Authorthonic - Amelia Hutchins: The Fae Chronicles

I'm finding this series really engrossing, and if you like sexy bad boys, heroes and a bit of graphic slap and tickle then you should enjoy this series.  Obviously it falls in the paranormal category, but it's not your normal fairy stuff and most definitely an 18+ audience.

You can find Amelia's books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc, with ebooks, so an immediate download without having to do painful shopping is definitely a big plus.

More about Amelia:  Facebook,  Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Booktopia.  Goodreads has loads of reader reviews, so you check that out if you want more info.

Amelia's website:  http://amelia-hutchins.com/

Book blurb source from Amelia's site:

Have you ever heard of the old Celtic legends of the Fae - beautiful, magical, deadly and a love of messing with humans just for kicks and giggles?
Welcome to my world.
What started out as a strange assignment, leads to one of the most gruesome murder mysteries of our times and my friends and I are set and determined to find out who is killing off Fae and Witches alike. 
Couple of problems in the way – I hate the Fae and the Prince of the Dark Fae is bound and determined that I work for him.
 He’s a rude, overbearing egotistical ass with a compulsive need to possess, dominate and control me.
Oh – did I mention that he is absolutely sex-on-a-stick gorgeous and he makes me feel things that I never ever wanted to feel for a Fae…every time he touches me or looks at me with those golden eyes seems to pull me further in under his spell, despite my better judgment.
My friends and I can’t trust anyone and nothing is as it seems on the surface – not even me.

Crapathonic - yeh, waiting for the next book in a series to arrive is completely counter productive

Don't you hate it?  How do publishing houses and authors possibly think this is a good idea?  Lose the respect of your readers, the respect for the series, and the adulation of an iconic author:

Here's an article that blathers on about it...  source:  Huffington Post, 27 Feburary 2014.

 Book series are a wonderful thing, but the wait time between installments can be agonizing. Some authors and publishers have wised up to how impatient we've collectively become, and have applied the binge-watching mentality to books by rolling titles out more quickly. Still, we're lucky if authors like George R.R. Martin get around to penning their books within years of each other, and regardless, the times between release dates has to be filled with something. We recommend supplementing your wallowing with reading related titles, but ultimately, the choice is yours.
Here are the 9 painful stages of waiting for the next book in a series to come out:

Greenpeace-athonic Australia Pacific

Another giant step for mankind.

Greenpeace have made some remarkable achievements:  here are just a few Australian based wins.
Join the mailing list for Greenpeace and see regular updates.  You can add Greenpeace to your Facebook interest groups and offer your regular support with their share posts.
Join your interest with the Greenpeace updates:  http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/


Look at these amazing things we’ve achieved together. Let’s celebrate! | Greenpeace Australia Pacific


Help save our beasts

We did it! The giant company behind brands like Head & Shoulders and Gillette - Procter & Gamble - has agreed to stop trashing the rainforest for dirty palm oil. After nearly 400,000 of us around the world emailed P&G’s boss and thousands more campaigned in supermarkets, on the streets and on social media - they listened at last.

This week P&G published a jaw-dropping update on their website: “P&G’s new goals call for ensuring no deforestation in its entire palm supply chain.”

This is huge news. And it’s down to you.

 This month, two more companies, Lend Lease and Anglo Coal, have followed BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto and withdrawn their plans to develop coal terminals at Abbot Point that would threaten the Great Barrier Reef. With the number of proposed terminals now greatly reduced, we can focus on preventing the other mines and coal ports that threaten this World Heritage Area and its precious marine life.

 The European Parliament has backed Greenpeace’s vision for an Arctic Sanctuary. It would create the biggest ever conservation zone on the planet, protecting our oceans from dangerous overfishing and saving other species that thrive in this delicate and pristine environment. There’s a long way to go until it becomes a reality, but this is the clearest sign yet that governments are listening to our calls.

Gitathonic - Mars One

Well, I'm gobsmacked, once again.  I can't believe this guy, the CEO of the company MarsOne, organising a permanent abode on Mars.  He's labelled this as "the single most important event in the history of mankind".  Maybe he forgot the wheel and, most importantly for women, that invention:  the tampon?

Surely he's joking, thinking he is so special, although I must point out he may lack a genetic locus for humour?  What?  He thinks he's more important than say, Dr Ehrlic? Louis Pasteur?  The Curie's (Madame Curie)?  What outrageous arrogance.  I personally don't see Mars as either the saviour of mankind from itself perhaps, or the solution that will save the planet and the environment from gradually eroding away.

Let's face the truth, of course planet Earth won't last forever.

In the immortal words of St Saens, "music is the redemption of mankind" (at least I think it was St Saens, although Wagner did similar themes).

Single most important event in history my foot.  Eat your hat mate, and wash your treacherous mouth out with soap.

Here's some info on the planet Mars.  If you need some help a planetarium is always a good way of getting a grasp of the sky and planets, and also to provide a unique way of observing and understanding planets and their mapping. 

If you prefer not to move from the comfy company of your mobile, there's a great phone app you can get that provides absolutely fantastic opportunities to star gaze.  I use the free app Meteor Shower Calendar - if you do a search for that on Google Play, heaps of apps come up.  The one I use picks out your own GPS co-ordinates, you then point your phone in whatever direction you want, and it will show you graphics of the stars that you're looking at.  Once you've installed the app and set your co-ordinates, the phone doesn't need to be online to do its thing.  Really simple.  As indicated by the name, it also let's you know what meteors and comets are upcoming, and their strengths.

I'm also going to try the free app Night Sky Tools - Astronomy - that's also a point and look app.

Interview with Alix Steel of Bloomberg West with Bas Lansdorp, CEO of MarsOne, 3 April 2014: Bloomberg West TV, 3 April 2014 

 And here's a short doco from Time offered on YouTube:

A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project 

Published on Jun 3, 2013

A private space venture plans to beat NASA in getting people to the red planet by at least a decade. The catch? It's a one-way trip. Mars One will now take your application.