tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-172293392024-03-25T01:10:06.217-05:002 B ReadWelcome to The Wild and Wonderful World of Books!! We Can't Live Without Them! Can You?
HERE, you'll find lots of books and authors you'll want on your TBR pile...with a fascinating discussion on both we invite you to join.Sylvia Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06489243230694413409noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-62600901366139240522008-12-09T01:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T01:00:02.427-05:00Cleaning my officeI don’t know about you, but mess and clutter suck the energy right out of me. My office, the place where I spend so much time and where I create the books I love to write, is a mess. I have finally decided to clean it up. I’m calling this a New Year resolution started early—and I’ll need the extra time. ☺ Because considering the piles of papers everywhere, this is one daunting task. Piles on theAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-25016500248063819412007-05-24T14:37:00.000-05:002007-05-24T14:39:12.548-05:00New Blog!Please update your bookmarks and visit our new blog at: http://toberead.wordpress.com/You will automatically redirected in 10 seconds...Sylvia Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06489243230694413409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-74101819633725990092007-05-24T04:12:00.000-05:002007-05-24T04:18:39.894-05:00Living With GratitudeI saw the coolest DVD recently. It's called The Secret. Maybe you've heard of it; not only has the book been on the bestseller lists, but Oprah talked about it on her show. I'm always a little leery of anything that's getting a lot of hype, but someone I know recommended it highly, and when Netflix had it available, I put it in my queue.Overall, I thought it was excellent. I didn't agree with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-22659045297916044152007-05-23T08:30:00.001-05:002007-05-23T09:03:17.554-05:00Fessing up, part 2Since no one is scheduled for today, I'll butt in and get this off my chest. A while ago I think I blogged here about reviews. As I remember, I was sort of cocky, saying how I read my reviews and sometimes learn from them.Well, I've changed. I've now adopted JoAnn's policy of not reading reviews unless they come up and bite me in the...um, you get the idea.Why am I not reading reviews? Because Sally MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15166303880685146915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-88471541511025672592007-05-22T07:23:00.000-05:002007-05-22T07:51:26.253-05:00Fessing UpYesterday I was at a loss for a proposal I've been working on, and a friend of mine pulled out two books that she always prefaces with an explanation, something like "this one is full of horrible little writing exercises. I bought it for $1 from the Borders sale. . ." and a tiny book of conversation starters. I always think it's funny, and cute, that she sort of apologizes for not only having Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-20072915795211069022007-05-21T09:32:00.000-05:002007-05-21T09:54:47.064-05:00Up In The AirI was recently asked by my agent to give an estimate of when I might be able to get her a revised final copy of the complete manuscript she's currently shopping around for me. I really wish I could tell her.Not because I don't have a clue how long it takes me to type in (I'm one of those freakish throwbacks who writes first drafts in longhand) and revise half a manuscript, but because my "life" Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-67207919596106281352007-05-17T14:24:00.000-05:002007-05-17T14:41:27.369-05:00"Friday I'm in love..." The CureSince this is a Friday post, I was trying to think of a Friday type song, so amazingly, I came up with a line from one!It's appropriate, isn't it, since we all write with strong romantic elements, no matter what our specific genre. I think everyone wants to be in love (every day, not just every Friday,) and so even if they can't personally do so, it's certainly nice to read about people who do Geniewrites2http://www.blogger.com/profile/12161862337466738305noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-47005138975132750382007-05-17T08:25:00.000-05:002007-05-17T09:37:39.395-05:00Videos and Awards?When I signed up to blog on this day a few weeks ago, I had news. Funny thing, you'd think, having spent several years writing for Arizona's largest daily newspaper, I would've remembered that news is only really news, when it's, well, new.However, since this is Thankful Thursday, I'm still thankful that my edgy video for No Safe Place, from the brilliant Circle Of Seven, won Cameo Awards for Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-74808241568593221232007-05-16T15:34:00.000-05:002007-05-16T15:36:44.274-05:00Wondering about ResearchIf you've ever wondered about how a writer researches to write a book. Here are some of my recent adventures.My new project is set in Portland, Maine. It involves gun smuggling, a good topic for a port city. Lots of my research can be done on the Internet, but some has to be direct, in person. So I needed to see locations and picture events there. Portland has the nearest airport to where I live,Susan Vaughanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860277237389470263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-53771180421287397802007-05-15T13:31:00.000-05:002007-05-15T14:15:08.556-05:00Reading for ResearchToday is Tempting Tuesdays and were supposed to blog on things we're reading. Currently I'm trying to get a feel for real-life war scenes, since I write romantic action/adventure featuring military heroes. But I ran into an interesting book the other day and passed it up the first few times. But then, having cracked it open, decided I needed to read it. It's called "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-84318558537614067832007-05-14T12:56:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:53:54.461-05:00Mom's DayMy blog today has nothing to do with writing. It's all about Mother's Day and the brilliance of one teacher. My husband always takes the kids out to do Mom's Day shopping the day before. But this year, my youngest son's grade 1 teacher summed it up perfectly. He told the kids that moms like gifts their kids have made better than gifts they buy. I've received some absolutely gorgeous gifts Laura Drewryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641569502915793736noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-75677299142567600522007-05-11T00:25:00.000-05:002007-05-10T23:26:28.758-05:00How We MetFridays at the 2BRead blog are for First Alert, but I thought I'd go back and talk about an old first. Like the first date I had with the fella. We spent the night together.On a band bus with 43 other people in the college marching band. We'd met early on in our freshman year, at the band picnic. He was dating another girl (who became my roommate the next two years) at the time and we all got Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-40442143826033613202007-05-10T06:40:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:53:54.881-05:00Vanished by Margaret DaleyVanished is my May Love Inspired Suspense book. This is the sequel to So Dark the Night, my March release. I love writing romantic suspense stories, but they are very intense and emotional. As a detective in Chicago, J.T. Logan had put away a lot of criminals—and had made a lot of enemies. However, the last thing the widowed father and current small-town sheriff expected was crime in his own Margaret Daleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05914309207804709563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-36390649587561384552007-05-09T07:44:00.000-05:002007-05-09T09:39:24.292-05:00UnstickingSince today is open, I wanted to pop in with a general "wondering Wednesday" question that I think affects us all at some point or another:What do you do when you're stuck in your writing? Or stuck in your thinking about your writing? It could be writer's block, but also, in between books, when you take time off, and it's just hard to start anything new or get back into a regular routine? Or whenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-8757719497176965752007-05-08T04:26:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:53:55.185-05:00Tempting Reading: SUGAR DADDY by Lisa KleypasIt was with a certain amount of trepidation that I began reading Lisa Kleypas’ Sugar Daddy. You see, she’s one of my favorite romance writers in the historical genre while Sugar Daddy is her first contemporary romance. Not that I have a preference for one time period over the other (after all, I write contemporaries myself). It’s just that historical authors don’t always transition well to such aNancy Herknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15123215675723631386noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-71188505771857551122007-05-07T06:08:00.000-05:002007-05-07T05:13:10.381-05:00Seriously. What is the Deal with Mondays?I know I've posed this question on the blog before: Namely, what's the deal with Mondays? (Or, probably more accurate still, what's my deal with Mondays?) But it's a favorite topic of mine . . . especially on those Monday mornings when I've agreed to blog and I have no idea what to say.Sort of like today, for example.I mean, on a typical Monday morning, I think I'm doing good if I can find my wayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-83828557166142600482007-05-03T16:30:00.001-05:002007-05-04T08:10:20.599-05:00Family Stories, Available Now!Last Monday, I did an errand for my son and realized I was next door to the bookstore where I would soon be holding my book signing for my new release. Even though my book wasn't supposed to be out yet, I thought I would slip in and see where it would be shelved. When I rounded the corner of the romance aisle, I saw three copies of the book already displayed!At first, I wasn't sure if the books Tessa McDermidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03370248836658261192noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-35944727816058782492007-05-03T08:00:00.000-05:002007-05-03T06:59:05.284-05:00A Non-Alcoholic ToastBack in November my doctor ordered some routine blood work. It had been a couple of years so I was due. I'm not a big fan of the medical profession, especially now that I'm getting a little older and the warranties on some of my parts seem to be expiring, but I'm usually fine with blood work. Not to boast or anything, but I've got great blood.Well, pride goeth before the fall, heh? The doc's Sally MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15166303880685146915noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-78145918960430588732007-05-01T08:51:00.000-05:002007-05-01T08:53:14.413-05:00Another Tuesday TemptationSince it's Tempting Tuesday, I'm going to be totally self-serving and tempt you with my new book, Damsel Under Stress, which hits stores today. This is the third book in my Enchanted, Inc. series, which includes Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos. This series follows the adventures of Katie Chandler, a small-town girl from Texas who moved to New York with hopes of being more extraordinary Shanna Swendsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07558317020951521656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-39539218936308730232007-04-30T06:39:00.000-05:002007-04-30T06:41:01.629-05:00Maniac Monday--so trueI figured if anyone can blog about Maniac Monday it is me. This year I have felt more than Mondays were that way. With school ending in a month, things are heating up at my day job as a teacher. But on top of that I have a book to write in two months! At this moment I’m asking myself: why did I do this to myself? Good question. Why do we push ourselves to do more and more in the same amount of Margaret Daleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05914309207804709563noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-56063347989585523462007-04-27T09:29:00.001-05:002008-11-13T14:53:55.663-05:00More flowersSince there's no one signed up for today and Gail's post inspired me, I'll jump in to share more flowers--these are the flowers my agent sent me for making the USA Today bestseller list.I was thrilled! Well, of course I was thrilled to make the list, but I was just as thrilled to get the flowers. No one ever sends me flowers, and these just made the whole experience seem more special and more Sally MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15166303880685146915noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-16764679887825534862007-04-26T18:06:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:53:56.019-05:00Stopping to smell the flowers For some reason, I thought I'd signed up to blog here on Tuesday of this week. Tuesday was my 31st wedding anniversary. It was also the day of the combined community- junior college choir concert, and I joined the community choir this spring. The community choir has six to eight members (depending on the weather and whether our tenor who works for the highway department has to be out on the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-47279719891845760682007-04-25T06:32:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:53:56.224-05:00Cherry Garcia vs. Chocolate Peanut Butter SwirlI’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how subjective taste is. What makes one person love something that another person has a hard time swallowing, let alone enjoying? The other night my husband and I sat down to watch a movie. After fifteen minutes he left the room to watch a hockey game on another television. I continued to watch the movie. It wasn’t the best movie I’d ever seen, but it Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-58946697344764975152007-04-24T08:51:00.001-05:002007-04-24T08:54:12.554-05:00What I'm ReadingI'm reading FIREFLY SUMMER by Maeve Binchy, and really enjoying it. It's set in a little Irish town, where a wealthy American businessman "comes home" to return to his Irish roots. He buys the property once owned by a powerful family that turned his family out when his father was just a boy. Patrick O'Neill wants to put things right, and make the little town of Mountfern more than what it is.Sierra Donovanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00550535744012603427noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17229339.post-680337172313906562007-04-23T07:49:00.000-05:002007-04-23T07:56:22.159-05:00There Was a Time...…when people didn’t have air conditioning and they used fans or slept on fire escapes or out in the open air.…when we didn’t have cell phones, and there wasn’t a need to call someone as soon as we left the house and got into the car. All of a sudden, everything’s an emergency. What did people do before cell phones made instant contact a way of life?…when there was no such thing as speed dialing. Nancy Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12947358450252385401noreply@blogger.com3