Luck of the Irish Giveaway

Hey, hey! I’m one of the sponsors of this new giveaway for March.

If you’re interested, enter the rafflecopter at the end of this post to get your name in the drawing as many times as you’d like.

It’s pretty easy. All you have to do (for my entry, for example) is subscribe to my Stuck on Love newsletter (so if you already do that, check that one off for an easy giveaway entry).

Hothouse Flower

BOOK THREE IN THE SOUND OF SILENCE SERIES IS NOW AVAILABLE!

Yea!!! I’m so excited! I absolutely LOVE these books

Did you miss Book One, STONE SILENCE?

No worries. It’s FREE for five days, Jan. 1-5!!!

Grab it on AMAZON. You won’t regret it!!! 

Fall Book Giveaway

 

Fall Into Books $250 Giveaway

September 23rd to October 15th

I Am a Reader and a bunch of other bloggers and authors (including ME) have joined together to bring you one fabulous prize!!

A $250 Amazon Gift Code or you can choose to receive $250 in Paypal Cash.

Whoohoo! Isn’t that awesome?

2015 Reading Summary

Reading is a huge part of my life. That, along with writing, is where a good portion of my time goes. As I looked over my Goodreads stats for 2015, I smiled as book images and memories came to mind. There are so many good books to read. I wish I had time to read even more than I did. There’s just a smorgasbord for my senses.

Year in Review

I read 117 books last year. That wasn’t as high as 2014, but I didn’t think it was half bad. Now before you feel bad about your reading compared to mine, I will admit that I’m a skimmer. That’s how I get

Books & Cake (Win-Win)

 

In honor of Valentine’s Day and the angels in Of Love & Magic, Christina Dymock with Hungry Family has created an amazing chocolate angel cake recipe. I can’t wait to try it out.

Just Breathe!

This book is discounted through September 7th. Taylor Dean is one of my favorite authors, so if you’ve wanted to read her books before and haven’t yet…now’s a great time to get this dollar deal. Hope you enjoy! Read my review of I Have People HERE.

This past week brought lots of happy surprises for my family. My oldest got engaged to an awesome guy I love so much, and my 2nd daughter received her mission call to Seoul, Korea. I’m pretty excited for both of them…although it means my life will be super, super busy for the next 2-4 months getting them both ready. Yikes! [Breathe deeply! I can do this]

I just got back from a camping trip and have loads of laundry to do so my house doesn’t smell like a campfire.  [Breathe deeply…without choking on campfire scent. I can do this]

Good, Bad, and Ugly Reviews

Image via Wikipedia

My husband recently downloaded a book based upon the reviews.  The 5 star ratings made it seem like this was one of the most well written books in history.  It was the right genre–starting life over in a post-apocalyptic world–KABOOM!  Good MAN stuff.  How could he go wrong?

Well, when a review is vague or outright lies, you can go very wrong.  My husband finished the book, but he complained the whole time about what a cheesy, terrible, boring plot it was…and wondered why it was called The Mission.  He was done and didn’t know what mission those bozo characters had done.  And there were mutant mind-reading goats in the story–in fact, they were a central part of it…but nowhere in the reviews were they mentioned.

Inside a Dog—Don’t even go there!

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx

Thank you, Groucho, for your profound wisdom.  I happen to agree…but for a different reason.  I also think inside a dog would be very STINKY!  At least my dog.  I can hardly stand her to breathe on me, so I can’t imagine reading a book inside her.

It would be warm though.

Do you know that some people brush their dog’s teeth? I’m not one of them.  Sorry.  It just isn’t my thing.  I think bad breath is part and parcel to being a dog…and I don’t want Ginger getting any wild ideas that she’s a Hollywood prima donna by brushing her teeth for her.  I’m no dog’ slave.  She already thinks she’s a Sled dog.  I don’t want to confuse her anymore.

Write a Letter Week! (and a little about the Grunt that makes it all happen)

This week (the 2^nd week in January) has been designated WRITE A LETTER WEEK.  I don’t know who gets the job of making up these weird holidays and tribute weeks and months…all I know is that I envy them.  How fun it would be to go to work each day and just think up nonsense to celebrate.

• Boss:  What’s a good holiday?
• Grunt:  How ‘bout Pick Your Nose Day?
• Boss:  Sounds great!  I think it should be this month…because I need an excuse to…er…well…never mind.
• Grunt:  How ‘bout January 9^th…because Ninth and Nose start with the letter N?
• Boss:  That’s a great reason!  How about I give you a raise!  You ‘re going to hurt your brain thinking so hard.
• Grunt:  Thanks sir!  I think I’ll change today to Give Your Boss a High Five Day!

Life on Hold–or Kidnapped by Books

When I read a book, something scary happens!  I get KIDNAPPED.

It’s not scary for me.  I have the time of my life, I can assure you.  But for my family who sees my body sitting on the couch reading a book, but cannot reach me no matter how hard they try…because I’ve been kidnapped into another dimension…it’s a little scary.

This doesn’t happen with every book I read…just the REALLY, REALLY good ones.  Mediocre books don’t suck me in and I’m able to hear what’s going on around me and answer questions and stop for a moment to empty the dryer when it rings, and pay attention to the clock so I know when to fix meals.

But if I get hold of a REALLY, REALLY good book…my home and family suffers.  The book literally kidnaps my mind…and my life is put on hold until I am ransomed.