Jul30

Yacht Club Cruises

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Yacht Club Cruises

Whatever happens on Yacht Club Cruises stays on Yacht Club Cruises… or does it?

 Otter Bay-13

Each year a Spring Cruise is planned with interested members of our Yacht Club. This spring, as first time participants, my husband and I signed up for the great adventure. The CAPTAIN of our sailboat was particularly keen to embark with twenty other boats and make enduring relationships with his fellow yachtsmen.

SailorBefore leaving the home dock, the participants spend hours on their vessels, preparing them for the event.  Boats are pressure washed, waxed and polished to perfection.  (To say nothing of the costly extravagances that become a must before setting sail- like generators for making that perfect morning cup of Starbucks or commissioning canvas enclosures … Read the rest

Jul24

SUMMER DISTRACTIONS

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SUMMER DISTRACTIONS

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Writers can come up with all kinds of reasons why they aren’t producing their daily scheduled hours of writing. The key to success is writing everyday, without exception.  I’m disciplined; I don’t get distracted.  Yeah, right!

 The sunshine never calls me outdoors.  No way!  Leave my computer to pick weeds, paint garden furniture, plant new beds?  Are you kidding?  Trade a keyboard to get my nails dirty?  No way! Like that would happen!

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Sailing cruises for extended periods of time?  What’s the chances of that?  Surely one’s computer could be secretly stowed on board… What else is a writer to do, once anchored in some memorable marina park? To say nothing of the marinas nestled next to towns on … Read the rest

May31

Recommendation Power

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Recommendation Power

Last week, after attending a neighbor’s birthday celebration, I got right onto my Amazon account and ordered the Kindle version of THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW by Jonas Jonasson. Why did I do this? The sole reason was that five of the women at the party were discussing the book and commenting about the great laughs they were having while reading it. I immediately felt left out of that conversation; in fact, I had never even heard of Jonas Jonasson (Swedish author) and was certain that I was missing out.  I rest my case, books sell because people are talking about them- the power of the word of mouth.

Product Details

Yesterday, I had a call from a … Read the rest

May22

Blind Date Anxiety?

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Blind Date Anxiety?

Having lived the life of a professional and a single mom, time for establishing girlfriend friendships has been at a minimum for a number of years. Now, having moved, I find myself somewhat rusty at the dance one partakes in to establish and form strong and comfortable bonds with the new people one encounters and the friendship opportunities that present themselves.

Yesterday, I had such a laugh at myself!  My wonderful sister-in-law volunteers with a woman that she thought I should meet.  She arranged a meet for lunch with this targeted  woman, one of her girl friends and the two of us. She informed me ahead that we had tons of things in common: fairly new to our community, both … Read the rest

Apr21

Authors in Bloom Give-Away Winner

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Authors in Bloom Give-Away Winner

Thank you to all the visitors who participated in the Authors in Bloom Blog Hop!  Hopefully you gathered some wonderful gardening tips, recipes and became familiar with some new authors and their novels! It is my pleasure to announce that the winner of the raffle at my site, Follow the Blog is  Ninette Swann.  Congratulations Ninette!

Ninette will receive gardening shears and gloves and my first two books of the Frenchie Series: Frenchie’s Best Friend-Follow the Blog and Frenchie X2- Follow the Blog. 

Happy Gardening and Reading Ninette!

Image… Read the rest

Apr10

Authors in Bloom Blog Hop

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Authors in Bloom Blog Hop

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Welcome to my Author Blog Site!  I am so pleased to have you participating in the contest and visiting all 63 of our sites between April 10th (6:00 am EST) and April 19th (11:59 pm EST).

HOW the AUTHORS in BLOOM BLOG HOP WORKS:

You have 10 days to visit each of the author blog sites that will be listed/linked at the end of each of our contest blogs, for your convenience. When you visit each site, you’ll be able to pick up gardening tips (from the talented green thumbs) and/or recipes (from the foodies).  As well, if you leave a comment at each site, you have opportunities to win give-aways and you’ll be entered in the Grand Prize Draw… Read the rest

Apr4

Kindle Fire Prize (Authors in Bloom Blog Hop Contest)

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Kindle Fire Prize (Authors in Bloom Blog Hop Contest)

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Are you ready to participate in the Authors in Bloom Blog Hop?  Authors (all 65 of us) are getting our gardening tips and/or recipes  prepared to post on April 10th by 6am EST. The fun part is planning the prizes. All you have to do is visit each author site, and leave a comment at each blog and, of course, you are always welcome to make a blog subscription to any that you truly enjoy. This will register you for give-aways from individual authors and  the chance to win the GRAND PRIZE (after checking out all 65 blogs): a Kindle Fire or Nook and a $25. gift card.  The tour lasts 10 days and ends April 19th at … Read the rest

Mar26

Fighting Fur Kids for the Remote

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Fighting Fur Kids for the Remote

Watching the news the other night, a segment came on introducing DogTV. You guessed it- a cable channel for dogs. Seriously, it’s no hoax! This cable channel was launched recently in San Diego for our fur kids who are left home alone while their human pawrents (coined by Petworld Insider) go out to work. Apparently the need for this cable channel arose solely from the discomfort doggie parents felt over leaving their canine babies home alone. (There’s a movie with that title- oh right; it was a human child left home alone, not a fur kid.) So for an extra $4.99 on monthly cable bills, they can leave behind their fur kids – guilt free.

Everyone’s aware that … Read the rest

Mar20

Authors in Bloom Blog Hop is Coming!

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Authors in Bloom Blog Hop is Coming!

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Get ready for some fun, tips, and prizes!  You’re invited to participate in an Author Blog Hop.  The tour begins on April 10th at 6:00 am EST and finishes on the 19th at midnight EST, so mark your calendars!

Readers will have 10 days to enter each author’s individual contest (giveaways) and submit their entry for the GRAND PRIZE (a KINDLE FIRE or NOOK and a 25 dollar gift certificate for eBooks). Visiting 6 author sites per day and leaving comments will enter you in author site give-aways and also provide you with 65 chances to win the Grand Prize. As well, each author site (65 in total) will also post a giveaway and either a gardening tip … Read the rest

Mar19

A Title- Can You Help?

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A Title- Can You Help?

Okay, you’re going to want to laugh at me.  I am agonizing over the title of my third MG novel in the Frenchie series.  The novel itself has gone through a dozen edits and revisions and now I need to put a title on it and I’m struggling to come up with the perfect  one that will grab my readers’ attention.

You probably don’t think this part is a big deal, but you would be wrong. Titles are extremely important, they either peak your interest or they don’t. A reader isn’t going to pick up a novel off the shelf and read the synopsis if the title doesn’t grab him/her first.  I know, I know you’re probably jumping up and … Read the rest