Happy Friday Everyone, Also, Happy September--yay, Fall is on its way! Not only am I late posting this during the day, but I'm also behind on blog posts. I've been working hard on edits and a bunch of things going on in my life, so I had to put blog updates on hold. I don't know what next week will bring in the way of blog posts, but I'll try to post more. I'm not the only busy one around here. While I'm hiding under the editing rock, the world keeps spinning around me (which is a good thing!) So, I'm going to tell you to what's going on in the order I heard/found out about it: In October I'll be posting another official book review. This is one where the author has asked me to do this. I've started the book in question and I'll be setting a date, soon. Adult Romance author, Robin Badillo's Whiskey Road is now available on Amazon Kindle . My book review of Christie Craig's new release (adult Romance), Don't Mess With ...

Happy Friday All, Sorry about not posting on Thursday. I was exhausted Wednesday evening, so I decided to just go to bed--then I was busy today, so I took the day off. I thought I'd cover age genre types and what they mean. Some people have asked me about genres. One question I got was, "What's YA?" So, I'll start with the youngest age group and work my way up (as a Romance author I'm going to talk a lot about that when I get to the adult section): Children's Books:   These are anything from infant to 7 years old. (Some bookstores will have a section that says:  "3-5 Year Olds") Typically you'll find board books and easy-to-reads. There's a lot of Disney books available in this section. Titles like Brown Bear What Do You See? Caps For Sale, Splat The Cat, Berenstin Bears, Thomas The Tank Engine, I've found a lot of Dr. Seuss books in this section as well. Mid-Grade :  Most of these books are geared toward kids between children a...

Happy Thursday All, Some of my favorite books are ones that left me with a warm feeling in my heart and/or a smile on my face.   Here's a few of them:   Lesley Livingston with her Wondrous Strange trilogy (according to her blog she has a new release coming out July 2011) Shanna Swendson with her Enchanted, Inc. books Christie Craig with Shut Up And Kiss Me (She has a new release coming out August 2011).   Oh yeah and the list continues:   Jackson Pearce's As You Wish (She has a new release coming out August 2011, and one in sometime in 2012). Suzanne Selfors Coffeehouse Angel (She had a new release in April--the book wasn't a children's book, by the way--apparently several authors contributed to the release that came out this past April. It's called Hotel Angeline: A Novel In 36 Voices ).   Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy   Of course, I could name more. You see...I have a love affair with books. I consider them some...

Happy Monday All, If you have something ready and want to enter a contest, the Lone Star Contest is still accepting entries...accepting all the way until June 6, 2010. The early-entry discount ends on May 23rd. This is a $5 discount on the entry fee. Please check here for details. Who knows? Maybe your story is the next big thing! If your reading list is getting a bit thin and you want some recommendations I have a few (in no particular order) Oh yeah, and this is just a short list of books I could (and would) recommend... PARANORMAL: Shadow Guard Series by Kim Lenox Love At Stake Series by Kerrelyn Sparks ALASKA-SETTINGS FOR ROMANCE: Midnight Sons Volumes 1, 2, & 3 by Debbie Macomber The Royal Series by MaryJanice Davidson INSPIRATIONAL: Learning To Let Go by Elizabeth Pina Conceived Without Sin by Bud MacFarlane, Jr. REGENCY ROMANCE: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer MYSTERY: Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs Hannah Swensen Mysterie...

Happy Monday Folks, Okay...this whole conversation I had with a friend of mine about coffee and types of coffee got me thinking about coffee and other things we writers rely on to keep us going. Chocolate's one of my addictions (and yes, I thank Godiva Chocolatiers for coming up with the Cappuccino Truffle). Some writers prefer tea, but a good chunk of the writers I know love their coffee. I don't drink a lot of coffee, but I do rely on my morning coffee to put that extra "spring in my step" so to speak. What about other addictions? Like bookstores or office supplies? Can a writer go into a bookstore or an office supply store and not find at least one thing they want/need? I can see it in my head: "Oh look there's coffee scented pens, I must have some!" I tell people all the time that bookstores are one of my toy stores. When I was younger I could spend hours just staring at titles and looking through the various selections (I still can, by the way). Th...

Morning All, The title for today's post is a play on a song called " Yay Toast!" (I don't know where to find it, but it's a funny song). But more than that it's because in the last month I've been to Barnes & Noble twice. TWICE! Yay ! Okay, so I didn't get myself anything...but I did browse through several books that look interesting (and one that got reprinted I was excited to see that because I really liked it). Last night I was doing some Christmas shopping (I finally got started a few days ago. Last year I was already Christmas shopping in October! You see, I have 13 nieces and nephews--and we all keep adding to that number, so I have to make sure I start early enough so I can find out what they're all into and shop accordingly). In my family--since there's so many of us (including spouses) we are now given a name of a family member to buy for with a price limit. One of my sisters has a program that takes names and matches them (it...

Good Morning Everybody, Well, this Saturday morning is a bit overcast, but that's okay since it means it's not blisteringly hot. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather. I'm not a huge fan of snow (although growing up I was) so I'm glad that it doesn't usually snow here, but I do like colder weather. There's something so cozy about adding that extra blanket in the bed or putting on long sleeves, a sweater, jacket or sweatshirt. Tossing a scarf around your neck. It's just one of those warm-your-toes-in-front-of-the-fire feeling. This brings me to the feel of a book (or manuscript) in one's hands. The smooth texture, the sight of words across the page (blank pages are hard to deal with, as most of you well know!) Reveling in having an adventure in your hands. It's heady stuff. One of the reasons why I adore bookstores and libraries. All those shelves and shelves covered in books. It's nirvana for a writer because writers are also readers. All...

Afternoon All (or Evening, rather), I mentioned in a previous post that writing and reading are like air to me. Sure, I still need oxygen, but without writing and reading my life just isn't the same. There's something about entering a bookstore or a library that feels like I'm approaching old friends. You walk along the aisles, taking in that lovely smell of books, leather, (in some places, coffee), paper. There's an elegance hanging in the air. The anticipation of finding a gem yet to be discovered, or seeing something you've been waiting for on the shelves is almost enough to throw you into a gallop, except, you still feel that instead of drawing attention to yourself, you'll blend in with the tomes around you. Finding your favorite section you're drawn into a world apart from your every day cares, joys, sorrows, concerns, whatever. You're in the book zone. Time has no meaning, it all melts away. Oh yes, I'm definitely familair with that feeling. W...