Cym Lowell

Author Spotlight: Janet McNulty

2012-02-03T07:17:00.001-06:00

Book Description:
In the days of Amborese the lands of Tesnayr have been plunged into a dark age where chaos and old rivalries reign. An evil wizard, Clymorus, seeks to destroy the world by bringing the lands of Tesnayr under his control, using monstrous creatures called Iorks. Amborese is the last true heir of Tesnayr and heir to a throne that has sat empty for over three centuries. Thrust into an adventure she never could have imagined, Amborese must discover who she is if she is to reclaim the throne. Accompanied by the talking cat, Sposa, and her friend Zolo, she must unite the five realms and destroy Clymorus and his army of dark creatures. With danger at every turn and a land full of enemies, her chances of successful seem doubtful. But Amborese's biggest foe is herself. Can she overcome her self-doubt to accomplish the impossible? To find that out, you must read the book.

About the Author:

Janet McNulty wrote Legends Lost Amborese and chose to publish it under the pen name Nova Rose, since she has also published material in nonfiction.

She currently resides in West Virginia and began construction on Legends Lost Amborese ten years ago while in high school. At the time it was merely a few pages of notes in one of her school notebooks. In college she continued working on the story of Amborese in the hope that one day she would be able to share it with the world. That day came in August 2011 when the book was first printed.

Ms. McNulty keeps herself busy writing the second novel in the Legends Lost trilogy. And she has her cats to keep her on task.

Additional Links:
LegendsLostTrilogy
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Facebook

Thank you Janet for allowing me to spotlight you!

-CYM

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2012-01-31T20:39:00.002-06:00

If someone has a better application for linkup, please leave the source in a comment!

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

You Are What You Read Scholastic

2012-01-30T07:35:00.000-06:00

We know that a child that starts reading at an early age fares better in school and in life and because of that, we want to make sure every child has access to books. Unfortunately, not all families have access to books which is why we need you and your readers to help get books into the hands of children that need them most – up to one million books to be exact!

By creating a Bookprint – the five most influential books in your life - on Scholastic’s social networking site for booklovers, YouAreWhatYouRead.com, your readers will trigger a book donation from Scholastic Book Clubs to a child in need through the nonprofit Reach Out and Read. It’s simple and free – the only challenge is narrowing down your favorite books to the top five! Then the fun and learning continues as users can connect with other book lovers and see what books they have in common with some favorite authors, including Alice Walker, Suzanne Collins, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, and Meg Cabot, along with 210 other authors, celebrities, and athletes.

We hope you will help us reach one million books! You can get the live counter widget for your site and help us count the donations!

Click HERE for my You Are What You Read Profile.

-CYM

&

Nadia Almahdi
Corporate Communications
Scholastic Inc.

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2012-01-28T15:36:00.000-06:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Calico Critic!
& She is having a GIVEAWAY!

Be sure to check out Calico Critic, enter the GIVEAWAY and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Author Spotlight: Karen A. Wyle

2012-01-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

BIO:
Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9.

Wyle is an appellate attorney, photographer, political junkie, and mother of two daughters. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.

Synopsis:
Can interspecies diplomacy begin in the womb? After seventy years on Tofarn, the human colonists and the native Tofa still know very little about each other. Misunderstanding breed conflict, and the conflicts are escalating. Scientist Mara Cadell’s radical proposal: that host mothers of either species carry fraternal twins, human and Tofa, in the hope that the bond between twins can bridge the gap between species. Mara lost her own twin, Levi, in utero, but she has secretly kept him alive in her mind as companion and collaborator.

Mara succeeds in obtaining governmental backing for her project – but both the human and Tofa establishments have their own agendas. Mara must shepherd the Twin-Bred through dangers she anticipated and others that even the canny Levi could not foresee. Will the Twin-Bred bring peace, war, or something else entirely? . . .

Additional Resources:
Buy Twin-Bred on Amazon Kindle / POD
Buy Twin-Bred on Nook
Smashwords
Twin-Bred on Facebook

Karen A. Wyle
Facebook
Twitter

Thank you Karen for allowing me to spotlight you!!

CYM

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2012-01-24T20:36:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

This is Herman Cain by Herman Cain Book Review

2012-01-22T17:13:00.000-06:00

This is Herman Cain
by Herman Cain
Threshold Editions, Simon & Shuster 2011

I find politics to be an endlessly fascinating subject for thought and study. It is convenient for each of us to dismiss politicians, at any level, who we do not agree with or find to be self-serving gasbags. Similarly, it is easy to accept the views of those who we like, whether they are flawed or not.

On the other hand, the process by which we select our political leaders is perhaps the single most critical element of the future of ourselves and our children. One only has to look at any country in the world today, then think about its past, to see the difference that a change in political leaders can make. For example, Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez, an Ayatollah in Iran, or Barack Obama.

So why did I read Herman Cain’s book? I am perplexed today trying to put my finger on what Americans want in their next President. We were disenchanted with George W. Bush and seem to have the same perception of President Obama. What are we looking for? Why do the Republican contenders rise and fall so fast?

I find myself wondering about who were the most popular and successful Presidents during my lifetime. I am 65, so can remember John Kennedy forward. I believe the most successful in this period were Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Why were they popular? As a place on the political spectrum for governing, one (Reagan) moved from right to center and the other from left to middle. There was also extended periods of prosperity and limited military engagement.

George W. Bush stood on the right side of the beam throughout his Presidency, becoming became a major spender and war-monger. In other words, he was politically fixed and drove us into debt. Barack Obama is fixed on the left, has wound down the military engagements, and spent at an even a more torrid pace.

Herman’s Cain’s book is interesting to me. It is no better or worse in terms of writing or vision than the political tomes of any of the current crop of political candidates, from President Obama to Ron Paul. He envisioned himself a successful builder of jobs (in the restaurant business) who could focus on rebuilding our economy, as he did in the hamburger and pizza business. His prescription was understandable (“9-9-9”) and direct. He laughed, cajoled, and demanded attention. He was human and not clearly left or right in conviction, though he wrapped himself in the gossamer of conservatism. Each of us could identify with him.

He also disheveled in the face of allegations of indiscretion. His leadership stopped. He could not bring himself to address the issues in a simple and honest manner.

Nonetheless, I find that the elements which made him popular for a time may be the elements that we are looking for in a President for the next 4 years: connection to the issues of the day, humanity, experience, understandable plan, navigational skill to find the common denominator in the electorate, and, hopefully, an ability to confront straight-on his own failings.

I wonder how Messrs. Obama, Romney, Paul, Gingrich, Santorum, and Huntsman will fare if these are fair assessments of what we are looking for? Your and my lives will be significantly impacted by the decisions that we collectively make.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON
Barnes & Noble

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2012-01-21T17:56:00.000-06:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Throuthehaze Reads!

Be sure to check out Throuthehaze Reads and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Author Spotlight: Michelle Lowe

2012-01-20T07:20:00.005-06:00

Michelle Lowe

This week's author spotlight is Michelle Lowe. Michelle was born June 18th, 1979 in Clayton County Georgia. Currently, she lives in Florida with husband, Ben, and daughters, Mia and Kirsten. Her favorite pastimes involve painting, reading, and of course, writing. She is working on a novella, a thriller titled, Storyteller. She has two other books in the works, a nonfictional titled, The Cherished Thief, and another SF/fantasy The Atlantic Pyramid, with future plans to begin a dark fantasy trilogy. If you would like to know more about Michelle, you can read the first chapter of her novel, The Warning, or learn more about her future works on her website, www.michellelowe.net.

Synopsis of The Warning:
Nikolai Crowe’s life takes a downturn in a hurry when he is arrested for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Jade Sho. Luckily for Nikolai, he has help from a human clone identified as Alpha Replica 3007. This clone, along with the remaining alpha models that have begun to realize self awareness, has worn out his usefulness and is set to be destroyed. To save their lives, the clones have escaped their creator on Mill Rock Island. Alpha 7 believes Nicolai to be innocent and helps him toward something Jade left for him before her death. What Nikolai finds stuns him. Did the mayor actually arrange his daughter’s murder when she learned his secret? Nikolai believes that the murder was indeed the work of Jade’s own father, New York City Mayor Hiroshi Sho, who has orchestrated a plan to bring his own brand of law and order to the entire country. What are the mayor’s plans? What did Jade hide, and how does it tie in with the clones? To save himself, Nikolai must find the real killer before getting caught by crooked cops, who want to see him dead.

Links:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Readers Favorite Review-The Warning

Michelle, thank you for allowing me to spotlight you this week!

-CYM

NY Resolutions: The 2012 Reader's TO DO List

2012-01-19T07:54:00.000-06:00

~Guest Post~

(photo via usnaorbust)

We are just a few weeks into the new year and it’s likely that you already have some major ‘to-dos’ planned for the next twelve months. Eat more vegetables, go to the gym, recycle and stick to a strict budget might just name a few—but, why not add an item to the list that you would really enjoy crossing off: read more! If you are an avid reader who just can’t get enough of your true love of books, then be sure to check out the following reading to-do list for 2012:

Reflect on your childhood. Take a trip down memory lane to when life didn’t revolve around work, bills, work and more bills…back to a simpler time when your days involved getting lost in Norton Juster and your only worry was when you were going to take a break for mom’s famous PB&J. Although times have changed and you are older now, why not select a favorite book from your childhood vault and enjoy the magic of reliving stories like The Phantom Tollbooth all over again? You will rediscover your imagination, dreams and of course, your fascination for books.

Read to someone who can’t. Volunteering your time to another person is one of the best gifts you can give—especially when you incorporate the gift of reading. This year, search for opportunities in your community to volunteer to read—whether it’s at a nursing home or a children’s hospital, the elderly and sick children love having company. Not only will this lift the spirits of someone who might be very ill or lonely, but it will lift yours as well.

Try something new. If you are a die-hard romance novel reader who reads romance and only romance, why not switch things up a bit this year? Try reading a book outside of the genre that you would normally pick. Opening the pages of a new book will also open you up to new stories, authors, ideas and possibly a new passion. Who knows…it just might turn out that the romance queen could uncover a love for all things science-fiction.

Visit the library. What did readers do back in the old days when there weren’t Kindles or online bookstores available? They went to libraries. In this technologically advanced world with the ability to access a book with the touch of a button, we seem to have forgotten about this once well-known venue. Although you might feel like a caveman, ditch your e-reader and spend a day getting lost in your city’s public library to enjoy your time reading, exploring and basking in the glory that is a building filled with thousands upon thousands of classic reads—even check out a book or two!

Start writing. You don’t have to start penning the next big novel on the New York Times Best Sellers List—but writing in a journal is a great goal for 2012. As you venture through a good book, take to a personal journal with your thoughts about the characters, their struggles and how you can relate situations in the book to your own life. Analyzing books you read through writing is a great way of expressing your feelings, emotions and channeling your own creative energy.

~Mark Weikel~

(guest blogger)

Mark Weikel is a guest post author who shares with us his ideas for taking your hobby of reading to a whole new level in 2012. In addition, Mark also writes for Best Gay Dating Sites where he offers gay singles information on safe online dating.

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2012-01-17T20:11:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Escape from Davao by John D Lukacs Book Review

2012-01-16T18:47:00.000-06:00

Escape from Davao
by John D Lukacs
Simon & Schuster (5/2010)

Imagine that you were a U.S. Marine serving in e remote part of the world, striving to defend local people and your country’s interests from a hostile, well equipped, and superior force of advancing enemies. Your country provides the most rudimentary supplies and armaments, as its focus is in another part of the world. Your fate is in the hands of a famous general who departs for his own safety.

How would you react? Would you lose faith in your country, your comrades, or yourself? Would you shrivel up and let death take over?

Assume that you and tens of thousands of your comrades are then marched through jungles for at least plus miles with constant abuse and no edible food. You watch thousands die. A prison camp continues the abuse and death.

How would you be feeling about your country and yourself now?

Let’s say that you never lost faith, escaped through swamps and jungles to get to safety, were transported home, and forbidden to discuss the plight of those left behind because “no one would believe you.” Your own government still had other priorities.

How would you feel if this was your son or daughter and you knew that they were forbidden to talk?

This is was the experience of tens of thousands of U.S. military men and women early in World War II in the Philippines, and their families back home. Escape from Davao is the story of the heroism of ten men who experienced all of these emotions and events. John Lukacs weaves the stories of these men, and the brave Filipinos who helped them along the way, into a riveting story that I read straight through.

Whether you enjoy stories of war and heroism, testaments to the strength of faith and fortitude, or fine writing, you will breeze through this easy and riveting read. Luckas writes with confidence and aplomb, shedding light on a story that has been lost over time.

Escape from Davao is a great story. Perhaps more importantly for a general audience of readers is that it has meaning for you and me today. We encounter hellacious circumstances in our lives. They may not be as outwardly intense as incarceration during war. Nonetheless, the trauma that we feel, the stress on our bodies and mind, and desire to escape are every bit as real. The question for each of us in such circumstances, is the same as faced my the men in Bataan – do we give in or do we overcome.

Put this winner on your reading list.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON
John D Lukacs

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2012-01-14T06:58:00.000-06:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Lucybird's Book Blog!

Be sure to check out Lucybird's Book Blog and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Author Spotlight: Liam Leddy

2012-01-13T07:00:00.001-06:00

Please say HELLO to Author Liam Leddy. I hope you will take a moment to check out Liam's information & current books/ebooks.

Hardbacks

Bio

After a successful twenty five year career as a salesman of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, I began writing in 2002 and joined writing classes. Six short story collections and one novel (BODY LANGUAGE) are the result. All are electronically published by Amazon/Kindle. In addition to these I have one short story in print in "Glasgow Tales" published by Endpapers and on sale in Borders Books. This book is also in great demand in local Libraries.

My work has been featured twice by local press-"The Hamilton Advertiser"- and twice by national press- "The Sunday Post". I have also appeared on local television and spoken to sixth form pupils in schools about my writing.

One of my short stories "Small World" now published by "Canopic Jar". Most recent edition. My work sells extremely well on all five continents. All copyright belongs to me ( Liam Leddy). All involve twists, turns, and extremely surprising endings. All achieved by adept use of language.

All contact regarding my work through me and NOT the publisher concerned. I am now concentrating on finishing my second novel and converting my short stories to screenplay form. All my work now only available through Amazon Kindle. Selling U.K,U.S.A and hopefully soon Germany.

eBooks

Additional Information:
Hardbacks
Digital eBooks
Twitter
Linked In
Liam Leddy's Blog

Thanks Liam for being this week's Author Spotlight!
-CYM

Valentine Book Ideas Guest Post

2012-01-12T08:43:00.000-06:00

I love Valentine's Day. Years ago I declared Valentine's Day "As My Day"! Maybe it's the chocolate, flowers & Champaign...or maybe it's those two great colors of red & pink that go together for this special day?? Anyway, here is some of my latest Valentine inspiration~book style!

1. Heart Shape Bookmarks made from Paper Clips (via Design*Sponge)

2. Heart Bookmarks (via Creativehomemakers)

3. Valentine Wreath from Book Pages (via Holly Mathis Interiors)

4. Photo Bookmarks (Edda Photography Blog)

5. Heart Garland (via Flea Market Style Mag)

What are you inspired by for Valentine's Day?

XOXO

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2012-01-10T20:11:00.000-06:00

A new year & another party!!
Welcome Back Friends...

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks Audio Version Review

2012-01-08T18:56:00.000-06:00

The Choice
by Nicholas Sparks
read by Holter Graham
Hachette Audio 2007

How would you react to having to make a life decision for your sweetheart? What if the decision in your heart violated a promise that your love had extracted from you? Would you follow your heart or a promise made long before the actual events framing the choice occurred?

Of course, none of us can know the answer to these questions until we are in such an uncomfortable place. Were I the sweetheart who had extracted the promise from my mate, I think I would have trusted her to make whatever decision she thought best, not be riveted by some probably idle promise and the views of the medical establishment about what should be done.

In any event, The Choice is a lovely story told by a gifted storyteller, Nicholas Sparks. As the story evolves, we are invested in the evolving love of Gabby and Travis on the shores of North and South Carolina. Their beloved dogs initially bring them together.

We listened to an abridged version while driving from the beach back to Texas. The tape was about 5 hours in duration, professionally edited and read. It was thoroughly enjoyable and consumed our attention for most of an 11 hour drive. We have become serious fans of audio books.

This sweet story of love and devotion warmed our hearts, just as it would had we read it sitting on the beach with a bottle of wine.

I am delighted to recommend both the story and the audio version.

Warms, Cym

2012-01-02T07:50:00.000-06:00

Riotus Assembly
by Tom Sharpe
Atlantic Monthly Press 1971

Do you like to escape in a book that makes you giggle in a world of vivid imagination? Would you wonder about people having sex in rubber suits, with the male wearing a dress and the female other costumes? How about a war between different tribes in a mental institution enacting battles of their people from long ago, perhaps not being able to remember the results?

How about a storyline that makes Woody Allen movies seem tame and unimaginative?

If any of these questions strike you fancy, then branch out an get a copy of Riotus Assembly. It was written during the height of apartheid in South Africa. Not surprisingly, it was banned in that country for many years. The story is a parody of the relations between white, Afrikaneer, and English peoples. It begins with an old, aristocratic woman using a custom made elephant gun (with four barrels) to blast her black lover into pieces hanging from the trees.

The commandant investigating the self-confessed crime embarks on a crusade to demonstrate that the woman is innocent. He believes that the crime was committed by her brother, a bishop.

Parody turns to farce as the story comes to a close. When you get to the war at the end you will be giggling at the antics of the warriors, as you also guffaw at the lawyer with a lisp defending the brother in court hoping to save the man from the gallows.

We read this wonderful story in our Philosophers’ Club this month. One of our colleagues lived in South Africa at the time. This group of joyful men, usually intend eviscerating the books chosen by their colleagues, gave Tom Sharpe an unanimous salute for a fine read. What a hoot!

Happy New Year!

Warms, Cym

Learning to Write Short Stories

2011-12-28T21:43:00.000-06:00

I hope that you are all ready for a relaxing and loving Holiday Season. I am, for sure, at beautiful Rosemary Beach with my Sweetheart. Part of my relaxation has been to begin learning to write short stories. My faithful blogger pal (BeachBrights) has suggested that we need to explore the social media world with a sample of my writing. I have a new Kindle and my Sweetheart has downloaded a bunch of stories to read, some free and some from prominent authors.

My Sweetheart also suggests that I am a romantic and should try that genre. This comes as a bit of a shock, as I have always written thrillers, though I try to build emotional connection into the stories (among the characters and the reader).

My parents’ wedding anniversary is on Christmas Eve. They are both in another realm, though it would have been their 69th anniversary. I am toying with a story line addressing the meaning of reconciling a mature son’s emotions about a mother who has been gone for almost 40 years.

Its always interesting. Relax and enjoy.

Warms, Cym

New York to Dallas by J.D.Robb Audio Book Review

2011-12-25T21:38:00.000-06:00

New York to Dallas
by J.D. Robb
Brilliance Audio 2011

Imagine that you are a detective in New York City. As a child, you were abused by your father. As an adult, you became a police officer. In your first major case, you apprehended a serial child abuser in the most harrowing circumstances, outwitting the long-term pedophile, who was sent away for at least life. Like you, the pedophile was abused by his mother, whom he killed at age 19 as he would later kill mother substitutes who facilitated his rampage. In due course, you marry a wealthy spouse who supports your detective work in a manner not available to ordinary officers.

The incarcerated pedophile escapes a maximum security prison and launches a new campaign of terror through twin victims from his earlier time. His object is you, who interrupted his initial work.

Our heroine is Eve Dallas, married to an engaging Irishman, O’Rourke. They come to Atlanta where the pedophile is at work. The detective does her work, with the help of O’Rourke and his on-line wizardry. The sleuthing process is addressed in detail, though a few of the steps require a bit of faith in the integrity of the story teller to accept the leap. Like all good mysteries, the denouement is exciting.

I enjoyed listening to New York to Dallas. This medium has become a favorite means of passing time as we drive between Dallas as Rosemary Beach. The storyline is an interesting paradigm for thought. As I find with most clever stories, a variety of thoughts emerged as the story unfolded. I was curious to see how Eve would reconcile her own childhood abuse with that visited upon the children she was determined to protect. How will the reliving of her own experience impact her psyche? Her marriage? Her willingness to bear or adopt children, perhaps abused orphans? Will the childhood abuse of the pedophile result in an exploration of the psychology of abuser and abused?

These threads of emotional interest were not explored in the story itself. While I understand that the genre does not delve into the emotions and psyche of the protagonists, it would have been satisfying to have heard Eve and O’Rourke share with us their own emotions, which, of course, who have to be addressed in real life.

A fine listen!

Warms, Cym

Additional Resources:
AMAZON
Barnes & Noble
J.D.Robb

Researching Legends of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia 2 Book Reviews

2011-12-22T20:07:00.000-06:00

Aboriginal Stories of Australia
by A.W. Reed (Reed Books 1980)

Aboriginal Legends – Animal Tales
by A.W. Reed (Reed Books 1978)

I have been researching legends of Aboriginal peoples in Australia. A character in my current manuscript, entitled The String, is a half-breed Aborigine, who was taken at birth from his native mother to avoid further infection of the white race (the father was an immigrant German sheep farmer). In the course of my research, I came across these two books by A. W. Reed.

The legend, stories, and beliefs that are traced in these wonderful tales are fascinating. It is impossible to tell, at least to me, how the dates of the stories, handed down by oral tradition, compare to the time lines of the stories in the Old and New Testament, also handed down through the generations by oral tradition.

I was fascinated with my reading. Each story seems to build on its predecessor. My favorite was “The Blue Fish and the Moon.” It is a story of two men, one was miserable and saw the dark side of everything in life. The other, Nullandi, saw the light in life and was happy. When the miserable man died, he became a blue fish living for a time at the bottom of the sea until he was eaten by a bigger fish and his bones were scattered on the sea bed. Nullandi, on the other hand, went into the sky to live with the Great Spirit, who turned him into a round and shining moon. Nullandi illuminated the darkness of night with silvery light.
Each of our religions embrace the essence of this story, replacing the operative words with Heaven and Hell, redemption and eternal punishment.

I found the concepts to be easily grasped from a human emotion standpoint. For example, it is easier for me to get my hands around the consequences of someone who communicates misery vs. happiness, than it is to do so with concepts of original and continuous sin.
In any event, I found these short books to be fascinating to compare Aboriginal beliefs to the religious teachings that we are each accustomed to. The tales are easy to read and cry out for discussion and understanding. Like a touching sermon, I found myself thinking about each tale and relating to my own life and perceptions.

Isn’t this the point of a meaningful sermon? If you enjoy thinking about such things, step out of the box and read these tales.

Warms, Cym

Book Review 007 Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver

2011-12-17T19:46:00.000-06:00

007 Carte Blanche
by Jeffrey Deaver
Simon & SchusterBantam 2011

Like many of you, I grew up reading Ian Fleming’s wonderful James Bond books. As I think about it, the image of 007 has been an interesting element of my thinking about writing and trying to find my own path as a thriller writer. What is your image of James Bond? Sean Connery in Goldfinger, which was such a stunning evolution in movies? To me, it was rather like the first Star Wars, something new and different. And intriguing. The 007 movie franchise has been a huge success, probably vacillating a bit depending on the actors playing the hero. Sean Connery was one image, some of the others have been way different and far less interesting (at least to this male).

Ian Fleming died long ago. Now, along comes Jeffrey Deaver, an appropriately famous thriller writer. When I picked up this new James Bond adventure, I had mixed emotions. In other contexts, when I have read sequels written by successors to authors I enjoyed, or when such authors changed direction in their writing, I have been sorely disappointed. So, I began reading with a jaundiced mind, trying to recall some 30-35 years ago reading the Bond books as a young man. I felt myself being critical. “This is not like before.”

Thankfully, Deaver has done an excellent job. This new James Bond, adjusted for the interesting issue of time span in a clever way, comes alive beautifully. Carte Blanche has the elements that we associate with Bond – crisis in the world that seems insoluble, lovemaking with a beautiful woman who turns out to have other roles in the story as well, fast cars, exciting locales, M, Moneypenny, and new potential loves in London (cleverly named Maidenstone – think about that one; she will doubtlessly return in the future) and South Africa, where the story is largely set. There is an impossible-to-discern plot afoot to wreak havoc in the world to suit the interests of an interesting assortment of rogues. Bond has an idea, which is backed by his superior against the views of the rest of the intelligence world. Can Bond get out of this mess?

The story is set in today’s world with a background of current issues, including environmental problems that the world faces.

The joy of James Bond is that he is a creature of the imagination, both his suave good looks, lifestyle, easy bedding of beautiful women, intriguing criminal plots, page turning excitement as the third leg of the story opens in full glory (I believe there are four stages to these books, like an exciting basketball game), and a triumphal denouement against impossible odds. As Bond sails of into the sunset, we wonder what his next scores and adventures will hold for us.

Professor Deaver – you have done a wonderful job of recreating this fascinating franchise. I am hooked once again. Perhaps in a future Bond escapade he can take up another current theme – economic terrorism practiced by state agencies, perhaps by an ally of the U.K. What will proper England let him do – right or stand down for political correctness?

Warms, Cym

Jeffery Deaver
Amazon

The Best Holiday Gifts for Readers and Writers Guest Post

2011-12-12T15:18:00.001-06:00

Do you have a special reader or writer on your holiday list this year and you’re at a loss for ideas for the perfect present? Well, if you don’t want to give them the default gift of a book and face the chance for an awkward moment when they open it and tell you it’s one they’ve already read 100 times, be sure to check out the following suggestions that are sure to dub you the best gift giver since jolly old St. Nick himself:

#1: Give a book weight: If your book lover can’t even eat a meal without reading, this little stocking stuffer will be perfect for freeing up their hands so that they can multitask when they just can’t seem to put down that novel. For writers, book weights are great for holding your books/notes/other materials open for reference while they are typing up an award-winning piece.

#2: Give a journal. Typically, most writers in today’s modern world prefer to compose their work on a computer; however writers are always coming up with ideas and inspiration on the go…so when creativity strikes, and a laptop is nowhere to be found, a journal or notebook to jot down their thoughts would make a great holiday gift. Any writer would be happy to receive a legendary Moleskin journal. And if you want to make it extra-personal, you can even have the recipient’s initials put on the front.

#3: Give beverages. Just because you plan on buying a gift for an avid reader doesn’t mean that you have to buy them something to actually read. Think outside the box and get them something to enjoy while they read. For many, kicking back with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine is the ultimate way to unwind. Consider gifting your reader with their favorite blend or a gift card to Starbucks. If your reader happens to be a connoisseur of wine, consider giving them a bottle or a pair of wine glasses.

#4: Give music. When in the writing or reading zone, a lot of people like to enjoy their hobby with some good back ground music. If you know their taste in music or their favorite artist, an album purchased on iTunes or an iTunes gift card has the makings for a great holiday present.

#5: Give a class. For writers, there is no end for improvement—they are continuously honing their craft and learning ways to become a better writer. So give them this gift that keeps on giving! Search the web to find available writing courses nearby, online or even pick up a book on the subject. This will be an untraditional gift that can really help a writer brush up on details like grammar, punctuation, composition and descriptive writing skills.

#6: Give a Snuggie. And no, not even as a gag gift. As hilarious as these robe/blanket contraptions may look, they are actually quite practical! What better during the cold winter months than to curl up by the fire with a cup of cocoa and a best-seller…and your Snuggie? With this gift, your reader will be able to keep warm as they escape into relaxation on a brisk night in with a good book.

#7: Give an e-reader. Any reading or writing enthusiast is sure to have this gem of a gift on their wish list for Santa this year. With e-readers like the Kindle, you can give the recipient the gift of a massive book selection (over 800,000 titles from which to choose for $10 or less), advanced technology featuring E Ink display that reads just like paper, built-in Wi-Fi allowing you to access books in 60 seconds, as well as the ability to borrow Kindle books from your public library. And all for the low price of $79, your reader/writer will thank you—and so will your wallet!

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Erica St. Claire is a guest post author who shares with us this post on the best gifts for readers and writers this holiday season. In addition, Erica also works for Catholic Dating Sites where she focuses on educating readers about safe online dating.

Sunrise For Aspiring Writers

2011-12-11T14:10:00.000-06:00

Good day, friends. I know that many of you are hopeful, aspiring writers. There is a fascinating story in Friday's Wall Street Journal about the new world of self and online publishing. Read and enjoy, then please share how you could purdue your own dream, I will too.

Warms, CYM

This Week's Bookish Round-Up

2011-12-08T07:20:00.008-06:00

1. A Book Editor Speaks: The Challenge of the First Chapters by David Carr. When a writer asks for help with a completed manuscript, I ask to look at the first chapter and one other—preferably one they feel needs the most work. The first chapter should orient me to the content, so that when I look at the later chapter, I have some idea of the context and information I need for understanding it.

2. The New York Times: Selling Books by Their Gilded Covers by Julie Bosman. Even as more readers switch to the convenience of e-books, publishers are giving old-fashioned print books a makeover. Many new releases have design elements usually reserved for special occasions — deckle edges, colored endpapers, high-quality paper and exquisite jackets that push the creative boundaries of bookmaking. If e-books are about ease and expedience, the publishers reason, then print books need to be about physical beauty and the pleasures of owning, not just reading.

3. This Mama Makes Stuff: Making Stuff: Patchwork Bookmarks by This is Carrie. Paired with a gift card to the local bookstore, these patchwork bookmarks will make a great gift for my kid’s teachers.

4. TheLightFantastic: BOGO SALE I Love Books, Vol. 2 11x14 Fine Art Print--Vintage Book Scrabble Tile Geek Photography

XOXO

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

The Trill of Victory Audio Book Review by Sandra Brown

2011-12-06T07:08:00.000-06:00

The Thrill of Victory
by Sandra Brown
Sandra Brown 1989 Brilliance Audio 2011

I have recently discovered the joys of audio disks, which we enjoy driving back and forth from Dallas and Rosemary Beach in the Panhandle of Florida. These disks, containing excellent stories, pass the time like magic. An additional benefit I have discovered is that sometimes the stories were actually written long ago by authors who have become famous.

Such is the case with this adult romance story, written by the now famous Sandra Brown in 1989 and, apparently, self-published at the time. The Thrill of Victory is the story of a world class tennis player, Stevie Corbett, who has devoted her life to being a Grand Slam. Her nemesis has been a local Dallas sports writer, Judd Mackie. She is at the top of her game and he at the bottom of his.

Stevie collapses on the court. Judd is delinquent in getting the story of what is behind the collapse. Drugs, alcohol, failed love affairs, or what could so undermine the globally famous star on her way to the Grand Slam. The unlikely pair each find magic in the other as they descend into rural East Texas to the farm of his grandparents, where they can be alone and address the real story.

This is a sweet story, a nice change of pace from the intensity of many of the books that I read. One element typically absent from the thrillers that I review is poignant love and emotion, which I believe leaves such stories devoid of critical elements of walking around humanity. In any event, this story is not a thriller, is full of erotic activity, and Ms. Brown spares no detail in the story-telling.

We enjoyed this interlude from the seriousness of thriller and the range of other books that we typically read, enjoy, and review.

Try this one as an audio book, about 5 hours in length.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON
Sandra Brown

Beloved Marleigh

2011-12-04T16:18:00.000-06:00

This morning at 9:10, Seth and I handed our beloved Marleigh over to the One who created her. We said our final good-byes to her and her to us, and released her into the hands of pure Love. We had 12 of the most amazing, fun-filled, joyful years with her. Marleigh, though just a canine companion to anyone that didn't know her well, was one of the most trustworthy, faithful, forgiving, intelligent, protective best friends anyone could ever hope or pray for. Her unconditional love and understanding never ceased, even until the very end. She gave us everything she had and we tried to give everything back to her, though I believe she was the more giving one and we got the better end of the bargain.

She never asked for anything more than to let her be who God created her to be:
- Like all pets, she only wanted to be loved and cared for and on the occasional times when we let her water bowl run dry, she always forgave us instantly.

- She only asked to have her own place in our family and was happy to be a part of our "pack" and do whatever we were doing - she just wanted to be where we were.

- Unlike most kids, Marleigh loved putting her toys away and into her toy box at night. If she thought I'd fall for it, I'm sure she would've taken them out several times a day just to put them back again (I'm sure the treats helped with this one).

- To help me out with my exercise program, she readily volunteered to take me on walks every day and even helped me cross the street by taking her leash in her mouth and walking me across, then she'd drop it the moment we were on the other side. I loved the look on drivers' faces as they watched this.

- She was a beloved big sister to Abby, though it didn't start out that way. When we adopted Abby, Marleigh thought we were crazy and had somehow betrayed her. To show her great disapproval, she would retreat to the garage, but I'd go get her and make her spend "quality" time with all of us. Oh, she couldn't stand that new "small, brown thing with tall, skinny legs and a head too big for her body" that we'd brought home. If she could speak human she would've said "Take it back, we don't need it! Take it back!" But, after a few weeks Marleigh and Abby became close friends and sisters, and we enjoyed seeing them tumble and wrestle together 2-3 times a day. It got to the point that wherever Marleigh went, Abby went. Marleigh taught Abby almost everything she knew - how to get out the dog doors, how to retrieve a ball, and eventually Abby even got what "patch" meant, though it took all three of us to teach her. She even kept Abby in check on walks by letting us leash them together. Abby will also miss her very much.

- Marleigh longed to have as many jobs as we could think of for her. One of her favorite jobs was fetching the paper for us every morning. Rain, snow or shine, she trotted to the end of the drive-way, picked up the paper and placed it on the coffee table or ottoman (whichever we told her) - and for the small price of a treat, she would've been happy to get every neighbors paper for them, but somehow they didn't appreciate her slobber like we did. Every Halloween Marleigh helped answer the door and neighbors would recognize her (not us) and say "Oh, that's the dog that gets the paper for you every morning...where do I get one like that?" You don't, she was one-of-a-kind.

- She was patiently persistent. When she wanted to play and I was busy at my computer, she'd bring one toy and try to get me to play. I'd tell her "later Marleigh", but she'd just go get another toy thinking the first one must not have been good enough or the right one. Before I knew it I had every toy from the toy box at my feet. I could hear her thinking "surely one of these is the right one." Of course I'd cave and we'd go play ball for awhile - often at her favorite park - oh, how she loved the park. She was so focused on the ball and retrieving it for me - her job - that there could be 50 dogs in the park and she wouldn't even say "hi" to them. "Later, I'll talk to you later. I'm working now and I want to get it right." Her focus remained on me (or, frankly, whoever would throw the ball) and her job - fetching and retrieving the ball.

- The one thing we were never able to do for her was play ball enough. We always got tired first. One of her favorite moments in life was when mom and dad would come to visit. When Marleigh saw dad it was all over. The excitement was overwhelming and as far as Marleigh was concerned, the rest of the family became chopped liver - I think dad was just fresh meat. Dad wasn't tired of this ball game yet like we were and he was fresh meat. She loved it when he'd play ball and she egged him on the entire time he was at our house. Her unrelenting persistence usually paid off for her. Thank you dad for those special moments and memories.

- Marleigh never forgot anyone. Even in her last days, if I mentioned Cassie, Barney, Bridget, Paddy or Maggie, her ears perked up. While she was healthy, if I mentioned the "Denver group" at all, she'd rush to the front door and sit and wait for them to come. I learned quickly that I couldn't say these names unless Cassie was going to arrive in the next few minutes. Marleigh would sit for hours waiting to see them appear. I'd have to take her on a walk, play ball or something to get her mind off it. She didn't do it as much with the names of "mom" or "dad" because Seth and I were "mom" and "dad" to her. But, if Seth accidentally said "Mickey" or "Charlie," that was different, there she'd go to sit at the front door - the welcoming committee. She even got used to Grace's name and every time we talked about Grace (which is often), her ears perked up, her tail would wag and she'd go to the front door waiting to see if her play mate was coming over. When Grace or Cassie would come for an overnight visit, when they left, Marleigh and Abby would always go to the guest room for several mornings afterwards to see where they were. Even after Cassie's last visit, as hard as it was to walk, Marleigh would go into that room and look for her.

Finally, I cannot forget Marleigh's smile. She's the only dog I've ever had that smiled. She'd smile at anyone who approached her...she was convinced they were there just to see her. In her last days, she was unable to smile, but I could see a slight smile in her eyes - she was happy to see us when we walked in the door. I'll always miss her smile.

Although our hearts are broken at the loss of our beloved girl, the joy she gave us over the years far outweighs the pain we feel now. I wanted to write this mostly to help heal my heart and to get those wonderful memories of her written down. These memories are only a few. More will come over the next days and weeks and I'll write them to myself and my Jesus whom I love more than life itself. I don't know what I'd do without Jesus in my life - especially during times of sorrow. I'm so thankful that He knows the grief of losing a beloved pet, because He knows and shares in all of our joys and sorrows. Thank You, God, for the gift you gave us with Marleigh...she is and will always be greatly loved and missed.

I'm one of those crazy people that thinks because of Who God is and because of His great love and mercy, we'll get to see our beloved pets again one day. I imagine Marleigh romping and playing with Cooper, Barney and Bridget. She's out of pain and discomfort, in her right mind and a happy girl. I love you and miss you my dear, sweet Marleigh-girl.

From Seth and I, thank you for all your prayers, support and love during this time. To mom and dad, and Cym and Dale: Thank you again for your enduring patience with us over Thanksgiving...that was Marleigh's most difficult day. We know each of you can understand the sadness we are experiencing right now, but the Lord reminded me of this verse this morning "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning". Ps. 30:5. I'm looking forward to the morning...

We love you all so very much.
Robin Lowell (Cym's Sister-in-Law)

Show vs Tell

2011-12-03T20:39:00.001-06:00

My editor advises that I struggle with wanting to tell my story
rather than showing it.

So, I could say that "the Rosemary Beach sunset at our walkover."
That would be telling you what I see.

But I should say something like: "I was anxious about the dinner party, so I strolled down the boardwalk to see the sunset. The glorious colors calmed my spirit."

Is that showing you what I saw?

Warms-CYM

Is the Future of Literature Really Electronic?

2011-11-29T19:35:00.003-06:00

*Guest Post*

The future of the humble paperback is becoming more and more uncertain by the day. As sales of both paperback and hardback books continue to fall, the eBook is getting stronger by the day. Is the future of literature really going to be inside a portable reading machine rather than trusty bound paper?

The advance of the eReader
EReaders in their various guises from Kindle to Kobo are going from strength to strength. Sales are increasing month on month and Juniper Research have recently forecast that worldwide sales of eReaders are predicted to reach around 67 million by 2016, which is three times more than the 2011 estimate of 25 million. The increase in sales can be attributed both to the products decrease in price, with the newest version of the Kindle retailing at just $79 and also the revolutionary development of e-ink technology. E-ink technology has drawn in unlikely eBook enthusiasts who previously bemoaned the development of eBooks when read of a standard LCD screen. E-ink allows for clear, crisp text and images and it basically
mimics real paper.

Further developments in eBook expansion have been realized in The Wall Street Journal recognizing that eBook sales are just as relevant to total sales as regular books. The Wall Street Journal is following the New York Times and USA Today who already have eBooks included in their book sales charts. Retailers including both Apple and Amazon are among the leading retailers who are passing their details onto the Nielsen ratings company who then pass the details onto The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

EBook lending is also becoming extremely popular in public libraries across the country and this adding even more impetus to the rise of the eBook and its surpassing of the regular paperback as the most popular way of reading. It seems public library users are huge fans of eBook lending and according to the Library Journal publication; public libraries increased their eBook offerings by 185% this year. A case in point can be seen at Seattle Public Library whose eBook collection and circulation grew by 92% in 2010 according to their electronic resources librarian. In September this year, Amazon decided it was time to turn on the Kindle to 11,000 public libraries, which obviously caused a surge in new library users and pays testament to the power of the eBook and its rapid development.

What about "real" books?
Does the advance of the eReader really mean the end for traditional books? In a word, no. There are plenty of ardent traditionalists who are committed to traditional reading and curling up in their favorite reading chair. In addition to this there are still plenty of imperfections in eBooks and eReader technology, often found in their shoddy editing leading to repetitive spelling and syntactical errors. Similarly, there is a lot less choice with eBook as not every book that is published is digitalized.

Similarly, some books can be very expensive when digitalised especially rare and historical texts. There is also a romantic, emotional connection to traditional books. Many readers can relate the touch and smell of a book to their experiences at the time and also, very few people would want to introduce reading to their kids via their eReader. Surely nobody will be able to artificially recreate the smell of a hardback for the eBook generation. When introducing a child to their first book the experience is about more than just the words and pictures. The sensory enjoyment of feeling and hearing the word is extremely valuable for a
childís development. The same cannot be gained through an eReader, although thereís nothing to say technology won't develop in the future to allow for a more intuitive and child-friendly interface.

So, the big question: is the future of the literature found in the eReader? All the statistics would point to yes but despite this books are still selling and there are experiences, like the reading of a child's first book, which needs to be done with a "real" book. There are camps on both sides of the fence: some support a
full digitalisation of all books and others want the digitalisation to stop completely. The future of literature is tied to both sides of this argument as whilst there are significant numbers of people willing to pay for both and the demand is strong enough, it won't be possible to stop production of either medium.

*Guest Post*

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene Book Review

2011-11-27T20:03:00.000-06:00

The Hidden Reality
by Brian Greene
Knopf 2011

Have you ever wondered whether our earth and galaxy are all that there is? Maybe you have wondered, as I have from the time I was old enough to look into the sky, whether there is an end to space. I grew up in a university community. I recall physics professors suggesting that space is infinite. This was beyond my comprehension as a child. It still is. Surely, nothing can really be infinite. If it appears to be so, then there must celestial mirrors out there that, like having a mirror on your bathroom door, reflects an image endlessly. Nothing better than looking at your naked image indefinitely, huh?

Maybe you have also thought about whether there are other worlds out there. Perhaps with carbon copies of you, though perhaps evolving differently in view of varying circumstances? Would that be a horrifying or comforting thought?

Of course, it may be that the answer to all of these issues is to be found in theology. What physicists see in their laboratory and accelerator studies is nothing more than the various conceptions of Heaven in the religions of the world.

In Brian Greene’s day job he is an esteemed professor of physics. In his literary career, he has authored a series of books designed to bring the reality of contemporary physics into a realm where normal people can understand the state of academic research and development. In The Hidden Reality, he explores the intellectual underpinnings for theories concerning the presence of parallel universes. There are many of them, beginning long before Albert Einstein.

Frankly, I thoroughly enjoy reading well-written explanations of scientific thought that I can understand. I enjoyed reading the prior book of Professor Greene. I find subjects like quantum mechanics, string theory, super string theory, black holes, and so on to be thought provoking, rather like the questions above.

I enjoyed The Hidden Reality, as did my friends in our Philosophers’ Club. If you enjoy thinking in a realm far different than your usual reading, put this well written book on your list.

When I picked up The Hidden Reality, I was hoping that it would address two elements that, to me, are critical to be able to put these matters into a realistic perspective. One is walking around information. For example, what do we experience in our daily lives that is an improvement that has flowed from the billions of dollars of scientific research into these subjects? I find it frustrating that such a skilled scientist and writer could not really bring these concepts down to simple walking around reality for his non-technical readers.

The second element is religion. It was deeply frustrating to me that there was not a serious word addressing whether there is a valid theological explanation for these phenomenon. A large part of the population of the world believes that the subjects discussed in The Hidden Reality are the result of devine or intelligent design. I tend to believe in evolution and scientific approach, though I find that when I need help or am confused I pray in my own way. I think it is not possible, other than perhaps for the most confirmed atheist, to think of the design of the universe without considering the possibility of devine influence.

I hope that in Dr. Greene’s next book, he will address these issues. If he does not, then he at least owes his followers an explanation of why he does not. To me, such failure suggests that these subjects may just be intricate webs of theoretical analysis without practical benefit to the world. If that is the case, I cannot help but wonder whether those who finance such work may have similar thoughts.

All of that said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest work of the good professor. I will buy the next one as well and see if he is brave enough to address more practical issues in his field.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON
Brian Greene
NPR

We Are Blessed and Loved Regardless of Tragedy

2011-11-25T20:23:00.000-06:00

We are all so blessed. Our friends the Woodruffs of Houston have suffered an unspeakable loss in their lives. There is no balance in that loss, though the outpouring of love of their communities reminds us of the blessings that are all around us, regardless of one’s religious beliefs. I believe that God is all around us, reflected in our friendships and connections. Perhaps that provides balance.

Have a relaxing Holiday Weekend Friends,
Cym

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanksgiving 2011

Dearest Family & Friends,

In the busyness of life, we often forget the things that truly matter. I am guilty of being all-consumed with school schedules, pickup times, sports and extracurricular activities that -- while centered on my children -- left me ragged at the end of each day. There was literally nothing left of “me” to give to my husband, to God, to myself.

During this time of despair, devastation and loss, I admit I have approached Thanksgiving with a cynical eye. What do I have to be thankful for in this desperate time of trial and unbearable pain, when the recent, tragic loss of our sweet Rebecca never leaves my mind?

The answer is, simply, a lot.

This time of trial has forced me to slow down, to reconnect, to reflect. It is during these quiet times that my eyes have been opened in new awakening to show me what is truly important in this life; and that I do, indeed, have many blessings to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my husband, John, who has shown me nothing [and everything] but love and shared pain. I cannot say we share understanding, since perhaps we may never know why God took Rebecca, and then his dad, only one week later. But we do share faith in the One who has brought us closer together, and who will see us through in time.

I am thankful for my children, who have suffered so much. How can they possibly understand, when we struggle so much ourselves? Nevertheless, they have collectively shown a faith and “will to get through” that defies their age. They have leaned on each other, cried together, and laughed together. Rebecca was the center of all of our lives – the one who brought us all together. Now they know how much they need and love their other siblings, too.

I am thankful for our families, whom I honestly didn’t think would have the means, time or care to make the five-hundred and thousand-mile journeys to Kingwood, and who have shown us unwavering love and compassion during this time of trial. They have seen me at my absolute worst, and still stayed close. They have helped in so many ways -- from taking care of the children and making arrangements to cleaning house – when I couldn’t possibly do anything on my own besides weep in agony, despair and guilt. They were right there, and continue to be there, during the times when no words need be spoken, and a tight hug shows and tells all that need be said.

I am thankful for our neighbors, colleagues and friends, including the ones I have never met, but am honored to call “friend.” They have renewed my faith in community and humanity. They were right there when the accident happened, helping me, guiding me, fighting off the media and prying eyes until John got back into town and could be by my side. They have provided meals for my family, when I had no desire to eat and had all but lost the motherly, nurturing instinct to feed my children. They have provided friendship, distraction, and transportation for my children; which in turn, has provided me the time and quiet peace needed for reflection. Most importantly, they have shared their own stories of loss, and have shown me that I am not alone in this grief -- they have gotten through the unimaginable pain of losing a child, and have made me believe that I will, too.

I am thankful for our church families; who have been there from the very beginning and have seen Rebecca transform from an introspective baby into a bright, beautiful, generous child full of life, love and God’s teachings. They were also there at the end, to grieve with us, to pray with us and to pay witness to the passing of her earthly life and the beginning of her journey into everlasting life.

I am thankful for everyone at Bright Beginnings Learning Center, who have known and loved Rebecca since she was still in the womb. They called her loving nicknames -- like “Princess Becca” and “Sparkles” -- and were instrumental in shaping her unique, captivating personality and God’s love and light within her. In her memory they have planted Becca’s garden, so her joyful spirit can live on in life anew; and so all who pass by can reflect, see and feel the beauty in the colors God has so perfectly chosen for each petal as she smiles down upon them, whispering to them to pick the prettiest one.

I am thankful to everyone who has lifted our family up in prayer. You have shown our family love and empathy in your own quiet time of reflection, in words spoken and thoughts unsaid, but deeply felt. You have outwardly shown your love for us by posting on Rebecca’s memorial page, by sending cards and letters, and by posting on Facebook, forums and blogs. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed nor unfelt, though I am still too weak from the depths of despair to respond to them directly. It was only via these things that I truly understood how far reaching the impact of one little girl has been throughout the United States. The words and heartfelt sympathies you have posted are reread often, and have provided more comfort and peace than you will ever know.

I am thankful to all who work with John at Gardere, who have provided me time with my husband and who have provided friendship, support, countless meals and groceries under the most difficult of circumstances.

I am thankful for Dr. Raj, the chaplain, and the staff at Memorial Hermann, who did everything they could to save my baby, and who showed the utmost in respect and compassion in her passing.

I am thankful for the donee families; that my daughter’s joyful spirit may continue to live on in their own children.

I am thankful for the local firefighters, who had the courage and foresight to come forward and use Rebecca as the catalyst for change in Houston’s 911 emergency response policy. The new protocol has already been adopted, and will benefit the millions of people in Houston and surrounding areas, who may one day find themselves in the throes of life and death.

I am thankful for my counselor, whose patience, compassion and understanding is helping me see the meaning of tragedy, when it sometimes seems impossible to go on.

You ALL have shown your love for our family by your very presence in our lives.

Finally, but certainly not least of all, I am thankful to God, the Almighty One, for allowing me this time of reflection; to see life anew. He has shown me unwavering love during not just this most difficult time, but throughout my whole life. I am grateful to Him for choosing ME to be Rebecca’s mother, and for the time I was allowed to love her and hold her here on Earth. I have seen Rebecca in the arms of Jesus, and she is HAPPY. I have seen her with Jesus hand in hand at the beach – her favorite place in this Earthly world. And, I have seen her dancing – her joyous smile illuminating Heaven even more than it already was. I am so thankful to God for allowing me to “see” her in this not-so-far-off place of unconditional love, wonder and joy. HE is so good.

Like King David in the throes of pain after losing his infant son, I know she will not come to me, but one day, I will go to her. And I can’t wait.

Psalm 100
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness:
Come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD, He is God:
It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise:
Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting;
And His truth endureth to all generations.

God doesn’t give you the people you want,
He gives you the people you NEED.
To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you
and to make you the person you were meant to be.
(Author Unknown)

Mere words alone cannot truly express my gratitude and appreciation for all that you’ve done; for all that HE’s provided. I hope this letter conveys the love and blessings I wish to share with all of you this Thanksgiving. Keep close to the ones you hold dear, and may you be surrounded with love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Much love from all of us,
Olinda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer

2011-11-23T08:48:00.001-06:00

Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer

O God, when I have food,

help me to remember the hungry;

When I have work,

help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a home,

help me to remember those who have no home at all;

When I am without pain,

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering,

help me to destroy my complacency;

bestir my compassion,

and be concerned enough to help;

By word and deed,

those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen.

-Samuel F. Pugh

Book Review The Devil Colony by James Rollins

2011-11-20T22:39:00.001-06:00

The Devil Colony
by James Rollins
Wm. Morrow 2011

What if when America was founded, there were negotiations between Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin with a potentially unified Native American nation which wanted to become the fourteenth colony to join the United States?

What if ancient Mormon, Native American, and American mythology were combined with a long ago understanding of nanotechnology and particle acceleration?

If there are two great forces in the world, the Guild (let by a Frenchman with ambition to unite his family heritage with the great legacies of history) and the American Sigma Force, which will prevail?

In this rollicking thriller, good vs. evil compete across the history of America and some of our cultural monuments to gain control of the technology embedded in the weapons, metallurgy, and fail safe mechanisms of the long gone Indian cultures that failed in their bid to be part of the United States. The cleverness of the elements brought together in this beautifully crafted story are testament to the analytical interest of the author, both in history and technology, and story-telling skill.

James Rollins populates the torridly paced story with a collage of characters, each set of which could be the centerpieces of another story (perhaps they will be). There is a physically weak Frenchman and an African Amazon who cannot speak and has been with him since childhood; a Sigma leader and a distant niece; another Sigma operative loving a father in failing health and a femme fatale in the operation (both needing each other in a variety of ways); a combat medic with a Sigma leader spouse who is about to give birth; and others.

In the end, Rollins brings it all together in a beautifully orchestrated crescendo. As always, it will be interesting to see where the Sigma Force turns next. Perhaps, it will be to the inevitable rise of the Fourth German Reich. I can imagine Rollins following the current tribulations of Europe, the rise of Germany as the financial well for the continent, a failing America, and a rising China with its own economic woes barely beneath the surface needing to own energy and other imperatives of super-powerdom. Into this vortex, the Fourth Reich is ready to rise, having preserved its wealth through two world wars and three failed reichs.

Obviously, I enjoyed The Devil Colony and thinking about new adventures.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON
James Rollins

Getting Ready for the Holidays in Book Style!

2011-11-17T19:27:00.000-06:00

Is it really that time of year again? I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week & then Christmas is close behind. So, no matter what holidays you celebrate, here are some great ideas for decorating with books.

Let's start with the holiday table. You can click on an image & it will take you to the original link.

Need a few Christmas Tree & Decoration ideas?

Let the count down begin - cute bookish advent calendar ideas.

Are you decorating with books this year?
XOXO
Beachbrights
(guest blogger)

Book Review The Things that Keep us Here by Carla Buckley

2011-11-15T07:35:00.000-06:00

the things that keep us here
by Carla Buckley
Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks 2011

Imagine that you are a happy family living in a suburban area with your spouse and two daughters about age seven and twelve. Your marriage has become a function of running the family, with distance caused by the loss of a baby which your spouse essentially blames on your inattention, even though it was obviously an accident.

Your spouse advises that you are loved, but he is no longer in love with you and asks for a separation. He moves out, damaging his relationship with his children, especially the older girl

Into this peacefulness comes a pandemic of bird flu. It is anticipated that one-third to one-half of the American population will perish.

Ms. Buckley has written a gem of a story. the things that keep us here evolves in a thought-provoking linear process from beginning to end. Life is a day-by-day process, with crises, tragedies, and celebrations all taking their place in our lives.

The pacing of this story is wonderful in terms of letting the reader think through how they would deal with such a crisis. From my own life, it is amazing sometimes to see what personality traits cause people to persevere and blossom, while others turn inward and wither.

The twists and turns in this lovely story will hold your attention, wondering how you would handle such a situation. This may also be a life-saver for you, because who knows what is around your own corner. Think it all through and be ready.

Carla Buckley
Amazon

Warms, Cym

My Current Project

2011-11-13T15:33:00.000-06:00

I am done with the first portion of the revision. Over the past few months, I have had an interesting ride as a hope-to-be fiction writer. I was ready to go with a thriller manuscript entitled The Dust Scenario, with a background of the financial collapse and a protagonist who knows, and can prove, what actually caused the collapse and its destruction of the financial lives of millions of people. Her life has been turned on end to seal her lips. I took an on-line marketing course, then was handed off to a wonderful editor. She suggested a wholesale revision (only 26 single-spaced pages of comments), which has been a wonderful roadmap. I am done with the first third or so of the manuscript, ready to send it off upon her return from a holiday (hopefully, ready to work on my draft).

In the middle of this comes a request for a manuscript that we featured on the website www.cymlowell.com entitled Harvest of Gold, with a background of what actually happened to the infamous Jewish gold at the end of World War II, played out in a current time thriller.

I love to write fiction. Maybe I am making some progress. If not, I am a persistent little devil.

What are you working on??

Warms, Cym

Book Review Little Princess: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

2011-11-08T08:29:00.000-06:00

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
by Conor Grennan
William Morrow 2010

If you were an ambitious young man (or woman) and were determined to spend a year travelling the world before you found a job and began a normal life, would you consider working in a orphanage for children in some exotic locale, such as Katmandu, Nepal?

It would be great fun, especially if you always wanted to see the majestic mountains, go up to the base camp, and otherwise enjoy the exotic charms of this land situated between India and China. Of course, it has also been the site of virtual civil war.

What if you went to the orphanage, perhaps to impress the opposite sex with your care for humanity, and fell in love with the children? After a short stay before undertaking the around-the-world trek, would you miss the little faces? Would you feel the tug of children who adore you . . . and need what and who you are?

What if you responded to the tug in your own heart and returned only to find that the parents of the children are likely still alive? Would you then find a way to deliver them to their parents? Can you imagine the joy in your own heart as the little souls run into the arms of their family, looking back at you with love and thanks. Imagine the feelings of their mothers and fathers.

Finally, would your life be complete if, during the course, of your time in Nepal, you met a sweetheart on line, fell in love, and then had her (him) come join in with the orphan business, including finding a home to begin a new orphanage?

Wow! This is what Little Princes is all about. It is a charming, true story of one young man’s quest. He began with lust for adventure and found a rainbow of love at the end of his trail.

As I read these enjoyable pages, I kept wondering how I would have responded at the author’s age. I am of the Vietnam generation and had my trek there. Could I have done what Mr. Grennan did? Could I do it now?

You will feel better about humanity when you close the cover of this wonderful book.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON

Book Review Buried Prey by John Sandford

2011-11-02T23:08:00.000-05:00

Buried Prey
by John Sandford
G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2011

Two young blonde girls disappear as they are walking by their home. It is assumed that they have been abducted, abused, and murdered. A young patrolman, temporarily made a plain clothes detective, Lucas, follows leads to apprehend a street bum to whom all available evidence points. The street man is killed in the arrest process.

The young detective thought it was too pat. Superiors talked him out of pursuing his instincts concerning a shadowy Mr. Fell.

Thirty years later in an excavation, the bodies of the girls are discovered. DNA proves that the bum was innocent of this crime. By this time, Lucas is a senior detective married to a surgeon and living a comfortable life via inheritance, good fortune, and hard work. He is on the case of Mr. Fell once again.

There follows an intense manhunt, complete with unfortunate shootings and unanticipated twists in a road full of potholes. The story evolves in Minneapolis-St. Paul and surrounding lakes and communities.

If you love well-written mysteries, and you have never read the work of John Sandford, you are in for a treat. The writing is crisp, the characters engaging, and the mystery interesting.

I came to appreciate Mr. Sandford at the International Thriller Writers Association meeting (Thillerfest) in New York earlier this year. He was engaging in person, as well as in print.

Warms, Cym

John Sandford
AMAZON

Always Baby

2011-10-31T14:20:00.002-05:00

As writers, we seek to convey the reality of emotion. As readers, we relate the emotion in stories to our actual experience. The young daughter of one of my beloved law partners died suddenly a few days ago. Her obituary filled my heart with the love she brought to her family. I have no life experience to comprehend the reality of this loss, which is so very real. Please read her story and then include Always Baby, and her family, in your prayers.

Rebecca Lauren Woodruff
6/13/07-10/21/11

We called you "Always Baby." When you told mommy you were getting big, she said "you'll always be my baby." And you loved your mommy so much that you named yourself Always Baby just to make her happy. You had a hundred loving nicknames like "Little Girl", "Fickle Pickle", "Rebecca Cheeks", "Moon Monkey", but Always Baby said it all.

You were an inseparable part of Mommy; an extension of her soul and an answer to her prayers. You filled her with love and light and laughter. When you departed, an emptiness was left too great to be filled with anything but God's love. I know you will dispatch the angels to watch over her – you always took care of her and always will.

We all fought for your attention and you had us each wrapped around one little itty-bitty finger.

You commanded Daddy's attention on your terms, in your time. When I worked at home, you treed me like a cat, climbing in my lap and insisting we play games or make letters together. You ran outside to meet me when I came home, saying: "hold you, Daddy, hold you." You gave me daily shopping lists, constant reminders and sweet little girl kisses when once in awhile I would get it right - I never had to wait for my performance assessment. I'd give the world to have given in to you a few more times and the universe for one more super tight hug with your pretty little head buried deep in my neck.

You loved your sibbies so much and they loved you in ways that cannot possibly be expressed in words. Your lyrical relationships were each a verse in a round – a different meter and key, yet somehow in perfect harmony. The works of the bards and the poets pale in reflection.

We cannot possibly understand why God took you from us. We only know that the light that you brought into our lives will illuminate heaven now. The healing gifts of generosity, laughter and love that you brought into our lives must have been needed somewhere else. We miss you so, so much Always Baby! You will always be our Always Baby!

Kingwood Funeral Home

Warms, Cym

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-10-30T19:51:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($25 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Book Diary!

Be sure to check out Book Diary and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Amazon's Books From Hell - The 10 Best Horror Books Ever Written

2011-10-28T07:10:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Halloween...

1. It by Stephen King

2. Books of Blood by Clive Barker

3. Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre by The Best of H.P.

4. Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

5. The Shining by Stephen King

6. I am Legend by Richard Matheson

7. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

8. In the Flesh by Clive Barker

9. Pet Sematary by Stephen King

10. Koko by Peter Straub

What's the scariest book you have ever read??

~Happy Halloween~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

$25 Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-10-25T17:16:00.000-05:00

The last party of the year!!!

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

**This week is the last link up party for the year. The busy holiday season is almost upon us and I take a link up break for Nov. & Dec. The link up party will resume in January.**

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis Review by FlowerPatchFarmgirl

2011-10-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

**Guest Post from Flower Patch Farmgirl**

I struggle to find new words to relay my journey of the past twenty months. What more can be said? I was slapped in the face by reality. For the first time ever, I touched the very edges of humanity, and I was surprised by the burn. In no time flat, the world didn't make sense any more. It was perplexing. Unfair. I didn't want everything to change. I was cozy under my blankets. I did my best, for a time, to jam the pieces together anyway. Oh, I'll make them fit. I'll still live right here, right in this safe place. I can share a chunk of my broken heart with them without actually going there...right?

Well, of course that didn't work. I knew it all along. Because once your heart changes the only thing left to do is let it lead. It wouldn't be right to trap a changed heart in an unchanged life. It would go back to its old way. It would forget the things it had learned. As much as that sounded safer and a lot less complicated to my mind, this changed heart beat back louder. It almost always wins, this heart.

So right now, right when I'm feeling my way through the aches and the thrills and the pinchy toes of change, I pick up Katie Davis's book and suddenly my life feels easier again, in contrast.

Here is a girl who really understands the dusty vaporness of this life.

She was a regular girl living cushy in the suburbs. She had a nice boy who loved her, the college of her choice on the horizon. Then she took a trip to Uganda and her heart split wide. Her passion to share the love of Jesus - the love that she herself knew - drove her heart to crazy ends. She wanted to stay.

Her parents said no. Her friends thought she was nuts. In time, they relented. She was allowed to go back, one last time, just to get it out of her system. Then she would return to the States and live the life they thought she was meant to live - a life of education, wealth, security. A life blind to the plight across the ocean. A life lead by her head and not her heart.

In the end, that's not the way it all went down. Over time, her parents' hearts changed, too. They let go of the dreams they held up in hope for their daughter and they allowed room for new dreams to take shape.

Katie is now in her early twenties. She is single. She sees to the basic care and education of 400 village children. She has adopted fourteen Ugandan daughters of her own. She is their Mama - forever.

My family, adopting these children, it is not optional. It is not my good deed for the day; it is not what I am doing to 'help out these poor kids.' I adopt because God commands me to care for the orphans and the widows in their distress. I adopt because Jesus says that to whom much has been given, much will be demanded (see Luke 12:48)...
-Kisses from Katie

She let go of almost every last thing. She lost her life so that she could find it.

She sees that God doesn't trace a line between his American children and his African children. We're all just His. We're all a family, we need to take care of each other.

This book, written in her own words, cuts to the heart of every emotion involved in laying it down, all of those things that we cling to to the death. She doesn't sugar coat. She talks about how hard it is to break into a culture so different from her own. She talks about the times she gets lonely. The times she gets tired. The times she wants to close her drapes to the death at her doorstep and take an eight-hour bubble bath. But mostly, she talks about the joy that she never even imagined. She talks about the fact that her life right now is a no-brainer.

She quotes Frederick Buechner, saying, "The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

This is why it's not optional. This is why safety and seclusion are not a calling, even when we snap our eyes shut so tight and wish, wish, wish that they could be.

So the anxiety bubbles up a little, reading these words, because it's all so open-ended, the world's deep hunger so vast. Who knows where it is that God's calling me. It's enough to make me just a little jittery. But oh, to know that deep gladness. My heart beats faster at the thought.

Find Katie's book here. Pick up a copy. Pass it around. Let it change your heart. Then lead your heart lead on.

Read Katie's blog. Read Flower Patch Farmgirl's blog.

Support Amazima, Katie's ministry.

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-10-23T21:34:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to The O.W.L.!

Be sure to check out The O.W.L. and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

2011-10-21T07:23:00.001-05:00

A Lonely Death
by Charles Todd
Wm Morrow, HarperCollins 2011

Have you ever wanted to seek revenge for long ago traumas? Do you hear a voice in your head at crucial times?

Ian Rutledge is an investigator for Scotland Yard just after the end of World War II. In a small town in the Sussex countryside, a series of murders occurs disturbing the tranquility of the community. There is no apparent connection between the deaths of the young men, gruesomely dispatched with a garrote while alone and helpless.

There is also a longstanding mystery concerning a death at Stonehedge during a Druid ceremony.

Rutledge must sort through the lives of the deceased, each of whom had served for the Brits in the trenches of France during the war. There are a collage of relationships and possibilities. Old romances, family secrets, family members who had disappeared, potential romance, and threats galore keep the pages turning of this the 13th Ian Rutledge mystery.

Charles Todd develops the characters with patience and skill. So vibrant is the explanation, that the reading of the well crafted words felt like watching the mystery unfold in front of me. The voice in Ian’s head is a charming element of the story. Each time it spoke, I imagined the voices I hear sometimes, usually with a cautionary message.

If you have not become a fan of these fine stories, put one on your list.

Warms, Cym

Amazon
Charles Todd

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-10-18T18:14:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

**Next week is the last link up party for the year. The busy holiday season is almost upon us! The link up party will resume in January.**

Book Review Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

2011-10-17T19:49:00.000-05:00

Moonwalking with Einstein
by Joshua Foer
The Penguin Press 2011

Have you ever wished that your memory could be expanded by a few gigabytes? Did it then occur to you that with a bit of effort you might be able to compete in the U.S. or world memory championships?

We have all seen people perform memory exhibitions on stage or television. Sometimes, these demonstrations have the feeling of a circus performance. On other occasions, we may be baffled as to how someone could recall so much information, without being a savant or having a photographic memory.

In my travels, I have had occasion to listen to lengthy recitations ofreligious or historical stories, including heroic tales akin to the Iliad and Odyssey, the Torrah scrolls, or Biblical passages. I am often marveled at the skill and memory of the performer.

I also enjoy discussion of religion with people who have different views than my own. In such discussions, an inevitable issue concerns whether religious texts are the verbatim words of God or His prophets, or other religious figures. Sometimes, I have debates with people who seem to feel that their own faith would be compromised if the Torrah, Koran, or Bible were not absolutely literal. On such occasions, I ask whether it is possible that the holy words were most likely passed along via oral tradition for hundreds of years, then written down and translated to an extent that the general meaning may be traceable to origin, but the literal words are the product of innumerable iterations. This question always produces intense comment.

All of these thoughts were brought vividly to mind in this marvelous book. Joshua Foer was a young, struggling reporter, living in his childhood basement when he happened upon memory competition. He had many of the same thoughts that I am sure we all have about memory display. But he became intrigued.

Moonwalking with Einstein is the story of Mr. Foer’s journey. He summarizes extended research into memory and oral tradition, including scientific study. He also recounts his own trip to becoming U.S. then world champion, even being initiated into KL& after many rounds of beer in a pub.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating story. It was interesting to compare my own means of memorizing detail in college and law school with the mechanics of how Mr. Foer and his competitors perform Olympic feats of memory.

My was sad that Moonwalking with Einstein did not address the holy text issue noted above in the context of its excellent narrative of oral tradition. Perhaps, the topic of a sequel.

You will enjoy this read. Be prepared to think.

Warms, Cym

Amazon
NY Times
Joshua Foer

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-10-16T07:14:00.001-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Ellz Readz!

Be sure to check out Ellz Readz and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

I love Comments - Get Rid of the noreply-comment@blogger.com -

2011-10-14T06:17:00.000-05:00

~Guest Post~

Don't you just love to receive comments? I do. Some of the best conversations come from you commenting. It's a great way to ask questions, give props or just a way to say Hi. I use my comments to also start friendships. When I receive a comment, especially a question, I like to respond by email. My comments get delivered into my email inbox, so it saves me time when I can just hit reply. However, if your email address is not in your Blogger profile then this is what appears when I try to respond to your comment:

noreply-comment@blogger.com

So, if you are not sure what's in your profile. Here is a very simple tutorial on how to add your email address to your comments:

1. Go to your Blogger dashboard and click on the EDIT PROFILE link by the right of your profile picture.

2. A new page called your user edit profile page will open. You will want to check the SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS box. When you check this box & share your email address, it means when people access your profile they can email you, or when you make a comment on a blog, the author can respond to you. This also allows for a host of a giveaway to contact you because your email address will be associated with your name on your comment. Be sure to type in the email address you want to use for comments (this can be different than the one you use log-in for Blogger).

See, now wasn't that easy? Leave me a comment if you have any trouble and make sure your email address is associated with your comment so I can get back to you.

**I am by no means a Blogger expert but if you would like to know how to do something in Blogger, please leave me a suggestion and I will try to put together a tutorial for you**

Thanks Cym for letting me guest post-

~Beachbrights~

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-10-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Book Review Riotus Assembly by Tom Sharpe

2011-10-10T16:00:00.001-05:00

Riotous Assembly
by Tom Sharpe
Atlantic Monthly Press 1971

Do you like to escape in a book that makes you giggle in a world of vivid imagination? Would you wonder about people having sex in rubber suits, with the male wearing a dress and the female other costumes? How about a war between different tribes in a mental institution enacting battles of their people from long ago, perhaps not being able to remember the results?

How about a storyline that makes Woody Allen movies seem tame and unimaginative?

If any of these questions strike you fancy, then branch out an get a copy of Riotus Assembly. It was written during the height of apartheid in South Africa. Not surprisingly, it was banned in that country for many years. The story is a parody of the relations between white, Afrikaneer, and English peoples. It begins with an old, aristocratic woman using a custom made elephant gun (with four barrels) to blast her black lover into pieces hanging from the trees.

The commandant investigating the self-confessed crime embarks on a crusade to demonstrate that the woman is innocent. He believes that the crime was committed by her brother, a bishop.

Parody turns to farce as the story comes to a close. When you get to the war at the end you will be giggling at the antics of the warriors, as you also guffaw at the lawyer with a lisp defending the brother in court hoping to save the man from the gallows.

We read this wonderful story in our Philosophers’ Club this month. One of our colleagues lived in South Africa at the time. This group of joyful men, usually intend eviscerating the books chosen by their colleagues, gave Tom Sharpe an unanimous salute for a fine read. What a hoot!

Warms, Cym

AMAZON

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-10-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Avery's Book Nook!

Be sure to check out Avery's Book Nook and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Around the Web...Book Style.

2011-10-07T07:44:00.000-05:00

1. Writerland: Is Blogging a Waste of Time? The weekend before last, I attended a publishing panel at the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto during which literary agent Andy Ross of the Andy Ross Literary Agency said, “Publishers say they expect you to blog and to use social media. I blog and I get about 100 hits a day, and I’m relatively famous, and that’s not enough to impress a publisher.”

2. High Tech News Portal: Mobile Game Developers Rovio Breaking Into The Publishing Scene? [Angry Birds Makers Rovio My Be Looking To Use Cash Surplus To Get Into Publishing] Read: Mobile Game Developers Rovio Breaking Into The Publishing Scene? [Angry Birds Makers Rovio My Be Looking To Use Cash Surplus To Get Into Publishing]

3. Dean Wesley Smith: Book Cards Work. You walk into any major store and see a huge stand of gift cards. Now imagine that rack full of cards are all cards that represent electronic books. All the buyer of the card has to do is log in a code on the back of the gift card to download the book to any device.

4. The Nex Web: Love books and hate carrying a wallet? The BookBook iPhone case is for you. Twelve South has a history of making very well thought out cases and stands for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The BookBook for iPhone is its attempt to shrink down the success of their book-inspired cases for the MacBook and iPad into something that you’ll want to carry around in your pocket.

5. Pretty Spine Designs. Penguin By Design.

Have a great weekend!

Beachbrights

(guest post)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-10-04T17:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank *Book Review**

2011-10-03T11:36:00.000-05:00

Folly Beach
by Dorothea Benton Frank
William Morrow 2011

I often wonder about the real story behind artistic success. In this sense, art could be painting, singing, music, writing, or whatever. Is the person popularly given credit for the work in question actually responsible for the composition? Or is it a collage of skills blended together and had to be the named artist. Shakespeare is a fine example, as there has always been question about whether one man could have written all of the plays and other dramatic works bearing his name.

Folly Beach is a story about what might have been the reality behind the authorship of Porgy & Bess, the fascinating Broadway play featuring the music of George Gershwin and the composition of DuBose Howard. His wife Dorothy played an ambiguous role as well. Folly Beach explores whether Dorothy played a larger role in the composition than she is generally given credit for performing. The story is told partially from the viewpoint of Dorothy in a play telling her own story, having risen from the grave to do so.

The main story is explored from the viewpoint of the niece of a woman who acquired the home in which the Howards allegedly composed their work. Cate was living a life of luxury until her husband hung himself over her prized piano, revealing his own bankruptcy, multiple affairs, and child out of wedlock. She is penniless and returns to the low country, coastal area of South Carolina populated with picturesque offshore islands. She and her sister Patti had been raised there by an Aunt, Aunt Daisey, and her long term partner Ella.

With a grubstake from Aunt Daisey and Ella, and her sister, Cate begins a new life living in the home of the Howards, including the desk where they wrote. She meets and falls in love with a sort of single college professor who encourages her to examine her feelings about the role of Dorothy Howard in the local archives. Amidst intense physical healing, he also suggests that she compose her own play about Dorothy (which is the additional viewpoint in the story).

Folly Beach is a lovely story of family, love, and redemption. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, feeling that Ella was making a mouth-watering pecan pie for me as well as for the characters in the story. Cate’s daughter, Sara, disapproves of her mother’s new love, only to become a pivotal element of Cate’s new composition.

We all wonder about going home. Is it possible? Can I? What would I find? Cate did and found her life, once again, probably to be followed by her sister.

Dorothea Benton Clark is a talented storyteller, making the characters seem like old friends. My sweetheart is fond of saying that “if I can’t get into the characters, I put the book down.” She did not put down Folly Beach , neither did I, and neither will you.

Warms, Cym

*Thank you Shawn Nicholls & Chelsey Emmelhainz for sending me this book to review*

Winner, Winner and an Italian Bread Salad Dinner!

2011-10-02T21:15:00.000-05:00

Random Number Generator picked comment #9.

Thank you Neer for participating in the 11 book giveaway.

Please email me with your shipping address.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for the Italian Bread Salad dinner...

Italian Bread Salad

4 cups cubed French Bread

6 T Olive Oil

3 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t Dried Oregano

1 t Salt

3/4 t Black Pepper

1/8-1/4 t dried crushed red pepper

1 large head of Romaine, chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

8 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

2 green onions, chopped

Place bread cubes on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set bread cubes aside. Whisk together olive oil and next 6 ingredients. Reserve 1 cup bread cubes. Scatter remaining cubes on a large serving platter. Top with lettuce and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle with dressing and toss. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with reserved bread cubes and green onions.

-CYM

11 Book GIVEAWAY - Easy to Enter, ALL Included

2011-09-28T13:00:00.001-05:00

Here it is my friends. All you have to do is leave me 1 comment with your email address. All countries are included. Contest ends Saturday, October 1st, 2011 @midnight.

The winner will receive these 11 books, a canvas tote, bookmarks, and other author promotional medias.

Just my way of saying THANK YOU to those who stop by and read my blog.

-CYM

Stay Tuned....

2011-09-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned for a multiple-book giveaway tomorrow. The post should be live by noon. Oh yeah, this will be just a simple "love you guys" giveaway!

-CYM

To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark Book Review

2011-09-26T07:53:00.001-05:00

To Have and To Kill
by Mary Jane Clark
Wm Morrow 2011

In this Wedding Cake mystery, Piper is an actress who had a long run on a soap, but her character dies. She is short on work. She moves home for a time. Her mother is a baker and her father is a preparedness freak.

The star of the show, Glenna, is set to be married to a private high school teacher, an heir to a supposedly rich Manhattan jewelry business. The bridegroom had a love affair with one of the other teachers, who had planned a charity auction to raise funds for her drama department. Once her former beau was engaged to Glenna, the star attraction of the actress transformed the event. Glenna had recently divorced from a man who has jealous and violent, had served time in prison for financial fraud, and believed that Glenna belonged only with him. There were other staffers from the soap in and out of the auction. In addition, the preeminent New York City photographer was present, as the event had been transformed into a social event.

Piper is in attendance, having agreed to make the wedding cake for Glenna. While her acting career had stalled, Piper had an interesting relationship with an FBI agent, Jack, who she met often for dinner.

The handsome co-star of the soap, Travis, and Glenna were the auctioneers. A glass of water was poured by Glenna. Travis took a drink. He collapsed on the floor in obvious agony.

With this cast of characters, Mary Jane Clark writes a wonderful, page turning mystery. The characters evolve as a series of murders occurs. There are hints and red-herrings along the path, which keep your mind turning on “who could have done all of this?”

The denouement comes in classic fashion. Like a wonderful Hitchcock movie, I did not see it coming.

To Have and To Kill is a lovely, well written story. It is suspenseful, imaginatively written, and thought-provoking. There will obviously be mores stories in the series. Making a series out of an actress turned wedding cake maker will require the same ingenuity displayed in this fine story. Will Piper and Jack become an item as they team up to solve the crimes on the horizon?

Warms, Cym

Resource Links:
Mary Jane Clark

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-09-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Enrique Freeque's Forum!

Be sure to check out Enrique Freeque's Forum and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

A Bookish Halloween

2011-09-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

Boo!

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-09-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Book Review

2011-09-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

Unbroken
by Laura Hillenbrand
Random House 2010

In life, we are all tested. The peril that we face comes in all dimensions, internal and external. I have always been intrigued with why some people find sources of strength in the face of adversity to triumph, as others retreat to become victims. Is it confidence, love, athletic or mental prowess, faith, fate, or something else?

In Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, tells the story of an Olympic athlete falling into the Pacific early in World War II when his bomber was disabled. Louie Zamperini had been an Olympic champion in long distance running. The fliers were all too aware of the sharks in the water. Three men commenced a voyage in two life rafts with few provisions. The food was eaten quickly by one man. The men were but food for the ever present sharks. Setting a world record for survival at sea, they survived by catching birds, albatrosses, and fish, washed down with periodic rain showers. For more than 40 days they drifted with the currents, ever Westward into islands controlled by the merciless Japanese.

Louie and his surviving partner became entombed in one hellacious prison camp after another, tortured and starved as slaves to the enemy’s war effort. Other groups of prisoners were executed, a fate these brave men awaited on a daily basis.

How long would you survive in the water? In the prison camps? Through daily torture and starvation? How about the tropical and sanitary diseases? Losing more than half of your body weight? Is it possible to respect the Japanese people after reading these harrowing stories?

You will ask yourself these questions as you turn the pages of this beautifully crafted story. Ms. Hillenbrand is a best-selling non-fiction writer for very good reason. Her work is meticulously researched and presented as an easily readable, even captivating story.

Mr. Zamperini came home to land a beautiful young lady as his wife, only to fall into alcoholic despair, perhaps unable to rid his mind of the images of the imprisonment.

Whether you have religious faith or not, you will come to the end of Louie’s travail wondering why the resources that saw him through abandonment on the water and torture in captivity were absent in civilian life. Are the demons even greater? If one can be an Olympic and military champion, why can he not do the same at home in the arms of his sweetheart and holding his new baby?

Will he find faith after all that he has been through?

This is a simply wonderful story. Whether you like non-fiction or not, you will enjoy this experience. Ask yourself these questions as you enjoy a thrilling read.

Warms, Cym

Amazon

2 Winners of the Wednesday's Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlights!

2011-09-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

This week I am announcing TWO winners. ONE from August 31st & ONE from this week.

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winners of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Colloquium and KnittingandSundries!

Be sure to check out BOTH these awesome blogs and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Friday's Musings

2011-09-16T07:04:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's collection of Internet Book Sightings!

1. USA Today / Books: E-books' popularity is rewriting the sales story. "It's been a watershed year for e-books," says Tina Jordan of the Association of American Publishers. "Any publisher will tell you that a best-selling title from a branded author can run upwards of 30% to 40% in digital sales."

2. Trends in Publishing: 15 People You Should Follow (and Why). Are you following who is on this list?

3. Country Home / Book Page Pumpkins. DIY, just in time for Halloween!

4. Finally, I leave you with this print. I do not know the source.

I hope everyone has a great weekend-

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-09-13T18:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-09-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Colloquium!

Be sure to check out Colloquium and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

2011-09-08T07:44:00.001-05:00

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

HarperCollins 2010

Have the political events of 2012 soured you on national politics? Made you anticipate the 2012 Presidential election? Or are you so fed up with the obvious inability of our political leadership to find common ground for the betterment of all of us in the United States and around the world?

Unless you have no interest in any of these questions, you will want to put this excellent, and readable exposition of the how the 2008 Presidential election evolved. We all lived through this election and have our own views of the merits of the respective candidates. It is now apparent that the 2012 election will be every bit as tumultuous as it was in 2008. It may be that the stakes are even higher, as the United States has taken a dive off the stage of world leadership.

The characters in the 2012 Play will be many of those depicted in Game Change. Like Bill Clinton, President Obama will win only if he can move to the center, unless the Republicans commit their own hari kari, as occurred in 2008 (the reasons for which are explained in fascinating detail in Game Change).

It was a pleasure to read and think about this even-handed exposition of the game in 2008. I could not discern any political axe to be ground on either side, as the skills and periodic fecklessness of each of the characters is laid in full detail.

Was your vote in 2008 well cast? How will you vote in 2012? I submit that each of us has a duty to think through our country is going, educate ourselves about how to vote, and learn from the past. Game Change is a wonderful story, which just happens to have occurred. You have more than a year to prepare for November 2012.

Warms, Cym

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-09-06T19:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

SPOTLIGHT The Scorpion's Nest by Nate Granzow

2011-09-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Description:

Some secrets are worth dying over.

From the abhorrent and sadistic human testing conducted by the Nazis during World War II, a terrible virus with the potential to ravage the human body is discovered. Recognizing its promising lethality, a band of German scientists are sent on a clandestine mission—Operation Scorpion's Nest— into the American southwest to unleash it upon the population of the United States.

One near miss and 70 years later, Scott Kretschmer, an unemployed aircraft mechanic, witnesses a violent bank robbery. Uninterested in money, the thieves only take one thing: the last remaining logbook from the Nazi operation. Scott suddenly finds himself plunged into a race against time as a corrupt pharmaceutical company with a Nazi past works to replicate the virus, with plans to release it upon the world as the only provider of the antidote.

About the Author:

At 24 years old, Nate Granzow is young when compared to most professional writers—but his experience with the written word surpasses his years. A Drake University graduate, he holds dual degrees in English writing and magazine journalism, and his work has been published in over 10 professional publications. He currently works as an editor for a major woodworking magazine.
Nate lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife, Traci.

Additional Resources:

Nate Granzow
The Scorpion's Nest on FB *Like for a chance to win a Kindle 3G

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-08-30T19:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

ThrillerFest 2011 Part III

2011-08-29T07:37:00.000-05:00

Learning from ThrillerFest 2011 – Part III

In my previous posts about ThrillerFest in New York City in early July, I have described CraftFest, AgentFest, and an overview of the general learning that I received at ThrillerFest. This week, I continue with the specific elements of that learning.

There were a total of 43 sessions at ThrillerFest, not including those at the initial CraftFest, which is really for novice writers, like me, leading up to AgentFest. The 43 sessions typically included a moderator and 4-5 panelists, so that the aggregate number of thriller writers presenting was in the ballpark of 200+. Both the moderators and panel members were full ITW members and accomplished thriller writers. A complete listing of the programs can be found on the ThrillerFest blog. Each of the sessions was taped and the list can be reviewed, and the tapes acquired. www.vwtapes.com

I am an attentive student when I need and want to learn. I attended at least one class in each session. As with any type of learning process, the critical element is to derive from the general discussions the points that are salient for one’s own work. My list, which I will pout to work in the re-write of Dust Scenario, follow:

1. Stage: Create an imaginary world and draw the reader into it.

a. Limit the number of characters to those needed to tell the story.

b. Make a promise (on the first page, the “hook”), then provide the payoff.

c. Pointless rabbit holes are distracting and frustrating.

2. Experience: The stakes must be intense, which is magnified by danger, anxiety (will the characters we identify with survive?), or mystery (there should also be a central mystery that has to be solved, even in thrillers).

a. Reader must be invested.

3. Research: Makes the author confident to tell the story. But research is backstory. No more than 5% of research is in the book itself. Thrillers are about entertaining, not informing.

a. Accuracy of geographic or other references or other details must balance the otherwise implausibility of the story.

4. Setting: Scenes should be described shortly (5-6 sentences).

a. Describe the details through the eyes of the characters. Keep the details in context. The description of something may be more powerful than the dry facts. Remember the intensity of James Bond seeing his new weapons in each movie at early point, knowing that they would be put to use later?

c. To keep the details from become boring, relate them to the inner-life of the characters.

5. Plot: Pacing is about exhileration, escalation continuously building:

50% of the book: Mystery/suspense should be – investigation of a puzzle (who, what, when, why, and so on). Questions make a reader think and empathize (“What would I do?”).

80%: Impending danger and threat to characters (“how will they get out of this mess?”). Pressure of the clock winding down.

Show the pre and post-elements of the scene.

Point of view shift can show impending danger to characters.

100%: Escape threat or solve the puzzle.

a. Draw each scene on a large board, then outline what will happen, page by page.

b. Be careful of transitions, which are generally wasted words and terminal to pacing. In a movie, there is just a cut at the end of scene. The viewer follows right along, anticipating or catching up.

c. Relentless action is tedious. Readers want more promises derived from the sense of impending action, than the actual event, especially if it is violent. Repetition is the enemy of escalation.

d. Break up action with change of pace. Conversation can be an effective interlude.

e. Questions make the reader think.

f. Climax should be unexpected and inevitable. Reader: “why didn’t I think of that?”

g. Fixing plot problems:

(1) Add emotion, suprises, or twists.

(2) What would the character naturally do here?

(3) Eliminate repetition.

(4) Escalate the action (make things worse).

6. Characterization: Intensify emotions relating to the important characters by surrounding them with family or people that generate intensity in the characters. Character is revealed by interactions.

a. What does the character want? What is she concerned about.

b. Series characters are, by nature, lonely, as their love interests are constantly being killed. Imagine Jason Bourne. Vulnerability can fill this void. For example, Superman could be brought down by Kryptonite; and Lisbeth Salander was subjected to immense abuse until she had no control.

c. Role of sex. Readers want to see the characters be happy. Sex is the ultimate happiness. But romance is not smooth in real life.

(1) Sex is about emotional engagement, not bodily fluids.

(2) Sex in the story can kill suspense about what will have to the participants.

d. Emotion is conveyed with feelings and instincts – hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, and so on).

7. Backstory: the data dump of amateurs. File the details where they belong, outside the manuscript. See Point # 3 above.

8. Edit, Edit, Edit: Every excess word must go, don’t stop.

Now, let’s see if I can put that learning to write and become a ThrillerFest panelist in the future.

Warms, Cym

ITW
Thrillerfest

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-08-28T19:06:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Book Prize Package from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Howard Sherman, Implementor!

Be sure to check out Howard Sherman, Implementor and leave a comment!

Email me your shipping address for the Books.

Warms-
CYM

Friday's Musings

2011-08-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

This week's book & such links from around the web!

1. Random House to Publish Lost Dr. Seuss Stories. “ ‘I wish,’ yelled the duck, and he started to scream,/ ‘For eight thousand buckets of purple ice cream!/ A trunk full of toothpaste! A big kitchen sink!/ And lots of brass keyholes! And gallons of ink!’ ” This vociferous narrator, a greedy duck named McKluck, learns a lesson in the title story of The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, a collection of seven tales by Seuss that were published in Redbook in 1950 and 1951.

2. Famous Author Rejection Letters: True Stories Of Unbelievable Rejections. Many new or mid-level writers have received nasty or rude rejection letters. But when famous author rejection letters come to light, people laugh and say “What were those editors (or literary agents) thinking?”

3. Ana White, How to build a pallet book shelf. A simple bookcase made from pallets and a few 1x4's.

The measurements will vary based on the size of the pallets used. Be on the lookout for donor pallets to provide wood for the shelves and support pieces. If you don't have enough pallet wood to make the shelves you'll need to buy some 1x4's In sketchup the shelves are 36" long.

4. Dr. Seuss Baby Shower via Pizzazzerie: We are loving this adorable Dr. Seuss baby shower sent in by desert table style maven, Heather Equitz of Heather Equitz Designs! From the “hop on popcorn” to the “Truffula Trees”, Heather didn’t miss a detail– all things Seuss were represented on this clever + cute dessert table! Such a bright and fun idea for your next gathering!

Have a great weekend!

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-08-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

This week I am giving away 6 books & 1 Canvas Tote Bag!

The Lady Most Likely...
Outlander
Alter of Eden
The Things that Keep Us Here
The Bad Always Die Twice
Keys to the Kingdom
+some little extra surprises!

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-08-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Book Prize Package from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Cherry Mischievous!

Be sure to check out Cherry Mischievous and leave a comment!

Send me your shipping address for the Books.

Warms-
CYM

Swallow Safely by Sayadi & Herskowitz Book Review

2011-08-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

Swallow Safely
by Roya Sayadi and Joel Herskowitz
Inside/Outside Press 2010

Are you around old, young, sick, healthy, suffering or other people who could have difficulty swallowing, getting food or drink “down the wrong pipe” (aspiration into the lungs), or otherwise potentially choking or dying in front of you? Are you concerned about such situations? You should be. These conditions kill thousands of people every year because someone is not present able to diagnose and deal with the situation.

How about yourself? What if any of these events happened and you were alone? Would you simply choke to death?

These are day-to-day issues in the lives of each of us. Yet, the subject of swallowing correctly and preparing yourself to be a caregiver in such circumstances is a subject rarely addressed in lay, or, apparently, in professional terms in a manner that provides functional walking around information.

In Swallow Safely, Drs. Sayadi (Ph.D, CCC-SLP) and Herskowitz (M.D.) provide a succinct and readable explanation of the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of all of these problems. They explain how medications can cause or complicate swallowing problems. There is also an explication of observations, questions, and concerns so that you are in a position to protect loved ones, friends, colleagues, or yourself.

There are pictorial explanations of the performance of the Heimlich maneuver on other people, or doing so over a chair for yourself if alone when a choking episode occurs.

We all grapple with complicated, often wrenching, quality-of-life and end-of-life issues pertaining to loved ones. Swallowing is closely related to nutrition, choking, aspiration, and pneumonia. It is a critical element of walking-around knowledge, in which most of us are sadly deficient (me especially). I was quite amazed to read and think through the range of swallowing problems and need for coordination with, depending on the circumstances in question, speech-language pathologists, medical doctors, or other practitioners.

I heartily recommend this excellent and timely exposition of critical life-saving information and advice that will inevitably enable you to save a life, perhaps your own. Like me, you will happily keep Swallow Safely in your medicine cabinet to be consulted periodically, as with other health matters requiring at least periodic vigilance.

Friday's Musings

2011-08-19T07:26:00.002-05:00

1. 12 Tasks Every Author Should Tackle Before Publishing a Book. Twelve very good suggestions to do BEFORE publishing.

2. Amazon’s Kindle Publishing Guidelines for InDesign. Amazon’s “Kindle Publishing Team” has quietly released a new document called the Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines for Kindle Plug-in for Adobe InDesign 0.93. It has detailed guidelines, with screenshots and clear instructions, on how to optimize your InDesign files for the Kindle file format (MOBI) prior to uploading to the Kindle store for sale.

3. Read It and Weep - 16 Repurposed and Recycled Books. Okay, just shoot me now and put me out of my misery! Will I never achieve such creative genius as this? Time to read it and weep...not the ugly cry - it's a happy sob (sigh)! Oh what some people can do with a recycled book or two.

4. ReadyMade: Curve Appeal. A family heads west to add some funk to the frontier of architecture.

Have a great weekend!

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-08-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

This week I am giving away 5 books & 1 DVD!

Keys to the Kingdom
Creep
The Stranger You Seek
This is a Book by Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin Person DVD
Suddenly Texan
+some little extra surprises!

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

The Texas Drought

2011-08-15T07:52:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of our lake. The picture on the left was taken 1 year ago. The picture on the right was taken today. Cedar Creek Lake is really suffering. Pray for Rain.

Warms-
CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-08-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Book Prize Package from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to The New Dork Review of Books!

Be sure to check out The New Dork Review of Books and leave a comment!

Send me your shipping address for the Books.

Warms-
CYM

Friday's Musings

2011-08-12T07:26:00.002-05:00

This weeks edition of books, articles & the internet!

1. 10 Handy Iphone Apps for Better Blogging...Blogging isn’t just writing posts. Blogging means to maintain or update a blog. You need to constantly monitor your blog’s content, images, videos etc. Here is the list of 10 handy iPhone apps which can make your blog more flexible.

2. Top Five Things I’ve Learned About Working with Book Bloggers...So, here are the top five things I’ve learned working with book bloggers. Maybe it’ll help you, dear reader, when you’re pitching books online. Hope it does!

3. Ten Books Every Woman Should Read...A Chick Lit book, really, by nature, is meant to be a book that is written for a female reader. And I am here today to give you a top ten of sorts; Ten Books I Think Every Woman Should Read. Now, I could probably sit here and spit out about 100 books I think every woman I know should read…but these are the first ten that came to mind, and if you haven’t read them, HOP TO IT.

4. Cute Back to School Printable Book Plate...Hello friends! Can you believe summer is over and a whole new school year has begun? Time flies, doesn’t it? Well, we have some FUN printables to share with you.

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-08-09T17:47:00.001-05:00

This week in lieu of an Amazon eGC, I am giving away 4 books!
Sanctus
No Rest for the Dead
Spycatcher
Outlander
+some little extra surprises!

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

AgentFest from Thrillerfest 2011 PART TWO

2011-08-08T07:43:00.001-05:00

AgentFest at ThrillerFest 2011

The second part of Thrillerfest was AgentFest, which was conducted on Thursday afternoon, 7 July 2011. The purpose of AgentFest is bring together thriller writers looking for an agent to handle their stories and agents looking for writers who could be attractive investments.

I am an aspiring writer. I do love to write thrillers. But like every other author, I recognize that it is bound to be a slow process. Like a finely crafted plot, escalation from newbie to best-selling author is a journey to be undertaken with patience and persistence.

From the standpoint of agents interested in thriller writers, AgentFest provides an excellent opportunity to interview as many as 30 writers. Agents are largely compensated based on their commission from sales of manuscripts and ancillary rights. Accordingly, decisions on the writers in whom to invest their time and energy are critical for the agents’ own economic success. Betting on writers is a lot like investing in race horses. There is no sure fire way to find the next J.K. Rowling or Dan Brown, and both of them surely had mountains of rejection notices.

In my case, I had an agent with a fine reputation for one year and he then went in-house. Accordingly, I was delighted to participate in AgentFest this year. I did so last year and plainly learned from the experience.

The process spans 2.5 hours with a brief break in the middle. The format is like speed-dating, with each session lasting 3 minutes. Some were faster (where there was little or no interest on either side) and others somewhat longer. There were 65 agents in attendance this year. Their names and biographical information are available on the ThrillerFest 2011 website.

My strategy was to select the agents who seemed to have interest in my type of story (international thriller). Rather than seeing as many as possible, I tried to be patient, waiting in lines as needed to go down my list. I practiced my pitch to get it down to no more than 30 words, which could be said calmly in just a few seconds. Like the opening of a story, success comes from securing the hook early.

My pitch for Dust Scenario: The global economic order will collapse unless a mother and an Aborigine ex-commando can free her children, kidnapped by instigators of the attack to prevent her from revealing the truth.

I was delighted with the results. I pitched to 12 agents, 8 of whom requested a synopsis and portions of the manuscript that I pitched. I also got a lot of fascinating feedback of the concept of the story. I am continuing to revise the manuscript and will send in the requested portions when I have been through it a few more times. In a future blog, I will discuss the writing learning that I derived from ThrillerFest this year. A critical element of the learning is to relentlessly edit and hone the manuscript so that readers turn the pages with their own relentlessness.

I am constantly amazed at how much I have to learn, and how exciting it is to do so.

Warms, Cym

You can read PART ONE here.

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-08-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Book Diary!

Be sure to check out Book Diary and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Friday's Musings

2011-08-05T07:20:00.001-05:00

Another addition of this week's internet findings!

1. Publishing A Book: 7 Cost-Effective Self-Publishing Services: Publishing is always a painful issue for the author, as they might be excellent on writing, but suffers when it comes to decide the publishing format, cover design and budget planning. The great news is, there are quality publishing services arise nowadays to help you to publish your book in a quality yet cost-effective manner.

2. Book Review Clichés I’d Like To See: Every profession has its own peculiar jargon, but the language of book reviewers probably comes under more scrutiny than that of any other group (except politicians).

3. 5 Book Websites That Give You Sample Chapters To Read Online: Online previews replicate the feeling of paging through a book in a bookstore. Well, not exactly, because sometimes you have a cup of coffee to go along with it. I am not complaining because online book stores give you some social joys but they can’t win all the battles when it comes to the convenience of buying and reading books. If you are a book lover, what’s your take on this? Do you know of any other book preview websites?

4. My kind of Book Store...Kate Spade Style!

XOXO-
beachbrights
(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-08-02T20:31:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-07-31T21:46:00.001-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Tales and Treats!

Be sure to check out Tales and Treats and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-07-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci Book Review

2011-07-25T19:51:00.000-05:00

The Sixth Man
by David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing/Hachette 2011

David Baldacci is Master of the Thriller Universe!

Imagine a world in which Government officials are on duty entrusted with the sacred task of protecting us from the evil that is all around. Something inexplicable happens to a good guy lawyer seeking to defend an odd man who has withdrawn inside himself locked away in a maximum security prison in rural Maine. Investigators hired to help him want to find out what happened, even without a source of income.

Our national security has been enhanced by a wondrous new generation of technology, which requires a human being of exceptional intellect to connect the wave of electronic dots arriving from global data feeds. That man is out of action. The technology has brought together formerly disparate intelligence agencies more focused on turf war than national security. It is compromised by the absence of the human dot-connector

Deaths begin in serial fashion. Michelle and Sean, the investigators, struggle with crime scenes littered with loose ends. Their budding emotional attraction is endearing. The Homeland Security Administration Secretary is a rich woman determined to occupy the White House. She obtains authority from the President to clean-up the mess, working with a private intelligence contractor who lost out to the new technology.

Government intelligence operatives are all over the place, as state troopers in Maine try to do their job. Some characters seem to be lambs caught in the clutches of cold killers. Others have contrasting personas.

The Sixth Man is a brilliant weave of sophisticated intrigue, loyalty, love, patriotism, honor, and redemption. These many strands are woven into a cloth of vibrancy, and intrigue.

It takes a bit of foundation work to set the pieces on the battleground. When the combatants are in place, the blistering pace commences.

It is a joy to read the work of a thoroughly skilled storyteller. This is a page turning thrill, which is paced so the reader can savor imagining how the clues found along the road will play out.

A bonus in this wonderful story is the evolution of love, triumph of patriotism, strength of our intelligence services to ferret out evil, and devotion to family.

I loved The Sixth Man and so will you!

Warms, Cym

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-07-24T18:46:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Paranormal & Romantic Suspense Reviews!

Be sure to check out Paranormal & Romantic Suspense Reviews and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Friday's Musings

2011-07-22T16:11:00.001-05:00

Can you believe how quickly the summer weeks are passing? Shesh! I feel like I need to hold on....

Here are this weeks internet ramblings. Enjoy!

1. A branding project created by STITCH for Library, a collection of vintage clothing, inspired by library ephemera and fashion drawings. I just love the look of these tags & papers.

2. I found these cute little craft tags that I thought would make great bookmarks. You could add you blog information and they could also be business cards.

3. Making the Case for Fee-based Reviews of Self-published Books. Very interesting article. I wonder if this will impact bloggers? What's your opinion on paid reviews?

4. 20 Cool Home Library Designs via Shelterness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a great weekend!

XOXO-

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-07-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

Sneak Peak of Upcoming Book Review Giveaways thanks to Thrillerfest:

-CYM

Highway to Vengeance by Brian Springer Book Review

2011-07-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

Highway to Vengeance
by Brian Springer
Ann Egan Publishers 2011

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go through the training to be a Navy Seal? With the world just having witnessed the Seals completing a perfect mission to rid the world of Osama bin Laden, we have probably all thought about the training required to prepare brave young men and women for such a mission.

Highway to Vengeance is the story of a former Seal, Thomas Highway. He has been adjusting to civilian life. Having just completed a romantic lunch with his new wife, he helplessly watches here being intentionally run-over in a pedestrian cross-walk by a hit-and-run driver. Thought he San Diego police declare the death to be an accident, Highway knows better.

In moments, he enlists the help of a friend to commence an operation to find the killer and wreak vengeance. We are immediately drawn into the clandestine operations of a mercenary band formed just after 9/11 to do work that Government bureaucracies cannot accomplish. The murder is attributed by the operatives to a compromised Mexican drug lord, who is said to be seeking a new gang by bringing weapons of mass destruction under the border via tunnel.

Highway completes the mission only to discover that he is hunted. Is it by the mercenaries, Homeland Security, his friend working with one or the other, or someone else. There is no place to turn, other than to face the music straight up. His story is told in first person, so we can feel his emotions in each step of the story.

As a respite from the constant action of the story, we are treated us to a detailed explanation of the steps in Seal training. It becomes obvious why so few of the recruits are able to complete the training, male or female.

Brian Springer brings a clear new voice to the thriller genre. He is destined to become a new superstar. Highway to Vengeance hits the bookstores of the world just as the fascination with the Seals reaches a high decibel level. Fortunately, here is a riveting book that spells out how the bin Laden operation could have been conducted so flawlessly.

Thomas Highway is a new thriller hero! His devotion and love for his victimized wife is touching. He has a heart and soul, unlike many other standard characters of the genre. Will he be able to love again? Where will his broken heart find solace? These and other plot twists will be in the sequels sure to come.

-CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

2011-07-17T07:42:00.000-05:00

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to My Favorite Things Obsessions with Art and the Written Word!

Be sure to check out My Favorite Things and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

This Week's Roundup of Book Stuff Guest Post

2011-07-15T15:13:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to have some time this week to browse the web. This is a collection of my book related musings for the week. Enjoy!

1. The Kitchn's 12 Favorite Cookbooks for Summer. Cookbooks often feel unnecessary in the summertime. After all, who needs another recipe for grilled zucchini or corn on the cob? And yet with summer's easy living and easy cooking sometimes I get lazy and forget to try new things. A few cookbooks are breaking me out of my routines this summer, pulling me away from popsicles and grilled eggplant, encouraging me to enjoy the generosity of summer in new ways.

2. The Morning News, How to Write a Thank-You Note. There is a six-point formula to the proper thank-you: Learn it, know it, memorize it—and it will never fail you.

3. The Los Angeles Times, Whom to follow on Twitter? Start with 25 of Culture Monster's favorites. Friday, July 15, is the fifth anniversary of the first public tweet, a milestone that may warm your heart or boil your blood. In that time around 260 million people, including 13% of online Americans, have told the world about their dinner, their dog and their duodenum. (I wish that last one was a joke. Sadly, no.) Haters describe Twitter as a cesspool of narcissism. They are not entirely wrong, but Culture Monster is willing to look beyond the spam and oversharing to find much to delight in.

4. Publishers Weekly, The 5 Most Stolen Books. Yesterday, historian and author Barry H. Landau was arrested on charges of stealing historical documents, including ones signed by Abraham Lincoln, from the Maryland Historical Society. The arrest eventually led to Landau’s locker, where police found upwards of 60 documents worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Laudau’s heist and the tremendous value of the stolen documents got us thinking about the other end of the literature theft spectrum: what are the most frequently stolen books from bookstores?

Have a great week/weekend!
Beachbrights
(guest blogger)

ThrillerFest 2011

2011-07-14T13:12:00.000-05:00

This was my third time to attend the annual meeting of the thriller writers’ trade association – The International Thriller Writers’ Ass’n. It was a fascinating learning and cultural experience. As I see it, there are four elements of ThrillerFest:

1. CraftFest: experienced writers teach novices about the elements of the craft;

2. AgentFest: agents looking for new talent conduct speed interviewing, apparently akin to speed dating with 3 minute pitches;

3. ThrillerBusiness: interviews of famous authors, more advanced craft sessions, and focus on the business of ITW (which is largely financed by thriller writers combining for ITW book projects); and

4. Celebration: of the joy of being practicing or aspiring professional writers, as well as presenting awards to the most successful of our craft, over career or shorter spans.

This was my best ThrillerFest by far.

By the time of my first year in attendance, I had been writing international thriller manuscripts for at least 10 years. I had secured an agent who I thought to be knowledgeable and was ready to move along in the business.

What I did not know or appreciate was the depth and breadth of what I needed to learn! It has taken awhile for me to appreciate where I stand. Fortunately, I am a patient and persistent fellow. I may learn slowly, but I do learn.

By my second visit to ITW, I had learned that having an agent is nice. The critical element is whether the agent believes in the projects at hand. My agent had gone in-house without having made a serious evaluation of the work. In the craft sessions, I tended to have other things on my lap. I don’t think I had any illusions about where I stood in the thriller world, I just did not appreciate how far above the seabed I was (wet sand still filling my pants).

This year, I participated in every element of ThrillerFest. At each of the craft sessions, I simply listened, absorbed the wisdom of the best thriller writers in the world, and made notes of the guidance being dispatched. I have 20 pages of notes! I will distill all of that down into my lessons for me and get it into blog format. Maybe it will be of interest to others..

Five things became crystal clear to me this week in a hot New York City: (i) I want to learn how to write a compelling, page-turning story; (ii) I have a treasure chest full of ideas and experience; (iii) I have a lot to learn; (iv) there is room for another respected thriller writer; and (v) I will do my best to fill that space.

Warms, Cym

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

2011-07-12T19:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have
written to the below MckLinky.

-CYM

I Owe You Some Winners!

2011-07-12T07:46:00.002-05:00

Did you notice the {s} on the end of that word in the title? I have been busy with travel and did not have time to pick last weeks review link-up winner. Sorry!!

So without further adieu last week's winner of the Personal Library Kit...

Congrats to News and Reviews from the Heart of the Dragons Den!

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And this week's winner of the $15 Amazon eGC...

Congrats to Family Literacy and You!

Be sure to check out them both and leave a comment!

Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC & shipping address for the Personal Library Kit.

Warms-
CYM

**get ready for tonight's start of the Wednesday review link-up party**

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay Book Review

2011-07-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

Sarah’s Key
by Tatiana De Rosnay
St. Martin’s Griffin 2007

Imagine that you are a 10 year-old girl living joyfully with your family in Paris (Sirkah, or Sarah). It is 1942. Your father is hiding from the Nazis and the Vichy French police. Fists pound on your door. Your own Frenchmen take you and your mother away, as your father leaves his hiding place to be with you. Your little brother hides in your secret place. You take his key promising to return. You escape from the detention camp. Your parents go to Aushwitz. You have the key to your brother’s secret place. What would you do?

This wonderful story is told from the perspective of an American woman living in Paris with her thoroughly French husband and a daughter about the age of Sarah. Our heroine Julia is a reporter assigned to do a story on the 60th anniversary of the Velodrome d’Hiv, where the Jews were incarcerated and then dispatched. She discovers that her in-laws moved into Sarah’s apartment. Long buried memories of her father-in-law who found the remains of the boy focus the reporter on the story, which leads her on the quest to find Sarah.

Julia has a wandering husband and a new baby surprise as she embarks on the mystery.

Ms. De Rosnay spins an emotional story of the journey to find Sarah, and, perhaps, a new life. The history of the French entombment of their own people is a shameful period of French history. Each of us can imagine how we would react on any side of such a gruesome situation. Would we be cowards or heroes, victims or survivors? Each of these stories is told in Sarah’s Key.

This wonderfully written story is an emotional thriller. It will trigger introspection in you about how lucky you are, or how you need to move forward in your own life.

Warms, Cym

Cym Lowell

Author Spotlight: Janet McNulty

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Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

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Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

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NY Resolutions: The 2012 Reader's TO DO List

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New York to Dallas by J.D.Robb **Audio Book Review**

Researching Legends of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia *2 Book Reviews*

*Book Review* 007 Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver

The Best Holiday Gifts for Readers and Writers *Guest Post*

Sunrise For Aspiring Writers

This Week's Bookish Round-Up

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Beloved Marleigh

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Is the Future of Literature Really Electronic?

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We Are Blessed and Loved Regardless of Tragedy

*Help Me* Thanksgiving Day Prayer

*Book Review* The Devil Colony by James Rollins

Getting Ready for the Holidays in Book Style!

*Book Review* The Things that Keep us Here by Carla Buckley

My Current Project

*Book Review* Little Princess: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

**Book Review** Buried Prey by John Sandford

Always Baby

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Amazon's Books From Hell - The 10 Best Horror Books Ever Written

$25 Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis **Review by FlowerPatchFarmgirl**

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

*Book Review* Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

I love Comments - Get Rid of the noreply-comment@blogger.com -

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

*Book Review* Riotus Assembly by Tom Sharpe

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Around the Web...Book Style.

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank *Book Review**

Winner, Winner and an Italian Bread Salad Dinner!

11 Book GIVEAWAY - Easy to Enter, ALL Included

Stay Tuned....

To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark **Book Review**

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

A Bookish Halloween

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand **Book Review**

2 Winners of the Wednesday's Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlights!

Friday's Musings

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

**SPOTLIGHT** The Scorpion's Nest by Nate Granzow

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

ThrillerFest 2011 Part III

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Friday's Musings

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

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Friday's Musings

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

The Texas Drought

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

Friday's Musings

You Are What You Read Scholastic

This is Herman Cain by Herman Cain Book Review

Escape from Davao by John D Lukacs Book Review

Valentine Book Ideas Guest Post

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks Audio Version Review

New York to Dallas by J.D.Robb Audio Book Review

Researching Legends of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia 2 Book Reviews

Book Review 007 Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver

The Best Holiday Gifts for Readers and Writers Guest Post

The Trill of Victory Audio Book Review by Sandra Brown

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene Book Review

Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Book Review The Devil Colony by James Rollins

Book Review The Things that Keep us Here by Carla Buckley

Book Review Little Princess: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

Book Review Buried Prey by John Sandford

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis Review by FlowerPatchFarmgirl

Book Review Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Book Review Riotus Assembly by Tom Sharpe

To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark Book Review

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Book Review

SPOTLIGHT The Scorpion's Nest by Nate Granzow

Swallow Safely by Sayadi & Herskowitz Book Review

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci Book Review

Highway to Vengeance by Brian Springer Book Review

This Week's Roundup of Book Stuff Guest Post

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay Book Review