Google & The Wayward One!

Yesterday, I got to hug my middle son, the ‘wayward one’, (the oldest is  the ‘big lug’ and the baby is the ‘young ‘un’) for the first time in five months. Now, I know I’m lucky. Many moms don’t see their kids for years, but we’ve always lived, even after they moved out, within regular Sunday dinner family barbeque’s distance, so the last two years have been a huge adjustment for me. At any rate, the wayward one works for Google, and we were treated to a tour of his new facility, and managed to meet his boss and  many of his teammates.

‘Googlers’, as they refer to themselves, have to be the luckiest and happiest employees on the planet. Everything’s provided for them. I’m convinced they’ve spoiled my son for working anywhere else. Not bad for the son nicknamed the ‘wayward one’ for  his rebellious inclinations. Hurrah for the rebels – they teach us to break the rules and make new ones!

Here are some pics:

 

Flavored waters at the gym - lavender was delish

Flavored waters at the gym – lavender was delish

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Look closely – it’s the mobile building & this is all made of dinky cars!

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My favorite place – Google employees can take free cooking classes from world class chefs – OMG I’m so jealous!

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The Sushi Bar in the one of 32 free restaurants on the Google campus. All are featured in foodie mags frequently. This one’s full service.

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Closeup of the sushi bar. Did I mention Googlers are encouraged to take food home? My son’s so spoiled.

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The Coffee & Tea Lab run in conjunction with Starbucks. It’s a real lab where they test responses to different concoctions. Amazing.

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One of the many parks & outside areas on the Google campus. Love the big chairs!

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Google’s Test Kitchen offers cooking classes to all employee free of charge, and all are taught by certified chefs! Sigh…drooling here.

 

 

 

We Live on an Amazing Planet – The Largest Salts Flats in the World

My mother sent me this today and it was so amazing, I simply had to share.
salt flat 1The Largest Salt Flat in the World

The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) and it’s a major tourist destination in the South American country of Bolivia. The Salar is virtually devoid of any wildlife or vegetation but it is home to an estimated 10 billion tons (9.8 billion LT) of salt.

But what is no less incredible, is where people who visit this amazing place stay, and how does one build something in the middle of the vast emptiness? The answer is quite remarkable.

Anyone arriving to visit this exotic part of the world is in for a real treat and a stay in one of the world’s most unique hotel experiences. Due to a lack of conventional construction materials in this area, many of the hotels here are built entirely with salt blocks cut from the Salar itself. The most famous one is called Palacio de Sal, Spanish for “Palace of salt”.

salt flat 2. salt flat 3

The hotel is made of about 1 million 35-cm (14-inch) salt blocks, which were used for the floor, walls, ceiling and furniture, including the beds, tables, chairs and sculptures. The hotel even has a dry sauna and a steam room, a saltwater pool and whirlpool baths for guests to relax in and fully enjoy this unreal place.

salt flat 5.  salt flat 8

salt flat 10   salt flat 7

Imagine what it feels like, sleeping on salt beds, sitting on salt chairs and even eating at salt tables. And while no one can deny how beautiful everything in this hotel is, that beauty is nothing compared to the view…

salt flat 13.  salt flat 11

The salt flats are so white and clear they often show a perfect reflection of the sky and the objects above them. In fact, because the Salar is so flat and has such a strong reflection, similar to that of ice sheets, it is used for calibrating the distance measurement equipment of satellites in space!

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The white, endless flats also offer visitors a unique opportunity to take some truly mind bending pictures. With no other objects in sights, the human eye loses its ability to establish a proper field of depth. The results are some of the most creative and bizarre pictures you will ever see…

salt flat 15.   salt flat 17

The salar is truly a place like no other, a magical kingdom of salt and beauty where one can drive on the endless flats and see the sky both above and below him. It is just one of many places on earth that prove that beauty has no rules and that nature always has one more trick up her sleeve.

Sigh, yet another item to add to my bucket list. At this rate, I won’t be able to live long enough to get through half of items currently on that Medusa’s Head of a list.

Definitely an appreciating Mother Nature Friday!

Cheers,

Jianne

Prymal Obsession Releases Today!

Hartwood---prymal_obsessionIt’s always thrilling when your book releases. Of course, then there’s the will-anyone-buy-it anxiety followed by the suppose-everyone-hates-it trepidation. Thankfully, I have at least one good review out there courtesy The BookChick Reviews. Here’s what she had to say about Prymal Obsession:

Prymal Obsession was a wonderful installment in the Prymal series. In this story we find out more about Sidonie and Brut who are introduced in book one. I enjoyed the push-pull nature of their relationship. Brut tried to push Sid away at every turn but she pulled him with her “sunshine.” Both Brut and Sidonie bore series bruises from their past. Sid came from her horrible upbringing from absentee parents. Brut’s came from the slaughter of his mate and his pack. He swore that he would avenge them which is why he pushed Sid away — she was much too tempting for him. But Brut succame to his desire for Sid. His plan was simple…he would have a physical affair with her until they found her friend and figured out had taken him. But as Brut gave Sid his body, he gave her his heart as well, although he fought it tooth and nail. I appreciated how Carlo crafted the story so that it was not an insta-love kind of deal. Sure, those stories have their place in fiction; however, the fight to get to love makes the story even more enjoyable. I am greatly enjoying the direction of this series.

 

I’m an ostrich kind of author on release day. Basically, I hunker down, refuse to check bookseller sales rankings, and immerse myself in a curent WIP. So, today I’m working simultaneously on Prymal Passion (Bandit’s tale),  a new story based in the Caribbean, and my still unnamed Viking series.

In my last newsletter, I’d asked for suggestions on the title for this new Viking series. Karen Anderson, one of my readers, suggested The Warriors of Ragnarök. I love this title and am definitely going to use it. So, Karen, you get to star in this new series. I’ll email you so we can discuss the details. Cristina Machado also suggested Viking Realms and I’m tucking that title away as a possibility for a future Viking series.

Anyone know of a good calendar plugin for WordPress? My current one is so cumbersome that I avoid it like the plague.

Ah, shoot, I’m wandering all over the place today. Put it down to nervousness and forgive me. Have a great Thor’s Day!

Cheers,

 

Jianne

RedZ World Reviews!

It’s the day before Prymal Obsession releases, and I awaken to this awesome review of Prymal Lust from Redz World reviews. Don’t forget Prymal Obsession is available for pre-order at Amazon:  tinyurl.com/oh9uz2m

Just couldn’t resist tooting my own horn on this hump day!

Sunday, September 28, 2014
logo - REDZ World Reviews - Recommended read.

Recommended Read- Prymal Lust by Jianne Carlo
Title: Prymal Lust
Series: Prymal Book 1
Author: Jianne Carlo
Genre:    Paranormal Romance, Horror, Shapreshifter
(M/F, violence, oral sex)
Page Count: 116
Reviewer: Cassiopeia
Buy link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-prymallust-1588142-340.html

 Prymal_Lust-Jianne_Carlo-200x320Review of book:

You know you have a winner when you’re reading a book and feverishly begin plotting how much time you’re going to have to wait until the next installment of the series comes out. Prymal Lust had been recommended to me by more than one friend, and yet I hesitated to read and review the first installment in Jianne Carlo’s Prymal series.  What an idiot I was. Prymal Lust was well written, suspenseful, and chock full of just the type of guy that I like: an alpha male that will move heaven and earth for his woman.  Except when her safety is at risk.  And let me tell you, Tania was in trouble of some sort more than she was out of it, so there were moments when she and her mate, Axe were at odds. Even then, I loved how Ms. Carlo allowed the characters to have a realistic discussion and work things through.

Tania Prakov, as a Wylfen, appears to be part of the aristocracy in the shifter world.  One where, if you don’t fit their narrow ideal of perfection, you can be assured that you’ll be hunted to the point of death.  Even having been brought up with this myopic ideal, Tania struggled with the traditional role of wife and uterine production engineer (read: baby maker) she was being groomed to play.  Desiring more out of life, she was allowed to attend culinary school and have a career that was independent of her family’s dreams for her. She’s also no prude, having taken lovers (all human) during her time living apart from her family, but she’s discreet, careful that no hint of her alternate life reach anyone in the Wylfen community.

Then Axe happens.

Axe is her twin brother, Jaz’s SEAL instructor and happens to be a feral wolf.  The irony that Tania is his mate, and as such,knowing that casual physical contact would be deadly to them, is not lost on him.  His struggle to do what he thought would be best for Tania vs. what instinct (initially) was driving him towards, was interesting to watch.  He came across as a no-nonsense, kick-your-ass-now, ask-questions-later kind of guy, but surprised me with the depth of conscience and compassion he demonstrated towards his mate.  He genuinely wanted Tania to be happy, and within reason was willing to do whatever it took to achieve that with her.  Too often in these types of stories, you see one partner in the pairing giving in to the point of ridiculousness, and the other one inflexible as concrete.  Not the case withPrymal, and it gave me another reason to love the book.When Tania was in the wrong, she’d say so, even when she had to take time and work things through for herself before admitting it.

I didn’t even mind their instant bonding, as I felt that it was explained well enough in the story’s premise to be believable, and it actually helped ratchet up their sexual tension for me.  Believe me, even though the couple “do the dance with no pants”very early on in the book, it in no way diminishes their chemistry throughout the duration.  The author knew exactly what balance of emotion and smut to throw in the mix to ensure that I’d be fanning myself religiously every time Tania and Axe got busy.

I’ll say it again – I LOVED Prymal Lust, and heartily recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of paranormal/military/alternate history genres.  I can’t wait for the next installment to be released, because the secondary characters in this book were engaging, intriguing and hotter than hell.  Jianne Carlo has me hooked; and I don’t care one bit. You might initially pick this story up for the panty dropping alpha male hero, but you’ll devour it to the last page because of its well written characters and multi-layered plot.

logo - REDZ 5 shooting stars

Five Shooting Stars!!

I hope your hump day started as well as mine 🙂

Cheers,

 

Jianne

Nice Girls Writing Naughty – Teacher’s Pet Scavenger Hunt!

TeacherPetBadgeThe Nice Girls Writing Naughty blog group (of which yours truly is a member) are doing a super-sexy scavenger hunt for September. As you may know, every month one of us NGNW ladies hosts a FUN event filled with drool-worthy studs, sizzling excerpt, and—PRIZES.

This month the lovely Dakota Trace is throwing the party. With the kiddos going back to school, Livvy and Dakota have come up with the notion having each of the NGWN gals post one of our yummy heroes as our Teacher’s Pet and share juicy tidbits of what he might have been like in school.

GRAND PRIZE is a $50 AMAZON GIFT CARD

MY PRIZE IS a eCopy of PRYMAL LUST & a $5 AMAZON GIFT CARD

Other NGNW Author’s Prizes are:

BOTH “Secrets of Stone” books
5 eBookCopies of Sinful Rewards 1
eBook copies of Twice the Chances, Twice the Ecstasy
eBook copies of Finding Her Rhythm and Settling the Score
eBook copy of Just a Little More and $5 Amazon gift card
eBook copies of Kitty Kitty, Bang Bang and $5 Amazon gift card
e eBook copy of A Haught Date
eBook copies of Uncollared and His Kind of Woman
eBook copy of Tiger Tiger
$15 All Romance Gift Card

To win the GRAND PRIZE all you have to do is the following:
1. Check out the Form on the NGNW website which lists all the answers you need from each author’s website.
2. Fill in the form with the answers.

Collect all the names from the various stops, enter them into the form and for each name supplied – you get one entry for the GRAND PRIZE. Hit all 14 of our blogs and comment on the main post….well that’s 15 entries.

To win MY PRIZE all you have to do is:
1. Leave a comment here (please say NO if you DON’T want to be added to my newsletter list).

Winners will be announced on Monday, 29 here on my blog, on each NGNW author’s blog,  and on the NGNW blog.

Please note: the onus is on the winner to contact each author and the NGNW blog (if they won the GRAND PRIZE) either via a comment, or via email within 5 days of the announcement, otherwise another winner will be chosen. My email is: [email protected]

My pet is Axe Richard Smith, the shifter SEAL hero of Prymal Lust.

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Isn’t he drool-worthy?

Instead of describing Axe, I decided to give you a sample of what the reviewers have to say about Axe:

He is alpha, he is strong physically and mentally and he’s hotter than the sun. Lari, Romancing The Book

The characters are amazing, with a kick-ass heroine and a to-die-for hero. Really, Axe is the alpha of the alphas. He is dominant when he must be, but he is comfortable enough with himself to let his female shine. Isabelle, The Romance Reviews

I loved Axe! He was all that you would expect from a dominant military man (SEAL), but the soft vulnerable side that went along with it, was perfect. Midnight Attic Reader

Check out Axe’s Fast Five Facts and don’t forgot to comment at the end of the post for my blog prize.

FAST FIVE FACTS:
1. I was voted the: Most likely to be a Navy SEAL—everyone was SO right!
2. When I went through Hell Week during BUD/S, I passed the underwater test by a hair’s breath. After I earned my Trident, I voluntarily redid Hell week and passed with room to spare.
3. On Friday nights, you’d have found me training in the gym.
4. In high school I joined the ROTC from the get go.
5. I was a guard for my high school football team, The Tullalulah Tigers. Go Tigers!

Couldn’t resist giving you a SNEAK  preview of Prymal Obsession, Book Two in the PRYMAL series:

Blog links on the hunt:

Angel Payne        Cynthia Sax         Dakota Trace

Dani Wade        Ella Sheridan        Harlowe Wilde

Jianne Carlo       Lara Archer      Leela Lou Dahlin

Linden Hughes      Noon & Wilder      Nona Raines

Taige Crenshaw       Tina Christopher

Good Luck in the scavenger hunt!
Cheers,

Jianne