BookPushalooza! July 26, 2012

Welcome
to the FIRST EVER BookPushalooza!

July 26^th ONLY

9
Books, only .99.

With
each purchase you get the chance to WIN while Helping Authors reach new heights
in Amazon’s ranks.

It’s
so easy a CAVEMAN could do it!

Follow
the Instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget and for each book you purchase (or
Borrow through Amazon Prime for Free) you get an entry in to WIN —

(1) Grand
Prize- $100 Amazon Gift Card

(2) Runners up of $25 Amazon Gift Cards

That’s
not all! Purchase all NINE (9) books and get an additional 5 entries!

Don’t
delay, this offer is good for JULY 26^th ONLY!

Overview of Dark Isle

When evil begets evil, a choice is forced on Quinn, the one person who can see the danger. Does she save the ones she loves, or does she save the world from Chaos?

As the realms of Fae and human collide, Quinn’s future has never looked so grim, or so damn impossible.

Genre- Urban Fantasy

Overview of Enemy in Blue

 The streets aren’t safe when your enemy wears a blue uniform and a gold badge.
What if the good guys weren’t good?
What if a cop went rogue and killed an innocent man?

What if it was all caught on video and the cop would do anything to cover it up?
Chase this lawless cop through the streets and to a scintillating series of showdowns with Cruz Marquez, a young attorney trying to nail down his enemy in blue.

Will justice be served?
Genre- Thriller

Overview of Land of the Noonday Sun

When two strangers have nothing left but their dreams, they must forge a relationship in Nantahala, North Carolina, a small town known as Land of the Noonday Sun.

A man with a traumatic past is able to turn his life around and is happy with his chosen career as a whitewater guide. Everything changes though when fate hurls a woman into his path. His carefree life is in turmoil, and his former weaknesses threaten to overtake him. Will he be strong enough when tragedy strikes and is once again in danger of losing everything he loves?

Genre- Contemporary Romance

Overview of This Time Forever

Delaney Brannigan and Blake Morrisson met at the Cedar Cove annual costume dance, known only to each other as the leopard and the cowboy–but, as Delaney soon discovers, the cowboy she’d thought had ridden off into the sunset never to tempt her again, is none other than the man she came from New York to find and discredit. Against her will, Delaney is drawn deeper and deeper into an overwhelming attraction to Blake–an attraction she can’t give in to if she wants to keep the one thing she values
more than anything else.

Genre- Contemporary Romance

Overview of Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula

Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Jones wakes up the morning after a minor accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist to discover that her body has undergone some bizarre physical changes. Her senses, strength, and speed have been radically enhanced.

Lives are put at risk when they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous, action-packed adventure. Soon they are forced to confront a maniacal villain willing to do anything – including murder – to reach his own ambitious goals.

Genre- YA/MG Superhero

Overview of Gray Justice

Gray Justice is the fast-paced debut thriller from Alan McDermott. When a killer walks free from court, the victim’s father sees just two options: accept the judge’s decision; or take on the entire British justice system. Tom Gray chooses the latter and his crusade attracts instant worldwide media coverage. It was just what Tom was hoping for, but it brought him a lot more than he bargained for.

Gray Justice is much more than a simple tale of revenge: it’s a roller coaster ride with an ending you’ll never forget!

Genre- Thriller

Overview of Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00

“Their lives are in the hands of two 18-year-olds…”
A Prominent P.I. is gunned down – killed by a sniper – and it’s broadcasted on live TV.
Now, her daughter, along with her childhood pal, are thrust into a complex and riveting thriller forced to take on a secret club whose members call themselves The Privileged Ones.
Murder. Teen abductions and illegal underground parties.
They’re chased by men in ski-masks, nearly gunned down by members of a cartel, and the only way to bring down this criminal enterprise; is to crash a Mardi Gras bash and stop their private cruise ship from sailing off into the sunset.

 

Overview of Allegiance

Who do YOU pledge allegiance to?

After exposing one of the most notorious rings of police corruption in history, lawyer Cruz Marquez planned on starting a new life south of the border. That plan unraveled when an extremist group of Minutemen captured and tortured him and his wife.

Will Cruz pledge allegiance to do right, or will he do anything to serve up revenge?

Genre- Thriller

Overview of Curbchek Reload

Curbchek-Reload is a dark account of the streets as they were worked by Zach Fortier, a dangerously deranged cop. Welcome back to the inner city and the twisted mentality of Zach Fortier. Patrolling the streets, broken and mentally damaged from years of urban violence, Zach fights a losing battle to maintain a hold on reality. Join him in the passenger seat of a police cruiser for more of the darker and meaner side of life: The inner city. In Curbchek-Reload you get a front row seat to an attempted murder of a cop, suicide attempts, rapes, and DARK cop humor. Curbchek-Reload – Fasten your bullet proof vest and buckle your seatbelt, it is gonna be a wild ride!

Genre- Police Procedural 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NDliZTEwYjNiZGIzMTZlZWM2ZTQ0ZjEwZGQ1M2UzOjE=/

All winners will be notified via email July 28th 2012. For a list of winners contact onedaybookpush@yahoo.ca

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Happy Birthday Pam July 20, 2012

Wednesday was my dear friend Pam’s birthday.  Since I was a kid she has been like a second mother to me, but especially more so this past year as my parents have taken to traveling in their retirement years.  Pam has taken me in on those holidays my parents were away so I wanted to do something nice in honor of her birthday. After considering several ideas, I decided to invite Pam and her daughter Jennifer over for dinner.  I know Pam enjoys grilled chicken, but I’m not confident enough in my grilling skills yet so I decided to make the Garlic Roasted Chicken Breast recipe I recently found.  I tested this a couple weeks ago in the toaster oven and was amazed at how juicy it came out in only 15 minutes.   This is definitely one of my new favorite chicken dishes.

My shoulder has been bothering me so I admit I made instant mashed potatoes, but I added about a tablespoon of sour cream to the Garlic & Herb mix and they were so creamy and yummy.  I could have eaten the whole pot of those.  Of course there had to some colorful veggies as well so I sautéed squash, zucchini, and onion in olive oil.  This is such an easy, tasty way to add veggies to any meal.

Instead of doing a traditional birthday cake with too many leftovers for our girlish figures, I opted to make lemon soufflés.  I discovered this recipe a couple years ago and it is definitely one of my absolute favorite desserts, especially in the summer.  It is light and refreshing after a long hot day.  I had forgotten the base of the soufflé is actually lemon curd, and aside from the zesting of an entire lemon it is incredibly simple to make.  Next time I need lemon curd to go with my scones I will be sure to pull this recipe out.

With my new Afternoon in Tuscany cd playing softly in the background, the house freshly cleaned, and a few candles scattered around, we enjoyed a lovely evening of food and fellowship.

Bountiful Blessings July 16, 2012

Last week was a downpour of blessings upon my writing career, showing me how God’s plans for my life are far greater than my own.  This post will be a bit longer than normal, but I hope you can forgive me as I really want to take a few minutes to share this experience.

On July 8, a review of my new book, Julianne, was published by Lonita Cook on the Kansas City Examiner website.  Ms. Cook’s kind words for the story and writing style gave validation to my writing dream, but what really made my heart sing was how the reviewer really captured the essence of why I write, which is to tell stories that will minister to those who are already followers of Christ and provide a warm invitation to those who aren’t yet believers. However, it wasn’t just the positive review, the response to the review was also overwhelming.  As of this writing, the article was shared via Twitter 149 times and Facebook 34 times.  I hope these numbers are encouraging to Ms. Cook as well, because it is a testament to her own beautiful writing.

Just as the glow and excitement of the review were fading, I started my first giveaway via Kindle Direct Publishing’s Select program.  On Wednesday and Thursday,  July 11 and 12, my business manager and I worked to promote Julianne being available as a free download for Kindle.  I admit I was expecting to get 20, maybe 50 downloads.  When I first logged on Wednesday morning I was floored to see there had already been 193.  When the promotion ended at 3:00am on July 13, a total of 1,749 books had been downloaded worldwide.  The idea so many people chose a book I haven’t hesitated to promote as Christian fiction has given wings to my creative spirit.  Since my first book sale, I made a commitment to myself to pray for each person who makes a purchase.  This past week certainly made the prayer list longer, but I treasure each of those unknown lives.

Despite being emotionally and physically drained after all of this wonderful excitement, I had a taste for strawberry scones.  I made them Sunday afternoon after getting caught up on all the mundane tasks pushed aside to focus on my marketing.  They smelled absolutely wonderful in the oven and were the perfect end to a dream week.  The recipe I used can be found here if you want to take advantage of the end of strawberry season yourself.

Fireworks, Salsa, and Memories July 4, 2012

Happy 4^th of July!  I hope you all take some time today to reflect on what makes this day so very important in the history of the United States, especially as times are so rapidly changing for us.  There is another reason this day is so important to me though.  Today would have been my grandmother’s 90^th birthday.  I have been thinking about Grandma Pearl all week and wish she could have been here over the weekend to help me with my first endeavor at canning on my own.

I have many memories of helping her can preserves, green beans, and tomatoes.  I remember setting up the Coleman stove on the back porch, watching the giant pot boil, peeling the skin off the tomatoes and skimming the froth off the strawberries. Those are memories that I will always treasure.

Since I had so many tomatoes of my own I took 25 of them and made salsa.  I don’t recall the process of peeling and coring tomatoes taking so long or causing back pain when I was kid, but I plunged ahead and found my 25 Roma tomatoes would make about 2 pints of salsa.  It may not sound like much, but split them up into ½ pint jars and I probably have enough to last me the rest of the year.  I can’t wait to crack open a jar at my next social event and share the fruits of my labor.

If you are interested in learning more about canning your own salsa check out this website:

http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html