google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: 2012-02-26

Saturday 3 March 2012

Weirdo Neighbours

This could just be one of those occasions where I am eternally grateful for being a hobbit. I leave my house to go to and from work, but once I'm behind closed doors, I tend to stay there. This of course means I have no freaking idea who my neighbours are.
Sure, I'm well aware there's a drunken twenty something on one side of the fence. He makes noise on Friday nights, plays Ping Pong until the wee hours of the morning, and can't seem to aim for shit when kicking balls in his own yard.
On the other side I have a young family with two dogs. I know they have two dogs because they never stop barking and they're basically walking manure factories. Their kid cries non-stop, and they think we can't smell the 'garden' parties they sometimes 'roll' into on a Saturday night.

Across the road I have the Brady Bunch, otherwise known as the Biggest loser contestants - family edition. We have grandma and grandpa, mum and dad, son and wife, the other teenage kid and the two dogs. They worry me the most if the Zombie Apocalypse ever occurs. That is one hungry family and I don't have a front fence big enough to keep them out.
Alas that just leaves the mysterious neighbours on the diagonal. I have lived in this house for over five years and it was only yesterday that I was eating breakfast, minding my own business, that I decided to peep out the window and have a look around. Let it be said now that I knew they had a truck, that I knew it often came and went, but I never bothered to figure out why.
So there I was, eating my low fat cereal and congratulating myself on not cracking open the peanut butter jar again, when I heard the truck doors swinging open and crashing loudly against the metalwork. Curious, I slipped my fingers between the Venetian blinds on my window and had a quick peek. Interestingly enough, the truck was backed right up in the driveway and was now surrounded by wads of black plastic. At first I thought nothing of it, but then there was the thud.
Two men, one of them I think was my neighbour, helped lift an over-sized package into the back of the truck. Said package looked heavy and suspiciously like a body.
So what did I do?
Naturally I laughed and then tweeted about it - the sensible thing to do.
Thus I am happy to reveal that although the nature of my weird neighbour's business does appear shady and somewhat underhanded on account of the rather large unmarked truck, his lack of general day-to-day friendly wave at the letter box, and his seemingly absent wife, he is not a serial killer. Black wrapped plastic and body-shaped packages could mean anything ... anything.
I'm told it's roofing insulation.
Anyway, what has this little experience of the neighbourhood taught me? Simple. Deadbolts are a necessity. Erecting a 6ft fence with barbed wire is not overkill if fat zombies want to eat your ass. And yelling out to my drunken neighbour 'you've lost your balls again' is not exactly productive.
Cheers to the freaking hobbits, I say. STAY INDOORS!

Kristy :)

Friday 2 March 2012

Follow Friday #22

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!

This week's question: What book would you like to see made into a movie or television show and do you have actors/actresses in mind to play the main characters.

Answer: I'm sorry, but of all the books I've read, there is no novel that I would like to see on film or on television more than my own book 'The Hunted'. And naturally, the following four books in the series would round it all off nicely. Funnily enough I actually posted a blog about this not too long ago. So, rather than repeat myself, I'm just going to pop the link in 'here' so you can have a read through and see what you think.

Happy Friday all!

Kristy :)

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Book Review: Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead

Book reviews seem to be my bag lately, particular as here I am, yet again, reviewing the last book in a series that I can honestly say I did enjoy.
Shadow Heir is the culminating book in the Dark Swan series by Richelle Mead. It does not follow the young adult genre as some of her more popular series portray. These novels are most definitely adult in nature, filled with sexual content and referenced violence and themes that may not necessarily be suitable for the younger reader.
But what would I know? Kids are getting pregnant at thirteen these days and are experienced by twenty, so this could just be light reading for some.
Jokes aside, this series follows the story of Eugenie Markham, born and raised in Tuscon, she has been trained to protect the mortal realm from the supernatural elements intent on crossing over from the land of faerie. A shaman-for-hire under the teachings of her adoptive father, Rolland, she has since discovered that her natural connection to the other realm is just a strong as her human interests. Curiosity, love, and fate drive Eugenie back into the land of Faerie to uncover her true origins and her natural connection to the land that she has fought so hard to avoid for the most part of her adult life.
Now knowing that she is the legendary Storm Kings daughter and that her powers over the weather were not merely coincidental, she has since accepted the blood that runs within, taken her place among her faerie brethren, claimed two kingdoms as her own, and tried to change the prophecy that has plagued her family for years.
Shadow Heir concludes this small series of four. Eugenie finally begins to respect the natures of both her worlds, her current and previous lovers, as well as her role as the Queen to both lands established via her powers. With acceptance comes a great deal of responsibility, and without ruining the plot line, there is a lot of personal sacrifice on her part. However, with great power, enemies also flourish, and despite strong alliances with other kingdoms and her never ending quest to protect the ones she loves, the push of the prophecy unveils evil potential in others, leading to a somewhat expected but nevertheless entirely satisfying ending.
Richelle Mead's writing style is as always ... flawless. I'm never jarred by her conversations and her flow of description is elegant and easy to read. With plenty of action, sex, consistent plot and characters, it was easy to get involved in the story. However, there were moments when I wanted to reach into the pages and kill some of the characters myself, but this was through no error of the author. I was merely engaged in the descriptive text and character creation - a great example of a successful story telling.
This series was not the best series I have ever read. Although the story did enthrall me, a lot of the outcomes through every book were not unexpected. I was not left guessing or wondering about anything. The writer consistently wrapped everything in a tidy bow. Perhaps this is my only criticism. I'm going to give this book three out of five stars - I liked it, but I liked some of the other books in this series more.

Synopsis: Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham strives to keep the mortal realm safe from trespassing entities. But as the Thorn Land's prophecy-haunted queen, there's no refuge for her and her soon-to-be-born children when a mysterious blight begins to devastate the Otherworld ...
The spell-driven source of the blight isn't the only challenge to Eugenie's instincts. Faerie King Dorian is sacrificing everything to help, but Eugenie can't trust the synergy drawing them back together. The uneasy truce between her and her ex-lover Kiyo is endangered by secrets he can't - or won't - reveal. And as a formidable force rises to also threaten the human world, Eugenie must use her own cursed fate as a weapon - and risk the ultimate sacrifice ...


Kristy :)