Plans for Conversion

I'll be working on this blog over the coming days and, hopefully, launch it the first week in January.  So far, as you can see, I've been fiddling with the title, plan to have a Book of the Week and a Movie of the Week.  I've begun linking to my favorite Star Trek episodes which have a vintage feel and plan to review those episodes in time.  Additionally, I'll be talking about stuff primarily from World War II to the death of President John F. Kennedy.  I can't help but include other favorites from nearby, like Titanic and Star Trek. 

At the moment, I seem to be stuck on the Twilight Zone.  I'm continually amazed at the storytelling.  In one short episode, the flesh out characters and totally nail a plot that freaks me out.  How do they do that?

I won't be talking about my own storytelling because this blog is about everything else that interests me.

I've missed blogging and found Facebook just too restrictive for everything I like to do.

I'm finding that sometimes some features on Blogger won't work.  Don't yet know if it's Blogger or this computer.

My Original Review of Rendezvois to Remember by Geri Krowtow

World War II Historical Romance.   Rendezvous to Remember

Converting Blog

This may take a while.  This used to be Cabin Fever Book Reviews.

May Start Reviewing Again Soon

I suspect it's a seasonal thing for me.  I won't commit to reviewing after January 2015.  So, I won't accept ARCs I'm not absolutely certain about.

TOM'S WIFE Book tour

Welcome to this book tour!  Please comment to enter the drawing for the prize.

Alana will be awarding the winner's choice of a Screenprinted Camisole - "What Happens in the Bedroom Stays in the Bedroom" or a Brass Nuts T-Shirt - screenprinted "Brass" with 2 brass hex-nuts sewn to collar, to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. (US ONLY)

BLURB:

It’s the Great Depression and 19-year-old Annie Huckaby is almost resigned to marriage  with Tom.  He works at a coal mine during the week, leaving Annie to take care of the house and their infant son.  Tom’s Native American friend Jim takes care of the farm.  Her best friend, Twila, visits every day and helps Annie make a little money selling eggs to the café on the highway.  And there’s church on Sunday.  Annie’s not always alone, but most times she feels like it…until one afternoon a peddler named Jake Stern steps onto the porch, tips his hat, and starts a world of trouble.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Excerpt

 

She already hated being married to Tom after less than a year of it. Hated the three-room pine house with its bare floors and windows. She’d gone home once to her mama’s house trying to get out of it, but her mama told her, “a good woman don’t go off on her husband” and that Annie’s job was to be especially pleasing to Tom so that he wouldn’t get foul-tempered. 

 

The author had this to say about writing:

 

MY CREATIVE PROCESS

I used to write everyday and have a ritual for writing – a pot of coffee, listen some loud dance music through headphones (for the benefit of neighbors), perhaps dance a bit – nothing too elaborate (again for the sake of the neighbors).  And I used to write from midnight to 3 a.m.  Over time my ritual for writing has changed.  I work from 9 a.m. to noon, generally, and like to work in a coffee shop.  My favorite these days is only a block from where I live and they have old-fashioned metal chairs on the sidewalk.  I can take my shoes off and work to the sounds of traffic, people walking by, possibly a bike rider. 

Now, I plan to write.  I have to choose the time, place, and writing implement.

I use a combination of writing directly on the computer and hand-writing.  I prefer the latter, because it gives me time to think, to picture, to form a story.  And on different days, depending on my creative mood, I might use a fountain pen, a razor-point felt tip pen, a gel pen (my favorite), or a pencil.  I may write until I run out of ink, which happens quickly with a gel pen.  Some days I just get a sentence or a paragraph. 

I suppose I write like a journalist because my stories, my inspiration comes from questions – Who? What? Where? And the most important questions, Why?  I see what’s happening in my story, but I also feel it.  And, as a writer it’s that feeling I want to convey.  For that reason, I include body language, smells, color, weather – my character sees everything, but what is she focusing on?  What evokes a response in her.  Where is her attention?  I don’t have to say what she’s feeling if I can write a picture of what she is seeing and smelling and doing.  That is, if I write it well enough.

 Now, please hop on over to this stops to comment for more chances to win!

 February 3: Long and Short Reviews
February 10: Live To Read ~Krystal
February 17: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
February 24: Welcome to My World of Dreams
March 3: It's Raining Books
March 10: Straight from the Library

 

Direct Link:   http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/11/virtual-nbtm-book-tour-toms-wife-by.html?zx=1446f4e45776d597

St. Peter's Bones

Oookay, I'm having trouble with Blogger, particularly with posting covers.  So, I'm gonna go ahead and write the review and hope for the best.  Just don't expect a book cover!

SOUL SLAM Virtual Book Tour

Welcome to the celebration of Allie Burton's latest release!  Please comment to gain chances to win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.   Follow this link for me info-  

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e43452/

BLURB:

 

A sixteen-year-old on her first heist to steal an ancient Egyptian amulet inadvertently receives the soul of King Tut…and the deadly curse that comes with it.

           

And Olivia is not alone at the museum.

           

A member of a secret Society, Xander believes it is his place to inherit King Tut’s soul and justly rule. He knows nothing about the society’s evil plan to control the world or the curse. Now, he must deal with the female imposter who stole the amulet.

 

Xander convinces Olivia they must form a temporary partnership. The two teens develop a connection, and together they must figure out how to end the curse before it turns deadly. On the run, unable to touch because of the curse, and dealing with a male soul inside her female body, Olivia must learn to trust Xander.

 

As the mystery surrounding the amulet unfolds, Olivia and Xander start to fall for each other. But is love enough to save them and the world from destruction?

 

Excerpt:

 

(From end of Chapter Two)

 

“Olivia.” I liked how he said my name. With a sophisticated accent, not a trashy lilt like the boys in the family. “Shouldn’t you look outside first?”

 

I firmed my lips and kept my pace heading straight for the door. “I trust my people.” I tossed my braid around and shot him a look. The dig was deliberate.

 

“So did I.” His response cut my bravado in two.

 

My family wouldn’t ditch me. Like the Marines, we didn’t leave a man behind as long as I brought Fitch what he wanted.

 

I pushed against the metal bar to open the door. Damp air hit my face. So did the stench of recently-smoked cigarettes. A black SUV was parked in front of the doorway with its lights off. The shiny car looked expensive and new.

 

Fitch didn’t own a vehicle like that.

 

Something hard and pointy shoved into my back. Clicked. Like an animal about to become lunch, I tensed.

 

“Don’t move,” a gruff voice said from behind.

 

Not Fitch’s voice. Or the old creepy guy Jeb. My brain analyzed the situation while my instincts wanted to scream.  “Are you a security guard? Because some old guy is in there trying to steal—”

 

“Shut up. I got a rifle kissing your heart.” How long had the guy been rehearsing that corny line?

 

“Wh-what do you want?” My tongue tripped over the words.

 

“You.”

 

First, the security guard. Then, Jeb and Xander. Now, this guy.

 

It sucks to be so popular.

***

Author-

 

Allie didn’t realize having so many jobs would become great research material for the stories she writes. She has been everything from a fitting room attendant to a bike police officer to a professional mascot escort. She has lived on three continents and in four states and has studied art, fashion design, marine biology, and advertising.

 

When her kids asked, “when are you going to write a story we can read?” she switched from adult novels to Young Adult and Middle Grade and hasn’t looked back.

 

Allie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Romance Writers of America including the Young Adult, Dallas Area Romance Writers and Heart of the Rockies chapters. She is also a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Currently, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HCQBQUI

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Soul-Slam/book-s_pWl8qAIUuFWSjFaG6mXg/page1.html?s=VzflmJB4FUyO957UxPW_6g&r=1

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soul-slam-allie-burton/1117717046?ean=2940149054824



Please continue to hop through these blogs and comment at each tour stop for more chances to win!

January 3: Shooting Stars Reviews
January 6: Theresa M Jones
January 6: Live To Read ~Krystal
January 7: Our Wolves Den
January 7: LizaOConnor
January 8: Dana's YA Bookpile
January 9: My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews
January 10: the bookish owl
January 10: Blood Red Shadows
January 10: Nickie's Views and Interviews
January 13: Hazel West's Character Purgatory
January 13: Book- Marks The Spot
January 14: Long and Short Reviews
January 15: Books in the Hall
January 16: Full Moon Dreaming
January 16: Gin's Book Notes
January 17: Book Briefs
January 20: Margay Leah Justice
January 20: Author Jinni James
January 21: Rogue's Angels
January 22: Sandra's Blog
January 22: Room With Books
January 23: Sun Mountain Reviews
January 23: Emraz The Spark
January 24: Writer Wonderland
Here's a direct link to the tour stop list-   http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/11/virtual-book-tour-soul-slam-by-allie.html?zx=19c77686ebfa5b7e

Thanks for stopping by!

BACK TO THE CABIN by Dale Mulfinger, photographs by Cheryl Koralik

Some may consider this one a 'coffee table book' because of its gorgeous photographs, and they are gorgeous!  But, to those of us who long for warm, comfy solitude somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, this is a wonderful guidebook for our imaginations.

My personal favorite is the rock house built into the side of a mountain.  It looks half traditional Alaskan fur trapper's combined with the Hobbit Hole.

Of course, there are a range of styles when you talk about the cabin, everything from totally rustic to ultra-modern log mansion.  I'm more on the rustic side.  I wouldn't want to go anything more high-tech than an antique cookstove from the 1940s.  But, that's just me.

The lakeside cabins were cool with their own docks.

I really like the ones with the huge windows all glowing in the night. 

There are also some floorplans and décor suggestions too.  And one with an adjacent lighthouse.  Some like to take old cabins and transform them into modern oasis, which is cool.  Not for me though.  I'll take that old butter churn and use it the way God intended, thank you very much.

Of course, the rest of my family...uh...not so much.  They like to recharge their iPhones and such.

There's some landscaping plans and ideas too.  I really like that.  I told my husband he must landscape in such a way that it looks awesome, but it looks like it just happened.

Oh, migoodness, there's one picture of a seriously cool kitchen that has an enormous farm sink and ragged old green cupboards.

Another cabin is half-built out of shipping containers.

My favorite is still the Alaskan Furtrapper's Hobbit Hole though.

Definitely get this book if you're at all curious about getting away from it all!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/back-to-the-cabin-dale-mulfinger/1114831432?ean=9781600855214

Happy New Year!

My Resolutions:

1)   Get into Winter Camping, including snowshoe.

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Backpacking-Guide-Camping-Trips/dp/1896980414

2)   Write Grizzly Bear's Child and Sugar Crash, rough drafts at least.

3)   Perfect Dutch Oven Cooking

4)   Have sit-down meals at the family table with good manners displayed by the entire herd of offspring.

5)   Establish my chicken flock, rabbit herd, worm bins, and garden.

6)   Put into practice all the lessons on compassion I learned by receiving so much of it during this past, very difficult year.

That'll do!  I'd add 'lose weight,' but I figure Winter Camping will take care of that.