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Showing posts from January, 2012

2012 New Year's Resolutions

It's been a month. How have I been doing on my New Year's Resolutions ? Let's see: On the 'Be bored' front (I'm so busy/stressed I miss the sweet moments in life), I've been struggling. I've been so busy I'm not getting stuff done I want to get done. (As per usual, I guess. Which is where this resolution came from!) It snowed on the first or second day of this year and I sat in the window and watched the beauty nature had to offer. That counts. I've been slowing down to watch my cats. Since they're not 'new' anymore (I've had them for two wonderful years now), I've been taking them for granted. We have our routines and live our lives and I enjoy them but I've been really enjoying the enjoyment, if that makes sense. (They are so adorable!) My sister came to town for about 48 hours and had dinner plans and then breakfast plans. I've been at work far more than my usual so getting nothing done on the book front. I

Reading Challenges - Self-Published Reading Challenge

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Self-Published Reading Challenge Hosted by Workaday Reads  Challenge Guidelines: This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012. Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc). Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is self-published by the author. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the Self-Published Reading Challenge. You can move up levels, but no moving down. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year. Levels: Sentence - 5 books Paragraph- 10 books Page - 25 books Chapter - 50 books Short Story - 75 books Novel - 100 books Se

Reading Challenges - Cruisin' Thru The Cozies

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Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews Here are the rules... 1. Choose the level you wish to participate: Level 1 - Snoop - Read at least 6 books Level 2 - Investigator - Read 7-12 books Level 3 - Super Sleuth - Read 13 or more books 2. The challenge runs from January 1, 2012 and ends December 31, 2012. 3. You don't have to choose your books in advance. If you do, you can change your list at any time during the year. Books can overlap with other challenges. 4. Books can be in any format - paper, audio, ebooks...it all counts! 5. You don't have to post a review, but I'm sure others would love to know about the books you are reading and may even want to add it to their reading lists. I'm going for Super Sleuth.

Books & Things Thursday - 'One for the Money'

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I was innocently watching TV last week when a commercial came on. It was for a movie and I instantly thought, "Ooh, that looks good. I want to see that." To my surprise, it was One for the Money ! I knew a movie was being made based off Janet Evanovich's One for the Money but had no idea it was out - or that I might like it. (Well, I'd thought I might like it.) It's so natural to judge things prematurely and just as natural to squash that judgment and give something a try but I assumed it'd look awful and I wouldn't bother going to the theater. Let's face facts, people. The movie is never as good as the book. Also, years ago, my Mom said she'd pictured Sandra Bullock in the leading role and I couldn't picture anyone else filling it. Until now. Just on the commercial,  Katherine Heigl looks perfect for the part. I know her from Love Comes Softly - another movie based on a book - and I liked her. (Before you ask, no. Drippy roman

Wordless Wednesday - Goofy Kitty (Outlaw)

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Reading Challenge - A-Z Challenge

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A-Z Challenge Hosted by Babies, Books and Signs This one is pretty self-explanatory. The idea is to read 26 books, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. I found this challenge at Socrates' Book Reviews and she said, since 'x' is hard to find, that letter just has to be in the title. I'm going to try and find a book that starts with 'x' but if I don't - I'm going to use her out!

Death At Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn (Review)

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The back of the book (I cut out the name of the victim): "No stranger to sprawling country estates, wealthy Daisy Dalrymple is breaking new ground at this particular manor house, having scandalously traded silver spoon for pen and camera to cover a story for Town and Country magazine. But her planned interviews with the inhabitants of Wentwater Court give way to interrogation when suave {*****} meets a dire fate on the tranquil skating pond. Armed with evidence that his fate was anything but accidental, Daisy joins forces with Scotland Yard to examine an esteemed collection of suspects - and see that the unlikely culprit doesn't slip through their fingers just as the unfortunate {*****} slipped through the ice..." I love the characters in this book. I had trouble getting into the story - I liked it, love the 1920's language, the British setting and thoroughly enjoyed Daisy. I think my problem was the narration. I didn't get sucked inside the world at

Reading Challenge - 2012 E-Book Challenge & Happy Birthday, Sis!

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First of all, Happy Birthday, Sis!!! Second - I'm joining another Reading Challenge: 2012 E-Book Challenge Hosted by Workaday Reads Challenge Guidelines: This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012. Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc). Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge. You can move up levels, but no moving down. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year. Levels: Floppy disk - 5 ebooks CD - 10 ebooks DVD - 25 ebooks Memory stick - 50 ebooks Har

Wordless Wednesday - Goofy Kitty (Copper)

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Happy New Year!

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2011 2011 was great. Simply fantastic. Wonderful. My sister's wedding in May probably tops the list - what an awesome weekend that was! The Royal Wedding was cool because I got up at like 4AM, made a cup of tea and texted and chatted with my aunt in California and sister in Georgia while learning all sorts of things about the Royal Family in England. I got published! Married To Murder came out in January and the follow up Ella Westin Mystery, Honeymoon Homicide  came out in August. (I've written and edited Toxic Train , the third installment. I just have to send it to my editor and then I'll be publishing that.)   I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes all over again thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law and Guy Ritchie. I reread the entire collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I wrote and edited the first of a new mystery series, The Georgia H. Mysteries . That'll be coming out soon.