Blogging Tips Meme

Holly tagged me for this meme.

Blogging Tips

It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. *****
-http://www.neonscent.com

2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. **
-http://www.bushmackel.com

3. Don’t let money change ya! *
-http://www.therandomforest.info

4. Always reply to your comments. ******
-http://chattiekat.com

5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. ***
-http://chipsquips.com

6. Don’t give up – persistance is fertile. *
-http://www.velcro-city.co.uk

7. Give link credit where credit is due. ***
-http://www.sfsignal.com

8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post.***
-http://scifichick.com

9. Be Brave, some of the best posts are when you step out of your comfort zone.*
-http://twisted-kingdom.blogspot.com

10. Follow the links in posts and comments. You never know what blog gems you will find!* -* http://readingadventures.blogspot.com/

11. If you’re visiting a new blog for the first time, comment. You never know what kind of blogger buddy you might make because of it.*
– http://cranberrytarts.blogspot.com

12. Create a good blogroll and keep it updated. It’ll create interest in your blog as well as other interesting sites.-http://www.scooper.wordpress.com

I’m supposed to tag 10 people for this, but I’m not good at the taggin’ so here are a few people:

rhian

susan

amie

gypsy

toni

rinda

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Amazon or B & N?

When you order books online, who do you buy from? I’m not talkin’ ’bout ebooks. I’m talkin’ ’bout paperback and hardback? When I first started buying stuff online I always ordered from B & N, because if you spend $25 or more you get free shipping and they’re usually pretty quick about sending stuff out. (It also helped that I’m a member of Club Mom. You shop online and earn points which are redeemable for gifts/gift cards.)

I joined Barnes & Nobles members club getting an extra 10% off my purchases (I think I paid $25 for it) and it made it all the better. At some point, I began looking at Amazon. The first time it was a fluke. I was ordering clothes for my daughter and decided to check out their book selection. They offer free shipping if you spend $25 too, so I started ordering from them.

I’ve noticed a major difference in shipping. Both are always free. (I’d rather spend $5 more on books than on shipping.) B & N expedites their shipping. They ship in three to five days and that’s standard for their free shipping. I ordered on Thursday and received notice of shipping on Saturday.

The last time I ordered from Amazon it took over a week for me to get my books. Their free shipping is standard not expedited. So, I’m back to ordering from B & N and getting points for it. When I get enough points I’ll trade them in for a $25 B & N gift card.

Wraith by Phaedra Weldon

Favorite Lines: “He kissed me. I pressed my lips tight against the tongue as it pushed harder and harder to get into my mouth.” (213)

After a horrific rape, Zoe Martinique found herself able to leave her body and walk around. She’s not dead; just able to travel around and spy on people and she makes good money doing it. On one such night, she witnesses a murder and discovers that the killer can see her, even though she’s not corporeal.

The killer grabs her arm and so begins the many changes in Zoe’s life. She meets a sexy detective, when out of her body she becomes solid, she’ constantly hungry and thirsty, and is trying to find the killer who branded her.

I had a few reservations about Zoe’s mother. She does some pretty unmotherly (yeah, I know it’s prob. not a word) things, but the author does a great job of moving the reader past them. When I felt like I was going to rip on the mom (Nona), the author would add Zoe remembering how much her mother loved her and how her actions screamed of her terror for her daughter.

There is a killer in this book that I’m unsure of. I know he’s bad, but I don’t know how bad. He’s a freak, but there is much more to him than meets the eyes and ears.

There are two major player in this book besides Zoe and the killer. There is a televangilist and a rich Japanese business owner. Beware, nothing is what it seems. Zoe is transforming into more than a “Traveler” (her term for what she can do) and her friends and family think she’s becoming a Wraith.

I can’t tell you much more without giving the plot away. I enjoyed this book. The book points to the many times we all do things that instinct tells us not to do and the results of doing it. It challenges the reader’s set system of beliefs by allowing us to think, “If that had been me, could I have done that?” She uses foreshadowing liberally throughout the book which prevents me from questioning how we got from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. She also stresses the gray areas of life. Is evil truly evil? Is good, good? Are there degrees in between and where do you draw the line? Can you draw a line?

Ms. Weldon, I must say I’m ready to kill you because I want to know what’s going on and I don’t want to wait.

I found no blog or web address for Ms. Weldon so, I’m going to copy her bio off the back cover of Wraith.

“Phaedra Weldon was born in Florida and attended Georgia Southern University, from where she launched a career in the graphic arts field. She began writing at age ten, reworking the endings of her favorite tv shows, including such classics as Scooby Doo. She has also had short fiction published in a number of anthologies and on online sites.”

Update: I found Ms. Weldon’s website. You can find it here.

Sleeping with Fear by Kay Hooper

Favorite Line: “She was covered with blood, and it wasn’t hers.” (5)

Sleeping with Fear by Kay Hooper is a paranormal book following Special Agent Riley Crane who has awoke to find herself covered in blood. She has no wounds and knows that it can’t be hers. She doesn’t remember anything from that night or the three weeks prior to that night.

Bit by bit small memories begin to return to her, but in the meanwhile a headless body is found. Because Riley is a specialist in the occult, she is asked to help the local authorities with the case and meets with the sheriff and the D.A. With no memory, she has no idea who she can trust and even worse, her clairvoyant abilities are gone.

Ms. Hooper did a good job of making me feel like the character of Riley. She suffers memory lapses more than once and with her confusion came my confusion. I was lost. When she found out what was happening, so did I. While it was great, it was also annoying to begin learning something and then have an instant blackout wipe it all away. It was weird to see Riley lose her memory but feel an attraction towards someone and innately know that the person was her lover.

Yes, I thought I knew who the killer was, then I changed my mind. I should have kept to my original thesis. This book is one of many in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit. I’m thinking it’s book 9 with a 10th ready to follow.

At one time I loved all of Kay Hooper’s books. Then they began coming in hardcover and I couldn’t afford to buy them as often as I had before. Now, I’ve found myself fumbling with them. It’s not that they are poorly written or uneventful; I just don’t have that lovin’ feeling anymore. The story lines are all different, but they all seem to fall back on the same premise of a killer (supernatural) and a special agent (who must have an anchor) battling it out. They aren’t as fresh as they used to be.

It wasn’t a bad book. It wasn’t a great book. It was an average book that may do more for you than it did for me.

13 Gift clubs

You don’t want to look for gift ideas, so I’ll do it for you. I haven’t tried any of the following, but they look interesting and worthy of investigation.

1. Ice cream club
2. Hot sauce club
3. Beer club
4. Cheese club
5. Salsa club
6. Gourmet entree club
7. Fruit preserves club
8. Cake club
9. Brownie club
10. Bread club
11. Olive club
12. Pasta club
13. Steak of the month club

• Full Plate
• Life is Rantastic
• Kitchen Table
• Rosie

Irked!

I’m a little irked. I was browsing ebay and stumbled across an ARC for Elijah by Jacqueline Frank for sale. You’ll never believe the asking price…$38.99. I want to read it, but damn!!! Asking a bit much maybe?

Shopping

When I worked at my old job (before I went back to school) I used to shop compulsively. If I wanted it, I bought it. I was really bad about clearance shelves. There is just something about getting a $100 comforter for $20 that makes me happy.

Two years ago I bought an expensive maroon comforter. I put it away thinking that when I moved I’d pull it out and  I’d have a new look for my bedroom in a new place. Guess what? I still haven’t moved. So, last night I finally opened it up and began using it.

My question is, if you get it on sale but never use it, is it still a great buy?

Do you ever…

pick up a book because it sounds good, but then decide that you really don’t want to read it? I have a bad habit of this. My latest pick up regret was Erica Spindler’s Last Known Victim. I wanted to read it until I had it in my hand. Then it took me a week to begin reading it. I read the first three chapters, and while they were good, I still had no enthusiasm for the book.

Last night I decided it’s now or never (which really wasn’t an option) and made the plunge. The book was great! It had enough whodunit to enthrall me and that’s not even mentioning the wacked out  ending. I’m giving this book a thumbs up. I didn’t realize the detective in it was the sister to the victim in See Jane Die. (Not that it matters; it’s just interesting to see the subtle tie-in. If you didn’t read Jane’s story, don’t worry the book mentions her name in passing.)

I’ll be writing my review for it to be posted at Romance Designs this week and just wanted to give it a shout out here first. Last Known Victim will be released in October.

Exit Stategy by Kelley Armstrong

Favorite Line: “”Scream, and I’ll snap your wrist,” I said.” (100)

Nadia is a hitwoman; she’s also a former cop who owns/runs a nature lodge. There’s a killer on the loose and he’s bringing heat to the professional world of hitmen and she is recruited, along with a few others, to stop the killer. The killer is believed to be a hitman because of the clean kills and there seems to be no way to guess who the next victim will be.

Nadia is an interesting character. She was a victim at an early point in her life, but overcame it to become a cop. After years of serving she snaps on the job and kills a man forcing her to take an early retirement. She never goes to jail but she looses everything, her family and her fiance. She has enough money to buy a nature lodge and she removes herself from all that she knew. It isn’t a lucrative business and as she finds herself in need of money to keep the lodge afloat an offer from the mob comes. They’ll pay her to remove problems for them.

She also meets Jack. Jack mentors Nadia but she doesn’t trust him and is half afraid that he’ll try to off her. Over the course of the book Nadia begins to learn more about Jack. She even begins to find him attractive.

This is a work of fiction. It’s not a romance or fantasy novel. It uses the first person to show Nadia’s world from her point of view. The characters are layered and despite the their attempts, the world is slightly chaotic (like the real world). The book is 480 pages. It took me several days to read because it lost my attention at many different points. I don’t think this is Ms. Armstrong’s best work, but it was an interesting change.

Will I read it again? No.

Some things were right in front of Nadia’s face but I guess being a hitwoman doesn’t’ exactly make you trust things at face value.

Go Play!

They’re playing truth or dare at the Midnight Moon Cafe. Go Play!!