Watch where you're flinging that attitude!

Probably one of my biggest pet peeves is rudeness. I see no reason for it. Don't get me wrong, I've had my share of bad days, but taking it out on the waitress serving me or the random person I meet on the street never helps. It doesn't make me feel better or lessen my bad day. In fact, I usually end up feeling guilty for making them feel bad on top of my frustration, making me feel worse than ever.

I'm one of those people who took the "treat others like you want to be treated" mantra they drilled into us in kindergarten to heart. And I've learned that a smile really does go a long way. So I can't stand people who do everything in their power to spread their bad attitude. Rudeness is like a disease. A man coughs his attitude on the woman serving coffee, she catches the disease and coughs it up on everyone after them.

So today, let's do our part to stop the rudeness disease before it becomes an epidemic (hopefully we aren't too late). Make sure to smile at the people you meet. Say 'please' and 'thank you'. But most of all, make sure that if you are in a bad mood, you aren't taking it out on some random person who doesn't deserve it.

Contests Galore!

Happy Tuesday everyone! There are some super contests and giveaways happening around the blogger-verse that I wanted to share with you all. They're all different, some simple, some a bit more complicated. But they're all fun with some very cool prizes. In no particular order:

1. The first on the list is Night Owl Reviews Full Moon Webhunt. Basically this is a scavenger hunt through other authors and publishers websites and blogs. There is an icon you scout for on the sites and there's a different word hidden inside every icon. I did this and although it took me awhile (you have to visit 45 different sites to be eligible for the grand prize) along the way I found some cool new authors and blogs! Click Here for more details. This bloghunt runs until October 31st.

2. In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Nicole over at The Betrayed Writer is giving away 1 Lenox Crystal Vase, 1 Ty Breast Cancer Beanie Baby, and 1 Breast Cancer Quilt book. She also is going to match the cost of the items purchased for the giveaway plus shipping in a donation to the March of Dimes. This is for a great cause so make sure you support Nicole and the March of Dimes by following her and entering her giveaway. All you have to do is comment on her blog post Here. This giveaway runs until the last week in October.

3. Danielle over at Romantic Book Junkies always has giveaways on her blog. Right now she has four (4) different book giveaways right now. You can check them out Here. She has contests running all the time, so make sure you follow her if you don't already!

4. Since there seem to be a lot of 'Fever' series fans running around blogworld, I thought I'd draw attention to a contest on Karen Marie Moning's website. She is offering a "Fevercon Tote bag". I have no idea what this is, although I'm assuming it's some kind of tote bag (lol). And if you're like me and love the Fever series you can head over to her site and check out the details Here. Plus you can never use too many tote bags. Contest ends October 31st.

5. And last but certainly not least. HP Mallory is having a contest with a very cool prize. Winner will get a written part in Toil and Trouble and future Jolie Wilkins books, as well as some other added benefits. This is a very cool prize. Who hasn't wanted to be a character in a book? Well this is your chance. Click Here for all the details.

I'm sure there are more contests out there. Please let me know of any I missed so I can add them to the list. And be sure to enter all the contests for your chance to win!

Book Blogger Tag Along Friday

Today I'll be participating in the 18 & Over book blogger tag along Friday. This event is hosted by Laurie over at Bitten by Paranormal Romance. For anyone interested in participating, here's the description she has on her blog:

Calling all 18 and over book bloggers, are you looking for more bloggers like yourself? Well please join in so we can tag along with each other. This is for a specific group and your blog needs to primarily have book reviews and post adult book content. In other words, if you read books like erotic and adult romance and have adult pic., then you can play tag along. Sorry YA readers, but if you read both (I know some of you do) you can tag along also. Just make sure you have both YA and adult romance on your blog.

I wanted to do this not only for myself, but for others out there that are looking for more adult book blogs.

It doesn't matter what you read if its paranormal, suspense, historical, contemporary or mystery, along with erotic with any genre. As long as it is adult then your in.

You don't have to have blog to join in on the fun. If you like adult content books, please click on a link and if you like the blog then follow that blog. You can comment on there post that you found them from the tag along.

Rules
1.Make a post for your blog to direct people to this post, you will find a code for the pic on my left sidebar. That way we get more bloggers involved.
2. Place your blogs name in the first box of the Linky
3. Then add your post that you made place that ULR in the second box.
4. When you find a blog that you like to follow please leave comment on the post the blogger made, so they can tag along to your blog.

This is a weekly theme, so make sure you come back next Friday if you can.

Hope you guys have a good Friday!! 

So, if you're here for the first time, welcome! Thanks for stopping by, please take a look around and let me know what you think.  

Magnetic Love

No, I'm not talking about magnetic love between a man and a woman. I'm talking about actual magnets. Yes, like the kind you put on your refrigerator.

We've all seen the magnetic poetry kits and if you haven't, they're basically strips of poetic words and phrases that you can put together to make...well poems, stories, whatever you feel like. If you're like me, you sometimes used these words to make clever naughty phrases. Now, these kits do the dirty work for you (pun intended)!

I was recently at a friends house and happened to look on her fridge. Imagine my surprise to see phrases like 'quivering flesh', 'turgid pleasure rod', 'throbbing loins', 'wand of pleasure', and 'her moist grotto'. It could only mean one thing! That's right folk:

Romance Novel magnetic poetry kit! This little kit is filled with all the gems expected in a bodice ripping romance from the 1980s. And occasionally an unexpected phrase, included I'm sure for an extra laugh. My personal favorites in this category include: 'big dog', 'pirate ship', 'the captain', and best of all 'saber-toothed tiger'. Think of the hours of fun you can have with this kit!
 
In other news, I was googling myself the other night (because you know what else are you going to do at 2am, certainly not sleep). Anyway, I found a link to the lyrical site's coming soon section with all the details for my upcoming novel Arctic Winds! Sure, I've known it was going to be published for more than half a year now, but somehow seeing it on their site just makes it feel so much more, legitimate. As if it's finally real. I don't know how to describe it (I'm sure I'm not making much sense) but needless to say I am incredibly excited! Click Here if you want to check it out! Chasing Paradise is also on their site but doesn't have any details listed yet.
 
Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by and hope you all have a marvelous Friday!

Madly in Love on Monday

Madly in Love on Monday was a weekly meme hosted by The Delusional Diaries. They haven't hosted it the past two weeks. I have no idea if they plan to host it today either. My guess is no since they don't have a post about it yet. However, I LOVED the idea so I decided to do it regardless.

According to their site, Madly in love on Monday "shines the spotlight on that rare book gem you have found and fallen so madly in love with that you want to tell everyone about it so they can read it too".

Today I've chosen Karen Marie Moning's "Darkfever". This is not a romance novel, although it is written by a romance author and she has promised there is a romantic finish to the series (the final installment is set to be released in January).  This is the first in a five book series - more like a epic trilogy in five parts than a series in reality.

I'm not sure what to classify them as except maybe dark fantasy. I picked up this book on a whim last year. Before I knew it I had bought all four available books and finished them within a week, I was captured so completely. I almost passed it up at first because it's written in first person, a style I'm not usually a fan of. The only thing I can say is, there's an exception to every rule and it totally worked here.

If you're in the mood for something different, something spooky and fantastical, I highly recommend the 'fever' series. It's also the perfect Halloween-y book to read during October.

Now it's your turn. What's one book you've fallen 'Madly in Love' with?

Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Despite the old adage "don't judge a book by it's cover", I believe the cover of a book is incredibly important. Does this mean every good book has a great cover? Or that there are no bad books hidden behind beautiful cover art? Of course not. But the cover is the first thing a reader sees. Even before they read the blurb, potential readers are drawn (or not) to a book by what they see. If the cover is pleasing, chances are greater that they'll take the time to read the blurb. The cover is the front man for the book, the spokesperson. It is what will make readers either pick up your book or not.

I'll admit, if I'm wavering about a purchase, the first thing I look at is whether or not the cover intrigues me. It might be shallow, especially knowing that writers are usually not the ones creating their art. But a good cover will give insight into the story. Are there half naked people on the cover? Chances are good you're about to read a romance. Is that a shadow creeping in that alley? You're looking at a horror novel or maybe a mystery. And maybe it's just in my own mind, but if a cover is beautiful, it tells me that the publisher took care with the book in other facets of it's life. I find books with great covers are well edited and tend to have a better story than those that look hastily thrown together.

Danielle over at Romance Book Junkies has a weekly post where she chooses a cover and analyzes it with her bloggers. I thought it was a great idea and it inspired this post. So, I've chosen a book cover as well. While looking through my recommendations on Amazon (which lets face it is all about the covers), I came upon this book. I haven't read the book so this is by no means a recommendation or a review of the book itself. Merely of the cover. Or rather, in this case, covers. Lucky for us, the book I chose was previously published and has two different covers to compare.

 

So, here are the two covers for the same book, He's the One by Jane Beckenham. These two covers are completely different and yet one draws me to the book and makes me want to read more while the other....well doesn't. Which doesn't mean a different person couldn't feel completely different than me. But personally, the cover on the right feels much more put together and makes me want to learn more. Its the same book (although probably with a few changes as it was re-released). I would be reading the same story no matter which one I picked up. But the fact remains, I would pick up one and probably pass on the other.

What do you think? Are you drawn to one cover over the other? Or do covers not play into your decision making at all?

I'm back!

I didn't actually go anywhere, just haven't had the time to blog in the past week and a half. Between a big project deadline in my "bacon money" job and another round of edits due for 'Arctic Winds' blogging kind of fell to the wayside. But now I'm here and with a bunch of fun stuff! I got my finalized blurb for 'Arctic Winds' the other day. This is the one that will be on all the store sites and I've updated the blurb I had in my coming soon section of the blog (and included it below).

I also have started edits on 'Chasing Paradise' and can't wait to delve deeper into the process! The only downside to working so heavily on edits recently is that I haven't found a lot of time to write and when I do, I have a hard time focusing. I find myself editing the first few chapters instead of writing new ones. I'm hoping once I get the latest round of edits on 'Chasing Paradise' to my fabulous editor, I'll be able to really concentrate on my current story, which so far promises to be different but good.

It's funny but I find when I don't actually have time to write, that's when the most interesting ideas pop out of the woodwork and start begging for attention. Hopefully soon I'll find the time to give them the attention they deserve. Anyway, here's the new blurb!

After her skulk abandoned her four years ago, Samantha knew she would never truly be wanted. When she accidentally stumbles into a wolf town and is asked by their Premier to stay, she believes it's the novelty of an arctic fox motivating him. She knows she'll be on her own again once he tires of her.

Jason finds himself pulled to Samantha from the moment she faints in his arms. His wolf is calling to him, telling him he's found their mate and the heat he feels for Samantha is impossible to resist. But his little fox is loaded down with emotional baggage and doesn't believe she's worthy of love. Can he overcome her fears? Or will pack jealousies and the local foxes convince her she doesn't belong with him before he has a chance?

Oh, and because it's Wednesday (hump day), here's a hunk for your viewing pleasure. Because there's nothing sexier than a man who can cook, except maybe a sexy man...who can cook.