Saturday, December 10, 2011

Santa Came To My Town!!!






It happens every year.

Most likely at the same time.

And still...each and every year we frantically run around for the camera.

And the front door keys.

And each and every year we get the front door open just in time to see the back of the fire truck go by.

Santa is on board and firemen and it's decorated and festive.

I frantically wave at Santa's back as he flies by.

Lucy is so used to it that she doesn't even look any more.

Perhaps we will have better timing next year!!!


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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Doctor And The Diva...And Two Giveaways!!!

I was fortunate to recieve a copy of The Doctor and the Diva a while ago.
It was an amazing story. 
A childless opera singer and a fertility doctor and a relationship that is quite surprising.
Here is a short summary from Amazon.  And from Publishers' Weekly...

 

In her book-club friendly debut, McDonnell weaves the intriguing tale of an early 20th-century opera singer torn between her career and motherhood. Erika von Kessler, a mezzo-soprano of some regard, and her husband, Peter Myrick, have been trying without success to conceive a child for all six years of their marriage. They seek out the expertise of Dr. Ravell, a Boston obstetrician renowned for his fertility successes. Ravell, mesmerized by Erika's beauty and talent, vows to do anything to help the couple realize their dream of children, even if it means deceiving them, which, of course, it does. Meanwhile, Erika isn't so sure about her desire for motherhood and secretly makes plans to leave her husband and pursue fame in Italy. McDonnell bases the story on her family history and expertly incorporates surprising facts about the history of fertility research into a twisting tale of miscommunication, love, and unrealized dreams. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 
This book has now been released in paperback form.
Here is the new cover!!!
Rebecca from the Penguin Group has given me two copies to give away!!!
Clearly exciting...
All that you have to do is comment on this blog and leave a contact email.
Contest ends on Christmas Day...Rebecca wants to send these to you ASAP...
Sorry...no P.O. Boxes or countries other than the U.S.
 
 
 

Authors Of Interest...And A Giveaway!!!

CREATIVE SPIRIT
A modern Gothic thriller

After parapsychologist Anna Galloway is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she has a recurring dream in which she sees her own ghost. The setting of her dream is the historic Korban Manor, and she's compelled to face the secrets of her soul.

Sculptor Mason Jackson has come to the manor to make a final, all-or-nothing attempt at success before giving up his dreams. When he becomes obsessed with carving Ephram Korban's form out of wood, even Anna can't divert his bizarre passion.

The manor itself has secrets, with fires that blaze constantly in the hearths, portraits of Korban in every room, and deceptive mirrors on the walls. With an October blue moon looming, both the living and the dead learn the true power of their dreams.
The summary above is from Amazon.I have not read this yet but I have it on my Kindle.
I have no clue why I want to be scared over Christmas.
This one sounds fiercely scary!!!
Scott Nicholson is one of those very cool people.
He has amazing ideas and reaches out to bloggers with a promise of good things to come.
He appreciates bloggers!!!
Yeah, Scott.
That is nice to know.
I will be chatting about his book, soon!!!

Andrew Kaufman is another scary writer.
I could not put his first book down.
I say that a lot but it sort of describes the way I read.
I have this book on my Kindle, too.
I am of the belief that it is even scarier than his first book.
It's amazing because he appears to be such a normal person.
He has a dog.
He is my FaceBook friend.
He responds to all my emails.
He is just so nice.
And yet...
he scares me to death.
Here is a summary of his book...from Amazon.

From Andrew E. Kaufman, author of the #1 bestseller, While the Savage Sleeps...SHE ONLY STEPPED OUTSIDE FOR A MINUTE...
But a minute was all it took to turn Jean Kingsley's world upside down--a minute she'd regret for the rest of her life. 



 

STEPPING INTO HER WORST NIGHTMARE...
 
Because when she returned, she found an open bedroom window and her three-year-old son, Nathan, gone. The boy would never be seen again. 
 



A NIGHTMARE THAT ONLY BECAME WORSE.
A tip leads detectives to the killer, a repeat sex offender, and inside his apartment, a gruesome discovery. A slam-dunk trial sends him off to death row, then several years later, to the electric chair. 
 




CASE CLOSED. JUSTICE SERVED...OR WAS IT?
Now, more than thirty years later, Patrick Bannister unwittingly stumbles across evidence among his dead mother's belongings. It paints his mother as the killer and her brother, a wealthy and powerful senator, as the one pulling the strings.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO NATHAN KINGSLEY?
 

There's a hole in the case a mile wide, and Patrick is determined to close it. But what he doesn't know is that the closer he moves toward the truth, the more he's putting his life on the line, that he’s become the hunted. Someone's hiding a dark secret and will stop at nothing to keep it that way.
The clock is ticking, the walls are closing, and the stakes are getting higher as he races to find a killer--one who's hot on his trail. One who's out for his blood.
Clicking on Kindle will take you to each book.
If you want to...
And as my Happy Holidays to you...I will gift the Kindle version of both books to one lucky winner.
I don't want to be scared alone!!!
It doesn't matter where you live but you have to have a Kindle to enter!!!
Contest starts now and ends Dec. 31st...
Winners will be announced on Jan. 1st!!!

Antiquitas Lost...Thoughts And A Giveaway!!!


I truly did become totally absorbed in this book...it was not meant to be read by me in small bites.
I devoured it.
It took me back to that Lord Of The Rings kind of epic tale.
The characters were over the top out of this world amazing.  I loved the graphics and it was actually written by a cardiologist!!!

Probably why there was so much heart stopping action.
Lots and lots and lots...

Any way...

Thanks to the the publicist...

Leyane Jerejian | Sr. Publicist
I have a lovely copy to give away.

Just leave your email and I will use random.org to choose one lucky winner.
Leyane is awesome to work with and she will send it to you if you live here or in Canada.
Contest ends on Dec. 25th!!!

Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Holidays, too!!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Land Of The Lost!!!

Every once in a while my reading takes off in a different direction. I adored Lord Of The Rings and a Christmas or two ago spent hours watching the movie over and over. It was magical for me. I am reading a book that sort of takes me to that same place. For me, it's the perfect time of year for feisty winged soldiers, little people called gimlets, a huge giant named Hooks ( who looks like Bigfoot ) and a lost boy who is just trying to save his dying mom and find his way in an unbelievable world.
Elliot has no idea what is happening to him...he simply walked down the stairs in his grandfather's house and was swept up in this amazing adventure. So far he has survived a water test...he has strange markings on his hands and feet that turn into webbed things that allow him to survive under water. He can breathe underwater, too. That scene gave me a nightmare last night that awakened me at 2:00 in the morning!!! But I have water issues...lol.

I am at the point in the book where Elliot and Hooks and two gimlets are trying to survive an attack by fierce wolves...huge fierce wolves...and are on a quest to find another Shamalan...that is what Elliot most likely is...

This book is huge!!! It's about 600 pages and has beautifully drawn illustrations that really portray these strange characters.

It is an awesome sort of respite from holiday stress right now.

I think I may have some for a giveaway later...I will keep you posted...



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Monday, December 5, 2011

It Is Beginning To Look A Lot Like...




Yesterday I felt as though Christmas was far far away.
That was yesterday...
Today I no longer have that feeling!!!
I have a tendency to think...well...
firmly believe...
that I have lots of time
to do all of the holiday things that I love to do...
mostly that means wishing for snow, looking at lights, and playing Christmas carols while I read.

I am so bad...

What I have to do is shop, wrap, get out all of the Christmas bins, get over my fear of going into the basement crawl space, stop freaking out because Lucy refuses to walk down the basement steps, figure out why Lucy is staring at certain walls and then looking at me, research mouse habitats, and get moving!!!

Apparently Lucy is not a mouse avenger...but she is perceptive!!!
My husband actually found a mouse in the basement today!!!
Lucy is wearing her mouse avenger hoodie!!!


And when I stuck my hand inside my runaround Uggs...I keep them in the garage by the door...something did not feel quite right...
upon closer inspection...there is a mouse nest inside...

I don't know whether to be freaked out or flattered!!!

I have to get moving!!!

Are you on top of your holiday schedule?
Do you have a holiday schedule?

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

We Are Tebow Crazy...




Or one half of our little family is...
and it's not my half.
I just sat through a Denver Bronco game with tons of screaming and yelling and I think actual crying in the background.
And we are the only two watching the game.
Lucy doesn't count.
And I was napping through most of it.
I think I awoke to my husband actually Tebowing.
Wow...
He was on the floor on one knee in his Tebow stance...
praying.
I simply do not get it.
There.
It's out there.
I do not get a grown man in tears over a football game.
One second he is yelling it's over and then
within minutes he is screaming and cheering because there is a small glimmer of hope.
I just do not have the sports gene.
And to be perfectly honest...I am sort of glad it skipped me.

How was your Sunday?
Is football season almost over?



Simply Amazing!!!

This wreath was made from book pages!!!
Here is the link to the very talented Bethany's Blog!!!
You can find this and more amazing stuff here...
http://bethannecreates.blogspot.com/?v=0


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