Book Blog Tours

 

First I want to remind everyone about the new book, 
The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories, prepared by the BBT Cafe Authors, an online group of which I'm happy to be a member. This month, our group is on tour, promoting The Corner Cafe, and a full list of blog stops can be found by clicking the link.

I have a short story in this collection and tomorrow I will be at Pat Bean's blog, introducing the central character in my story. Actually, the central character will be introducing himself. Cheeky fellow, Frank is.

If you don't have a kindle, go to http://amzn.to/CCKindleApps
for free apps to download this book.

 

Next, I want to mention that Stephen Tremp is hosting a Breakthrough Breakout Party this week.

Today and tomorrow, June 18th and 19th, his thriller

Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhatten 

will be available as a free download from Amazon. 

Stop by his blog, say hi, and tell him thanks for your free copy.

 

Now I want to thank my blogging friend, LD Masterson, for giving me the Lucky Seven Meme. This is a bit different from other blog awards in that it asks the blogger to share from a story they are currently working on. It was fun to read LD's excerpt, and I hope you will go by her blog and read it. 

Here are the rules for the meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current manuscript

2. Go down to line 7.

3. Copy down the next 7 lines.

4. Tag 7 others. 

 

Okay, here is the excerpt from the book I just finished writing and am doing a final revision on. It is titled, Boxes for Beds. 

 

'"Heck! They don't want me. They only take babies." Mandy patted Leslie's hand and Leslie almost laughed at the motherly gesture. "Come on. Help me with my English paper."

Leslie was grateful for the diversion that ate up a couple of empty hours. But after Mandy went to bed, the loneliness and discontent settled back in like an unwelcome guest.

In those empty hours of late evening, Leslie recognized her need for someone to talk to. Being afraid and uncertain was bad enough, but having no one to share it with made it harder to bear.  There was too much silence, during which her mind was busy playing frightening games with her.

I hope Lucky Seven does not turn into bad luck, but I may not tag seven people. I know how busy everyone is, and not everyone has time to play, but here are just a few of my cyber buddies.

Morgan Mandel - who always makes time to play

Ginger Simpson - who may have time

 

Patricia Stoltey - who will probably make time to play

Guest Blogging

Today I am a guest at Ginger Simpson's blog Dishin' It Out, where I am sharing some of the back story to my new short story collection. The Wisdom of Ages.  This book was recently released by Books We Love Publishing Partners as an e-book for all reading devices.

Stop on by if you are interested in finding out how my muse gifted me with these stories and read excerpts from all three stories.

Guest Blogging

I'm a guest today on Ginger Simpson's blog, Dishin' It out. She is devoting her blog all month to topics revolving around romance to keep the spirit of Valentine's Day alive for more than just one day, and she graciously invited me to share something about romance.

I wrote about how I came up with the character of Frank, the hero in Play It Again, Sam, and how I dealt with the romance between an older couple. Now when I say older, I don't mean senior-citizen type older -- although some of them have some pretty romantic times -- but Sam and Frank are on the brink of 50. That is a little older than most of the characters in popular romance novels.

Anyway, if you get a chance, pop on over and join in the discussion about romance.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Patricia Stolty honored me with the Kreativ Blogger Award and this came as such a nice surprise. Patricia has a wonderful blog where she talks about writing and things related to Colorado authors.

Thank you so much Patricia for this recognition. Coming from someone with such an awesome blog and blog site, I am humbled.

There are rules associated with this award.

*****Rule for Passing on the Kreativ Blogger Award

It functions as a meme---list 7 of your favorite things, 7 of your favorite activities, 7 things no one knows about you.

Seven of my favorite things: family, chocolate, puzzles, animals, hamburgers, spaghetti, cookies.

Seven of my favorite activities: writing, playing guitar, acting, gardening, riding horses, watching movies, quilting.

Seven things no one knows about me: This is hard since I am pretty much out there with what I think and how I act, but I'll try to come up with something. Hmmmm...... Some people don't know I used to work for a veterinarian. Other people may not know that I am a hospital chaplain.

Gotta give up on thinking of other things. It would be easier if the rule was seven things some people don't know about me, but there isn't much that no one knows.

Kreativ Blogger award. More rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

For the Kreativ Blog I nominate:

Helen Ginger's Straight From Hel
Beth Groundwater's Blog
Ginger Simpson's Dishin' It Out
Lou Ann Morgan's Reading Frenzy
Terry O'Dell's Terrys Place
The Book Muncher
Marilyn Meridith's Marilyn's Musings

These are all blogs I visit frequently, if not daily, and all have great content and are very well done.

One Lovely Blog Award

My friend and fellow author, Ginger Simpson, surprised me with the One Lovely Blog Award yesterday. She made the announcement on her blog, Dishin' It Out.

I was really touched by the reason she chose me and this is what she wrote about me: A great friend and confidante, and a very smart lady. She has some amazing articles on her site. Maryann is one of those people who comes into your life for a purpose, and she's certainly served hers well in mine.

So it is with the same gratitude that I pass this award to three authors who have enriched my life with their friendship and support.

Helen Ginger -- who has a terrific blog and newsletter packed with helpful information for writers. She is so generous with her time and expertise, and I really admire her for that. She is also a terrific editor.

Dani Greer -- another lady who shares her expertise graciously and frequently. She was the founder of The Blood Red Pencil blog, and can also be found at Blog Book Tours blog. I also chose Dani because she so appreciates my humor.

Morgan Mandel -- I chose Morgan primarily because I admire her courage in publishing her own book, Killer Career. Not only did she take the publishing bull by the horn, so to speak, she did so with an attention to detail and professionalism that I respect greatly. She shares advice, resources, and book reviews on her blog.

All three of these ladies also manage to do more in 24 hours than most people I know. I stand in awe of all of them. So ladies, I pass the honor along to you.

Here are the rules:

1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.
2) Pass the award on.
3) Notify the award winners.

Join us in the Blog-A-Thon

There's a Blog-A-Th0n going on at Ginger Simpson's Dishin' It Out blog, where a bunch of us writer-types are talking about promoting. Some good tips being shared there, as well as little touches of humor.

The blog is running all day today, so stop by when you get a chance and see what all the talk is about.

Hope you find something of interest there.

I Cannot Tell A Lie

I received the I Never Tell A Lie meme from Helen Ginger at her Straight From Hel blog. Here are the rules:

Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie.

Now it's time for me to answer the questions, and since my mother always taught me my nose would grow if I lied -- and it really doesn't need to get any bigger -- I will answer with the absolute truth.

Pride: What is your biggest contribution to the world?
My family. This is so important to me I can't even think of anything funny to add.

Envy: What do your coworkers wish they had which is yours?
Coworkers? Nobody told me I had coworkers. Jeesh, and here I've been doing all the work myself. Well, okay, I'll fess up. The cat helps sometimes.

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?
I ate a hobo sandwich with carrot sticks on the side. Good little girl that I am. Then I countered that with a bowl of chocolate almond ice cream.

Lust: What really lights your fire?
Chocolate.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?
Other than government, politics, greed, celebrities, and stupid people. Nothing.

Greed: Name something you keep from others.
My chocolate.

Sloth: What's the laziest thing you've ever done?
I sat for an hour at my daughters with nothing to clean. Seriously. My son-in-law cleaned the kitchen before we arrived for a visit. When my daughter asked why he didn't leave it for me as I really love to stay busy, he said "I know, but I want to watch her twitch."

I'm not sure I know seven people who might not shoot me for bothering them with this, so I will send the meme to Ginger Simpson and Terry O'Dell. I don't think they own a gun.

Fun Scavenger Hunt

Tomorrow on Books We Love Reader's loop at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BWL_Readers

we'll be hosting a grand opening Scavenger Hunt. It promises to be fun. Twenty authors have put up prizes, many of them autographed print copies of their books, including me. A copy of Play It Again Sam is one of the prizes.

The answers to the questions you'll be given are clearly displayed in excerpts, teasers and descriptions on the designated websites on the travel map. Come and play.

This was organized by Ginger Simpson, who is terrific about promoting fellow authors as well as her own work.

The "road map" will be posted on the loop tomorrow morning and you'll have until Sunday at noon to email your answers to Ginger. Her e-mail is listed on the group.

The winners will be announced Sunday evening there. Hope to see you.

Great Contest Coming

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS! In celebration of the grand opening of the new Books We Love Reader's Group at yahoo, BWL_Readers@yahoogroups.com, we're asking you to get acquainted with some of our authors by participating in a fun scavenger hunt. We promise it isn't hard. You just have to follow the provided links listed on the loop the morning of March 20th and answer some really easy questions. The answers are all there...you just have to find and collect them all to be entered into a drawing for one of eighteen books. Some will even be personally autographed. You'll have two days, with the contest ending Saturday at midnight. All entries must be received by Ginger Simpson at mizging@gmail.com by noon on Sunday, 3/22. Winners will be announced shortly after.

Whether you come to play or not, we hope you will join us in celebrating the beginning of what we hope will be a stimulating and pleasant group experience. If you aren't familiar with us, please visit http://www.bookswelove.net and get an idea of who we are and what we're about. I'm sure you may have already played in a contest or two there. Jude Pittman has assembled a wonderful group of talent, but without readers, we don't have much purpose. Come join us, won't you. Remember, Friday, March 20th.

Join us in welcoming Spring!

The Ancient Perils of Writing

Remember writing with a typewriter? Some of us do, and you you younger folks will just have to do a Google search for "typewriter" to see what one looked like.

I unearthed an old column I'd written when my trusty old typewriter gave up the ghost. That was back when I was writing a weekly humor column for a suburban newspaper. Most of the stories were about family life, but now and then I'd write something about the writing life.

This one's good for a chuckle if you have a moment to visit another blog where I was a guest today. http://mizging.blogspot.com/

That is a blog site for author Ginger Simpson. She has started something new she's calling Tourist Thursdays, when she hosts a guest. Ginger is a gracious friend, and I really appreciate how willing she is to help other authors.