Gary Starta's Demon Inhibitions

Need a new book for your Kindle? Of course, we all do. You can never have enough, right? Sci-Fi writer, Gary Starta grabbed my attention with his aggressive promotion for his new book "Demon Inhibitions" published by Chanpagne Books.

Reading the inside blurb, this seems like a really fun and different book that's in need of some ocular exploration. This book has a ton of angles including sci-fi, paranormal, and an interdimensional cat! There's a ton more to this so that's why it's on my short list of things to read.

Check out the blurb:

"Chasing a soul stealer in her reality, psychic investigator Caitlin Diggs inadvertently travels through a portal to another reality and witnesses her fugitive kill her alternate self in DEMON INHIBITIONS. Assuming her alternate's life as an agent of the FBI's Preternatural Crime Division, Diggs believes... her position might help her capture the soul stealer until she finds he may be part of a sinister terrorist plot to keep humans and demons living in segregation. A girl, whose singing inhibits the evil urges of demons, is on the terrorist's hit list and Diggs will ultimately learn her fugitive is neither supernatural nor demon, but a genetically engineered hit man incapable of being enthralled."

Get Demon Inhibitions at Amazon here.

Friend Demon Inhibitions on Facebook

Check out Gary's page on Cold Coffee

May Blog Stats

I hate math but I love stats. Last month, May 2012, was the biggest month in the Nick Valentino Blog history since I started writing in it in 2008. Sure I went through a lag where I was pretty bad about updating it but I'm on the upswing and the data is encouraging.

So I took the blog traffic, put it in a fancy graph maker and came up with a bar graph of which posts were most successful to least successful. It's so interesting what people read. Every one of these blogs was promoted the exact same way so I have to wonder where some of the stats come from. This month's stats are just as interesting and perplexing.

Of course the death of Beastie Boys hip hop mastermind MCA got the most traffic and my post on getting married and finishing Thomas Riley 2 were 2nd and 3rd I thought it was really interesting where the bands came into play.

Here's the nifty graph: enjoy!

Tomorrow, I'm doing a post on writer Gary Starta!

Catherinette Rings

Today we're talking about bad ass steampunk jewelry. For those that don't know yet, Catherinette Rings has been putting out some of the most creative and amazing jewelry for years now. You can hardly Google the word steampunk without having them pop up in the first results.

Personally, I find their work absolutely beautiful, dark and elegant while completely enbodying the aesthetic of steampunk. From what I'm gathering, it looks like they use guitar or bass strings in a lot of their stuff which is also brilliant.

Here are some really cool examples of their work. Check the links at the bottom for their facebook, blog and etsy shop!

For tons of different designs and styles, visit Catherinette Rings etsy shop here.

Follow the Catherinette Blog Here (they have a special going on now.)

Friend Catherinette Rings on Facebook

Drinks!

Today we're going to take a quick break from wonderful authors, music, and steampunk culture to talk about drinks. Homemade drinks at that! Lizzie and I are always on the search for wonderful and powerful new adult beverages that have yet to be discovered or have been sadly forgotten in the past. When we lived in Nashville one of our favorite places to go was the famous Patterson House which is a speak easy style place that serves drinks from the prohibition era along with seasonal offerings that you're not going to find at most other places.

So we've stumbled upon a few of our own really great and easy to make drinks that we'd like to share.

The Nikki Heat
Named after a fictional character in the show Castle, The Nikki Heat is a slight variation of a drink I tasted from John "Ichabod" Anderson at Dragon Con a few years ago. It's spicy, sweet and tastes like Christmas!
1.5 oz. Fireball Whiskey
3 oz. Cream Soda
.5 oz Grenadine
Serve over ice and enjoy.

The Valentino
Named after our surname, Lizzie constructed this drink that's smooth, a little sweet and can transport you to your favorite beach in one sip. Warning, you can probably drink ten of these if you're not careful.
2 oz. Coconut Rum
4 oz. Pomegranite/Cranberry Juice
1 sliver of lime
Serve over ice and enjoy.

Orange Hook
The Orange Hook (which I just named because we couldn't think of a great name before) was discovered by Lizzie when she had a beer in one hand yet was craving orange juice. With the beer flavor still in her mouth she took a sip of orange juice and wow... genius struck. It sounds gross but it's amazing! Think of a more robust mimosa. The measurements for this drink vary as you can drink a lot so it depends on the glass you're using.
1/3 glass of Copper Hook Beer (from the redhook brewing company)
2/3 Non pulp orange juice.
Serve cold (No ice) and enjoy and enjoy and enjoy.

Stephen Zimmer's Spirit of Fire

It's out now! Spirit of Fire. The third instalment in the Fires in Eden series from the talented, amazing and wonderful Stephen Zimmer. Mr. Zimmer is giving epic fantasy a new gold standard with his richly detailed novels. He's a road warrior and hits a ton of cons and book signings so if you get the chance, you should really go hear him read. I went to his Nashville signing for the second book in the series and it was a blast. (Sometimes he gives away bad ass prizes too.)

Published on Seventh Star Press, Stephen pulls the reader into a huge world of conflict that rivals all epic fantasy you've ever read. I'm telling you, don;t miss out on Spirit of Fire or any of the books in the Fires in Eden series! And may I say that you'll not meet a cooler guy than Stephen, seriously.

Check out the Amazon blurb below then go buy the story in print or on your kindle with the links.

"A maelstrom of war engulfs the lands resisting the designs of the Unifier to bring about a new order, of a kind that has never existed within Ave. Battered by a massive invasion force from Gallea, the tribal people of the Five Realms and their Midragardan allies are being driven eastward, towards the sea, while the Saxan lines are wearing down ever thinner on the Plains of Athelney. Time is running out quickly, as an ancient creature of legend soars through the skies with a brave young Saxan. They carry the desperate hopes of two realms sorely beset by a voracious enemy. Diabolic entities conduct a great hunt, as a malignant darkness deepens across all of Ave. The exiles from another world must gain refuge, or find themselves ensnared by the long reach of the Unifier. The very nature of creation itself stands in the balance. It is a time when the honor and fortitude of many are put to the test, and terrible prices are paid for resisting great evils. It is also a time of awakening for many, old and young alike, some of whom may yet discover the spirit of fire that lies within. The third installment in the Fires in Eden series, Spirit of Fire is richly imagined epic fantasy with a diverse ensemble of characters that offers a new world to explore for the readers who enjoy large-scale tales along the likes of George R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Steven Erikson, and J.R.R. Tolkien."

Buy the print book here!

Buy the digital version here!

The Gig Harbor Restaurant Review Blog

Lizzie and I love going to new restaurants and bars. It was a little difficult to find a comprehensive review site for restaurants around Gig Harbor where we could get a good cross section on what was here. Yelp and Urbanspoon are great but I feel like sometimes people just go on there to slam a place unjustly. We decided to start a little separate blog where we can review places in and around Gig Harbor from our perspective. This is usually pretty short, honest and to the point. We'll give readers a nice look at what's good, what's not and what will make your trip to Gig Harbor more enjoyable.

So far, we have twelve reviews on the books now and we'll update it when we try new places. We understand that this won't be the next Perez Hilton blog but it will stay around as a nice little place where people visiting beautiful Gig Harbor Washington can rely on honest opinions.
We hope you enjoy!

Visit the Gig Harbor Restaurant Review Blog here.

Kindle Fire

For Father's Day I got something totally unexpected and awesome. Lizzie and the kids got me a Kindle Fire and a sweet Star Wars shirt. Being my first "official" Father's day as a step-father, I thought it was insanely sweet that anyone got me anything at all but I have to tell you it feels so good to be recognized in such a short time. For ssomeone in my position, things can be really hard from time to time and you don't always know where you might stand or how much you may be appreciated. So this was a really big deal for me. Everything really hit home in a great way due to everyone's generosity and genuine sentiments.

I've always wanted an e-reader, or Kindle to be exact, mainly because I wanted to be able to buy short stories and books from authors I like and am friends with. Now I can do that! I got David Blalock's, "Angel Killer", Norm Cowie's "The Guy'd Book", and of course Elizabeth Darvill's (Now Elizabeth Valentino's) Love In A Time of Steam and Bound By Blood.

I also really wanted to be able to get the free offerings that talented writers put on Amazon so it's super cool to have such a vast selection. I'm now able to explore people's work and become a paying fan with no risk. Pretty stoked on that.

So far, I love the Kindle Fire. It's fast, super easy to use and it's like a mini computer that I can take everywhere. It plays music, downloads books of course, lets me watch vids, surf the interwebs... Too cool! I realize I'm like 6 years behind everyone with the whole tablet thing but this is new for me so I wanted to squawk about it. If you're on the edge of getting an e-reader, just go for it, you won't be sorry.

While I'm at it, if anyone has free e-books or books they'd like to promote here, let me know! I'd love to help and read your work!