Anyone else having trouble logging on tonight?  I get  a message saying "Service Unavailable" whether I use Chrome or IE.

Robin Williams died this afternoon...

I am a very sad panda right now - he is (I guess I should say was) one person who could always make me laugh.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=881799

RIP Mork

It's the heat. And the humidity.

But thank goodness it's a clammy, wet, dirty sort of disgusting urban heat + collective crowd sweat humidity here in NYC.
Couldn't be just one or the other. Of course not. Why go small?

Not gonna lie. I've decided to get all European on August and
hereby declare this entire month moot.

And ridiculous for working.

Please join me in in my mind staycation.
There, we'll be lolling about in a quaint knotted hammock...
as the breezes kiss our bare feet & playfully ruffle our sun-kissed hair...
when we may or may not muster up enough energy to tap some
tropical topics relevant to peeks of something sneaky called fanfiction.

Decisions, decisions. They take time. And effort. Ergo, we don't like them.

Do we hit 'enter' - or do we squeeze a lime wedge to make that latest cocktail perfection?
Do we wonder what's for dinner - or do we merely beckon the pool boy to ask Cook
before our afternoon massage? 

*Little fun fact: evidently, it takes up to five highly qualified & uniformed professionals
to thoroughly maintain your pool area. Who knew?* 

More important: does my new nail polish compliment
the plumeria blossoms just beyond our deck?

If you have more energy than I do, please post a tantalising tidbit to tempt even the most languid of mental lanai loungers into lifting a finger to read all about Edward's singer. (Although at this point, I'm just happy my blood is still pumping... much less belting out showtunes
to beckon any bouffant boy vamps not already in the Hamptons or on the Cape.)

Don't forget to post an excerpt & a live link to your story.

And this just in: there's always one
in every bunch, isn't there?

Above AP photo picked up of ValWaltzing paddling wildly to the other side of our island, where rumour has it
The Professor has set up some coconut-and-curly-wire receptor thing to snag Starz signals
in time for the next Outlander episode.
Well, at least I hope she brings back some bananas. Or more bananas, I should say.

The Cullens were forced to move frequently in order to avoid detection or exposure as vampires.  (Yes, of course this is the obligatory paranormal tie-in, as shameless and unoriginal as it is.)

Even though I happily transplanted to the Midwest 15 years ago, I will always remain a Southerner at heart. I usually don't think about the differences until they smack me in the face (like the lack of good sweet tea, inferior BBQ and the Midwestern obsession with garages and basements). But when I travel, I realize how different each state/region really is, despite the many similarities and our national identity as "American." 

When you travel, or if you've moved, what do you miss the most about "home?"  What do you like best about the "new" area?  What differences really make you take notice?  (For non-American campers, please share regional differences within your own country!)

Welcome to the Monday Morning Hot Guy Campfire. What better way to start your week than a hot guy?

Every Monday, I'm going to dedicate a CF to the Hot Guy of the Week.The catch? The CF can ONLY be about the current nominated guy. 

We all have different tastes in men, so please don't yuck anyone's yum.If you have a man you'd like to see crowned for the week, PM or hit me up on twitter (@ffcherry) with his name

Finally got home after a very fun (and very impromptu) visit to St. Louis this weekend (which was supposed to have been an impromptu visit to Chicago).

(This post is brought to you by an overcast Gateway to the Midwest and the best daggone BBQ outside the State of North Carolina!  And no, I didn't eat it all, but I sure did give it a try.)

Previews for next week!!  His back, omg.  His BACK.  Honestly, though, I thought it would be a lot worse.  

Doesn't he look like he's having naughty thoughts?
 

CAN YOU BELIEVE I DIDNT' SEE THE PREMIERE THIS WEEKEND??!
(never mind that I've already seen it 3 or 20 times)

Did you watch it?  Do you like BBQ?  Do you think Jamie would like BBQ?

After a bit of time posting Sneak Peek Mondays, I've come to a hunch and a sincere question:
 

Perhaps we should be talking Sneak Peek Thursdays or Fridays?
Are we hanging it out at the wrong end of the week?

Today, for instance, my inbox is flooded with new chapters. The weekends seem to be when most authors understandably have both the time and material to bite the bullet, bite their lip & finally hit send hard.

So: if authors have something a lot closer to completion later in the week - excerpts of which they may feel more comfortable semi-posting closer to actual posting - wouldn't that still serve the purpose of a teaser...
with more potential participation & exposure for writers and their stories?

Although I obviously have fun coming up with absurd Sneak Peek themes, the main goal here
is to provide fanfic writers with a safe, loose, interesting & timely place
where they may mildly advertise their current WIP 
without feeling too self-conscious pushing themselves or their story forward. 

I'd love to help excite & incite more readers to either check out their favourites or to be reminded
of a story and author they've been meaning to finally check out as well. 

What say you? 

Any and all comment or collective brainstorming - positive, negative, yes-I-love-your-tuna-surprise-as-I'm-feeding-it-under-the-table-to-the-poor-doggie-who-can't-help-himself - is most welcome and appreciated.

Feed Your E-Reader

(mostly) weekly campfire

Please post all the fabulous deals you've found this week. And if you pick up a book from a comment inside, please let your fellow campers know you did.

This CF is open to all genres and all book deals.

And don't forget to feed the trees, yeah?

Holy Smokes, he looks hot!!!!

Rob's still got it. Sometimes I think he enjoys toying with us and our fanfic fantasies. How about you?

Anne Rice's 'Vampire Chronicles' to be developed by Universal as potential film franchise

Hopefully Universal will do the franchise justice, because the last film sucked so hard.

Who should Hollywood cast for the series?!?!

As much as I know that RPattz will rather do anything else than up into another vampire series, his broody face/mannerism will make a wonderful Louis de Pointe du Lac.

As for Lestat, Tom Cruise make be cray cray these days, but his Letat was perfect and I'll be hard pressed to see someone topping his awesomeness.

I'm officially challenging you shy, hidden, lurking campers

to come out of hiding and post your very first ever Campfire.  

(or respond to this post and tell us what you want to talk about)

YOU CAN DO IT!

Like hanky-panky, it's scary the first couple of times, 

but if it doesn't kill you, you might find you like it. :-)

EVEN I CAN'T TALK ABOUT OUTLANDER ALL THE TIME, PEOPLE!!

So come on, I KNOW there are Campers out there who have

something they'd like to talk about but just don't want to dive in. 

DOOOOOOOO   EEEEEEEET.  

(Also, wtvoc promised to send you all brownies, Juniper Jenny will help you design your own X-men/woman, and abellebiter promises she can expand your vocabulary in just 5 easy steps!
Then again, I could be making some of that up.)

What will it take to get our lurking friends out of the shadows?

It's time for a

Post 

with a 

I want you to answer some questions using songs

You can either just give the song name + artist

or post the video, It'sup to you

Come on in + see the questions

OK, so yesterday I was all
"The world doesn't need another Bruce Jenner!!"

and

But today ...
(peek inside)

(I tried to abstain, but Juniper Jenny was jonesing for more SAMMF
and she cheers me up with adorable pictures of her
babies, so I can't deny her.  I might also be lying about 
the SAMMF part.  The 2nd part is true, though.)

Let's talk about Guardians of the Galaxy. Has anyone seen the movie yet? If so, what did you think? I've heard great things about it. It seems Marvel just gets better and better as they go.

Talk to me, folks :)