Smugglivus Smugglivus Guest Blogger

Smugglivus Day 28 – Guest Blogger: Carolyn Crane of The Thrillionth Page

Welcome to Smugglivus – Day 28!

Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2009, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2010.

Today’s Guest: Carolyn Crane (aka CJ) of the awesome Urban Fantasy/Paranormal/Romance/SF blog The Thrillionth Page and Little CJ.

Not only is CJ a prolific, witty, hilarious blogger – she’s also a soon-to-be published author! Her debut novel, Mind Games, comes out in March 2010. And the cover is preeeeeetty.

Please give it up, folks, for CJ!

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Best of 2009 and looking forward to 2010, by Carolyn Crane of the Thrillionth Page, and Little CJ, her childhood portrait painted by an elderly aunt that hangs on her office wall.

Carolyn Crane: First up for fave books of the year: Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong, the mesmerizing, suspenseful prequel to the Women of the Otherworld series.

This book came out past January. Whoa! I’m not an anthology reader, but these four tales—great on their own—also bring hugely satisfying new depth to some of my favorite characters in all of paranormal literature; especially Jeremy and Clay Danvers

Little CJ: Character depth, riiiight. Carolyn likes this book because it satisfies her nosiness bone, which is huge.

Carolyn Crane: No, being interested in learning about characters means they’re great characters.

Little CJ: Oh, so Gabby Nelson, your high school nemesis, is a great character? That’s why you Google her all the time?

Carolyn Crane: Next up: Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole!

I loved super evil Sabine, who comes from a culture where bad is good and good is bad. She’s thrown in with uptight and noble Demon King Rydstrom. This was a hot, humorous book with prophecies, battles, characters dragging each other across a wasteland…

Little CJ: coughSexyDemonKingchainedinadungeoncough.

Carolyn Crane: *stony silence*

Little CJ: coughmindintheguttercough

Carolyn Crane: I wonder if there is a dungeon out there that needs a childhood portrait painted by an elderly aunt on chained to the wall?

Little CJ: *gulp*

Carolyn Crane: Another fave this year: Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran!

I loved everything about this story of Lydia, the prim Egyptologist, and the “silver-tongued Viscount Sanburne.” Great characters, a smart, intricately drawn relationship and all sorts of lovely play around the philosophies, societal fashions, and rages of the day. The Regency world came alive for me with this book as it never has before.

Little CJ: Yeah, especially during that steamy scene where Lydia and Sanburne were trapped on the roof, huh?

Carolyn Crane: Two other memorable fave reads: Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith Ready, another installment in the fascinating WVMP vampire radio station series, and Made to be Broken, the second in Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford hitwoman series.

Little CJ: The year of morally dubious heroines.

Carolyn Crane is looking forward to:

Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne – Maggie and Doyle’s story. Does anybody else love the this smart, sturdy spy as I do?

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook – Steampunk story of a feared and powerful merchant mogul, a dead body, and a lady inspector. I’m dying to get my hands on this thing!

Switch by Megan Hart:

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OMG, promises to be dirtier and more delicious than her previous ones. Yay!

Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead:

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I love Georgina, and I’m such a sucker for this fabulous series! In this one, I understand she has to help plan Seth’s wedding. Nooooo!

Heart’s Blood by Gail Dayton

a master conjurer, a street urchin, a mystery fraught with danger and a wonderful writing voice. Psyched!

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn

A standalone novel of historical suspense by the author of the fabulous Lady Julia Grey series!!!!

Little CJ is looking forward to:
Carolyn Crane using less exclamation marks!! That will be super cool!!!

Predictions for 2010:

Social Media:

Carolyn Crane: Twitter users will double. And the amount of spam will triple.
Little CJ: Carolyn Crane will continue to be mystified by the dirty twitter porn girls who try to be her twitter friend, and naively shocked when they don’t want to discuss movies and JR Ward with her.

Fashion:

Carolyn Crane: Steampunk will greatly influence women’s fashion, and the frock coat, the monocle, and the pince nez will come back.
Little CJ: however, like all fashion trends, it will completely bypass Carolyn Crane, who will continue to remind people of Velma from Scooby Do, wearing baggy turtleneck sweaters and thick glasses.

Theater:

Carolyn Crane: The Wolfman with Benicio del Toro will be the hugest movie ever!
Little CJ: Carolyn will spend most of this movie with her eyes shut tight, and popcorn grease-covered-fingers in her ears, humming because she can’t bear to watch her precious Benicio in distress. Then she will come out of the theater and act like it she actually watched it.

Characters:

Carolyn Crane: Anita Blake becomes a celibate monk in a monastery in a remote island in Greece, and bored readers clamor for her to be slutty again. The Scribe Virgin hooks up with the Omega in the blockbusting finale Black Dagger Brotherhood, and they have an octopus child that kills Phury! Roarke travels back in time to rewrite the Mayan calendar to save Eve Dallas, thereby saving all of humanity. Also, Stephanie Plum accidentally blows up Joe Morelli and Ranger in a car, but a clever surgeon knits their many severed body parts back together to create a single man, Rangerelli, and Stephanie and Rangerelli marry and have a crime-solving octopus child.
Little CJ: Not.

Authors:

Carolyn Crane: An author somewhere will behave in an unwise and hugely regretful way online, topping the last such scandal.
Little CJ: And Carolyn Crane is praying right now that it won’t be her, in one of her freak chocolate and PMS-fueled rages.

Décor:

Carolyn Crane: A dungeon somewhere gets spruced up with a painting of young Carolyn Crane done by an elderly aunt. The spiders are gleeful.

Little CJ: Gulp

********************

Thanks CJ!

Next on Smugglivus: Amy of My Friend Amy

21 Comments

  • orannia
    December 28, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    CJ/Little CJ – masterful as always 🙂 Thank you!

    The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook – Steampunk story of a feared and powerful merchant mogul, a dead body, and a lady inspector.

    Ohhh, when please? This sounds interesting! *adds to TBR list*

    I must get my A into G and read Bound By Your Touch, especially as I watched The Mummy last night and I have a hankering for reading about Egyptologists 😉

  • RKCharron
    December 28, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    Hi Carolyn 🙂
    Thank you very much for sharing here. I love your selections. I mentioned on your blog that I love the painting of little CJ. 🙂
    Happy Holidays,
    RKCharron

  • katiebabs
    December 28, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    Can we call you Velma from now on?

  • Carolyn Crane (CJ)
    December 28, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Orannia: Thanks! I hope I got that Iron Duke description right – it was a bit of a riff, but doesn’t it sound fun?

    RK: Hi! Thanks and Little CJ thanks you.

    KB: LOL: no Velma!

    Ana and Thea, thanks so much for such a wonderful intro, and for letting me get in on the fun of Smugglivus!

  • Patti
    December 28, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    *waves* Hi Carolyn! Great interview – love your book choices (most of them are on my list too) and can’t wait for your book to come out either! Best wishes for continued success!

  • Kwana
    December 28, 2009 at 6:51 pm

    Great post and love those predictions. You are too funny always cracking me up.

  • Chris
    December 28, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    That would be why it’s so much fun to hang out with you – we laugh so hard it hurts. And then we cry a little bit until we can laugh again.

    Rangerelli? Brilliant. Also possibly the only way Evanovich can gracefully end the series.

  • Jackie U
    December 28, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    Holy Beejezus! That was one of the funniest things ever! And I will never be able to look at octupii the same. I’ll always wonder if its parentage lies in the urban fantasy genre.

  • Carolyn Crane (CJ)
    December 28, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    Thanks you guys! LOL. I think I had octopii on the brain last night! This was so fun.

  • Chris
    December 28, 2009 at 8:24 pm

    Um… CJ, that’s SO giving me a really unpleasant Star Trek mental image.

  • Veronica F.
    December 28, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    HAHAHAHA! Carolyn, be my friend!
    I was feeling icky today, and then I read ur interview- thanx for literally making me “lol”
    your humor sold me on Mind Games- congratz on first book! I’ll be sure & look for it come March.

  • Veronica F.
    December 28, 2009 at 10:10 pm

    oh and I’m adding ur entire suggestion list to my goodreads tbr list; I too LOVE Georgina and the Succubus series, and I’m really freaking out about Seth & Maddie!

  • Renee
    December 28, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    Awesome post, CC and lil CJ!
    I’m so glad you loved Men of the Otherworld! It’s definitely one of my favorite reads this year.
    I’m behind on the Megan Hart. (I have Dirty and Stranger on my shelf still waiting to be read.)
    I hadn’t heard about the new Deanna Raybourn. I’ll be looking forward to that in 2010.
    I still remain in the dark ages, Twitter-less.
    I’m with Chris. You’ve found the perfect solution to the Ranger/Morelli conundrum.
    Can I have a Rangerelli of my own?

  • Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit)
    December 29, 2009 at 7:26 am

    LOL. I just love this post!

  • Carolyn Crane (CJ)
    December 29, 2009 at 8:06 am

    Chris: The pancake monsters!

    Veronica: Hey, thanks! And I’m with you on that Seth and Maddie biz!

    Renee: oh, you convinced me on the MOW!! I’m so grateful.

    Serena: Thanks!!

  • Michelle M
    December 30, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    Ha! I just saw this and just like everything else you do – funny as hell!! Love, love the Rangerelli!!

  • Jill Sorenson
    December 30, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Love you and little CJ! Can’t wait to read Mind Games. That Demon King one looks hot, too. Mmm man in chains.

  • Stumbling Over Chaos :: “Once in a very blue moon…”
    December 31, 2009 at 1:01 am

    […] CJ’s favorite books (as part of a very funny guest blog at Book Smugglers that includes her predictions for 2010) […]

  • Topher
    October 17, 2011 at 2:37 am

    Is that really all there is to it because that’d be flabbegrsantig.

  • qreygpoemgh
    October 17, 2011 at 6:37 am

    PFVaNN bykcpqjipovo

  • crane training
    March 11, 2013 at 5:15 pm

    I like this post, enjoyed this one thank you for posting. “The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” by George Baker. crane training http://crane-hire-uk.blogspot.co.uk/

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