Blog Archives
Summer Update
Hi all! Sorry I’ve been MIA again… It’s been a cray-cray year so far, and things have gone from one bad thing to another so fast that most times I feel like I can’t keep up…
But I haven’t been lax. I’ve kept doing whatever it is that I do, just a bit slower than usual.
And I have a new project that has been taking up quite a bit of my undivided attention. I’d love for you to take a chance and check it out…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/645968498/five-for-the-road-an-adventure-story
Alot of time has been going into editing this book, so I’d love it to get a little attention.
On another note, it is our local library system’s Summer Reading program, so stay tuned for updates from my reading list – I’m behind on posting my reviews, but not on writing them. Tomorrow I’ll share images and updates on my shelves and reading stack…
Also I’ve been hitting the learning curve hard as I find myself in crash courses about computer updates and such while dealing with a connection issue on the borrowed laptop I use, and have found myself returning to “Ol’ Trusty”, my old heavy-duty Toughbook. I find myself amazed at the issues of Windows 10, and the durability of Windows XP.
Finally, I learned today that I was supposed to have taken a language class. I don’t know when that was, so I’ll find out more tomorrow. I may be opening a new chapter (pun intended) in my reading life! How exciting!
Anyways, just wanted to let you all know I’m still alive and still reading! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update and be sure to check out the Kickstarter!
Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!
To all of my friends and followers…
~*~
And for anyone still on the fence needing their last last minute something…
Their website says:
Star in your own personalized romance novel
In our novels, any couple can play the starring roles as hero or heroine. With 50+ books and ebooks set in exotic locations around the world, there’s something for everyone (even vampire, detective, golf and historical fiction). Our authors blend action and romance to produce fun, campy books for a one-of-a-kind gift or keepsake. Choose “Categories” to narrow in on yours!
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to or involved with this product.
~*~
As to my writing projects… I have decided to go with a Day One approach tomorrow. Day One, starting over. Today, I got some stuff to get caught up on to clear my plate. Tomorrow though, first thing. (This is more a pep talk for myself than anything.)
~*~
Reading Updates:
Finished a few books, got a few that need reviewed, and a few current updates.
To start with,
Pg 102 –
In general, people save their warranties in clear folder files or accordion-style files. The attraction of these files is that the documents can be stored in separate compartments. However, therein lies their pitfall.
~*~
Stay tuned, y’all…
Quotes and Updates – February 8
Had a wild weekend… Okay, not really. Got a new planner, started a new diet (medically required), got some coloring books, and finished one of my books while picking up on another.
I also visited the library. Yay! I get there so infrequently anymore, that I’m starting to feel like a stranger.
But I am back on track again today.
~*~
So, you remember those two books that I kept trying to finish last week? Yeah. Both went back to the library, although only one of them got finished.
For reference, those two are:
Anyone wanna guess which was which? No fear, I’ll be posting a review of the winner later tonight.
As for what I am currently working on, there are two – one is due today, and the other high on that list, too. Any guesses which is which?
For reference, they are…
One of these will get finished and reviewed today, too. Two reviews in one day??
Yessss…
~*~
And I know you’ve got a whole week to plan, now, but going to keep this up until the day before Valentine’s, because they also do e-books, in case you need a last minute something.
Their website says:
Star in your own personalized romance novel
In our novels, any couple can play the starring roles as hero or heroine. With 50+ books and ebooks set in exotic locations around the world, there’s something for everyone (even vampire, detective, golf and historical fiction). Our authors blend action and romance to produce fun, campy books for a one-of-a-kind gift or keepsake. Choose “Categories” to narrow in on yours!
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to or involved with this product.
~*~
As to my writing projects, I didn’t get anything done. Except planning. I did do some planning. Quite a bit, actually. Now I just need that carrot and stick…
~*~
Reading Updates:
~*~
Stay tuned, y’all…
Quotes and Updates – February 4
So yesterday was another set-back day. So I am up early this morning, getting things done, and kicking my sleep habit. We got stuff to do, and sleep is a luxury.
~*~
This morning I am going to try to finish those two books that are weighing so heavily on me. And maybe one or two others. We’ll see.
For reference, those two are:
Both good books. And I will finish both today, and turn them in, come Hell or high water (good thing I live on a hill)!
~*~
And I know I mentioned this yesterday, but going to keep this up until the day before Valentine’s, because they also do e-books, in case you need a last minute something.
Their website says:
Star in your own personalized romance novel
In our novels, any couple can play the starring roles as hero or heroine. With 50+ books and ebooks set in exotic locations around the world, there’s something for everyone (even vampire, detective, golf and historical fiction). Our authors blend action and romance to produce fun, campy books for a one-of-a-kind gift or keepsake. Choose “Categories” to narrow in on yours!
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to or involved with this product.
~*~
As to my writing projects, I didn’t get anything done.
I wound up getting visited by out of town relatives. Seems everyone wants to see me lately…
More about what I did accomplish to come…
~*~
Reading Updates:
Pg 248 –
“Anytime there is a power shift, people rumble. After you kill the first couple of challengers, you’ll be fine.”
Pg 256 –
Jennifer looked at me. “I’ll give you three wolves.”
“Why three?”
“If there is trouble, one will take custody of you and execute a retreat, while the other two will run interference.”
Pg 263 –
“If she decides that you’re not up to snuff, she’ll fix the mistake of your existence. Her words, not mine.”
“She has a high opinion of herself,” Andrea said.
“Oh yes. When she gets into a car, her ego has to ride shotgun.”
Pg 304 –
The shapeshifters didn’t believe in jails. Typical punishments were death or labor. In the rare cases when they did sentence someone to isolation, they exiles them to a remote area.
Pg 312 –
Damn near half of Atlanta must’ve seen the flag and turned out to watch the Order slug it out with the Plaguebringer. Every single one of them could die tonight and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
Pg 318 –
She started toward me, bringing her goons in a triangular formation: Beast on the left, Gale on the right, and Darkness in the center.
Pg 328 –
“You’re mine. You can’t let her win. She can’t have you.”
Pg 335 –
“Next we have Clan Heavy, the large predators who don’t fit into the other packs. Wereboars, werebison, werewolverines, even a werebaboon, but most of them are bears and bears hate to be surprised. “
~*~
Time to get reading, y’all…
Quotes and Updates – February 3
So yesterday was another set-back day. So I am up early this morning, getting things done, and kicking my sleep habit. We got stuff to do, and sleep is a luxury.
~*~
This morning I am going to try to finish those two books that are weighing so heavily on me. And maybe one or two others. We’ll see.
For reference, those two are:
Both good books. And I will finish both today, and turn them in, come Hell or high water (good thing I live on a hill)!
~*~
And I know I mentioned this yesterday, but going to keep this up until the day before Valentine’s, because they also do e-books, in case you need a last minute something.
Their website says:
Star in your own personalized romance novel
In our novels, any couple can play the starring roles as hero or heroine. With 50+ books and ebooks set in exotic locations around the world, there’s something for everyone (even vampire, detective, golf and historical fiction). Our authors blend action and romance to produce fun, campy books for a one-of-a-kind gift or keepsake. Choose “Categories” to narrow in on yours!
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to or involved with this product.
~*~
As to my writing projects, I didn’t get anything done.
I wound up getting visited by not one, but two visitors, and had to watch the new episode of Shannara.
More about what I did accomplish to come…
~*~
Reading Updates:
Pg 101 –
The notation stated that the parchment was found inside the amulet and it was blank. Whooptidoo.
Pg 132 –
The night was freezing and I took Karmelion, my old, beat-up truck of a bile green color. It was missing the front light assembly and had more dents than a crushed Coke can, but it ran during magic waves and it would keep me warm. It also made enough noise to wake the dead, but I didn’t care. Being warm won.
Pg 163 –
I had to keep Saiman alive. I needed him to help me with my petition, and I had extended the Order’s protection to him when I agreed to this idiotic date.
Pg 170 –
He saw me and changed direction in midleap. That’s right. Come let me kiss you with my fist, baby.
Pg 177 –
I raised myself on the elbow to kick it off and caught sight of my apartment. We’d wrecked the place. “At least the building is still standing.”
“I pride myself on restraint,” he said.
Pg 187 –
“How many women have you slept with?”
“Well, are we counting long-term partners or one-night stands?”
Pg 196 –
The golem shuddered. One huge columnar leg lifted and stepped forward, shaking the floor.
Pg 216 –
“Erra makes plagues. In ancient times, she walked before Roland’s army. She’d pass through the place and the next morning there would be nothing but corpses.”
Pg 224 –
“What were your children like?”
“Impulsive. And violent. I mostly made boys, and they tended toward the simple pleasures in life: drinking, whoring, and fighting, preferably all three at once.”
~*~
Time to get reading, y’all…
Quotes and Updates – February 2
So yesterday my good friend, Brendan Johnson reviewed a book that I had been pushing him to read – Dress for Sexcess. It was, as he likes to put it, a snark-fest. As much as I wanted to hear his thoughts, and more or less knew what he was thinking, it was still fun to read, and had me and my consort laughing as we read it.
You can read it too, right here. He refers to my own review that you can find here, or posted in the tabs above under Adult Advisory and GoodReads First Reads. I had gotten this book from the GoodReads First Reads program, and am on a private mission to get this book into the hands of as many daring reviewers as possible.
*Please note, since I got this book from GoodReads, I am only posting the links to the GoodReads reviews of this. You can also find my review on LeafMarks, although it has not been updated yet. More sites to follow, probably today.
~*~
This morning I got an overdue notice for two library books. Ye-ouch. I try not to hang onto library books too long – I know other people want to read them, too. But I hate returning a book partly read. So you will likely see quite a few updates as I read them today.
For reference, they are:
Both good books, but what I call ‘kitty porn’ or ‘fighter porn’ (privately, of course).
So I will be on a readerly mission to finish both today, and turn them in. Be prepared for updates!
~*~
Speaking of porn, on the radio this morning, I heard about a tantalizing little suggestion for your bookish honey…
Their website says:
Star in your own personalized romance novel
In our novels, any couple can play the starring roles as hero or heroine. With 50+ books and ebooks set in exotic locations around the world, there’s something for everyone (even vampire, detective, golf and historical fiction). Our authors blend action and romance to produce fun, campy books for a one-of-a-kind gift or keepsake. Choose “Categories” to narrow in on yours!
Too cool, right? I’m thinking of getting one, just to try it out. They’re a bit pricey, but no more so than a nice dinner out.
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to or involved with this product.
~*~
As to my writing projects, I didn’t get anything done.
I knew it was an ambitious goal, but got a call, and wound up tied up on the phone yesterday with people calling and being called to let them know about a former neighbor of mine that died suddenly of cancer. It was stunning news for alot of us that didn’t know he had it.
Public service announcement time: if you got something going on that ain’t right, get it checked out. Better safe than sorry. He left behind a year-old baby and young wife. This is the second situation that I have heard of the exact same thing.
I also spent alot of time calling my own doctor to schedule my treatments. The scheduling keeps getting pushed back and falling between the cracks, so I felt that this was a kick in the pants that I needed to stop kicking back and waiting for treatment, and taking a more proactive approach.
Today I will work further on my writing, catching up. This was one of the reasons I refused to add page goals or word counts.
You can follow more of this conversation here.
~*~
Reading Updates:
Pg 76 –
A thin streak of white smoke curled from the blade. It could be something, or it could be just Slayer reacting to me being pissed off out of my mind.
Pg 85 –
“Things made total sense: the rakshasas had to have gotten Roland’s sword from somewhere, and who better to give it to them than Roland’s Warlord, Hugh?”
~*~
Busy time, y’all…
Star Wars, Movies, and Funny Business
So I might be spending more time here, writing review (which badly needs done), posting opinions (which might need done), and wasting time (which absolutely don’t need done, but I do anyways).
GoodReads, my favorite time-wasting site has applied new formatting updates, and they are not up to my likings. So, until either I get used to the changes, or they make changes I can live with, I will be spending less time there.
I have also been spending more time on another favorite that I abandoned a while back, fully intending to quit, but didn’t… ChickenSmoothie! So much fun, and I love giving away stuff at this time of year.
The other day when we stopped by Barnes & Noble, my daughter decided that she wanted something, and I believe in gimmes – that little thing you buy your kids when you go to the store so they behave and don’t ask for the expensive big thing – but her daddy don’t. So when she asked for the Snow Sleigh, and her daddy said ‘no’, she had a mini-meltdown. I tried to do the ol’ bait-n-switch, with a little tinker thing, but she wasn’t havin’ it. At all.
Until I mentioned Star Wars, and we wound up picking this:
This little girl loves anything Star Wars right now, and that just makes her daddy’s heart melt, so I knew he couldn’t say ‘no’ to this. Sucker!
Later, we watched Tyrion Lannister run around New York with Jupiter Jones while searching for Patch Adams in:
This was a moving, touching, sometimes funny movie. A real tearjerker, so make sure to cuddle with someone you care about, have a fresh box of tissues handy, and plan on telling at least one person you love them after contemplating your own mortality.
Because, what would you do if you only had 90 minutes to live?
Me?
I’d finish a good book.
Catching Up With Reviews
I am working on catching up with my reviews again, so this page is going to go through alot of transformations in the next few days. Feel free to check back often and click on the covers for their reviews. If a cover doesn’t take you to a review right away, check back in a day or two – I may not have finished it yet.
I post short reviews with the link back to the full reviews on many sites:
and introducing: NetGalley (for select titles)
Posting all of the reviews at approximately the same time takes a little time in itself. I try to make sure each is given equal love. To write and post a review takes about an hour, although depending on distractions, it can take longer. Some books it is hard to say something about, and others I can’t say enough, but each review takes a chunk of time. I try to make it worthwhile, for me and anyone who reads this.
That said, I also have a bit of literary events and interests that I post about from time to time, and since I travel for work, I may get to share locations like this:
Yes. That is a tunnel made from books. (There will be more photos later.)
I also attend some fascinating events that pertain to literature – in some cases remotely, some directly. Like this one:
#Thinkitup
And I am continuing my reading challenge – are you still reading along? I’ll be posting my selections for each category soon, and would like to know what you have read…
Finally, this is the year I have declared to be The Year of Women Authors (#yearofwomenauthors #2015YoWA). I have read books by men and women, but have tried to find books with an emphasis of women. This has expanded my usual reading choices, and encouraged me to release my own story for publication –
So continue reading along, and I’ll have more exclusives coming your way soon!
Baby Donald Makes a Snowfriend
Read: 20 September 2015
Punky Brewster (#1)
Read: 19 September 2015
Cheese & Quackers
Read: 18 September 2015
Behind…
Okay, so I have fallen tragically behind on my reviews, although I have been reading still. It’s just that time of the summer, where the kids are getting bored with summer, errands and chores that were put off at the beginning of summer need doing, and everyone wants a piece of your time – so the constantly growing list starts to look daunting. (This sounds like the good premise of a short story…)
But, I am not to be put off, even if the task is challenging – it just needs to be re-imagined and put into a different format to make it easier to read (or do).
So, without further ado, the list of books that will be pending review (please note that links to the reviews will be available as the reviews become complete):
The Diggingest Dog
Read June 22 2015
Let’s Go To The Park!
Read June 23 2015
(picture currently not available)
Splat the Cat: The Big Helper
Read June 24 2015
The Pudgy Pat-A-Cake Book
Read June 25 2015
The Guardian Herd: Starfire
Read June 26 2015
In The Blood (A GoodReads First Read)
Read June 27 2015
The Walking Dead: Volume 1: Days Gone Bye
Read June 28 2015
96 Cats
Read June 29 2015
(picture not currently available)
All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat
Read June 30 2015
Ignite
Read July 03 2015
Sailor Moon 3
Read July 05 2015
Biscuit Goes to School
Read July 06 2015
(picture not currently available)
Fifty Shades of Chicken
Read July 06 2015
Charlie’s Dirt Day
Read July 07 2015
Birthday in the Barrio
Read July 08 2015
Bad Cat
Read July 13 2015
New Dad (A GoodReads First Read)
Read July 13 2015
Book of the Week
Thought I’d get this out a little early this week since I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, and I’ve been late enough as it is. Besides, I don’t think any book will outshine this as my Pick of the Week:
By: Shenoa Carroll-Bradd
A lively, rollicking romp around an alternate Victorian London, filled with steam, surprises, and sudden bouts of lightning fill this book with head-shaking, laugh-inducing semi-drama that begs to be read in one sitting and cries out for a sequel!
(Please, please, please write a sequel!!! And can I be a character, too?)
Highly recommended!
