Saturday Book Review (And Stupid Saying)

First of all, today's stupid saying:
In the future, I plan on taking more of an active role in the decisions I make.
-socialite Paris Hilton

Duh!  (head slap) I would certainly hope so!

And now for the books I've read lately:

This book contains both Woman On Fire and Jillian's Job.  I'd read Woman On Fire before in e-format, so I eagerly devoured Jillian's Job.  I loved it and had a hard time putting it down:)

This was my first Linda Kage book, and it took me back to my own high school years of finding out the 'popular basketball player' was actually interested in (gasp!) ME!  Very enjoyable read and one I definitely recommend:) I look forward to Ms Kage's other work!

I think this is the one I had to finish reading on my laptop; for whatever reason, only pages 1-8 showed up on my laptop.  I really enjoyed the story, and watching Sara's ex-husband taken down a notch.  I'm going to download it again so I can read at my leisure, rather than scrolling rapidly to avoid underage eyes from seeing anything inappropriate, lol!

I really enjoyed this one!  I wanted to grab Colin and go with him back to Scotland, lol!

This is my first Allie Standiffer book, and it won't be my last!  I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction between Petra and Roman, and loved how she included Duchess the dog near the end!  Great job Allie!

Next up:
I'm currently reading A Long Time Coming, soon to be followed by Wet Ride, then Whiz Bang.  I somehow managed to skip Bound and Determined, so need to go back and read it.  Desiree Holt never fails to entertain me, as does Rita Carlysle.

Happy Saturday:)  Today on the agenda is putting up the tree and decorating the house for Christmas.  My College Kid returns to Purdue tomorrow, so I'm enjoying the time we spend together.

Kenzie will be posting a short story tomorrow on The Writer's Evo blog, so stop by and say hi?

Flashback Friday: My New Job

November 2001: 
A friend of mine was now a monitor on the preschool bus at the school corporation and mentioned they were in a bind:  One of the drivers had an emergency coming up and they needed another driver/monitor.


"Didn't you tell me you used to drive for somebody to and from school?"


"Yes; Crossroads in Indianapolis."


"You really need to talk to Mike, and put your application in."

I thought about it; talked it over with the spouse, and as the deadline drew nearer and they still hadn't found the right person, I put my application in.  A phone call later that day, and I was heading in to talk to Mike, the head of the Transportation Department.

He asked me about my driving experience and education background, then hired me on the spot.


"You've got the best resume of all the ones I've seen.  Can you be here at 6am tomorrow?"


"S-sure."

6am?  OMG...suddenly I was going to have to wake everyone up at 5:30am; make sure my kids got on the bus at 7am, and have the teenage neighbor watch them after school.  Thankfully, this would only last three days, and then I'd be on call.  I could handle that, right?

And it was fun, at first.  I got to know all the kids and both drivers, and after dropping the kids at school, we met at a coffee shop in Clayton for breakfast.  I was home by 10:15 and collapsed into bed for a nap.

At noon, I took a shower and was back at the school by 1, then arrived home around 5.

Thanksgiving arrived, and we traveled south to the MIL's house.  And received a shock two hours later:  Nephew D and his girlfriend arrived....and announced they were expecting.  "Andrew" would be born in the spring.

I don't think Niece J and little MDQ (age 3 months) were there that day; I don't think I met MDQ until Easter 2002.

Present Day:
I made chocolate chip muffins this morning.  I'd started watching The Social Network last night when company arrived, so finished it the morning.  It nearly made me want to delete my FB account.  MZ came off extremely arrogant, but after I thought about it, I think he was snowed over by SP, and it was a case of bad decision-making.  Slow-rise vs meteoric rise and not caring who gets hurt in the process?  Everything worked out in the end, but the mom in me wanted to storm in and knock some heads around, plus deliver a loyalty and friendship lecture.

I am not a Black Friday shopper.  I don't have the desire to fight the crowds, nor do I have the finances to shop.  If we do ever get fiscally solvent again, I plan to shop online or at least get the majority bought by October.  I heard a woman pepper-sprayed her 'competition' in L.A. over an X-Box.  Seriously?

I plan to take down my Thanksgiving decorations and start hauling up the Christmas ones.  And that means rallying the troops to clean up some of the mess from yesterday.  Yes, my spouse and the teenagers left sticky plates in the living room, and crumbs on the floor.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving:)

I love this song:)

Happy Thanksgiving:)

Happy Wednesday:)

The winner of the free download is......

Liz Crowe!


Congratulations!


My College Kid arrived home safely yesterday and surprised his little brother at his class's Thanksgiving Feast:)  He also rescued me last night when the tire blew on my car, and was able to put the doughnut on it.  Thankfully, I was only going 25 mph and never lost control of the vehicle.

Today we will be cleaning up the house in preparation for tomorrow.  I have no idea if anyone else will be here, but we've got a turkey, ham, stuffing, noodles, mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls planned for tomorrow, as well as whatever desserts we decide to whip up.

And tonight at karaoke, I plan to sing:
-99 Times (Kate Vogel)
-Angels Will Fall (I plan to practice this BEFORE I leave, lol!)
-Back At One
-Band of Gold
-Beauty and the Beast (if I can find a duet partner)
-Because of You
-Because You Loved Me
-Before He Cheats

I finally started my NaNo project!  (Hey, better late than never!)  I began typing up the paranormal romance I began back in 2002 or 3.  It is 26 handwritten pages and when I quit at 1am, I'd typed 13 pages of it and was over the 2K mark.

So have a Happy Thanksgiving and if you're in the mood to laugh, check back tomorrow. But if you don't like Adam Sandler, stay away.  Just giving you a head's up!

New Cover Art!

Blurb:

Meet Keri Patterson, a sophomore at Arbor University, pursuing a ­dream to one day be a part of an Indy car racing team.  Along the way, she meets and falls for an older man.  With the innocence of her first love, Keri tries to balance her ambition to be the first female member of a racing pit crew and her awakening femininity.  Will Keri and Kyle’s romance survive the hairpin twists and turns, or is disaster looming?

Kyle is not without problems of his own.  He wasn’t expecting to meet the girl of his dreams before the ink is dry on the divorce petition.  Trying to keep the two facets of his life separate, he discovers there is a fine line between love and hate, as well as deception and protection.  But life doesn’t always get wrapped up in neat packages.  Sometimes it blows up in your face.

Releasing Jan 2012:)

I've also been interviewed on Drea Becraft's blog, so come over and say hi?  Leave a comment and you just might win a free download:)

Kenzie's Good News!

Teacher's Pet has a release date!   This book will finally be released on Dec 13th at Freya's Bower:)

For those of you who have been patiently waiting and thinking, "Gee, you've been talking about this book forever!", you're not alone.  Here's the timeline (life line?) of this book:

Sept 2007:  Was challenged by another author to see if I could increase my heat level from sensual to hot.  Wrote out a three page scene and sent it to her.  Reaction:  "Yeah!  That's exactly what I mean.  Now stay with it!"

Nov 2007:  Decided to sign up for NaNo and work on this story.

Nov 30th 2007:  After the story tried to end itself twice, I finally put enough BS scenes to get to the 50K word length and happily downloaded my 'winner' certificate.

March 2008:  Decided to open the document and reread it, having been so sick of the characters and the story on Dec. 1st, 2007, lol!  Discovered I have a pretty good story....

Summer 2008- May 2009:  Worked with a crit partner to clean up any issues and tried to work up the nerve to submit it.  All She Ever Wanted had been published, so decided to send TP off.

Dec 2009:  Received contract.


January 2010:  Received cover art.

May 2010:  While in the middle of Graduation Hell, my new editor introduced herself.  She mentioned she was working on nine other MS's, so I wrote her back and told her to take her time with mine; my oldest child was graduating from HS and I was more than willing to wait a few weeks.

June 2010:  Said editor dropped me and four others, due to overwork and other issues.

Fall 2010:  Another editor introduced herself.


Spring 2011:  Two editors decided to swap MS's.

June 2011:  1st round edits finally arrive.


Nov 2011:  2nd, third, and final edits arrive and finished.

Nov 18, 2011:  Release date is revealed and TP joins the 'coming soon' page on the site.

Now, all I have to do is write my dedication once I get the galley and promote the hell out of this book!  And yes, make a PG version for my mom....

Wow!  Can we get a blurb and the link?

Sure:)

What happens when you discover the man you had mind-blowing sex with three months ago is your son's teacher?  Tammy Saunders is horrified when she realizes the man who set her heart racing is her son's favorite teacher.  With one bad relationship behind her, will she trust her heart again, or will she continue to deny her feminine side?
   
     And is this particular teacher popular only with his students?  Kevin has made some bad choices in his life, but sleeping with not only one, but now two, of his students' mothers, has got to be the worst mistake he ever made. Especially when he realizes he's lost his heart to one of them...

Excerpt:

“Mr. Taylor?” She hesitated in the doorway. “You wanted to speak to me about Danny?”

He shoved himself off the desk, his erection growing stiffer by the moment. “Call me Kevin.” He took her hand and closed the door. “I’ve been out of my mind, wondering who you were these past few months.” He brought her hand up to his mouth, lips grazing the backside.

She jerked her hand away. “That was a mistake.” She put some space between them. Color flooded her face. “I can’t believe we…that I allowed…you know,” she sputtered.

“To fuck you brainless?” He arched an eyebrow.

Her complexion was now darker than her t-shirt. “Could we please talk about my son?” she asked, teeth clenched. She cleared her throat. “I mean, that is why you called.”

“I lied. You’ve haunted me for months, Tammy. I go to sleep at night, and you’re in my dreams. I catch sight of a woman whose hair flows down her back and try to see of her face, hoping it’s you.” He noted her startled expression and stepped back. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of me these past months…”

                                                 * * * *


Oh the arrogance of a good looking man! I may have let Bruce steamroll over me in our marriage, but I’ve grown up in the past three years; I know how to handle men like you. 

Her eyebrows arched. “Thought of you?” Time to take him down a notch. “Oh, right. Let me see if I have this correctly. We have mind-blowing sex, I run off to collect my kids, and you’re telling me that you, Mr. Obviously Popular, can’t sleep at night because the poor sex-starved widow never bothered to tell you her name? Is your ego that fragile?” She laughed. “Believe me,me; I’ve lost no sleep over it.” She crossed her arms over her chest. That ought to cool him off.

He closed the distance between them. “Then let me refresh your memory.” Kevin cupped her face in his hands and angled his mouth over hers. His tongue prodded between her lips; with a quiet moan, she opened them.

Link:

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=273

So what was your other news?

My first official post is up on The Writer's Evolution:)  Go over, say hi, and let me know if the same demons are stalking you?

Thanks for having me on here today Molly!

Flashback Friday: Baby Shower!

Nov 1991:
As I entered the last month of pregnancy, two baby showers were held for me.  Among the gifts were a baby book; Mickey Mouse bumper pad and quilt set; onezies; sleepers; crib sheets; a baby's 1st Piggy Bank (complete with plenty of coins inside); Mickey Mouse mobile; and a bear which played 'Jesus Loves Me' when you wound him up.

I was now seeing Dr. Mark every two weeks and was still in good health.

At my weekend job, I was excused from the mandantory Thanksgiving Day shift and my belly was so huge, I literally could not see my feet.  One Sunday morning, I was struggling to cram my swelling feet into my work shoes when the country club manager saw me and asked how I was doing.

"I can't get my shoes on!"


"You know what?  Just wear your tennis shoes and be comfortable."

I almost kissed him!

Kathy, the other waitress who'd come up pregnant, went into labor.  She'd previously told me she'd planned to have her sister come over when her labor pains began, in order to French-braid her hair.  Well, as luck would have it, Kathy went into labor in the middle of the night.  The first thing she told me when I went to see her?

"Cut your hair!  I was miserable with all this hair hanging in my face!"

I'd already made an appointment to get my hair cut:)  The spouse wasn't happy about it, but I didn't want hot, wet, stringy hair hanging in MY face either!  Yeah, I'm all about comfort:)

One of the lenses to my glasses popped out; I drove myself to Dr. Tavel and found a set of replacement frames.  It turned out my frames had broken in two; thank God for prescription sunglasses!

Funny Cravings:
Winter had officially 'hit'; a blizzard had arrived and all of a sudden, every night at 10pm, I wanted a Hardee's chocolate Frozen Yogurt cone.  There were three Hardees within a mile's range of us, and the spouse received some funny looks the nights it was 10 degrees, snow blowing, and we pull up to the drive-through and order ice cream.  Usually I got a nice tall cone, but one memorable evening the spouse was thankful the pregnancy was nearly over.

We had gone to the closest Hardee's, but the cone was so small, I had it consumed by the time we'd left the parking lot.  I asked him to get me another one.  Instead of turning around, he drove to the one across the highway, who still had their light on.  But as soon as we pulled up to the drive-through, their lights went out.  We sat there for a few minutes, but no one took our order.  So we drove to the one closer to town, and my cone was about five inches high!  I happily licked it all the way back to the turn off to our apartment.  The spouse decided to go to the airport to watch the planes and asked if I minded.  But my bladder was getting full, so I asked him to stop so I could use the facilities.  Burger King happened to be open, so we pulled in and I ran inside.  We continued on to the airport and watched the planes taking off and landing a while, then returned home.

Next month:  The Big Day arrives!