google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: 2013-02-03

Saturday 9 February 2013

The Unexpected Praise

Believe it or not I was going to write a blog about toe jam today. Surprisingly, I had about a million things to say on the topic, especially in light of the fact that I've been hunting down nasty smells wherever I go and have been suspecting random feet to be the culprit - the latest incident being cleared as a "butter" accident in the backseat of my mother's car, but I digress ...
Today I write a blog about unexpected praise instead, much to the delight of those of you screwing up your faces in horror at the initially proposed post. I now wander through the tides of mutual admiration with a fellow author, hand in hand as he compares me to Wonder Woman and comments on my witty repertoire. Oh yes. Since reading this entirely too flattering post I have been like the cat that caught the canary, licking my whiskered chops and fanning my flushed flesh after reading several paragraphs of author love.
Naturally it made me think, "Am I truly this awesome?"
The cheerleader in me was lifting her pom poms screaming Y. E. S - Yes! The pessimist in me was shaking her head and wondering, why the hell this fellow author would give a damn about my review of his book?
*wipes nervous sweat from brow* luckily I rated him well. Orders for super secret ninjas and Mexican hit men have been put on the back burner for now. And although I don't truly believe for a second that a bad review would've earned me a ... wait, I think I hear someone cocking a shotgun outside my window.
Kidding.
But, the sincerity of such a post made me realise how often our sometimes cavalier words can be valued or condemned by others. Of course I still think I talk a lot of sh#$t ninety percent of the time but I always try to ensure that the ten percent you do understand via my writing and Aussie slang is honest, fair and constructive. To have my opinions valued so highly was both an honor and an ever present responsibility I'd like to uphold for future authors and their reviews. Thanks, John Hundley - it's nice to be regarded as a professional in my field with views that inspire and incite compliments like "Berridge is a babe".
So in the true spirit of unexpected praise, I'd like to do a shout out to a few fellow authors that both inspire me with their writing,  their motivation to succeed and naturally, the super dooper nice things they say about me.
Ps - I'm not kidding about that guy outside my window, he now has a shotgun in one hand, a samurai sword in the other and a one eyed-cat staring me down with a switchblade in claw. Where does the agency find these miscreants?
Pps - you can check out the blog in question here

AUTHOR LOVE

Madison Daniel - Ember & Downpour
Donna Usher - The Seven Steps to Closure
TG Ayer - Dead Radiance & Dead Embers
James Garcia Jnr - Dance on Fire & Flashpoint

Friday 8 February 2013

Follow Friday #56


Happy Friday everyone!
Yes, it’s that time of week again where bloggers unite to participate in the Follow Friday venture. The idea behind #FF is to promote traffic to your own blog, make new friends with other like-minded bloggers and discuss new and interesting topics each week.
Participating is simple. First you need to follow my blog because I’m totally awesome, then you can follow me on Twitter @kristyberridge (actually you don’t have to do this, it’s wishful thinking), but do follow my blog or assassins will get you …
Then you must follow our illustrious hosts Rachel of http://www.parajunkee.com/ and Alison of http://www.alisoncanread.com/ If you want more details on how to enter your own blog in the follow and hop, all directions are on their webpages
Now, once you’ve followed, check out my answer to this week’s questions and don’t forget to leave a comment so I can do the right thing and follow you back!


Q: Happy Mardi Gras! If they were throwing the HOTTEST books off of a Mardi Gras float — what would you do to have them throw to you…?

My Answer: Well, truthfully, I love books and adore reading. So, if a Mardi Gras float full of sparkly men and bejeweled women were throwing some of the best paranormal reads in my direction, there really isn't much I wouldn't do. Yes, I would swing my t-shirt over my head and show off my Christmas baubles. I'd bend over and show them what I had for breakfast and I'd probably blow saucy kisses at everyone, but I absolutely, completely, totally draw the line at paying for hastily thrown novels.
Kidding. As if anyone would want to see my floppy bits anyway. And, have you actually had someone throw at book at you before? It blood well hurts, so I say dodge and run and crawl back later for the gutter leftovers.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Book Review: The Dragron of Doughton Park by John Hundley

I was fortunate enough to be asked to review this book - the second in the Red Wolf series. The Dragon of Doughton Park is everything you expect in a follow up novel and just a little bit more. It's full of action, romance, angst and a bloody big twist at the end that just about made me throw my kindle at the wall.
That's the sign of a great novelist and good plot - the ability to create total immersion with characters and their antics.
The Dragon of Doughton Park pretty much picks up where the Draculata Nest left off (see review here). Following the protagonist Clifford Crane, a sixty year old werewolf with the body of a rock star and the courage of the cowardly lion - he is decent, kind and always serving the best interests of others, even if that means involving himself with undead girlfriends and a brewing Lycan war.
Clifford is once again forced to step up to the plate and fulfill a prophecy dictated by a dragon centuries previous while also uncovering his own path and purpose. Surprised by the respect and the admiration of his werewolf peers, Clifford soon begins to understand that destiny isn't the Chinese whispers of the past - it's the actions of the present and the faith he restores within his own abilities.
The Dragon of Doughton Park is riddled with action and enough romantic interludes to make your skin itch. The dialogue, as always, is carefully constructed and purposeful. Characterization is consistent as is the unfolding plot and various relationship turbulence. I especially enjoyed reading a novel from a man's perspective, and not necessarily the ridiculously dreamy variety found in other run-of-the-mill paranormal romances. Clifford is sixty years old, down to earth, realistically challenged by the preconceptions of others and damn sexy in his continuing reluctance to embrace his finer qualities.
Needless to say that once again the talented John Hundley has brought us a novel filled with danger, intrigue and enough plot thickeners to keep you guessing right to the very end. Teamed with the multiple character perspective and eloquent descriptive content - there is never a dull moment. I happily rate this novel four and a half fangs out five.

Synopsis:

Clifford Crane has led a tough life – failed marriages, bankruptcy, drug addiction, and a mind-numbing dead-end job. But he’s made it through, and now he’s a few short years from retirement. He’s looking forward to his golden years, until he meets an ancient Uwharrie Indian shaman, who turns him into a werewolf. She believes Clifford is the red wolf foretold in prophecy, the one who will unite the wolf packs and lead them to victory over the vampires for once and all time. Too bad she doesn’t tell him that before she dies. Now, rescuing beautiful young women from the clutches of the undead has its rewards, but will it pay the rent for the next thousand years?
Everyone has accepted the Prophecy of the Red Wolf except the Red Wolf himself. Clifford would like to reclaim some semblance of a normal life, but there are three beautiful reasons he cannot cut his ties to the pack of werewolves of which he has become a part. There’s Heather, the sister of the Uwharrie Pack alpha, whom the pack has chosen as Clifford’s mate. There’s Nicole, the talented young Omega wolf, a seeming reincarnation of Clifford’s once and greatest love, who shares a strange and disturbing bond with him. And there’s Danielle, the gorgeous young vampire who currently shares his bed in a forbidden affair.
Clifford faces a difficult choice indeed, but it may not be his to make. Powerful forces are afoot in the world, and to protect the ones he loves, Clifford must seek the help of the powerful Fae who foretold the prophecy in the first place, the one who might do anything to make sure the prophecy comes true, the mysterious Dragon of Doughton Park. 
The Dragon of Doughton Park is the second in a series of Red Wolf novels, depicting a world where vampires are mere generations away from realizing mankind’s destruction, the ultimate goal of the undead and the mysterious beings that created them.