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Friday, February 26, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things


It's time for another edition of. . .

CELEBRATE THE SMALL THINGS!

This is a weekly blog hop sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about those moments. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

 If you'd like to join in and add a little more joy to your week, then go ahead over to Lexa's or simply pop by the linky below!

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

(I have a bit of a cold this week and my head feels like it's floating among the clouds. In other words, if something sounds a bit silly or off below, please excuse me  *coughcough*)


1) Quiet nights! After it gets dark in the evening, I grab my flashlight and head outside to close up the chicken coop (no chance for you, pesky possums!). The rest of my family finds this task irritating, but I love it and take it on freely. Outisde, it's so quiet. Peaceful. And since we don't have any city lights or anything around, the stars are always amazing. These few moments are something I treasure.

2) Awards and my son's beaming face! This time, my youngest son stood in the spotlight. He brought home a pile of certifications for being on the 'A' honor role and student of the month. Of course, after telling me how happy he was, he had to remind me that he deserves a BIG treat.

3) Roses! Okay, they aren't mine - literally speaking. But who's being picky? My daughter's boyfriend is on a roll with fresh cut flowers. Tulips last week for Valentine's. This week, it's a dozen white roses with a touch of red on the edges. Why am I celebrating? Because she puts them in a vase and leaves them on my kitchen island right where I can see them. Since she's a busy girl and never home, I'm the one who gets to gaze and smile at them all day. I wonder what he'll give her next week???? (Just kidding.)


And what about you? What put a smile on your face this last week? Get hit by that nasty storm? (Hmmm...maybe that's not something to celebrate). How about a delicious coffee or tea? A yummy cookie? Did you get something done, you didn't think you would?

What are you celebrating?









Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Leap Books Leap Year Celebration: When Sparrows Fall by Diana Blackstone




Leap Books is celebrating the Leap Year with a special once in four year sale, putting a huge selection of amazing books on sale for just 99cents from February 22nd through February 29th. Enjoy the extra day this year with some new books!

Today, I'm taking a peek at this one!



WHEN SPARROWS FALL
by Diana Blackstone
Leap Books LLC
Middle Grade Historical Fiction
ages 8 - 12
274 pages




Sometimes doing the right thing means risking it all.
After her mother’s arranged marriage to her recently deceased father’s bitter brother, thirteen-year-old Susanna Stutzman faces a crisis of faith. Everything seems to be going wrong in her life. 

As if her new father’s nasty temper isn’t enough, her cousin Mary, now her stepsister, hates her, as does her new teacher. 

When Susanna’s discovery of a strange nighttime visitor at her mysterious neighbor’s home leads to the unveiling of secrets, Susanna is forced to make a choice between her conscience and her Mennonite community.


All about Diana Blackstone!!!


Diana has been a voracious reader since age nine when she discovered The Chronicles of Narnia after a librarian handed her the first book in the series. She credits hay fever for her interest in writing stories. Unable to play outside without misery from the age of ten, she spent half of every summer vacation inside reading and writing stories until the pollen count dwindled.
Diana serves as a high school English teacher and academic support coordinator. She originally chose to teach older students because she thought they would be able to manage their own bodily fluids better than little kids would. She’s discovered she was mostly right about that, and as a bonus, she finds teenagers a blast to spend her days with.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband Alan and youngest son Isaac. Her adult son Mitchell lives only a four-hour drive away, but Diana wishes it was four minutes instead. She has two cats. Her Maine Coon named Mister Mistoffelees weighs twenty pounds. He is as sweet as he is huge. The other is a feisty Siamese-mix named Sabrina.
Follow Diana on FacebookTwitter, and check out her website.



Here's a quick glimpse at the other books available during this sale:

Storm Watcher by Maria Snyder – Luke Riley is lost after losing his mother to a storm. With his new friend Willajean, he stuggles through a summer of stubborn fathers, storms, unhelpful siblings, and hidden guilt.
Amazon | B&N  
When Sparrows Fall by Diana Blackstone - When Susanna’s discovery of a strange nighttime visitor at her mysterious neighbor’s home leads to the unveiling of secrets, Susanna is forced to make a choice between her conscience and her Mennonite community.

Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr - Kenzie didn’t expect her first summer in the Florida Keys to be murder. Cute guys, awesome boats, endangered species, gun-toting thugs…

Amazon | B&N

Fright Before Christmas Anthology - ‘Tis the season to be screaming along with our thirteen tales of holiday horrors. Ghosts. Monsters. Demons. And more! This Christmas, be careful what you wish for…


Stake Out by J. Bonnie Doerr - A surreal encounter with an ancient sea turtle propels Kenzie into peril in the Florida Keys…


Under My Skin by Judith Graves - All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life…  A normal life? Now that’s the real fairytale.

Amazon | B&N | iTunes

Second Skin by Judith Graves - What happens when you’re both the beauty and the beast? 

Amazon | B&N 

Skin of My Teeth by Judith Graves - HOW TO PLAY
* draw a card from the deck
* kill or be killed
* and if you’re lucky, repeat…

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

Beware the Little White Rabbit Anthology - Come Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s classic, ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. Join Leap Books on this curious exploration of madness, tea parties, Cheshire grins, moments of terror, fantastical settings, romance, and, mayhem! Our select group of talented authors are united by their passion for all things Alice and will delight you with their take on what really happened down the rabbit hole.


Spirited Anthology - Leap Books summoned best-selling paranormal and dreadfully talented debut authors to conjure up Spirited, a haunting collection of 13 tales guaranteed to keep you up all night. 

Amazon | B&N

For the Love of Strangers by Jaqueline Horsfall - What if you discovered your birth fulfilled an ancient prophecy?
What if you were destined to save an entire wild species?
Would you heed the call?

Never Been Texted by Linda Joy Singleton - Though Ashlee knows not all stories end happily, she’s determined to make hers the best it can be.

As Waters Gone By by Tina Bustamante - Can Ellie gain the courage to uncover the truth of who she really is and finally find a place where she belongs, or will she choose to remain an outsider?

Killer’s Instinct by Dawn Dalton & Judith Graves - Where there is no life – there’s HOPE.
Amazon | B&N

Racing Hearts Book One by Laura Lascarso - He wants to honor his father’s legacy; she wants to prove her father wrong.
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

Racing Hearts Book Two by Laura Lascarso - Can these two competitors overcome the sins of their fathers or will a shadowed history destroy their dreams forever?

Half-Life by Tina Ferraro - Probably not a good idea to take advice from your dead twin sister.
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes

Right Kind of Mistake by Rebecca Thomas - Heartbroken, Haylie is only looking for a few hours of pure bliss. But hockey hero Cam wants more than a hook-up. His goal? Ice-melting romance.
Goodreads | Smashwords | Amazon | iTunes | B&N



Friday, February 19, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things

It's time for another edition of. . .

CELEBRATE THE SMALL THINGS!

This is a weekly blog hop sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about those moments. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

 If you'd like to join in and add a little more joy to your week, then go ahead over to Lexa's or simply pop by the linky below!

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

1) Lots of writing time! It's been a bit quieter this week (Finally!), so I actually got a chance to sit down, type and do some outlining. I'm 30,000 into my WIP and can't wait to see it grow. (Oh, not all words were this last week. It's just great to see a WIP getting fatter)

2) Proud mommy moments! My oldest daughter is in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) at school and attended district competitions this last weekend. She not only won enough votes there to become the new district VP of FBLA/PBL relations but also took 1st in her speech category (Sales Presentation). So off to State she goes! (I'm all smiles)

3) Lunch! Valentine's Day brought an ice storm, so we celebrated a day later and went out to lunch--whole family, of course. The best way.


What about you? See the first flowers coming up? Watch snowflakes drift down? Survive an ice storm? Get to laugh about a stupid joke? Smell something delicious?

What put a smile on your face this last week?









Friday, February 12, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things


It's time for another edition of. . .

CELEBRATE THE SMALL THINGS!

This is a weekly blog hop sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about those moments. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

 If you'd like to join in and add a little more joy to your week, then go ahead over to Lexa's or simply pop by the linky below!

This week, I'm celebrating. . .

1) Good books and a trip to the library. I've been diving into tons of stories this last week--some which I've had on my TBR list for quite awhile.It's nice to be swept away into other places and worlds.

2) Eggs! Chickens tend to calm down on the egg laying end of things during the winter, although we were still getting around 8 a day. This week, their Spring clocks must slowly be kicking in. We've had around 14 a day suddenly. Eggs anyone?

3) Friends! What would we do without them?


What about you? What put a smile on your face this last week? Did the sun shine down on your face? Did you smell something yummy which made you stop and simply inhale the moment? Hear a great song on the radio? What small thing are you celebrating?








Friday, February 5, 2016

Celebrate Life


It's time for another edition of. . .

CELEBRATE THE SMALL THINGS!

This is a weekly blog hop sponsored by the amazing Lexa Cain, and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner from Writing Off the Edge and myself. Every week, wonderful things happen, tiny things, which make us smile. But as time grabs us up, we forget all about those moments. This is the chance for us to reflect back on those and remember that there are tons of things worth celebrating.

 If you'd like to join in and add a little more joy to your week, then go ahead over to Lexa's or simply pop by the linky below!


This week, I'm feeling a bit more serious than usual. The last ten days, we've been touched by three suicides among family, friends and acquaintances. None of them had anything to do with the other, nor did these people know one another. Sadly, one was even a 7th grader.

So this week, I'm celebrating life.

It's rough. It's not easy. But it's precious. May we never forget that.