MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

Well, the tree is still twinkling, but now there are no gifts under it.  It looks a bit bare, but the cat likes it better this way.

Our day started with coffee together in bed, then our church only had one service today…at 10:30, so it gave us time to have a leisurely breakfast and open our few gifts to each other.  I think Dick’s favorite was a golf putting practice thing.  Mine was a new Kindle and bright red cover.

Our kids, as usual, were too generous, but they gave us some lovely gifts.  Cards are sitting or hanging everywhere, telling me that we have some wonderful friends and I pray they all know how much we love them.  One of my favorite cards is a picture of the new addition to the family.  I’m a great-aunt again since my niece had her third child.  What a blessing.

This time of year always makes me remember past Christmas’ when the kids were smaller and Christmas morning wasn’t the relaxed, quiet time that it is now.  Ah, but those were the good ole days.  *sigh*

The weather today in Georgia is a mild mid fifties and since it rained last night, it started out damp but is drying out.  No snow…yet.  Our winter is being lazy about getting here, but I’m sure she’ll arrive with a bang over the next month or so.

In the meantime, enjoy family and friends today, stay warm, stay well and share hugs and good wishes with everyone on this special day that we celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Merry Christmas.

SATURDAY BOOK REVIEW !!

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A MAD WOMAN

    by:  Stephanie Queen

This is a catchy title, but more so once you meet the two main characters.  Madeline, also known as Mad for short and Peter, also known as The Rock.

Book Blurb:

“Madeline Grace was always expected to do great things, but she discovers the price of destiny means running for governor--against a man who was once her lover.

In this world of politics, romance wins over cynicism and the good guys finish first. Not since JFK, has a political candidate used his wit and charm to such an advantage as Peter “the Rock”. On the other hand, there hasn’t been a woman so admired as a crusader against corrupt power since Joan of Arc… until “Mad” Madeline. Madeline is running for Governor of Massachusetts against Peter. Madeline and Peter were once in love—before she broke his heart.

In the midst of the campaign battle they re-ignite their volatile relationship, but on warring sides of the ticket, they can’t afford for the media to find out. As they fight each other for office they find they have an enemy in common. When their enemy drives up the stakes, Peter must decide if he’ll risk his career and fight with Madeline to overcome the political crisis. Madeline has to decide if she trusts Peter—and whether she still loves him.”

The author immediately drags the reader into the world of political campaign and makes the reader root for both sides of the ticket.  While I was reading, I wondered how she was going to allow both of her main characters to “win” when she wrote two such compelling candidates.  (Since I couldn’t imagine either of them losing) 

Well, the obvious would be for her to join him on the ticket as his Lieutenant Governor… at least in Peter’s mind, but Madeline will have none of that.  They differ on a lot of issues and she refuses to play second fiddle to a man…again.

There are twists and turns and even the secondary characters are compelling.  I could easily see a couple of them having their own story.  (Loved the Special Ops guys)

I was captured immediately and read straight through without stopping.  I didn’t want to put it down until I found out what was going to happen!

For me, the kiss of death or the two thumbs up depends on whether or not I love the characters enough to want to continue reading about them after the story ends.  In this case, I would love to read a sequel to Between A Rock and A Mad Woman. You owe it to yourself to buy and read this book.

Want a suggestion?  Right now you can get Between A Rock and a Mad Woman and her second book, Throwbacks, for $ .99 and I have to tell you...that's a bargain that a girl just can't pass up.  Oh, and after you read about Rock and Madeline, you'll want to read more stories written by Stephanie, so save yourself some time and go ahead and get Throwbacks while you're at Amazon and B&N.

 Amazon

Barnes and Noble 

Happy Reading and Merry Christmas!

Welcome my guest today.....Stephanie Queen!

SUPERMARKET LADY

                 by:  Stephanie Queen

By marketing, I do not mean making a trip to the supermarket. Although I could

always bring along fliers and post them on the supermarket bulletin board…

But no, that’s merely another digression in a long line of dizzying marketing ideas

that have come and gone through my head from too many sources—good, bad and ugly.

Indie Info Overload

I never thought there’d be such a thing as too much helpful support, but I’m

beginning to reconsider my theory on that. Or maybe I need a better filter for what

info is relevant and what’s not. I’m in a fabulously boisterous and knowledgeable

group. Some of what they discuss might be beyond my sapling status—like how to get a review from Romantic Times (But it's a seductively exciting prospect...)

Back to Overload

I’ve heard it all. Get a professional service to set up a blog tour and reviews for you.

Do it all yourself, it’s easy. Twitter. Facebook. (Everyone says you must, but is it

helpful? And if so, how?” Write a blog. Don’t bother with a blog because only writers

will read it. Give away your books for free. Discount your book price. Don’t bother

with the discount because it doesn’t work—you’ll lose money. Release as many

books at once as you can. Stagger the release two weeks apart—no, a month apart—

no three months apart. Join readers’ forums and participate, but be careful because

they hate when writers infiltrate to promote their books so you can’t tell them

you’re a writer (?)

These are some of the suggestions I’ve heard—all within a one week period. Hold on

while I pause to let my head stop spinning.

Does Anything Out There Make Sense?

I don’t know if there is any such thing as tried & true marketing strategies for us,

because let’s face it, this is a new marketing world. Indie books are amebas, with

digital publishing and social media not far ahead in the developmental scheme. It’s

the perfect storm—if you’re idea of perfect is chaotically rapid change from every

direction.

So I’m dragging out my old marketing plan (from 3 weeks ago), crossing off

Facebook (because I don’t like it—a tame version of what I think), keeping twitter

(because it’s short and sometimes fun), doing the blog thing (because I like to hear

myself talk, but I’m a writer so a blog is a good substitute), attempting to get reviews

(actually twitter is helpful for this) and …

I think I may go for the Romantic Times book review—you never know.

                                                               ****

 Stephanie's Bio:    

Stephanie Queen lives in bucolic New Hampshire where her two sons visit when they’re not away at college learning how to run the world. Writing happy, snappy romances takes most of her time, however she does force herself to go to the gym on occasion so that she can continue to fit through the door. You can also find her watching UConn football and basketball games whenever they’re on, and sometimes even in person. Right now, she’s busy writing her next book, of course.

To check out her e-books:

Between A Rock and a Mad Woman

Throwbacks

Be sure to drop back by on Saturday to check out the SATURDAY BOOK REVIEW when I'll be reviewing Stephanie's book, BETWEEN A ROCK AND A MAD WOMAN.  See you then!

SATURDAY BOOK REVIEW

"When Anna LeBonte's estranged husband is found murdered, she becomes the main suspect.  Only one person is willing to help her, her mysterious neighbor, Brent Stirling.  Brent knows the only reason he's helping Anna is to ease the festering guilt inside of him.  But when the events turn personal, and he finds himself falling for Anna, Brent knows he can't walk away.  But he may be risking their lives."

When I first asked Barbara Phinney to be a guest author on my blog, I had not read any of her books.  Since then, I've read two and enjoyed them both.

Souvenirs is about two emotionally scarred people who have "souvenirs" from past hurts--hurts that they can help each other overcome.  Anna is the victim of a husband who controls by intimidation and Brent feels guilty about the death of men under his command--and has scars to remind him daily of his mistakes.

I like Anna because she is at the point in life where she is ready to stand up for herself and leave her husband...but before she can file for divorce, he is found murdered.  Whoops, not good.  When everything looks grim for her future--when the police focus in on her as the suspect and stop looking elsewhere, she has one man willing to believe her and help.

Brent, although he sports some physical scars, is an Alpha hero who makes you forget his scars as he does what an Alpha hero does best--he does whatever is necessary to save his lady.

Barbara has given the characters in her book real-to-life issues and is true to them by writing a story of how love can heal wounds and build bridges of trust. Like any well-written suspense, Barbara Phinney has included interesting twists that keep the reader guessing until the end and I was not disappointed when her husband's killer was exposed.

Souvenirs   (Amazon)  For a list of all her books... (Amazon)   Barnes & Noble

If you'd like to read more about Barbara Phinney or follow her, click on her name and check out her personal website.

My guest today is the fabulous BARBARA PHINNEY !

 Barbara Phinney authors Love Inspired Suspense novels for Harlequin and I'm thrilled that she is my guest today.

"She really knows how to grab readers and keep their attention."  ROMANTIC TIMES

Bio:  Barbara worked for the Canadian Armed Forces and has  lived in three provinces and two countries.  She married a man in the military, but they are now retired and live in his small hometown.

She's a full-time writer, mother and volunteer at her church.  She also loves to travel and has done a mission trip with her daughter to Bolivia.

Please help me welcome, Barbara Pinney!

I thought about writing something with a Christmas theme that could have you smelling chocolate and candy canes as you read this.

Well, it's not working out that way. And like many writers with an uncooperative muse, I have to sit down and drag the words from me. That's what being a writer can be like. I'm not Barbara Cartland with her nebulous hairdo, her bling and a Pekinese, lying on her couch dictating to a secretary.

No. Writing can be tough. And as I spend the end of 2011 independently publishing some of my older titles, such as Souvenirs, (which was once serialized in a local paper and had people coming up to me on the streets demanding to know who the killer was) I can honestly tell you that I have learned plenty during my time writing, and I continue to learn.

Take for instance, Christmas. I learn each Christmas. It's about gifts. God's greatest gift to us was His Son, but He gave us other gifts as well. I like to think I received the gift of fiction writing. And while there are moments of pure inspiration, and a turn of phrase that just sparkles, it's not all like that.

When I wrote Souvenirs, I pulled from me some delightful phrases that just stuck.

Too soon, Brent lifted his head.  "If I'd known kissing you like that would make me forget everything, I'd have kissed you much sooner."

Those were Brent's words to Anna after they'd kissed. To me, that speaks volumes about him, the needs within him and his personal torment. But those words only came out after hard work, and exploring two very unique characters. A heroine in desperate need to find herself, and a hero who didn't think he was a hero, but who proved to be far more attractive, and sexy than I first realized.

But hard work like this writing also teaches us. Easy work does not teach. And there is the enjoyment, the pleasure of finished work that somehow transcends the final product to add a subtlety like the taste of hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane. Then my gift of writing feels so real to me.

What gifts do you think you have that you can share this holiday season?  The gift of giving to the Food Bank?  The gift of driving and delivering the toys to the women's center? The gift of singing at the nursing home?

Pull them out, dust them off and share them.

And to add to the fun of giving, some indie writers, myself included, are offering a whole big batch of holiday treats, e-books that are only 99 cents each! Drop by and check them out. The fun started December 1st.

http://bookloversbuffet.com/

Souvenirs - Amazon

Souvenirs-Barnes & Noble 

Barbara, thank you so much for visiting with us today.  You can learn more about Barbara and her books at  http://www.barbaraphinney.com/index.php

December Is Here!

At our house, December started with a whirlwind of activity--parties--and now it has settled down until the kids arrive in a couple weeks.  Can you believe Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away?  Where did the year go?

First, I'd like to congratulate Mary Marvella since she won the cute little Santa hugging the throw blanket.  Mary, thank you for your faithfulness in supporting my new blog.



Barbara Phinney is dropping by this coming Wednesday to be my guest and I'm really looking forward to her visit.  I'm in the middle of her e-book, Souvenirs, a suspense about....well, I won't tell you about it now since I plan to do a book review this next Saturday, but I'm having to force myself to write since I'd rather find out what's going to happen next.  Drop back by and get a sneak peek!  (yes, I'm being sneaky)

For now, I'm going to stop chatting with you and get to work.  I'm editing the book I wrote about my mother and father (Cora Jean).  Cross your fingers with me that the agent who is currently looking at it will like it enough to want to represent it.  

Take care and have a great Christmas season.    MERRY CHRISTMAS!!