King Arthur Movie Tristan

Special thanks to Hachette for giving away 5 copies of Jantsen's Gift: A True Story of Grief, Rescue, and Grace by Pam Cope here at my blog.







I used the handy dandy list randomizer and the winners are:

1. Serena

2. Shauna

3. Sally

4. Iliana

5. Lady Roxi



Congrats ladies and thanks to all who entered!

I emailed the winners, please send me your mailing adresses so I can forward it to Hatchett. As stated in the originial contest rules, U.S. and Canada residents only and no PO Box's please.

Many of us bloggers have our share of awards. You know how it is, these awards make their way around the blog-o-sphere. Well, i've made up a new award, and would like to pass it on to my blog friends. Don't feel pressured to pass it on or even blog about it, I know we are all busy bees and don't always have the time to blog about awards. Plus it's hard to keep track of where the awards came from...who gave them...etc. But I was playing around in my graphics program and came up with an award with my chihuahua Diego on it. I think it's cute, but hey, I am biased.





The #1 blogger award goes to:

yvonne, serena, joanne, chic geek, gingerkid,
nymeth, c.j., alice, samantha, jennifer, anna and the girl,
tink, wisteria, melody, mariel, historical tapestry, fyrefly, iliana, lisa, molly, bostonbibliophile, ms moonlight, jennygirl, scrap girl, paxton and dar.



If I forgot anyone, I am sorry. Feel free to take the award, pass it on...or not, it's up to you. But I do think you are all #1 Bloggers :)

Author CJ West is stopping by my blog today for a guest post. Let's give him a warm welcome. He is here to chat about his book, A Demon Awaits, which picks up where Sin and Vengeance left off.





A Demon Awaits by C.J. West

A Demon Awaits is a stunning thriller that will have you turning pages to the end and then keep you talking for weeks to come. In Sin and Vengeance, CJ West creates Randy Black, a villain so insidious that we are tempted to hate him. Randy returns in A Demon Awaits and CJ challenges us to see the world through Randy's eyes and ask ourselves if we can forgive him. We see a transformation in these two books that makes them read more like a two-part novel than the genesis of a high-action series.



As we watch Randy struggle to resist unrelenting pressure, we are reminded of the conflicting forces in our modern world and the temptation that surrounds us. Randy's struggle makes the action all the more intense and as Randy searches for forgiveness, he gives us his view into numerous issues of the day. CJ cleverly balances Randy's views with alternative viewpoints from other characters and gives us a launching pad to discuss questions of faith and forgiveness, the conflict between Islam and Western religions, and the liberal vs. conservative debate over how best to deal with violent criminals in our society.




This book will delight the casual reader with non-stop action and spark a spirited debate over weighty social issues. To truly understand the nature of Randy's journey, we suggest reading Sin and Vengeance immediately before A Demon Awaits.

Guest post:



Backstory


One summer I wrote a scene that perfectly linked two of my books together. It had sex, murder and high stakes neatly wrapped up in about seven pages. I never expected to publish that first chapter because it was too risqué, but when it leaked out to a few early readers the response was phenomenal. As I relaxed my prudish, editorial side a bit and tried not to worry about what my mother would say when she read about a threesome in one of my books, I realized that those seven pages created the foundation for a monumental conflict. That conflict became the centerpiece of my novel Sin & Vengeance. I still wonder if I will ever create anything so compelling again.



After I released Sin & Vengeance, something quite unexpected happened. Readers fell in love with the villain. It wasn’t love per se. Randy Black was a guilty pleasure, a train wreck readers couldn’t look away from. They wanted more. The problem was that when they thought about it, they wanted to see him punished. I felt like they wanted me to write a scorching death scene so they could feel there was justice in the world and go on with their lives feeling safe and secure.



Writing Randy’s character was extremely liberating and I wasn’t ready to let him go.



A Demon Awaits began as an experiment and a challenge. I wanted to redeem Randy Black in my readers’ eyes and help them see the justification I saw for what he had done. Over these two books, Randy became the tarnished hero who is so commonplace in fiction today, but his backstory is laid out for readers in an entire novel. Because the novel ends with Randy as a villainous character, readers had time to evaluate him based on what he had done. It’s like they had lived his backstory rather than being told about it in dribs and drabs throughout later books. When they picked up A Demon Awaits and started reading, they brought their feelings about Randy Black with them.


A Demon Awaits opens by rewinding to the last page of Sin & Vengeance and replaying Randy’s brutal arrest. The next scene stuns many readers. Randy is confronted by God and told that he has crossed the line of His tolerance. He must work hard to redeem himself and he is shown what will become of him if he fails.


What follows is both a high-action novel and an exploration of the nature of forgiveness; forgiveness from our God, our government, and ourselves. It can be argued that there are those in our society that we should give up on. A Demon Awaits challenges readers to decide who should be saved and who we need saving from.


The book shines a light on clergy reaching out to help, vigilantes seeking to purify the world, corrupt politicians enriching themselves at the expense of the governed, religious fanatics striving to impose their world view, and career criminals plying their trade. In the midst of all this chaos, Randy Black’s future has been hijacked. Randy is faced with unrelenting pressure to commit one final sin that will mean trading freedom on Earth for everlasting damnation. He grapples with the nature of good and evil as he decides who he must save. Seeing this struggle up close, readers have reconsidered how they define good and evil and have come away with very different ideas about Randy Black than they came in with.





Footnotes:


Sin & Vengeance has been adapted for film by LR Productions. The company is currently shopping the film to Hollywood producers and studios.


Authors Website: http://www.22wb.com/









Related links:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1225747.C_J_West

http://www.facebook.com/people/CJ_West/733322891


http://www.myspace.com/author_cjwest


http://www.youtube.com/22westbooks




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Thank you CJ for stopping by, your books do sound intense! Randy Black sounds like quite the character. Best of luck.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I found this fun meme over at Monet's blog and couldn't resist. Feel free to play along.



The rules:



1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.



2. Using only the first page of results, pick an image.



3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.






Now, the questions:




First name?

Favorite food?

What high school did you go to?

Favorite color?

Celebrity crush?

Favorite drink?

Dream vacation?

Favorite dessert?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you love most in life?

One word to describe you.

Your flickr name. <- this was very cool, when I entered 'naidascrochet' a few pictures popped up of crocheters who used my patterns.



Here's my mosaic. Can you guess what my answers were? They go straight across.




Are you making a mosaic? I want to see it :)

Teaser Tuesdays asks:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

She stabbed out with the butcher knife. The blade shot between the first and second fingers of his splayed right hand and sawed deep into the flesh at the bottom of the V. Blood poured down.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading non-fiction…


Do you read non-fiction regularly? Do you read it in a different way or place than you read fiction?

I don't read as much non-fiction as i'd like to. I just naturally tend to read fiction. I do enjoy non-fiction books, it can be very interesting reading about real life people and events. You get a glimpse of what they went through and may times you feel like you can relate to their struggle.

In almost 2 years of book blogging, i've only read and reviewed about 12 non-fiction books. Such as The Mighty Queens of Freeville , In The Land of Invisible Women, Wife In the North and The Monster of Florence.

My favorite was Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife. This was an incredibly moving and inspiring story. I found myself hooked from page one. I shared this book with two friends and they both felt the same way. It made for great book discussions.






What about you? Do you read non-fiction? Can you recommend any?

It's Monday...and you know what that means at the 'ol blog. Time for a Mailbox Mondays post. I've gotten some great books in the mail this week.



Dar was kind enough to send me her copy of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay . I posted about this book recently on my blog, during a Cover Attraction post and Dar emailed me to offer me her copy. Isn't that nice? Thank you Dar :)





Another book to arrive at my house is The Green Mile by Stephen King. My hubby came home from work and handed me this book, one of his co-workers who knows I like to read gave him this book for me. It's funny because he didn't know I liked S.King, he just happened to have this book lying around and didn't want it, so he sent it my way. So up on my shelf it went, in the S.King corner.







Last but not least, author Kathye Quick sent me a signed copy of Cynthia and Constantine.

Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight's honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives.

Enjoy your Monday everyone!

Happy Sunday everyone. First off, I want to say you guys are the best. My blog friends who stop by and visit me, leaving me sweet comments. You guys make my day.
We are all feeling much better now here. After being sick for the past week, we had a nice change of pace this weekend and enjoyed some beautiful weather. We ended up having a picnic and spending most of the day outdoors relaxing.


As far as reading goes, I am currently reading:



Just After Sunset

by Stephen King. I'm enjoying it very much, it's a collection of 13 short stories. I'm on number 4. It's a 'for me' read, there's no deadline to meet with this one. My son gave me this book for Christmas.

I'm also reading Georgette Heyer. Danielle Jackson over @ http://www.sourcebooks.com/ sent me these two books:




Frederica





The Convenient Marriage


I have read one Georgette Heyer book before, The Reluctant Widow, and enjoyed it. So I am looking forward to reading the two above.

---------------------------------



On a different note, i'll leave you with some photos from our picnic yesterday. The spot we chose to go to looks like something out of a Austen novel. You half expect to see Elizabeth and Darcy strolling hand in hand.

















Enjoy your weekend everyone, happy reading. I'll be reading outside today as the weather is still gorgeous. What are your plans?

title: 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea


author: Suzy Welch

published: April 2009

genre: self help

pages: 222

first line: I was born in Portland, Oregon-exotic Portland, as I like to say, since it always seems to get a laugh.

rated: 4 out of 5

We all want to lead a life of our own making. But in today's accelerated world, with its competing priorities, information overload, and confounding options, we can easily find ourselves steered by impulse, stress, or expedience. Are our decisions the right ones? Or are we being governed, time and time again, and against our best intentions, by the demands of the moment?



A transformative new approach to decision making, 10-10-10 is a tool for reclaiming your life at home, in love, and at work. The process is clear, straightforward, and transparent. In fact, when you're facing a dilemma, all it takes to begin are three questions: What are the consequences of my decision in 10 minutes?



In 10 months? And in 10 years?

10-10-10 is about changing your life in three steps. Pose your question, gather information...ie...what are the consequences of your different options, then analyze the results. Once you have the information gathered and look at your different options, then you can make a the best decision for yourself. 10-10-10 encourages you to look at the bigger picture.

By bringing every option and its consequences to the surface and connecting actions to deeply held values, the process empowers us to override the counterproductive tendencies of our own minds. It helps us help ourselves.

Author Suzy Welch thought up the idea for 10-10-10 while on a business trip to Hawaii in which she wound up bringing two of her young children along with her. At that point in life, like so many working mothers, she was trying to do it all and about to burn herself out in the process. It was then that she knew she had to take control of her life and re-evaluate her choices.

I wasn't living my life. My life was living me.

I found this book to be a helpful tool for anyone looking to better themselves.
The process of 10-10-10 does make sense. The author includes several stories from others who have used 10-10-10 to change thier lives. When you look at the different options you have, then the consequences of each, you do simplify things and get to the heart of the matter easier. Things will seem clearer.

10-10-10 adds reason where it is lacking, It inserts deliberation where there is only instinct. It replaces opaqueness with transparency.

This wonderful book came to me courtesy of a great site: MotherTalk.com. Thank you for choosing me as one of your reviewers!

Check out their book reviews here

I just wanted to say 'thank you' for your sweet comments on yesterdays post. Yes, I did catch whatever was going around here and I do have a sore throat and slight fever. I've been not feeling well at all, but did manage to nap today after work.
The kids are feeling better and hubby's thing was the 24 hour bug. I am online now because I needed to make my review for 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea live, my deadline was for this Friday. Thankfully I had already written a rough draft of the review and just had to tweak it up and publish the post.


So, now that that's said and done, i'll catch you guys later. Hopefully i'll be able to visit everyone's blogs this weekend. Enjoy your day :o)

Hi everyone, I just wanted to post real quick that i'm taking a few days off blogging. Both my kids have been sick this week, my daughter came home from school with a high fever and when I took her to the doctor, they tested her, she has strep throat. The next day, my son was complaining about an earache, low and behold, took him to the doctor, ear infection. And to top it all off, hubby came home sick from work last night with a stomach bug. (I think everyone who is married knows what it is like when the hubby gets sick, he automatically turns into a 5 year old) lol


And yes, now my throat is hurting. So i'm hoping I don't get too sick, but I won't be online for the next few days. Between work and everyone here being sick, I won't have much time online. I'll miss you guys and see you when I get back.

tug-of-war with a tiny octopus toy.

Some of you my remember author J.W. Nicklaus stopping by my blog to
do a guest post. J.W. did a fun post where he took us all down memory lane by chatting about RIF (Reading Is Fundamental), Scholastic magazine and Schoolhouse Rocks.





Well, Miss Layla Wright, RIF employee,
commented on the post and contacted me about Reading Is Fundamental’s 2009 Read with Kids Challenge .



Go to the website to find out more about the challenge and to learn how to sign up!

Ms. Moonlight tagged me for a fun meme.

My mission: find my favorite hunky hero and share my thoughts on him.

I have a few fav hunky heroes and it's hard to pick just one. I won't pick Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy like I always do. I'll pick another Jane Austen hero instead....





STATS

name: Captain Frederick Wentworth


book: Persuasion by Jane Austen (read the book online for free here)




reason: Wentworth is quiet, romantic and sweet. And the man can write a love letter like nobody's business. And this is proof yet again, that Jane Austen knew how to write amazing heroes in her novels. Timeless. Wentworth writes Anne Elliot a love letter and in that instant the reader's heart melts. Read an excerpt below. (These two have been reunited after eight years apart)





fav quote:

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.

*sigh* that is my favorite love letter in a book, bar none.



film adaptation: the only one i've seen is the BBC's made for tv version, which I really enjoyed and I think was cast perfectly.









What about you? I won't tag anyone, but feel free to play along. Who is your favorite hero?