Monthly Archives: April 2013

Let’s fill the Mother’s Day Kindles with a multitude of wonderful books. The IRI Book Blowout is about to begin.  I’ve put both My Killer My Love and Teach Me To Forget into the mix, and they are among 150 books available for the amazing price of .99 from May 1-3. That’s right over one hundred and fifty books in multiple genres.  Check it out: Bouquet of Books Sale. Not only a massive collection of wonderful books but also CONTESTS WITH PRIZES.  Very Very Cool Prizes. As in First Prize is a $100 gift certificate.

Lots of wonderful new books to download and read, wonderful contest prizes, and a chance to fill someone’s reader with new authors.  Looks like a win-win-win situation.

Teach Me To Forget
May 2012

Black Opal Books has helped me have  Teach Me To Forget and My Killer My Love available for this event. If you don’t have a copy, now is the time to grab one.  Enjoy, and happy reading

Have you ever noticed how plans you made months ago seem to float along blithely then turn around and LEAP on you? As a writer for a boutique press, I’m aware the bulk of promotional work falls on me (often shared with my wonderful fellow Black Opal Books Authors) And I’m good with that especially since there is a multitude of opportunities available for anyone willing to take the time to learn.

That Suit

So when my local RWA Chapter Land of Enchantment Romance Authors decided to participate in the upcoming  it only took me a few breaths to agree to be a “featured author” and sign books, even though LERA is populated with a wealth of multi published award winning writers. We all start somewhere right?  Then Sarah Storme upped the ante with an opportunity to promote our books on Good Day New Mexico. That one took more than a few breaths.  Sure, I’ve lost weight, but not enough. And my days of makeup, killer shoes, and fancy clothes are long past.  Though I could dredge up my suit, give it a brush off since the last dog show… it’s dark, and makes me feel professional.  And doggonit how often does this sort of chance show up?  Right, pretty  much never.

The taping was yesterday, and airs May 8, just before the Fiesta (great timing!!) And except for the shock of the close up (who’s that old woman with wrinkles on her face?  Ooops, that’s me??) quickly forgotten, I think it went well.  We’ll know soon enough.

But for now, I’m participating in the IRI Book Blowout from May 1-3.  For those three days, both My Killer My Love and Teach Me To Forget  will be reduced to .99 on Amazon.  Here’s your opportunity to grab a copy of each, maybe gift some to friends. I’ll have all the links up tomorrow to make it even easier for you to access. And I’ll be Tweeting up a storm, helping to promote the others participants, who will also be helping me. Truly, we are not alone.

I have a spam filter on this blog which seems to be extremely effective. At least I’ve never seen any offers for knock off knockout performance enhancing drugs show up in any blog comments. Once in a while I visit the spam files and delete everything that looks wrong which lately has been everything in the folder.

Sometimes I’ll read a few as I’m mass deleting, and wonder what is in my blog that would ever give a spam program the idea I’d be tempted in even a minor fashion to want any of these products. Knock off designer purses? I tend to carry one purse until it falls apart, and usually buy that purse at a marked down store. Fake Oakley sunglasses? My glasses have that self tinting addition.  More money and worth every penny. I am truly stymied by the messages offering great deals on makeup. My skin routine consists of washing my face at night (when I remember) and covering it with avocado oil.  Works great for life in the high desert, I use it on my  hair also.

So what gives on the spam choices? Who knows.  Since most bloggers have the same spam controls I have to admire the tenacity of those burrowing digital beasties. I guess there must be an occasional success or the hackers would stop trying. Apologies to my brilliant friends who understand the digital world, for me the Internet is mostly magic anyway. I see the hackers as this era’s version of door to door sales people who want you to buy their fabulous photo albums or take a lifetime encyclopedia subscription.

No, she’s not spoiled. Photo by her doting person, Linda P

But wait! There’s more! I promised recipes yesterday.  The first one comes from Linda in Colorado who is owner and protector and companion and slave to one of the puppies from our last litter.  How Dragon Queen (aka Kinkee) came to live with Linda is a story for another time. I’d been making training treats for the dogs by dehydrating various kinds of liver, but wanted something not quite as special for everyday cookies. I’d been handing out animal crackers but wanted a bit more control of what the ‘lukis ate.  This is from what Linda suggested.

TREATS FOR THE QUEEN

From Linda: I really don’t measure anything and I make it up as I go along. The only constant things are about 2 cups of oats that are ground up to a flour in food processor (cheaper than buying oat flour) and two eggs with the shell. Comment from Mona: Oops, I ground up the oats then measured.  Helps to read the recipe more closely.

Then I added
1 can of salmon (everything in the can) whirl everything in the food processor until it’s smooth. If it seems thick, add water. {Mona: The first time I made these I added the eggs separately from the salmon…not a good idea!}

Spread out on a cookie sheet with either parchment paper or olive oil to avoid sticking. Bake around 350 for about thirty  minutes (Linda is definitely my kind of cook!!) When the batter is semi hard, use a pizza cutter to cut into the desired size, and bake some more until they’re crisp enough for your needs. I let mine sit in the oven as it cools, and they get nice and crunchy.

Second batch, I added some ground Parmesan cheese, a particular favorite of mine.  You can experiment with the additions, depending on your dog’s tastes: shredded carrots or other veggies, bananas, spices, vanilla, wheat germ. Most of the time they love these nuggets. Every now and then Gwyn (Kinkee’s mom) practices how far she can spit them out. But that’s Gwyn…and here’s Kinkee when she was just a few hours old…she’s the black one with the white collar

I intended to start out this week sharing those blogs I visit regularly, which are a great help to me.  Kristen Lamb of course. Also Jenny Hansen’s blog, generally loaded with amazing information and tips.  And I’ve gone many times to David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants for inspiration to keep my posterior on the stool and fingers on the keyboard.

So I’d been planning to make this post about writing resources.  Except something happened last week, and instead I’m going to help spread the word about something that happened last week. to David Farland’s son Ben.  A bunch of wonderful writers are getting together to hold a Book Bombing and…I’ll let them tell you in their words:

Help Someone in Need: A Book Bomb for Ben Wolverton

Ben Wolverton, age 16, was in a tragic long-boarding accident on Wednesday the 4th, 2013. He suffers from severe brain trauma, a cracked skull, broken pelvis and tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drums, road rash, pneumonia, and is currently in a coma. His family has no insurance.

Ben is the son of author David Farland, whose books have won multiple awards, and who is widely known as a mentor to many prominent authors, such as Brandon Sanderson, Stephenie Meyer, and Brandon Mull. Costs for Ben’s treatment are expected to rise above $1,000,0000. To help raise money for Ben, we are having a book bomb (focused on Nightingale and Million Dollar Outlines) on behalf of Ben.

You can learn more about Ben’s condition, or simply donate to the Wolverton family here: http://www.gofundme.com/BensRecovery

What is a Book Bomb?

For those who don’t know, a Book Bomb is an event where participants purchase a book on a specific day to support the author, or, in this case, a young person in serious need: Ben Wolverton.

David Farland’s young adult fantasy thriller Nightingale has won seven awards, including the Grand Prize at the Hollywood Book Festival—beating out ALL books in ALL categories. It has been praised by authors such as James Dashner (The Maze Runner), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn), and Paul Genesse (Iron Dragon series), and has received four and a half starts on Amazon. You can read reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Nightingale-ebook/dp/B006P7SEBY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1365432857&sr=8-2

(Book Synopsis)

Some people sing at night to drive back the darkness. Others sing to summon it. . . .

Bron Jones was abandoned at birth. Thrown into foster care, he was rejected by one family after another, until he met Olivia, a gifted and devoted high-school teacher who recognized him for what he really was—what her people call a “nightingale.”

But Bron isn’t ready to learn the truth. There are secrets that have been hidden from mankind for hundreds of thousands of years, secrets that should remain hidden. Some things are too dangerous to know. Bron’s secret may be the most dangerous of all.

Nightingale is available as a hardcover, ebook, audio book, and enhanced novel for the iPad.

You can purchase it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nightingale-ebook/dp/B006P7SEBY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1365432857&sr=8-2

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightingale-david-farland/1107084747?ean=2940016100463

on the Nightingale website: http://www.nightingalenovel.com/

or, you can get the enhanced version, complete with illustrations, interviews, animations, and its own soundtrack through iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nightingale/id560309064?mt=11

If you are a writer, you may want to consider purchasing David Farland’sMillion Dollar Outlines instead. Both books are part of the book bomb. Million Dollar Outlines has been a bestseller on Amazon for over a month and is only $6.99.

As a bestselling author David Farland has taught dozens of writers who have gone on to staggering literary success, including such #1 New York Times Bestsellers as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time), James Dashner (The Maze Runner) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight).

In Million Dollar Outlines, Dave teaches how to analyze an audience and outline a novel so that it can appeal to a wide readership, giving it the potential to become a bestseller. The secrets found in his unconventional approach will help you understand why so many of his authors go on to prominence.

Get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Outlines-ebook/dp/B00B9JYJ6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365434120&sr=8-1&keywords=Million+Dollar+Outlines

Or on Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/million-dollar-outlines-david-farland/1114285069?ean=2940015965148  Read one of the 26 reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Outlines-ebook/dp/B00B9JYJ6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365434120&sr=8-1&keywords=Million+Dollar+Outlines

Would you like to just donate money? You can do that here: http://www.gofundme.com/BensRecovery 

If you can’t spare any money, but would still like to help, you can do so by telling others about Ben’s donation page, and/or this Book Bomb. Share it on facebook, twitter, pinterest, your blog—anywhere you can. We have an event page set up on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/453677124707603/

Thank you!
Ben and his family greatly appreciate your support, and so do all who love and care about them.

* * *

As they said, any help is greatly appreciated. When a broken pelvis is considered a “minor” injury you know the accident was horrific.  Thank you