Gemini Rising

Boy, am I behind the power curve

It's been a very busy, hectic two weeks, so please forgive my absence.

My internet book signing went well. Thanks to everyone who popped on over to my official messageboard and supported it. I'll be hosting another Internet book signing toward the end of January for my book, ACROSS THE FICKLE WINDS OF HISTORY. As soon as I establish a date, I'll post it here and get the word out.

Sundays are usually busy for me. I teach Little Church at 10:30 in the morning for an hour at my church and I've been helping out at the babysitting co op too. That said, I'm usually not around on Sundays.

Our F150 we bought in March 2005 needed some repairs that warranty didn't cover. Brent blew a fuel line and it needed new brakes and rotors. All I can say is 'Ouch!'

On 14 Nov, I celebrated my 16th wedding anniversary. Brent and I got a babysitter and we went to our favorite French restaurant and had a nice dinner, just us. I ordered the filet mignon of course! haha. It's been over a year since we've had a date and we were really glad for the opportunity.

We tried to take family pictures for our Christmas greeting card but Joseph is at that age where's he's a fussbudget and it was hard for him to sit still. We did manage to salvage the session with a little cut and pasting though.

I've got new hours at work - 0600 pm to 0200 am. I'm getting the min. amount of sleep I can to function, but that's it.

I've been hard at work on my RHF stuff because it was our 4 year anniversary this year. RHF stands for "The Roger Howarth Factor." Roger Howarth is an actor on "As The World Turns." I remember as a young teen, back in 1984, I quickly got hooked on "As The World Turns," because my friend AlyM said Craig was a bad guy but really kinda cool (or something like that.) I was hooked and it developed my soap opera. I watched ATWT for YEARS until 1997 when I discovered "Todd Manning" over on "One Life to Live." ATWT was getting boring at that time, and I started channel flipping until I discovered the awkward "Todd Manning," played by Roger. Todd was a former rapist who didn't feel comfortable in his own skin. At the time, "Todd" was married to a character named "Tea" and while it was a marriage of convienance, the characters were slowly in their own way, falling in love. Roger was phenomianal in this role. Not many actors can grab my attention right away, but Roger's acting did. He's very good with non verbal gestures. I was hooked. He left OLTL in 2003 and joined ATWT. I switched back to ATWT, happy to watch it again.

Anyway, a bunch of us loyal Roger fans put together the RHF. It's an internet website that stresses positive support for Roger's acting career and I'm proud to say I'm a lady knight. It's really a cool, spiffy little website and if you get a chance, check it out at:

http://www.therhfactor.net

Anyhow, that's a little of how soap operas have influenced me and my life. If you've got a favorite soap, character, or actor sign in. I'd love to hear from you.


I've been trying to get ahead for the holidays because I know they'll go fast. I got cards & candies for work, and I've been bought a few Christmas gifts. First though, we've got to make it through Thanksgiving. We're planning on going up north to California wine country - the Napa/Somona counties and visiting one of Brent's aunts for the holiday. The trip will be a bear - about eight hours. Andrew will probably be good for it, but Joseph is 14 months so I'm sure he'll get carseat butt. We've got one of those DVD players in the 4Runner so I'm hoping that will help. It will be nice to get out of town for a little bit. After we get back, then it's time to gear up for Christmas. One of my favorite times of the year.

I got a great, favorable review back for "THE WOLF'S TORMENT" so I thought I'd share a little bit of it with you:

November 4th, 2007 by Andrew Ian Dodge

The Wolf’s Torment
by S. G. Cardin

I am fan of gothic horror novels, having written a few tales myself in the genre, but I do have a low tolerance for derivative novels that add nothing new to the genre. This is not one of those. Despite the fact the author has never been to places in the book; she has been in the region however, she evokes the feeling of that part of Central Europe oh so well.

The novel includes a pack of wolves, some witches and a bunch of vampires thrown in for good measure. For this story she has come up with a few legends and “facts” about supernaturals which is a nice touch. The legends of all intertwine in that part of the world; so the method used in this novel is accurate.

It reads well and does not hang around too long. There is none of the bloat that you find in modern gothic horror novels. While its plain to see that the author is a woman; from the romance aspects of the novel, there is none of the soap opera like plodding that can affect some novels in this genre. I found this far more enjoyable than the last few Anne Rice and Anita Blake novels.

The fact several of the main characters start out in London is a nice touch. The spoiled upper class girl who gets more than she bargained for is most amusing as well. Might be a lesson to some of those in the UK/US who marry Eastern Europeans without finding out who they really are first. But I digress.

Only one criticism and this is personal taste. Why does it always have to be the werewolf that is the evil one in the end? That said the author was keen to make sure her werewolves were not one-dimensional knuckle-dragging beasts.

I hope that she decided to publish this via iUniverse and its not because publishers rejected her novel. Because any publisher who rejected this novel needs to seriously have their head examined.

I enjoyed the novel immensely and was pleased to see that there will be a sequel in future. I hope that they author will include me on her review list once again. But please next time give the poor lycanthrope’s a break? The fact I stayed up past midnight two days before a scheduled operation to finish this novel speaks volumes.


Thanks, Andrew.

Well, I hope I've got you all caught up. Hopefully, I'll be able to update a lot sooner in the future.

((hugs))
Steph