Sunday, July 31, 2011

Hang 'em High

Author Tristi Pinkston is excited to announce the release of the third novel in her Secret Sisters Mysteries series.

Titled Hang ‘em High, this novel takes place on a dude ranch in Montana. When Ida Mae’s son invites her to come for a visit, of course she brings Arlette and Tansy along with her. They are expecting to spend the week looking at horses, avoiding the cows, and making amends in Ida Mae’s relationship with her son. What they don’t expect is to be stuck on the ranch in the middle of a blizzard and to be thrust headlong into the middle of a mystery.
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Help Tristi celebrate her new novel in two ways. First, come participate in the two-week-long blog contest, where you can win a book nearly every single day! All the details are up on Tristi’s blog.




Second, come to the book launch!

You are invited to an

August Authorama!

Saturday, August 13th

Pioneer Book, 858 S. State, Orem

12 – 4 pm

Games, prizes, balloons, face painting,

and Dutch oven cobbler

prepared by world champion cook

Keith Fisher.

Authors Tristi Pinkston, J. Lloyd Morgan, Cindy Hogan,

Nichole Giles, and Heather Justesen

will all be there to sign books.

This is one book launch event

you will not want to miss!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Rock meets Rachmaninoff

I so love Jon Schmidt. His music makes me happy. He's also hilarious and a great performer. I've been lucky enough to see him perform about three times. Here's a sneak peek. It might be a little long, but at least catch a glimpse of his talentedness. And don't forget to check out the instructions underneath the tempo.




Here's a couple of others I enjoy. You might want to check these out too.

Love Story Meets Viva la Vida

Waterfall

Enjoy!

Monday, July 18, 2011

It's War

I’ve been reading THE WAR OF ART by Steven Pressfield and I’ve been reminded of a thing or two.

The first part of his book talks about Resistance, which for those of you who haven’t read it, is what keeps you from writing—procrastination, criticism, self-doubt, unhappiness and the big one—fear.

He says that amateurs have problems with the Resistance. If we want to be professionals, we have to overcome whichever one of these symptoms ails us.

I have felt like a true amateur ever since I started writing seriously. So, this book is giving me plenty to think about. Do I want to be a professional? You bet! So, here goes the journey to professionalism.

I’m heading into the second part of the book today. He talks about combatting the Resistance.

It’s been great so far and I’m looking forward to reading more. The plan is to take all this great information and actually put it into practice. I have an idea, but I’ll let you know when I’ve finished the book what changes I’m going to make.

What books have you read that made a difference for you?

Monday, July 11, 2011

Unbroken


I have been reading UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand. Wow. What a story.

The book is about Louis Zamperini, a delinquent as a youth, an Olympic, record-setting runner, WWII B-24 bombadier, drifter in a life raft, shark attack survivor, and POW in four Japanese camps.

I am completely amazed that Louie or any of these WWII POW's survived the inhumane treatment they experienced. Practically starved to death, ill with beriberi, dysentery and other diseases, beaten on an almost daily basis, enslaved . . . the list goes on and on.

The sheer will and spirit of Louie and his comrades lifted me and brought on a level of respect and admiration I haven't yet felt. Louie's story is indeed an amazing one.

I didn't mean to review this book, but it was very moving. It didn't seem possible that any of the events could have actually happened. But they did.

It made me think about my own life's journey, which includes my writing journey, and reminds me to forge ahead through the edits, the critiques, and the rejection. Unbroken.

Monday, July 4, 2011

4th of July Randomness

Happy Fourth of July to all my bloggie friends!


May all my United States friends have a great Independence Day and all my international friends have a great Monday, July 4th!

I got up early and picked a gallon of these. I'm looking forward to fresh strawberry pie. Mmmmm . . .


We'll bbq and set off some fireworks later.

Right now, my boys are shooting at targets and my girls are playing a 'find the hidden pictures' game. I'm simply enjoying a beautiful summer morning with a light breeze and brilliant blue sky.

What are you doing today?