We are back after a few weeks off with the new release (TODAY new!) from our friend Carol Kilgore. And when I say “Our friend Carol Kilgore,” I mean that. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Carol over the past few years and not only are her books a LOT of fun, but she’s become one of my favorite people. And okay, I have a lot of favorite people, but Carol’s up there among the fierce competition.

And so I’m super excited to host Carol Kilgore for the first time ever today! Why hasn’t she been here before? Good question! I’ll let you ask her that, since the one and only question I promised to ask wasn’t that one. It was… I mean, hello, if you’ve hung out here for any length of time, you know what it is: Carol Kilgore, what song makes you think of your book, Witches and Fairies and Tacos… Oh My ?

Well of course there’s “Witchy Woman” by the Eagles, even though both my witches are blondes. But I couldn’t stop there, not when the tagline for this book is PRACTICAL MAGIC meets BEWITCHED.

So I have to add The Bewitched theme song and the theme from Practical Magic as well. Sometimes I would wake up in the night with the Practical Magic song in my head because many days I listened to it over and over as I wrote.

I haven’t heard Witchy Woman in years and WOW, not only is this such a blast from the past, it’s a song that’s really held up and oh, the memories. BUT it’s absolutely perfect for the book. Yes.

The Bewitched theme song just made me laugh. I used to love that show, but I think Carol’s witches are way cooler. And much, much better dressed. And as for the Practical Magic theme? What a lovely, uplifting piece of music.

Yes. I approve, Carol. I approve. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

Need to know what more this all adds up to? Yes, you do. This is FUN STUFF, folks.

WITCHES and FAIRIES and TACOS… Oh My
Practical Magic meets Bewitched

First Book in the House Witches Mystery Series

Charli Quinn and her sister Brielle own House Witches Cleaning and promise to clean like magic. They may not be your everyday, run-of-the-mill witches, but they are… something.

When Charli finds the husband of one of their clients dead, the wind warns her to beware the man with eyes of green. As the sisters search for the ominous man, they find themselves in danger and rely on their real magic to outsmart the killer.

Along the way, Charli and Brielle have help from a group of fairies, and even a talking cow. And Charli falls head over broomstick for a tall, sexy deputy with dreamy blue eyes who saves her from being hijacked by a water sprite.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Texas without tacos.

They are:
+ Best friends
+ Work partners
+ Sisters
+ Witches… wicked good witches

Yes, right? A talking cow? A group of fairies? A bit of romance and a water sprite?? Only here, folks, and it is So. Much. Fun.

Get your copy now! It’s Amazon exclusive, but we love Carol anyway. Actually, I think it was her who explained to me why, and it was a very very wise reason. Like I said, Carol is one of my favorite people for a reason!

Come see why and connect with author Carol Kilgore:
Website
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Facebook
Twitter

As always, if you’re an author or have a friend who is, the Featured New Book Spotlight would love to highlight you and your book. Or your friend and their book. We aren’t picky; we just want to highlight books and music and have some fun. What’s stopping you from joining us?

And, of course, the best way to say thanks to an author for taking the time to do promo, for writing a great book, for… anything! Is to write a review and post it online. It doesn’t matter where; the idea is to get people talking about a book you like (or hate; yes I’m a fan of a well-written review that isn’t gushing praise of a book) in order to help others discover it.

Last post, I whined about the high costs of going to see live music.

Let’s focus on the good.

The show itself was a lot of fun. New kids We as Human rocked out for four songs. I’ve been listening to them on SiriusXM Octane and recognized two of the four. Oh, sure, their sound was horrible, but that’s part of the rite of passage of being the new kids. That and the two inches of stage they were allotted. Lucky ducks. They got two. (cue Beavis and Butt-head laughter)

In This Moment played next, to a still empty pavilion that seemed not only unfamiliar with the band but also a bit befuddled. Musically, I think they were the most exciting on the bill. They’re doing things no one else has the guts to — but frontwoman Maria Brink looks brittle. Along with the tone change from last album to this, it looks like this poor woman has been through hell and back.

I’d love to have dinner with her.

Back to the show…

Between the knee braces and the way Maria hobbled off the stage for a costume change between each of their five songs (all from the new album. Bummer.), as well as the fact that she never moved, staying put on a platform and flanked by two barefoot, corseted dancers … well, it was bizarre. I expected that from Maria. I did. And I’m all for musical theater, too. But I didn’t expect the lack of showmanship from her band, nor would I have ever imagined that while she was off changing her coat, the band would turn their backs to the audience, almost as if we were only allowed to look on their faces when Maria was there to capture the spotlight and distract us from them.

Next time, Maria, wear the same outfit for more than one song and add Beautiful Tragedy into the set.

Papa Roach played next. Twenty year veterans of the scene, and it showed. They might have owned the best set of the night.

I can’t say the same for Skillet. While they are fabulous showmen (and I met their cellist when he was playing with local Rock Cello band Cello Fourte … and did I mention he used to work with a friend of mine?), their sound was muddied and bass-heavy. The top end got lost, particularly the vocal work by their guitarist. BIG disappointment. And Tate? Dude. I hope that’s not an addiction problem I’m seeing you with because the Tate I met, the one who worked with my friend, wouldn’t let himself turn into the slovenly onstage creature I almost didn’t recognize.

And finally, Shinedown. Ahh, Shinedown. The big draw of the night for me and my concert buddies. They were everything I expected and more — but like In This Moment, they took overly long breaks between every song. They also had long intros for each. Personally, I prefer it when a band flows from one song into the next. That’s when time stands still and all that matters is what’s happening on the stage. We, the audience, never leave the magic you are making.

Shinedown is a band who gets that magic, too. So why they interrupt it, I’ll never know. I wanted more of those moments when the concert buddies and I had our arms around each other and we swayed and sang. There’s your magic, right there. But it wasn’t enough.

Same thing that I told In This Moment: quit with the breaks and play another song. I’d have loved to hear a live version of My Name. That was my theme song for awhile there. It might still be.

And that finale? Powerful. Very powerful, and you’re hitting the exact right audience with the message, too. I loved it … except… the audience is so focused on the video screen and the story being told that the song got lost. Totally and completely. There’s got to be a better way to make the point, guys. You’ve got good people working for you. Put them on it.

All in all, it was a great night. We even jumped in line to meet We as Human and get the concert buddies some autographs. Nice group of guys, with great synergy. And they loved my pink ESP Explorer earrings.

I may have a new crush. I know my iTunes wishlist is groaning with the new additions to it.

But mostly, I realized I was wrong to stop going to see bands play live. That of all the things I gave up and sacrificed, this shouldn’t have been one of them. This is my lifeblood. Always has been and quite probably always will be.

I do need better concert buddies, though. And a few more bucks so I can afford those service charges and those inflated food prices.

But what I’ll give you for those nights out is more and better fiction. I promise.

Hard to believe it’s been three weeks since I turned off the computers and headed west. Seems a lot longer than that.

Thirteen Things from Yellowstone1. There is something about the mountains out there that really tugs at me. Heck, any mountains, even the foothills of the Appalachians that I live in. This was taken in the Lamar Valley, where a new wolf pack is trying to establish itself. They call the pack the Silver Pack. 2. Another shot from the same spot. Yes, I had a hard time concentrating on the wolves in the spotting scopes. After all, the wolves were laying around and there was all this magnificence around me. 3. The final shot from this same area. 4. This was taken on our way back from lunch, when we stopped to see what the Druid Peak Pack was up to. They were hanging out on the hillside; the two who had been playing earlier had stopped for a nap. The pack’s alpha female was wandering around, checking on everyone. A bit earlier, an interloper had shown up and a scuffle had ensued; the interloper was laying in a hollow, wounded. We don’t know how seriously. 5. This is shot from the top of the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. Yep, that’s a hot spring in the foreground. 6. Another one from Mammoth. 7. In the foreground is the (snow-covered) famed Minerva Terrace. In the background… mountains. 8. Yup, Mammoth. 9. And more Mammoth. See the boardwalk? Parts of it ended mysteriously where the springs have overtaken the boardwalk. But that’s another TT. 10. …and more. 11. I spent an hour in the lobby of the Mammoth Hot Springs resort with my MP3 player, watching the sun rise over the mountains. Every now and then, I’d run outside with my camera to get a shot. This is my favorite. We won’t speculate if I got it that time I was in such a rush that I jammed my arm into my coat and got outside to find… my coat was upside down. Well, at least only one arm was in it. 12. Crap. I picked this one earlier today and now I don’t remember where it’s from. I took it along the ride from Mammoth down to Canyon, over to the Lake, and off to Old Faithful. That’s the long way around, but it was worth it. 13. Same problem. And you wonder why I am ready to have copies printed and to spend the time putting the pictures into my scrapbooks?

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will try to link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Photos other than of the Yellowstone Gate in the header are Copyright 2007-2008 by Me, Susan Helene Gottfried. If you want to use them, please do so with proper citation. I’m proud of these puppies!

If you haven’t been here since my return from Yellowstone, let me recap for you:

Thirteen Things from Yellowstone 1. I’ve learned the wisdom of wool socks. I’ve vowed to only wear bamboo and wool socks from now on. We’ll see if I can accomplish this; cotton’s cheaper. But not nearly as nice.2. This guy was on the menu every night we were in the Park. Yum. (Well, okay, it was his farm-raised cousin. But you get the idea.) 3. I survived snowshoeing. This elk didn’t. Or maybe he was there as a trophy for my first snowshoeing experience. 4. This guy — we think — along with a friend welcomed me to my first snowshoeing trip. He and his friend stood forty yards apart… on opposite sides of the trail we were taking, and didn’t leave us a way around him. So the eight or so of us had to thread the bull elks. Who had big antlers that could have hurt us. Badly. 5. I put on four layers of pants and stood outside with a small group — ten or twelve of the twenty-seven of us — and watched this beautiful lady erupt for the last time in 2007. 6. This is her last daylight eruption of 2007. 7. This is her in 2008. She’s aging well, isn’t she? 8. She wasn’t the only thermal feature with things to say. 9. Daisy went off. 10. Riverside went off. 11. Castle went off. 12. Seeing all three of these — and the cross-country ski group got to Lonestar just as it erupted too — was pretty darn special. One of our three guides (who live nearby and do research in the park) said he’s been waiting years to see Castle erupt. I decided it was the Park’s way of thanking us, since we were there as part of a National Parks Conservation Association trip. 13. Yep. Saw wolves. From a distance. A great distance. I bet they knew we were there, only able to see them through our spotting scopes.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will try to link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Photos other than of the Yellowstone Gate in the header are Copyright 2007-2008 by Me, Susan Helene Gottfried. If you want to use them, please do so with proper citation. I’m proud of these puppies!