Monthly Archives: September 2013

Many Monday Plans – Monday Meme 9/30/13

Many Monday Plans. My Monday Meme.

What the heck am I going to do this week? Time for a plan. Oops, I should have done that last night – make a plan I mean. 
You can participate in Many Monday Plans – Monday Meme.

  • List 7 planning to do items. (It is a seven-day week)
  • Share with your friends.
  • List one TIP to share.
  • Enjoy your week.
  1. Read a book. Read another book. Read another book. What only 3 books? OK, Read 2 More.
  2. Blog. Plan to blog 3 times during the week for six posts or more. Schedule the posts. Review blog. Doggie Blog. Craft Blog. – Oh yeah, take pictures for craft tutorials. New Meme coming (and I don’t mean this one). Get With the Craft Blog! So Many Crafts. http://somanycraft.blogspot.com/
  3. Write a Review. Write another Review. Write still another review.
  4. Bathe some of the dogs. Hmmm, who is stinkiest?
  5. Shred paper in the office. This could take a while.
  6. Pack boxes and move to garage. Pack more boxes. Take a hot bath.
  7. Take a nap. A girl just wants to have fun.

Book reviews awaiting my brain and fingers:
The Morac
The Starlight Chronicles
Crime Bites – finish reading.
600 Hours of Edward
Edward Adrift

           

  • Craft Projects for So Many Crafts
  • Another Easy Peasy Wreath
  • Paper Stitching
  • Products and coupons

My Tip for the week. To remove odors, for example musty dusty books removed from storage.  Place a small container filled with vinegar nearby.  Odor gone!

My silly tip. Using embroidery floss instead of dental floss doesn’t work.

 

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It’s Monday. What Are You Reading? 9/30/13

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It’s a great way to see what others are currently reading?

I finished Edward Adrift and just like 600 Hours of Edward the book was marvelous.
I am finishing several books for review. Just started a new one for review.   

Crime Bites and So Do I by Angela Lockwood. up dead all over town completely drained of blood. Are the murders random or whom/what is the common link? Does a vampire have civil rights in a human court of law? When the lead Detective is placed under surveillance, how close will she get to the new man and how much does she really know about him? How much does she even know about her own life? The two work together to bring down the murderer, uncover her past and maybe even make a future together for themselves. What twists, turns and surprises will they find along their way?

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Saturday Steals 9/28/13

SEPTEMBER CONTEST from Author Harlequin Intrigue Angi Morgan.
Register through Rafflecopter: http://bit.ly/SyCnNs

HOSTILE WITNESS (legal thriller, thriller) (The Witness Series,#1) by Rebecca Forster. Amazon Kindle Ebook FREE! Paperback is $10.30 so FREE rocks!

When sixteen-year-old Hannah Sheraton is arrested for the murder of her stepgrandfather, the chief justice of the California Supreme court, her distraught mother turns to her old college roommate, Josie Baylor-Bates, for help. Josie, once a hot-shot criminal defense attorney, left the fast track behind for a small practice in Hermosa Beach, California. But Hannah Sheraton intrigues her and, when the girl is charged as an adult, Josie cannot turn her back. But the deeper she digs the more Josie realizes that politics, the law and family relationships create a combustible and dangerous situation. When the horrible truth is uncovered it can save Hannah Sheraton or destroy them both.

“This story was inspired by a case my husband handled. As a superior court judge he had to sentence a minor to life in prison. It made me wonder how I felt about minors arrested for violent crimes. Are they most vulnerable among us – capable or horrible violence, perceived as adults and yet emotionally still children?” Rebecca Forster

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Loose Screw (Dusty Deals Mystery Series) by Rae Davies. Amazon Kindle Ebook – FREE!
Lucy Mathews, crime reporter turned antiques dealer, avoids confrontation like a home perm. She even lets a cat shove her around.

When Lucy trips over the body of a buckskin-clad relics trader, her ex-boss asks her to cover the story. She tries to tell him no, but old habits die hard and soon she finds herself directly in the path of a killer and the exasperating, if attractive, detective in charge.

 Can Lucy catch a killer or is this the last confrontation for her—period.

Also available in the series:
 

SURRENDER (The Ferryman + The Flame) by Rhiannon Paille. FREE Ebook, everywhere! Paperback list price is $17.75 so the free Ebook is a STEAL.

How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?

Kaliel was warned about her love for the Ferryman. One day he will marry the land and leave Avristar forever. She doesn’t listen, and because of what she is– a Flame– one of nine apocalyptic weapons, she sparks a war. In a desperate attempt to save her home and her love, Kaliel tries to awaken Avred, not knowing she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

STEAL! Shirley Marks is ranked #12 Author in the Amazon Historical Romance Category. She writes Traditional Regency Romance and clean Romantic Comedies. Currently working on book 5 of the Gentlemen of Worth series. Currently 5 of her books are a STEAL through the end of the month at $0.99. Start with Book 1 The Suitor List. Another Shirley Marks STEAL. Hardback list price $16.97, Kindle Ebook $0.99

At the Wild Rose Press they are having a sale. ALL digital books are 50% off. A STEAL! And at The Wilder Rose Erotic Romance site, eleven books are 50% off. A STEAL! check under specials.

cdd8d59de80c28267a4fd613b155f550_image_200x320A Holiday Garden Gourmet and other Rose Petal books are FREE! These books are short stories.

 

 

 

101 Stovetop Suppers (101 Cookbook Collection)From Gooseberry Patch. Cook book lovers. Amazon has a book with digital list price of $11.00 on sale through the end of September for $1.99. A STEAL! When schedules are busy, the time to make good, wholesome dinners often can be cut short…until now! We’ve gathered our best single-skillet meals and paired each with a full-color photo for 101 Stovetop Suppers. Not only is each one super-simple, but one pan, pot or skillet means less clean-up and more time to spend with family & friends.
Starting things off is a whole chapter dedicated to quick & simple recipes that are short on time but big on taste. Whip up a pan of Pepperoni Tortellini, Kickin’ Cajun Tilapia or Honey Chicken & Carrots in the blink of an eye. When you find yourself with a little more time to spare, try one of the slowly-simmered dishes like Low Country Shrimp Boil, Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Family-Favorite Pork Tacos…sure to be a hit with everyone. There’s also an entire chapter dedicated to recipes that make enough to feed a crowd. They’ll come in handy when entertaining or even at the holidays! When family & friends gather, you’ll love treating them to Mom’s Chicken Riggies, Hunting Cabin Chili or some Seafood Linguini with a Kick. To top it all off, each chapter has a perfect pair of dessert recipes to put the cherry on top! Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Blondies, Simple Skillet Peaches and Pineapple Pudding are all deliciously sweet & simple endings to a perfect dinner. So forget the oven and toss together dinner on the stovetop…just a skillet, pot or pan are all you need to whip up a tasty, memorable meal.

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WWW Wednesday 9/25/13

WWW_Wednesdays4To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

  • • What are you currently reading?
  • • What did you recently finish reading?
  • • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:

Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster.

It’s been a year of upheaval for Edward Stanton, a forty-two-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s lost his job. His trusted therapist has retired. His best friends have moved away. And even his nightly ritual of watching Dragnet reruns has been disrupted. All of this change has left Edward, who lives his life on a rigid schedule, completely flummoxed.

But when his friend Donna calls with news that her son Kyle is in trouble, Edward leaves his comfort zone in Billings, Montana, and drives to visit them in Boise, where he discovers Kyle has morphed from a sweet kid into a sullen adolescent. Inspired by dreams of the past, Edward goes against his routine and decides to drive to a small town in Colorado where he once spent a summer with his father—bringing Kyle along as his road trip companion. The two argue about football and music along the way, and amid their misadventures, they meet an eccentric motel owner who just might be the love of Edward’s sheltered life—if only he can let her.

Endearing and laugh-out-loud funny, Edward Adrift is author Craig Lancaster’s sequel to 600 Hours of Edward.

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chodron. Almost finished!
It’s true, as they say, that we can only love others when we first love ourselves and we can only experience real joy when we stop running from pain. The key to understanding these truisms lies in remaining open to life in all circumstances, and here Pema Chödrön shows us how. Because when we embrace the happiness and suffering, intelligence and confusion that are a natural part of life, we can begin to discover a wellspring of courageous love within our hearts.

Finished Reading:
600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster. Loved it! Review Coming

Reading Next: 2 Books for Reviews.
The Morac by Colleen M. Bratley.

Four friends just out of high school are on a weekend getaway when the power goes out. At least that’s all they thought it was. But returning home they don’t see any cars, lights or people. Not one soul.

Searching for answers to what exactly happened, reveals information leading them to an event that they wouldn’t have thought of even in their wildest dreams. It’s a realization so impossible, their nightmares dim in comparison.

Now they just have to figure out what to do next; not just to control their destiny, but how to survive it.

The Starlight Chronicles: Slumbering by C.S. Johnson.
Sixteen-year-old Hamilton Dinger is an above-average teenager. He’s got the grades for the top of the class, the abilities of a star athlete and Tetris player, and the charisma to get away with anything. Everything seems to be going along perfectly as he enters into tenth grade at Apollo Central High School. Everything, that is, until a meteor crashes into the city, unleashing a whirlwind of evil and awakening a deep, hidden power as the long battle between good and evil continues. Bringing an abrupt halt to the easygoing pace of Hamilton’s life, he and his longtime dormant supernatural powers are caught up in the middle of things when his comfort zone is turned into a war zone. On top of everything else, there’s the homecoming game, the school play, and the history test to worry about.

Can Hamilton overcome his ignorance and narrow-mindedness to see what is truly real? Can he give up his self-proclaimed entitlement to happiness in order to follow the call of a duty he doesn’t want? More importantly, will he willingly sacrifice all he has to find out the truth?

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Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Interview with Irene Helenowski.

Can you give me a Synopsis of Your Book? The book is about a graduate student names Jane Kremowski who is involved in developing a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. She could also see how her life differs in different dimensions. But trouble ensues when the villain, Anton Zelov, gains access to it.

What drove you to write this book? I was watching a special on the Discovery channel featuring theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku about the multiverse theory and became fascinated with the notion that we could really be living different lives in different dimensions within our universe.

You are a bio statistical analyst (correct me if I have your title wrong) how did that play into your writing if at all? As a biostatistician, I work with different researchers at Northwestern here in Chicago. In my book, I focus quite a bit on academia life, since that is where my career lies. I also do quite a bit with probability, which I consequently read is also part of the multiverse theory as scientists have become interested in how possible are certain events if there are indeed other dimensions.

What is your writing process? I just try to write whenever I can about whatever comes to me.

You self-published. Can you share the pros and cons of self-publication? I know many authors are considering this option. It’s a lot of hard work promoting it yourself and unfortunately, a lot of people are still weary of picking up anything self-published. But I still try my best. And so far, I like the freedom of not having to answer to a publisher. I am still entertaining the thought of going the traditional route, perhaps with my next book, however.

If you were to re-write your book or edit anything in the published version what would you change? Actually, I have just re-written the book a third time based on some criticisms I’ve received and focused on doing more showing than telling.
What is next on the horizon? Hoping to finish up the sequel 🙂

Is there any one thing you would like to share with readers? Just hope they enjoy the story 🙂

If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

Review:  Order of The Dimensions by Irene Helenowski.

Jane Kremowski is a physics graduate student at Madison State University. She is part of a team that has developed a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. After a successful testing, Jane decides to use the device. The book begins with Jane jumping from one reality to another. She ends up in different cities working at different universities on similar projects.

Dr. Anton Zelov visits the university under the guise of providing funding for further research of the Multiverser – the inter-dimensional traveling device.
Jane discovers Zelov has taken the technology her team developed and has created his own version of the Multiverser. Confused at first by Zelov’s capture of scientists at a convention, she is whisked away into a Multiverser where she discovers she is married to Zelov.

Zelov is a classic villain. He wants to create a New World Order, an Order of Dimensions. He uses different dimensions for his own evil, selfish purposes. He wants Jane, he wants power and he has a team of henchmen available to force is schemes on others.

Jane along with Randy, her husband in some dimensions, Emily, Michael and the other members of the Good Guys working for the Federation jump from dimension to dimension trying to thwart Zelov. Along the way she discovers ‘alters’ and dimensions where you can never tell who is good or bad.

A science fiction novel set in contemporary times, The Order of the Dimensions is a mesh of Sliders, Jump and Fringe. The author reveals different paths a life can take. A New World Order is a conspiracy theory in which secret elite, in this case Zelov, is conspiring to rule the world via world government and globalization.

The novel is fast paced, jumping from event to event. Helenowski’s writing style is third person omniscient driven by dialogue. The characters talk about what they are thinking and what is happening. I am not generally a fan of this method of writing as I like description and deep POV. If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

I admire writers that consider other avenues to publication. Self-publishing is a brave and confident step. Authors can make more money with a book they publish themselves but they most work diligently at self-promotion. The downside of self-pubbed books is the lack of a trained editor and copy editor. Self-publication is an entire topic for another blog.

As this is the author’s first novel I expect her to grow and improve as she works on the sequel. I feel petty mentioning that the overuse of adverbs drove me batty. It’s not like I am the queen of grammar because I fail repeatedly. Helenowski even mentions in her interview that she has rewritten based on criticisms and critiques.

Sci-Fi fans and Sci-Fi purists should consider adding Order of Dimensions to their library. And through October 31, 2013 Irene Helenowski is giving away a FREE Ebook copy of her book, follow this link: box.net link . In addition she will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for every book.

If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.
I met the author through Book Blogs and was given a copy for review. Irene Helenowski kindly answered my questions.

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Tuesday Teaser 9/24/13

Tuesday  Teasers! Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be  Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do
the following:
• Grab  your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences  from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make  sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the
book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT  participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Page 123. From an  everyday perspective, it seems good to do things that are kind of convenient;  there is no problem with that journey – which is to say, when you start to want  to live your life fully instead of opting for death when you begin to feel this  passion for life and for growth, when discovery and exploration and curiosity become your path – then basically, if you follow your heart, you’re going to find that it’s often extremely inconvenient.
Summary from Amazon “It’s possible to say yes to life in all  its manifestations, Pema Chödrön teaches—by embracing all the happiness and  suffering, all the intelligence and confusion that are a natural part of our existence. Doing so opens a wellspring of courage and love within our hearts. In this gift edition of her first book, Pema presents traditional Buddhist  wisdom that anyone can relate to.”

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Shine On Award

shineDeanna at The Book Lovers Attic and Rose at Insights into the Wonderful World of Books  (url: http://lovetoread8.wordpress.com/ both nominated me for the Shine On Award. Yippee!

What a great pleasure to be recognized.  This has made my day. Thank you for the kindness and support.

THE SHINE ON AWARD Here are the rules of the award:

  • Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
  • Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.
  • Share seven random, interesting things about yourself.
  • Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs.

Interesting being a relative term, and frankly I rarely find myself interesting…. Here are 7 things about me. If you read my blog you may have already gleaned this information.

  1. I love dogs. I love all animals but especially dogs. Also, I am foster for DFW Pug Rescue.  I am willing to take blind and hospice dogs.
  2. I am a pack rat but am trying to go through a purge of all my pack-rattery.
  3. I enjoy word play, making up words and read the dictionary occasionally.
  4. I’m already running out of interesting things to say. I enjoy crafting. Especially jewelry making and crochet. But I also make soap, polymer clay figurines, home décor crafts.
  5. I have a blog about dogs & animals and a blog about crafting.
  6. I have a giant book collection, this is more than pack-rattery rather a deep love of the written word and freedom of speech. I had a difficult time learning to read as a child (dyslexia but when I was young we didn’t know what that was) but once I did I went gangbusters with reading.
  7. I am an animal rights activist.

Now I have really run out of things to say that are interesting. Here are the bloggers I am choosing. Please visit Deanna & Rose as well as the blogs below.

  1. Kimberly at Raven’s Ambition . I love her word play and crafting.
  2. Cleo at Cleopatra Loves Books . She is phenomenally supportive of other bloggers, entertaining and good book reviews.
  3. Rachel at RachelMankowitz The Cricket Pages. Again a supportive blogger, a fiction writer and blogs about her dog Cricket.  And she is funny drop by and read her post on Wishful Peeing. (I call it peeing on the world but have never blogged about this –  though I may write about how many dogs have to be in the bathroom when I am peeing and I Love Dogs and Animals. )
  4. Carrie at The Write Transition.  Author of The Seneca Scourge, she has a personal Mr. Nasty Pants that occasionally invades her blog.
  5. Lipsy at Lipsy Lost and Found, Judging Books by Their Covers. Lipsy loves books, vampires, unicorns, tennis and is from London.
  6. Emily at My Boyfriends Hotter Than Yours. With a blog title like that, how can you not want her to Shine On?
  7. Hutch a Good Life. About Guinea Pigs Nacho and Buddy and Basil the rabbit. Animal lovers will love visiting Hutch.
  8. The Patron Saint of Dogs .  Colleen says from Colleen. I know we can’t save every dog but what would happen to someone if they tried?

Thanks again to Deanna and Rose for nominating me!  I hope that you visit the above sites and discover new blogs and friends to share your thoughts with!

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