Did I Notice Your Book - Blogfest

I noticed Time's Enemy by Jennette Marie Powell!

What a great idea for a blogfest, the brainchild of Ciara Knight, 
co-sponsored by Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh. 

Here's the deal:

You can choose a book that you’ve read, something you saw on a blog or social media site, Goodreads, or a sales website. Anything that caught your eye because of a great cover, blurb or reviews, but DON’T tell the author that their book has been noticed. Instead, shout out on social media sites, and encourage others to do the same, until the author finds his/her book. 

Here's my pick:

I'm excited to tell everyone about this awesome Saturn Society time travel series by Jennette Marie Powell. I'm a sucker for time travel stories in the first place, but these books are so well written and it's clear the author spent a lot of time (no pun intended!) researching the historical settings the main characters travel to. 

These novels are jam packed with tension, suspense, intriguing plots and subplots, and some steamy romance scenes, too! Great page turners. 

After I finished book one, Time's Enemy, I was super happy to discover the second book in the series had just been released, so I was able to continue following Tony and Vi's journey. I'm anxiously awaiting the next Saturn series novel because I miss these characters.

Here's a description of the first book from the author's website: 

Time-travel Romance - contemporary and early 20th century America

One man against a secret society of time travelers – and the woman he loves.

One unwanted gift. One great wrong. One chance to make things right…

Tony Solomon never wanted to be a time traveler. But when a freak accident gifts him with the ability to travel in time, he becomes an unwilling initiate in a secret society of time travelers. Determined to prevent his daughter’s murder, he violates the Society’s highest law and becomes a fugitive. When the Society refuses to tell Tony how to time-travel within his own life, he seeks help from Charlotte, the woman whose life he saved during a prior trip to the past.

When Tony arrives in 1933 looking for answers, Charlotte is both thrilled and terrified to see her childhood hero. Loyal to the Society, she is honor-bound to bring to justice those who manipulate time for their own gain. In giving him sanctuary, she faces a terrible choice-condemn the man she loves and to whom she owes her life, or deny her deepest convictions by helping him escape and risk sharing his sentence.

Buy Time’s Enemy at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords and many other online retailers. Print edition available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or by request at your favorite bookseller.

And here's the second book, another superb read:

Here's the description from the author's website:

A past shrouded in mystery

Violet Sinclair remembers nothing of her life before the day she awoke several years earlier, drenched in blood that wasn’t hers. But since she met Tony Solomon, she’s been certain of one thing – sometime in her hidden past, she knew him… loved him… and did something terrible to him.

A present fraught with danger

Time-traveler Tony Solomon is sure he never met Violet before they were coworkers, yet she bears an uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved and lost decades before he was born. After an impulse encounter leaves Violet pregnant with his child, she becomes the target of killers from the future.

A future feared in jeopardy

Framed for murder, Tony will do anything to protect Violet and their child, even if their only escape is to jump into the past, something he swore he’d never do again. But when they jump back much further than planned, they find their troubles are only beginning—and secrets can get them killed.

Buy Time’s Fugitive at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords  Print edition available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or by request at your favorite bookseller.

These are two of my favorite books. What's yours? Do you like time travel tales or romance novels? 

If you'd like to check out the other bloggers' picks,  here's a list of the blogfest participants and their links:

1. Author Ciara Knight	2. Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
3. Aloha! Mark Koopmans says hi from HI	4. Brinda Berry Blogs
5. The Blutonian Death Egg	6. Been There, done that
7. The Character Depot	8. Marta Szemik
9. Hilary of Positive Letters	10. Kathy- Imagine Today
11. Writers Alley	12. Tasha Seegmiller
13. Hildie McQueens Author Site	14. Jay Noel
15. Confessions of a Watery Tart	16. tara tyler
17. Catch the Rush	18. However Improbable
19. Katie OSullivan	20. Tyreans Writing Spot
21. Writers Do Laundry Too	22. Nancy S. Thompson
23. Michael Pierce	24. Tina @ Life is Good
25. Write Here, Write Now	26. Writing on the Wall
27. Rachel Firasek	28. Louann Carroll
29. I am HR Sinclair	30. Amy Jarecki Writes
31. Avery Olives Blog	32. Stories to Share
33. Amber Kallyn	34. The Write Game
35. Jennifer Lane Books	36. Jami Grays Blog
37. Krista Ames	38. Lynn Kelley Random Acts of Weirdness
39. Christine Rains	40. Laura Eno
41. Carrie Butler @ SYAW	42. Scribbles From Jenn
43. Mary Pax	44. Leave it to Livia
45. Cally Jackson Writes	46. The Eagles Aerial Perspective
47. Cathy Keaton Writes, or Tries To	48. Heather M. Gardner
49. Defending the Pen	50. WRITING IN THE CROSSHAIRS
51. Susan Says	52. Libby Heily
53. Ink in the Book	54. Medeia Sharif
55. Sydney Aaliyah	56. Use Your Words. . .
57. Pensuasion	58. Joylene Nowell Butler, author
59. jennas journal	60. quirky contemporary tales
61. Patti Roberts Book Blog	62. Patricia Stoltey
63. Spunky L. Diane Wolfe	64. Isis Rushdan
65. Wicked. . . with a Side of Saucy	66. My First Book
67. C. M. Brown	68. Trisha @ WORD+STUFF
69. Lindis Writing Journey	70. Sia McKye Over Coffee
71. Charitys writing journey	72. The Submission Process
73. Carrie-Annes Magick Theatre	74. Maryann Millers Its Not All gravy
75. Embrace Adventure	76. PK HREZO
77. when it rains it hales	78. Mama Diaries
79. The Open Vein - E. J. Wesley	80. MsMariahs Space Blogyssey
81. Edge of Your Seat Romance	82. Hold on to Your Bloomers
83. One Magic Bean Buyer	84. Madeleine
85. Susan Roebuck	86. Queendsheena
87. Laura Josephsen	88. Susan Oloier
89. Jennee Thompson	90. Did I Notice Your Book
91. Steven Symes, Writer	92. Jeffrey Beeslers World of the Scribe

93. Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit	94. Michael Offutt
95. Stephen Tremps Breakthrough Blogs

Ghost Jokes With Funny Bones

As promised last Friday, here are more jokes, especially fun for kids, to get you ready for Halloween. If you missed the Pirate Jokes last week, go here. 

Wednesday's launch party for my chapter book, Curse of the Double Digits, was wild and wonderful. It just so happened to be the 10th birthday of the main character, Becky. We have a little bit of cake left over, so please help yourself to some virtual cake.

Thank you to everyone who helped make it an extra-special day that I'll never forget. I was overwhelmed by the awesome support I received. 

If you missed the launch, you can check it out here and enter the giveaway to win a copy of Curse of the Double Digits. I'm giving away 10 copies - 5 signed paperbacks and 5 eBooks through October 30. Just leave a comment and specify which you prefer, paperback or eBook. 

Also, you can enter again on Maria Cisneros Toth's blog post where she did a quirky interview of me and Robyn Campbell's blog for another fun interview. 

Available at:
Amazon

Paperback - $4.99
eBook - $2.99

 Have a good weekend. Do you have any special plans? 

CURSE OF THE DOUBLE DIGITS - Launch Party!

Welcome to the party!

10 Giveaways - 5 signed paperbacks & 5 eBooks

to celebrate Becky's 10th birthday 

and the official release of Curse of the Double Digits!

"Woo hoo! It's my birthday!"

Becky turns 10 on the 10th day of the 10th month!
She expects it to be magical.

The whole class is invited to her party, including Chad, the cutest boy in the fifth grade. So is Darlenie-the-Meanie. 

Becky wants to look cute for her big day, but all her plans go wrong. Really wrong. The magic of turning ten disappears before she even has a chance to blow out her birthday candles.

Things get so bad, she refuses to go to her own party. Becky wonders if the Curse of the Double Digits will jinx her forever.

Available at:
Amazon

Paperback - $4.99
eBook - $2.99

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment, 
along with which format you prefer, 
eBook or a signed paperback. 
Random drawings will be held through October 30th.
(Sorry, paperbacks are only for the U.S. and Canada. 
Ebooks for anywhere.)

To continue the fun, hop over to: 
Maria Cisneros Toth's new blog,
A Writer's Life of Scraps & Scribbles
for a quirky interview

and also 

Robyn Campbell's 
Putting Pen to Paper
for another quirky interview! 

Leave a comment on Maria's blog 
and Robyn's blog
to enter the giveaways on their sites, too. 

May your luck be better than poor Becky's!

Did you ever have a birthday party when you were a kid?
How old were you? Did you play games? 
What's the best birthday gift you ever received?

Pirate Jokes

Halloween is right around the corner. 

Months ago I made some YouTube videos 

featuring fun jokes for kids 

 told by yours truly dressed as Funny Bones. 

Funny Bones is wearing her eye patch today. 

She be pullin' bones out of her Bag'O'Jokes 

and reading 'em to ye, me hearties! ARR!

Here ye go, mates. Enjoy!

Be sure to share yer favorite pirate jokes with yer friends.

Which one did you like the best? 
Do you have a pirate joke you'd like to share? 

Tune in next Friday when Funny Bones brings more jokes.

Fair winds ahead, scallywags! ARR!

Happy First Birthday WANA 1011

WANA - We Are Not Alone

WANA Blogging Class of October 2011 celebrates year one!

 

In October and November 2011 I took Kristen Lamb's Blogging for Author Brand class.

Kristen is the best selling author of  We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media 

and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer .  

She's not only knowledgeable about social media, search engine optimization, effective topics to blog about, and managing our time so we can focus on writing our books, but she's funny as heck.    

 I learned to hang loose, be my zany self, and have fun with blogging. 

Graphic designed by Rachel Funk Heller

My blog gets more traffic since I took this class, but that's not all. I also made new and long-lasting friendships. Our class has stayed in touch and morphed into a team that shares knowledge on writing, marketing, technical problems, and any other concerns we have. 

When one of us is going through a rough patch, we turn into a pep squad and offer our support.     

WANA Tribe is a new social media site for creatives of all types. It's similar to FaceBook. 

Join WANA Tribe, 

new social media site for 

writers, artists, any creatives.

Kristen's online blogging class is now offered on the WANA International site, 

along with a host of other classes you might be interested in. 

Kristen Lamb recently started WANA Commons on Flickr 

a photo reservoir for WANAs to share images for free use by other WANAs 

without worrying about copyright infringement. 

To join, just sign up and agree to the terms.

To join in the conversation on Twitter, use the hashtag #MyWANA

WANA Party at Jenny Hansen's house the day after the RWA Conference in Anaheim, California.
 Karen McFarland, Jenny Hansen, Ingrid Schaffenburg, Lynn Kelley,
Kate Wood, Tameri Etherton, Kristin Lamb, Debri Kristi

 WANA Mama Kristin Lamb - July 2012

Despite a gash in her head and a mild concussion,
Kristin managed to speak at the Romance Writers of America conference,
then socialize with WANA peeps at Jenny Hansen's.

Steve and Jenny Hansen - Awesome Host & Hostess
Baby girl had been sick all week. They were sleep deprived, but still threw
an amazing party with a spread of delicious gluten free food. 

WANA peeps took turns in the bounce house!

Follow Kristen Lamb's Blog here.

Cheers to all my blogging buddies. If you'd like to join WANA, we'll welcome you with open arms!

"Coming together is a beginning. 

Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success."

~ Henry Ford

Do you prefer to go at it alone, or do you like working with a team of supportive peeps? 

Are you part of any online communities?

What a Scream - Halloween

It's October 1st, and I'm looking for Halloween-related stories, so if you have one you'd like to share, please leave a comment or email me at the address below. 

This is a re-post from last year, the very first in my parenting series, about a scare my kids gave me years ago. 

It was a few days before Halloween. All four kids still lived at home, and I dragged my husband, George, with me to a play at the Montclair Plaza, leaving 16-year-old Tulip in charge of her two younger sisters, Lily and Sunflower, ages 12 and 8. Our oldest, 17-year-old Puck, wasn't cut out for babysitting back then. I'll leave it at that.

The play was titled "Every Man in the Mall," and it started after hours when the stores had closed up. The audience followed the characters all through the mall for the different scenes. 

The theme was death and how every person must face it sooner or later. The grim reaper character creeped me out. So did the spooky, eerie atmosphere. 

Here's a good image of a grim reaper. The video is funny.

About halfway through the play as we headed to the next scene on the lower level, a security guard walked up and read my name tag. Then he asked if there was a 'George' in the crowd. "Yes, right here." I pointed at my husband. 

The guard spoke into his walkie-talkie, "Okay, I found them." He pulled us aside and told us to call home, that there was some kind of emergency. 

My heart sunk. I was at a play about death and now something terrible must have happened to one of my kids. I dialed our home number, but my chest tightened up and I couldn't talk. I handed the phone to George. 

A moment seemed like an eternity as my imagination conjured up horrible scenarios. I prayed silently. Finally, George told me, "They're all right. It's not an emergency." I was able to catch my breath as I listened to George tell Tulip she almost gave her mother a heart attack by calling us. 

As it turned out, Tulip had started feeling sick and was running a fever. Puck and his friend, Durgie, had dressed up as the killer from "Scream" and were banging on the windows and scaring Lily and Sunflower. Then the boys climbed up on the roof, stomped back and forth and pounded on the skylights. 

Lily and Sunflower screamed hysterically. The dogs barked and howled. Tulip tried again and again to settle everyone down, to no avail. She was afraid the neighbors might call the cops, so she resorted to calling us at the play. My cell phone must have been turned off, so she got a hold of mall security and stressed to them that it wasn't an emergency but very important that she reach us. 

Apparently, they didn't listen to that part, and maybe the background noise sounded like bloody murder with the screaming and barking, but they treated it like it was a dire situation that demanded our immediate attention.

It was hard to follow the rest of the play after that, but that was okay because we were thankful the kids were all right. We grounded Puck for life. That was letting him off easy. 

So, do you have a scary or humorous parenting memory? If you're not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too! 

Warning: I might feature your story in a future post! (Names can be changed to protect the guilty.)

If you don't want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, here's my address: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.

A version of this story first appeared in the Highland Community News in October 1998.