn’t come home this Christmas she may never get the chance since the child is ill and may be dying. The thought of going back to her childhood home fills Elspeth with the old fear and dread. Memories of the terror she experienced there, the horrors that went bump in the night and the evil thing that lurked in the shadows waiting for her surfaced from the dark recesses of her mind. As her sense of foreboding mounts, she doesn’t  know if she’s going home to reconnect with her estranged family or to confront the demons of her past.

And that’s how it goes. I might even be persuaded to give you a sneak peek and share a short excerpt here in the weeks to come. It’s going to be an exciting couple months, that’s for sure, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

ΩPhoto Credit 1, Photo Credit 2

It’s the end of a magical era.

All good things come to end. Sad but true. After a decade of Hogwarts, wands and our favorite wizards and witches, the uber popular Harry Potter series of films is coming to an end. Maybe you’ll cry and maybe you won’t, but Harry Potter has changed the way we look at films and books and writing forever. The impact this story has had on the world will reverberate through time and will be hailed as a classic when our children’s children are taking English lit in school. And just like millions of you, this writer will miss having some Harry Potter-ish to look forward to.

J.K. Rowling says it best,

“No story lives unless someone wants to listen. So thank you, all of you.”

At no time in literary or cinematic history has this statement been more true than with the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is truly the boy who lived, and he will live with us for a very, very, long, long time, because the stories we love best really do stay with us forever. What will you take with you from this epic story?

Enjoy this clip of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere in London.

ΩPhoto Credit

Every actor dreams of being successful. For actors, the success they seek usually culminates in that one big role that changes an actor’s life forever. It’s the role that really puts them on the map. The role that takes them from the ‘No List’ to the A-List, the Moby Dick of acting better known as ‘The Role That Changed My Life’. It’s the role that makes an actor famous, the one role that they will forever by associated with as they go down in Hollywood history.

Such a role is not always a boon. Sometimes it can be a curse. Sometimes an actor will do their utmost to get away from the role that made them famous in the first place in order to avoid the all dreaded pigeonhole stereotyping known as typecasting. The remedy for such an affliction is usually to take on roles that are sometimes controversial or so far removed from that game changing role just so an actor can prove the scope and depth of their acting capabilities.

So it seems that in acting as it is in life one can do something that will be remembered for forever. Hopefully it’s something good. Here’s a look at some actors who can’t escape the role that made them famous.

Robert Pattinson

Good old Edward himself. You may remember him as Cedric Diggory in that little “Harry Potter” film you might have heard about, but it’s his role as Edward Cullen that really made him shine and sparkle (cough, cough) and put this actor’s star on the map. Girls all over the world drool and swoon over him and he’s been the resident heartthrob of recent years. His role as the broodingly sexy vampire is hard to forget and Robert Pattinson’s name is synonymous now forever with “Twilight” and vampire. Will he ever escape the mold and be taken as a ‘serious’ actor? His latest role in “Water for Elephants” alongside Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon may command respect but it might be a long while before we forget he has supernatural powers.

Daniel Radcliffe

Who doesn’t know and recognize the boy wizard “Harry Potter”? Millions, or should I say billions of kids have grown up with both Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe. Indeed the “Harry Potter” films have been dubbed this generation’s “Star Wars”, and Daniel Radcliffe was launched from obscurity to the heights of stardom with this penultimate role created by iconic author J.K. Rowling. Still young, Radcliffe has his whole life ahead of him to make movies, but will there ever be another role as memorable as Harry Potter? When he surprisingly took on the lead role in the Broadway play “Equus” his shocking full frontal nude stage performance had eyes rolling with astonishment. There was much to do over this role that was like a jolt from the blue to many Potter fans (and parents), but people seemed to want to ignore it and turn the other way even though it was a critically acclaimed role that clearly stated, “I am more than a boy wizard.”. When Radcliffe once again donned the round specs of the most famous boy in the world, there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief worldwide. We hadn’t lost Radcliffe just yet to the desire to be free from the role that was like a global anthem for kids everywhere.

Elijah Wood

He made hobbit feet look good. His was the face that was hunted all over Middle Earth. Elijah Wood made that famous Frodo ‘look’, you know, the thing he does with his eyes, iconic. It was a look that was so memorable that it’s been parodied and mimicked the world over. It seemed during the whole LOTR craze fest and the succeeding years, people forgot there was an actor behind the legendary hobbit character of Frodo Baggins. Elijah Wood has great range, and he was successful as an actor before the LOTR movies and he has been successful after. He’s chosen roles in movies like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Green Street”, and even gave voice to the penguin Mumble in “Happy Feet” in order to deflect typecasting. Yet he just can’t seem to get away from the role that changed his life forever. In fact, Wood will once again don the furry hobbit feet in Peter Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ movies. He’s happy to do it, but no matter what else he does, Elijah Wood will forever be known as Frodo Baggins.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

She may be best known for her star turning role as Buffy in Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, but Sarah Michelle Gellar is an Emmy Award winning actress who has since moved on. Since the popular Buffy era, Gellar has become a mother and undertaken roles and characters that haven’t always been as high profile and high ‘stakes’ as the one that brought her stardom. Known as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses, the only other role that stands out firmly in the minds of the masses is her role in the chillingly good movie “The Grudge”. However, it is my bet that most people remember her best as Buffy Summers.

Jennifer Aniston

For a decade we welcomed this Friend into our homes. We copied her hairstyle, we rooted for Rachel and Ross for 10 years, and we cried when Rachel said a final farewell to us in May of 2004. Jennifer Aniston is as famous for her role in Friends as she is for being 1/3 of the most famous relationship break up/hook up in recent Hollywood history. (Recent vox populi may suggest she’s even better known as being Angelina Jolie’s “husband’s” ex-wife!) In a bid to escape the post Friends apocalypse that loomed, Aniston tackled a pared down role in the memorable indie film “The Good Girl” alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. It was a move that won her numerous accolades, yet the brilliance of her Independent Spirit Award nominated performance has diminished over time and her run as the Friends character Rachel is usually how she’s referenced in media. For the most part, however, she’s managed to escape the glaring bright spotlight of her Rachel alter ego and has managed to morph into an actress well known for her roles in romantic and quirky comedies. However she also still makes a lot of headlines for her romantic peccadilloes and woes.

Alexander Skarsgard

One star that might be resistant to typecasting even though he is well known for his popular role as Eric Northman in the mega hit “TrueBlood” on HBO is Alexander Skarsgard. Offspring of highly respected veteran actor Stellan Skarsgard, this Swede is proving that he’s more than fanged eye candy. With upcoming roles in “Battleship”, “Straw Dogs” and “Melancholia” he’s one actor that is successfully swimming against the current of being known only for the role that made him famous.

Sometimes in life you have to take the sweet with the sour, and a star turning role can also sometimes be a burden that can cast a tall shadow over everything else you ever do. Hopefully whatever role makes an actor famous is at least a good one.

*Syndicated content via TheMoviePool Written by  Kyra Dawson

Levels of Deception by Susan Schreyer

Levels of Deception written by Susan Schreyer is book 2 in the Thea Campbell Mystery Series. Once again we get to hang out with some of our favorite characters — Thea Campbell, our favorite accountant super sleuth; Paul Hudson, the resident hunky paleontologist and Thea’s love interest; Juliet, Thea’s prevaricating and spunky younger sister; Aunt Vi, the practical cooking aunt who believes Thea’s horse is psychic, and of course, Blackie, the intuitive Hanoverian gelding.

The story opens with Thea enjoying the blush of a new-ish romance. The object of her affections, Dr. Paul Hudson, is away in Montana on a field procedures class dig site. Thea is still in Washington in Snohomish when she gets an email from him asking for her help. Fossils have been stolen from his dig site and the site has been pretty much destroyed. In order to reformat the start of his class, he needs some pictures of fossils taken and emailed to him pronto. Things should be a piece of cake, but Thea hits a bit of a snag when some of the fossils on her list are mysteriously missing. Determined though she is to complete her task, the fossils are no where to be found, and when she goes back to Seattle and the Burke Museum for another foray, she arrives to discover that a dead body has been found in the archives building — the very place she needed to go. To make matters worse, Paul is under suspicion for the murder.

Yet try as Thea might not to get involved, she gets drawn into the mystery, and it becomes clear to her that if she doesn’t do something, things are going to go very badly for Paul. She devises a plan to help the man she loves, feeling that it is something she just simply must do. Only there is a problem with her plan, and that problem is Paul. He is determined to make sure she doesn’t put herself in danger again by playing detective, much to Thea’s dismay. And other than the dangers to her life, he proves to be the biggest obstacle in her bid to save him.

When circumstances make it necessary for her to leave Washington to join Paul in Montana at the dig site, things aren’t at all peachy. And just when you think Thea should be safe, we realize that danger has dogged her heels.

Amidst the flurry of visiting parents and a marriage to be planned, a mystery is a foot, and you just know that Thea will be unable to resist getting to the bottom of things.  Despite the peril and jeopardy she faces, and the fact that her relationship could be destroyed as well, Thea will still do what she must to protect the man she loves.

This romantic whodunnit is filled with humor, witty dialogue, a dash of the paranormal, surprises, lessons in paleontology and riding, and of course a bit of horse talk and practicality that Susan Schreyer fans have come to love. There’s some shocking drama, family secrets and arguments that will make your head reel as much from astonishment as from hilarity. I laughed out loud more than a few times and found myself in a jaw dropping state a time or two and exclaiming OMG! Yet there are also moments of tenderness and familial loyalty that will make your eyes smart with emotion. The problems that Thea and Paul face will have you wondering if their relationship is strong enough to remain intact. It will also have you wondering about the age old question about trust and relationships.

Levels of Deception is a worthy follow up to Schreyer’s first novel and will leave you feeling eager to discover what is next on the horizon for super sleuth Thea Campbell.

Levels of Deception is available for download at Smashbooks.

Visit Susan Schreyer Mysteries at http://susanschreyer.com, Things I Learned From My Horse – blog http://thingsilearnedfrommyhorse.blogspot.com, and Writing Horses – blog http://writinghorses.blogspot.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @SusanSchreyer.

Play Fling by Amber Scott

Let’s help make Amber Scott’s Play Fling a Bestseller For A day!

“Playing cupid isn’t a reward; it’s Millie’s punishment. If she doesn’t find repressed, divorcee, Brooke, true love in the next thirty days, Millie’ll lose the one thing in this life sentence worth fighting for, her partner. Just two problems: First, Millie sucks at matchmaking. Second, too young, too hot, Elliott keeps getting in Millie’s way.”

~ via Smashwords

I was lucky enough to get a chance to review her novel Play Fling, and let me tell you what a romp of a read! I had a great time enjoying the pages of this book. I laughed (boy did I ever!), I was shocked (lots of gasping and saying, “Oh my!” and, “No way!”), and when I was done, I knew I definitely wanted to read more books about Millie Match and her matchmaking! As soon as I picked up this book and read the first paragraph, I was excited to read this book. Not only did I feel a certain camaraderie with the cupid Millie’s target Brooke Munkle, I was amused by both Brooke and Millie, and I was genuinely rooting for them both. Brooke was likable in such a way that not only did I really like her, but I could see her as a friend I would want to make a match for too! And Millie, Brooke’s cupid, was such a breath of fresh air. She’s funny, irksome and entertaining as a fledgling cupid. Her bumbling attempts at match making were comical and well intended, even if they were a little motivated by self interest. Brooke’s love interest, the gorgeous Elliott, was a guy any girl could, pardon the expression, go ga-ga for. Elliott and Brooke were definitely two people I wanted to see get together! Their love story, as unlikely as it is, will leave you with a genuine smile on your face. This book is hot and fun and a real guilty pleasure! It’s bittersweet, romantic, and hopeful. It’s a book that will have you turning the pages rapidly, eager to find out what’s going to happen next. Play Fling deserves to go on your bookshelf, be it 3D or virtual, and is a Millicent Match Novel worth reading!

Play Fling is available for your Kindle on Amazon now!