He Can Keep My Bed Warm Any Night

Wow, apparently I completely fail at blogging. And this is doubly fail for the fact that I haven't actually had a lot going on. Plus I even had ideas of what to write. I just never actually did it. That seems like some kind of metaphor for my life so I'm going to walk quickly in the other direction now.

Anyway, I am going to start trying to institute a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule of posting. It doesn't seem that that should be too hard. And Fridays will most likely consist of the newest book blog video and the Nerdtastica video of the week.

So, anyway, this post is actually about a meme I discovered back on my Livejournal from 2008. Which doesn't seem like a long time ago, but I was still in high school at that point. And the meme was The Top Ten Guys You Wouldn't Kick Out Of Bed. Here is what I originally wrote down:

1. Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series
2. Rob Wilkins from Meg Cabot's 1-800-WHERE-R-U series
3. Numair Salmalin from Tamora Pierce's Immortal's series
4. Nawat Crow from Tamora Pierce's Trickster's series
5. Jesse De Silva fro Meg Cabot's Mediator series
6. Eric the Vampire from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series
7. Quinn from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series
8. Rosto the Piper from Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series
9. Jaguar from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' Midnight Predator book
10. George Cooper from Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series

As you may be able to tell, this was before I had hit my stride in the vampire and romance novel worlds. Which means that my list now is way more awesome. You may also notice that all of these people are from books. That should give you a clue about what kind of person I was (and still am for the most part).

I have decided to update this list, in no particular order. And this time, there's a reason.

10. Numair Salmalin from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet

There's actually another picture in this post that I love even more of him, but I also like his expression here. Numair is one of the most powerful mages in the world (he turned a person into a tree, that's how freakin' powerful this guy is) but he never acts that way. When asked what level robe he is, he replies, "None. Do you know how hot those things are?" He's a sweet guy, a loyal guy, and a guy who turns people into trees when they shoot arrows at the girl he loves. Plus, he worried more about Daine's feelings than his own when it came to his love for her, since he's quite a bit older. I've always loved this guy. Lucky Daine.

9. Eric Northman from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series

Ah Eric. He's sexy, he has a sense of humor, and he's fiercely loyal to those he chooses. Yes, he can be stubborn and he's definitely a vampire which he never tries to hide or change. He's fine with who he is, but he also doesn't always have the same scruples about killing others that we do. But still, he's my choice for who Sookie should end up with. And that part with his maker, Godric, in season 2? That made me cry.

8. Rob Wilkins from Meg Cabot's 1-800-Where-R-You series

(I can't find any fan art of him :( Sad day)

Okay, why should you love Rob? Well for one, he's an honorable guy. He clearly is in love with Jess, but he backs off because she's underage (okay, partly that's because he's on probation, but I think it's also for her). And even though he can't date her, he still spends time helping her with her harebrained ideas because he doesn't want her to get hurt (or die). And of course, he rides a motorcycle and has the whole sexy bad boy thing going for him. That never hurts ;)

7. Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender (the show not the movie)

Yes, Zuko has some definite issues (especially with anger) and you kind of roll your eyes at him in the beginning of the series. But by the end, I fell in love with him. So much so that when I look for fan art I don't even car who he's with; I just want some Zuko. Because he's kind of given a crap hand in life and even though it takes him forever, he eventually realizes the right and wrong side of the war. Plus I just want to hug him when crap starts happening to him. Oh and fire is awesome.

6. Prince Charmont from Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted.

I couldn't find one I liked of him alone, but this scene is actually one of my favorites in the book. Ella has sent him a heartbreaking letter and has run from him like a madwoman and he's still completely in love with her (so much he's said he'll never marry because she said she'd been married off in her letter). And yet he tells her, "You need not be Ella if you don't want to be." He's sweet and kind and funny and doesn't act like a pompous prat because he's a prince (*coughcoughJonathanofConteinWWRLAMcoughcough*). In fact he goes out of his way to help his people. And I fell in love with him the first time I read the book (Psst, read the book, don't just see the movie. Char is so much better in the book).

5. Leo from Tamara Summers' Save the Date

(He's from a stand alone YA romance novel. I didn't really expect there to be fan art of him)

Leo is the son of a wedding planner and he's still a romantic. He's funny and sweet and is willing to stick it out through the heroine's paranoia and stupidity. He goes along with her, just hoping he can win her over and see that her idea of a curse is bogus. I think he's the reason I keep reading that book over and over.

4. Flynn Rider from Disney's Tangled

You gotta love the smolder. Okay, I know that as a matter of principle, we should resist the bad boys because they'll leave us with nothing but heartache. But I think Flynn is still my favorite Disney hero. He's daring, he's sensitive (eventually), and he's not so bullheadedly stubborn that he refuses to love Rapunzel. Plus **************SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER**************

he's willing to give up his own life so she doesn't have to live with her emotionally abusive "mother" Gothel. If that isn't real love, I don't know what is (sidebar here: You do not actually need to die to show you love someone. This is more of a he put her before his own desires. You can obviously do this in a number of less severe ways).

3. Nathan Fillion (as Castle, as Captain Mal, as himself, as WHOEVER)

He really is ruggedly handsome. Okay, Nathan Fillion rocks at whatever character he's playing. You're not even really supposed to like the guy in Waitress (hello, he's encouraging her to have an affair and he's cheating on his wife) and I still liked him. As a person, he's genuinely funny and obviously is okay with laughing at himself. Plus, he can sing (if you have no idea what I'm talking about go watch Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog).

2. Zsadist from JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series

Of course I had to have on of my brothers here. It's a very, very close race, but I think Zsadist is my favorite of the brothers. He's also one of the most messed up (the brother tied with him for most screwed up being Vishous, who is almost tied with him for first in my heart). So yes, he had some anger issues and brooding and can slice you up six ways to Sunday (<---this is an odd phrase) before you can blink if you're a lesser. But he also works through it and gets his crap together, not just for Bella but for himself. And he doesn't expect Bella to take him back when he gets it together; he just wants to be able to see her every now and then. Which is why he gets two pictures. The badassery above, and this sweet one *SPOILER FOR THE END OF LOVER AWAKENED*

Awwwwww.

1. Bones (Crispin Russell III) from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series

Yes, this is a photo of James Marsters, AKA Spike. However, Bones is a badass British vampire with snark. I think Spike fits him well. What can I say about Bones? He is sweet, loyal, and incredibly patient (look at all the crap he puts up with from Cat). And he doesn't whine or brood, which I love. He knows what he is and who he is and what he wants. And he is incredibly sexy. I'm sure he has faults (like the fact that he murders and tortures his enemies, but hey they tried to kill him first) but I'm not certain what they are right now.

So there is my revised list. And a few are the same, but many new ones have been added. The old guys are there, they're just further down. Is there anyone on your list that you think I'm missing?

From Imagination to Reality

I am of the opinion that one of the most rewarding things about being an author is probably seeing people take your words and create something corporeal (I just happen to like the world corporeal right now). Seeing an idea made into something tangible is just amazing to me. And I may not be published, but I for one love seeing something I've written in a real life form.

For the purposes of this discussion, we're going to leave out the slightly murky waters of fanfiction (which I kind of love and can see it having it's place. But some authors think it's evil so we're just going to leave it alone. No! Back! We'll talk about you another time, Fanfiction. Go wait over there *points and waits as fanfiction grumbles away). Okay, now that we've established that, what the heck am I actually talking about?

Well fan art, for one thing. I mean, there are some spectacular artists out there. And some of them are fan girls who get giddy about things and draw their favorite scenes or characters from books (or movies I suppose, but movies are kind of outside the bringing to life dynamic I'm talking about here). And these people draw stuff like this:

Sweet James and Lily taking a rest from Harry. Who they love but who I'm sure was a handful. Hello, he had Sirius as a godfather (credit to julvett on DeviantArt.com)

Or this:

A stunning Hermione. Who looks both smart and beautiful. There's a reason she was my rolemodel as a kid. (credit to alicexz on DeviantArt.com)

Or even this:

Numair resting. Probably worn out from doing some impressive feat of magic. And some well-meaning child has lent him a teddy bear. Or that belongs to Sarralyn or Rikash. (credit to waterysilver on DeviantArt.com. Oh, and I want a Numair.)

Aren't these amazing? Wouldn't you absolutely love to be a writer and have someone take the people in your head and bring them to life? I know I do. That's why I always comb the NaNoWriMo boards with huge puppy eyes for people to draw my characters. Because when I draw them, it's not quite the same effect as this:

This is Isabelle, who is the main heroine in my trilogy. And this artist has made her beautiful, with a look like she's casing the room and yet a little nervous (at least that's what I see and what she's feeling at this scene in the novel. Which I need to be finishing. Damn. Credit to NaNoWriMo user Ankhesenamun)

These people are amazing. Fan art in general is just such a wonderful expansion of the creative power of books. Fan art says, "You have inspired me. In some small way you have encouraged my talents and I hope you are happy with the result." Isn't that freakin' amazing? And with the internet, you can create communities where you share these amazing things and then someone else is inspired and so on and so forth. It's a chain of creative encouragement.

And then there are the people who write music. Based on writing! Sometimes the lyrics are beautiful and poignant and encompass the feeling you get when you read the book. Like End of an Era by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.

A beautiful song about how sad it is that Harry Potter is ending, but the fans will never forget how it changed them. (By the way, Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls is just a fantastic group. The lyrics are beautiful in this song and Open at the Close (which you should only listen to if you want to cry. It focuses on the Forest Scene in Deathly Hallows))

Or the song Sun's Lament by Mitch Hansen Band

Yes, the song is Twilight related. That doesn't make it any less of a great song. It's sad and wonderful. Besides, I like Twilight under the conditions of treating it as brain cotton candy.

And then you have the songs on the more amusing end of things.

(Why no, this isn't an excuse to post more VlogBrothers. Why would you think that? :)) Still love this song. And he predicted Hedwig's death!

An entire genre of music popped up around Harry Potter: Wrock. How amazing would that be? To have your idea so loved that people create music about it? That there seems like it would be a reward beyond your dreams.

And then you have just the fun fan project of when you make up foods in your book and then people go out and create these foods. My biggest example is again Harry Potter. There is an actual Harry Potter Cookbook, with recipes for Pumpkin Pasties (which I can actually make and not screw up! (well, as long as I don't try to make my own pastry dough)) and Treacle Tart. And people have created recipes for Butterbeer! I like this one. It sounds delicious.

I know a lot of this was Harry Potter, but that's because the fandom exploded so much it made it easy to find Harry Potter stuff. There is definitely a lot of other fandoms with art and projects and amazing out there. So go and google your favorite fandom. You make be surprised what you come up with.