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W is for Writing with Water

W is for Writing with Water

(image Flikr creative commons) W is for Writing with Water. I think about water. A lot. For one thing, my state, California, is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years? 500 years? 1,200 years? Depends who is delivering the news. A story in the San Jose Mercury News written by Paul Rogers claims the last time California suffered such a severe drought “Vikings were marauding Europe.” Eek. So I think about water. A lot. I try to make water work…

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R is for Research

R is for Research

(image Uwe Kils, Wiska Bodo via Wikimedia Commons) R is for Research. So, you probably know that Hemingway iceberg quote. If not, here it is: If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due…

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P is for Peanuts and Portuguese Water Dogs

P is for Peanuts and Portuguese Water Dogs

P is for Peanuts and Portuguese Water Dogs. The novel I’m currently writing is a young adult contemporary. My main character, a high school freshman, has a life-threatening peanut allergy and is accompanied by a peanut-sniffing Portuguese Water dog named Poseidon. Oh, another P! In the course of doing research, I collected some interesting bits of knowledge about peanut allergies and Portuguese Water dogs that I’m sharing with you. You never know when this information might come in handy–your next…

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M is for Mysterious Sea Route

M is for Mysterious Sea Route

(image courtesy Piotrus via Wikimedia Commons) M is for Mysterious Sea Route Myth I’ve written about the island of Jindo a few times during this Blogging from A to Z challenge. I mentioned the shifting tides that Admiral Yi Sun Shin used to defeat the Japanese navy in the 16th century and that contributed to the Sewol ferry disaster. Part of the unusual land/sea formations in this part of the world is an annual natural phenomenon in which a land…

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Just Pru Blog Tour & Giveaway

Just Pru Blog Tour & Giveaway

Today I’m happy to participate in the blog tour and giveaway for Anne Pfeffer’s new novel Just Pru! Read all about this exciting new book and be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of the post. About the Book: When twenty-five-year-old Pru Anderson—braless, pajama-clad, and clutching her cat, Chuck—is rescued from her burning Los Angeles apartment, the thing that scares her most is meeting the neighbors. New people make her hide in the bathroom, counting by sevens, but…

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Dreaming of Cash Giveaway

Dreaming of Cash Giveaway

Dreaming of a little cash? What would you do with a little cash? Let’s rephrase that: How many books could you buy with a little cash? Try your hand at the generous giveaway sponsored by Kathy at I Am A Reader along with some of her favorite authors and bloggers. Below is the Sponsor List. Take a peek at the Rafflecopter image at the end of the post to see how you can participate. Who knows? You might discover some…

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Ghost Novel Review: Help for the Haunted

Ghost Novel Review: Help for the Haunted

Help for the Haunted by John Searles Publisher: William Morrow, 368 pages Format: hardcover Source: Guest review The premise of this novel attracted me right away: A married couple counsels people tormented by ghosts. This couple never knows when someone will call with an urgent need for help–often these calls come in the middle of the night. Imagine being the teen daughter of parents such as these. Help for the Haunted is a coming-of-age story with a supernatural twist. I’m…

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Thanksgivaway Blog Hop

Thanksgivaway Blog Hop

Exciting news, for all you readers out there! Book2Buzz and Closed the Cover are sponsoring a giveaway of a Kindle HD pre-loaded with over 50 books for one lucky reader. When they asked me to donate Moonlight Dancer, I was happy to participate. I just know it’s going to be exciting for the lucky winner who will receive this gift of reading…and possibly discover some new authors in the process. To join in the fun and enter the contest, head on…

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A Stir of Echoes: Book or Movie?

A Stir of Echoes: Book or Movie?

I read Richard Matheson’s A Stir of Echoes as one of my selections for Bout of Books. It’s been on my list for a long time, so it felt good to put it behind me, and the Bout of Books read-a-thon provided the perfect opportunity. Finding A Stir of Echoes, however, proved a challenge as I searched one library and three bookstores and finally had to order it. When a party stunt awakens Tom Wallace’s psychic abilities, he must learn…

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon The End

Bout of Books Read-a-thon The End

(image credit) I survived my first read-a-thon ever; thank you Bout of Books! I enjoyed the experience immensely even though I didn’t quite meet my goals. But I guess that’s what goals are for, yes? Anyhow, I finished The Maze Runner by James Dashner and A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson. Reviews to follow, but of these two I enjoyed A Stir of Echoes more. In addition, I finished listening to Wolf Hall during the read-a-thon week although I…

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Bout of Books Challenge: I Spy by Paperback Dreamer

Bout of Books Challenge: I Spy by Paperback Dreamer

What fun! Not only am I participating in a read-a-thon, but I also get to take part in a challenge hosted by Paperback Dreamer. The object of the challenge is to find well, objects, on book covers that you own. I found everything except of all things, a Christmas tree. I even had a book called Christmas Day Kitten, but do you think it would include a Christmas tree on the cover? Nope. Anyway, this was way harder than it…

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon Day 1

Bout of Books Read-a-thon Day 1

I finished the first day of my first ever Bout of Books (or any other for that matter)  read-a-thon. Yay! I also participated in my first ever Twitter chat. Comments were flying so fast and furious that my computer froze several times. As a techno-idiot, I’m still trying to understand the whole Twitter phenom, but I made a little progress. Case in point, I spent a whole lot of time on help sites trying to figure out how to jump…

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon

Bout of Books Read-a-thon

Please join me as I pioneer my way through the Bout of Books Read-a-thon. First, a big thank you to Grace from Books Without Any Pictures for bringing this event to my attention. I’ve never participated in a read-a-thon before, so this should be interesting. Here’s the information about the event that the organizers provided: “The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long…

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