Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 2, 2020  
Love, love, love this great excerpt from the science fiction novel GATES OF MARS by Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays. Come read it on my blog (https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-gates-of.html) and enter the #GIVEAWAY to #win a first edition copy of A Very Unusual Romance or all four books in the Cowboy and the Vampire Collection by McFall and Hays. (Seriously, they are super talented writers, so whomever wins will be in for a treat!)

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE, HOW CAN A PERSON GO MISSING?

The year is 2187. Crucial Larsen, a veteran of the brutal Consolidation Wars, is working as a labor cop on Earth. The planet is a toxic dump and billions of people are miserable, but so what? It’s none of his business. He’s finally living a good life, or good enough. But then Essential, his beloved kid sister, disappears on Mars. When Halo—the all-powerful artificial-intelligence overseeing Earth and Mars on behalf of the ruling Five Families—can’t (or won’t) locate his sister, Crucial races up-universe to find her.

In the Choke, the frigid, airless expanse outside the luxury domes, Crucial uncovers a deadly secret from Essential’s past that threatens to shatter his apathetic existence … and both planets. Blending science fiction with the classic, hard-boiled detective story, Gates of Mars is a page-turning, futuristic thrill-ride featuring a gritty, irreverent anti-hero, Crucial Larsen. The first book of the Halo Trilogy, Gates of Mars is the eighth novel by award-winning authors, Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall.
     
There's a Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
There's a Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
1971 | Soul
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I was listening to this album when I went through a nihilistic phase in my life. I only listened to Sally Can't Dance by Lou Reed and this record. It's a very murky and dark record and if you're ever going through a period of your life where you're doing a lot of drugs then this is a good record to get into. It's perfect for a murky time. It's mysterious and I like it because while it's a funk record it's a funk record slowed down to Portishead speed or whatever. It just feels like you're in a slow motion dark funk thing. Yet inside of this drum machine-filled landscape are these lyrics that are very evocative and mysterious and they really deal with the delicate frailty of human emotion. There's a song called 'Spaced Cowboy' on it where he yodels, it's such an idiosyncratic album but I cannot recommend it enough, from start to finish it's beautiful. Apparently 'Family Affair' from this record was the first song to be played on US radio that had a drum machine on it. The whole record is filled with this drum machine called the Maestro Rhythm King. I was so obsessed with this record that I even found the same drum machine on eBay and bought it back when eBay was a new thing. Then my first wife took it in the divorce! She took it because she was so obsessed with it too. It's such a cool drum machine. I really miss it. I would like to have it back if it's possible."

Source
  
Near Dark (1987)
Near Dark (1987)
1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western
Bill Paxton (1 more)
Lance Henrikson
Finger-Lickin' Good!
Near Dark- is a great neo-western horror film about vampires. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it was also her debut film.

The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.

Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.

The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).

Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.

Its a classic and a cult film.
  
The Cowboy and the Rascal (Farthingdale Valley #1)
The Cowboy and the Rascal (Farthingdale Valley #1)
Jackie North | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
THE COWBOY AND THE RASCAL is the first book in the Farthingdale Valley series, a spin-off from Farthingdale Ranch. Leland, Maddy, Quint, Jasper, and Ellis all make an appearance, which I loved, but the main story is about Gabe and Blaze. Gabe is Team Lead on Leland's new project and Blaze is a parolee.

Gabe is slow to anger and prepared to accept anyone - if they are prepared to work. Kurt, Wayne, Tom, and Blaze make up his first crew and they're a mixed bag to be sure. I'm not going to say what happens with the others apart from I really hope Wayne has his story told. He intrigued me!

Back to Gabe and Blaze - their relationship is a slow-build but consistent. Gabe has his doubts because of the 'rules and regulations' of who he is and what they're doing, but no doubts about Blaze himself. Nope, it's Blaze who can't see that Gabe wants him for him, that he will ever be good enough for Gabe. Jasper is Gabe's friend and, having been through a similar situation, helps Gabe find the right answers.

I loved being back in Farthingdale, whether it's Ranch or Valley, I really don't care. Gabe and Blaze get a HFN ending so I'm really hoping to see more of them as the series progresses. A brilliant start and one I definitely recommend.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
40x40

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Nov 17, 2021  
Stop by my blog to read part of the prologue from the contemporary Western fiction novel THE BIG EMPTY by Loren Steffy. If you like what you read, enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book as well as a logo hat - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-big-empty.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
When Trace Malloy and Blaine Witherspoon collide on a desolate West Texas highway, their fender bender sets the tone for escalating clashes that will determine the future of the town of Conquistador.

Malloy, a ranch manager and lifelong cowboy, knows that his occupation—and his community—are dying. He wants new- millennium opportunities for his son, even though he himself failed to summon the courage to leave familiar touchstones behind.

Witherspoon, an ambitious, Lexus-driving techie, offers a solution. He moves to Conquistador to build and run a state-of-the-art semiconductor plant that will bring prestige and high-paying technology jobs to revive the town—and advance his own career.

What neither man anticipates is the power the "Big Empty" will wield over their plans. The flat, endless expanse of dusty plain is as much a character in the conflict as are the locals struggling to subsist in this timeworn backwater and the high-tech transplants hell-bent on conquering it. While Malloy grapples with the flaws of his ancestors and his growing ambivalence toward the chip plant, Witherspoon falls prey to construction snafus, corporate backstabbing, and financial fraud. As they each confront personal fears, they find themselves united in the search for their own version of purpose in a uniquely untamable Texas landscape.
     
Fractured Hearts
Fractured Hearts
S.J.D. Peterson | 2016 | Erotica, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Charlie has her heart broken at a young age and decided that it would never happen again. She threw herself into her studies and becomes a new resident vet. Whilst out one night with her friend, she sees a sexy cowboy who she would like to know more about. He seems to feel the same way and they dance together, feeling the sparks fly. However, when it appears that his friend is the one who broke her heart years previously, Charlie makes a run for it, unwilling to see the disgust in his eyes when he realises who she is.

Now, to be honest, that's the one part that confused me. I could understand her not wanting to see him, to be wary of his reaction, but I just don't know why he would have had disgust in his eyes. Anyway, that's a distraction from the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

The scenes between these three as they learn to have a relationship with each other, and how it changes, are very well-written. There is a lot to read and it is written in a way that draws you in, letting you see events from every perspective. The bedroom scenes are smokin' and will leave you wanting more.

With an intricate love story, action and suspense, this is a brilliant story that I would definitely recommend. Brilliant.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 25, 2016