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Archive for August, 2011

Two Chats (SRN & LASR), Prizes, and Fun!

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

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I’ll be participating in two chats on Sunday, August 28th!!! Please visit me at Sweeter Romantic Notions - their chat starts at noon and later I’ll be at LASR from 6:00 to 7:00 Eastern time. I have the hour to myself, no other authors so please stop in. I’ll try to have some fun things to chat about at both spots. :) Also I’ll have an ebook giveaway at the chats! LASR Sunday chat starts at 9 a.m. and a different author is hosting each hour!

Long and Short Reviews are having their Fourth Anniversary chat — giving away an eReader of $150 GC, plus a pile of other prizes! SRN is celebrating their 5th Anniversary so several authors are giving away prizes too!

Here are the links!
The group URL for my LASR chat is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LongAndShortRomanceReviews/

And group URL for SRN chat is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SweeterRomanticNotions/

White Coat Ceremony

Friday, August 26th, 2011

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Emily’s in the middle!

Our daughter Emily had her white coat ceremony at Nova Southeastern University in Florida on Wednesday evening. She recently started graduate school and is studying to become an optometrist. It’s a difficult program and we are proud of her ambition and goals in life! Btw, the Miami Dolphins have their training camp at Nova.

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I love this picture of Emily from when she played soccer at Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati! She’s the blonde on the left side!

Leave a comment to be entered in my blog contest which ends on September 1st!

This Week’s Special Guest Is Regina Andrews!

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

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Grab a cup of coffee, soft drink or tea and enjoy reading a brief bio about the very talented multi-published author, Regina Andrews! A short excerpt follows! If you leave a comment for Regina, your name will be entered for my Sept. 1st Drawing. Winner gets a $10 GC to Bath & Body Works! I love the Sweet Pea fragrance in the body spray and body lotion.

A resident of Providence, RI, Regina grew up in nearby Barrington. After graduating from Providence College she attended the University of Delaware, eventually earning her Master’s Degree in American Civilization from Brown University. She is inspired by anything to do with nature, and she and her husband enjoy visiting nearby Cape Cod.

Regina’s hobbies include Travel, Museums, Theater, Classical Music, Choral Singing and Gardening. She is a radio host for In-Sight, an association dedicated to providing services to the visually impaired of all ages.

Regina thinks that the use of language has to enthrall her to make a book great in her opinion. She says, “Technical expertise is a must. Characterization must be sharp and all the elements of good storytelling must mesh together. Nothing contrived or trite, don’t even try to manipulate me. (laugh) Guess I’m pretty demanding. Dickens, for instance, has all of the above.”

While in graduate school, Regina read Barbara Cartland to try and unwind. While reading romance, she thought, “This is what I want to do.”

By the way, I interviewed Regina in March when her Book One of Sterling Lakes Series was released. Here’s the link, http://www.dianecraver.com/blog/?p=4163, to learn more about her Light of the Hearts book in the series.

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Click here to buy Angels of the Heart from DESERT BREEZE PUBLISHING!
Purchase Amazon Kindle Edition here!

Blurb for Regina’s New Book, Angels of the Heart:

The life of a television journalist has been good to Maryanne Lynch and life in Sterling Lakes suits her well. That is, until she learns of developer Travis Collimore’s plans to destroy a local landmark, the Townsend Barn along with its rare angel weather vane, as part of the renovations of St. Luke’s Church. The reappearance of her former high school friend who moved away years earlier turns Maryanne’s life into a series of events which put her values, her character and her beliefs to the test. Will she be able to maintain her professional and ethical standards in the face of a ghost from the past…who looks to be clouding her future?

Regina Shares an Excerpt
Chapter One

“That’s a wrap, everyone, thank you. Another great show.”

Reviewing the studio audience, WMAS television host Maryanne Lynch started to remove her earpiece as usual and roll the wire into a neat coil. This time though, the stone on her diamond engagement ring snagged the strands of her sleek black bob, tangling up the wire and interrupting her thoughts. She freed herself only to have the ring hitch again, this time catching the jacket pocket of her cappuccino business suit as she tried to slip her earpiece safely inside it.

Kirk Blackstone, her producer, approached her. “Maryanne, there’s a bunch of girl scouts here. Doing some badge about media careers. Can you meet with them?”

“Sure, in the conference room. Just give me one minute, okay?”

She moved through the studio, scanning the crowd while remaining intent on her purpose. “I had to wear a pencil skirt today,” she mumbled. One of the guests today had looked familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She hurried to catch up with him, while considering an even more pressing matter about the show’s topic.

When she turned the final corner before the studio exit doors, she spotted him. With his tall frame and blond hair, he stood out in the crowded lobby area.

“Excuse me!”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for visiting the show today.”

His brown eyes traveled up and down her frame. “No problem.”

“Everyone is all worked up about the renovations to St. Luke’s Church and the new face of Sterling Lakes. It’s a hot topic.”

“It’s good the town folks are interested.”

“They are more than interested, they are reborn. This is the new lease on life that Sterling Lakes has been praying for so very long. You can’t imagine what it means to us.”

“Heartwarming. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

Maryanne had done enough interviews to know his tone of voice probably meant he was not really interested. She took one step closer to him. “There’s just another thing to clear up. If you develop St. Luke’s the way you explained on my show, it means you’ll have to raze the Townsend Barn.”

“There is a structure–”

“Townsend Barn.”

He nodded. “There is a structure, Townsend Barn, thank you, which currently stands right in the middle of the land that will house the rectory and youth center. To build the extension, the barn has to go.”

“That can’t happen.”

“The architect has designed for it to happen that way.”

“The people of Sterling Lakes love the barn. It has an angel weather vane. That’s very rare, you know.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. The plans have been drawn up and approved.”

Maryanne arched one eyebrow. “Really? We all know plans are made to be broken.”

“Some of us do. Especially you.”

~~~
Readers, Regina is working on Book Three of the Sterling Lakes Series, “Praises of the Heart” which is due September 1st. I’m sure this will be another great read in her wonderful series!

Learn More about Regina at her Web site at http://www.reginaandrews.com/ and visit her blog at http://www.reginaandrews.wordpress.com/ Also Tweet her @ regina_eileen

Review for Angels of the Heart - Book 2 of Sterling Lakes Series!

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

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I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the first book, Light of the Heart, in the Sterling Lakes series, but it was no problem to instead start reading first the Angels of the Heart book by Regina Andrews. I definitely plan on reading Light of the Heart soon because the blurb and excerpts about stain glass creator, Cascade Preston, sounds fascinating.

Regina Andrews hooked me instantly into her Sterling Lakes Book Two: Angels of the Heart. From the first page, I felt like I was on the set of the studio of WMAS with Maryanne Lynch, a television journalist. Although Maryanne is engaged to Elwood, a wonderful man, she’s eager to talk with an old high school friend, Travis Collimore, when he comes to the studio. As a developer, he tells Maryanne how the Townsend Barn will be destroyed when they do renovations of St. Luke’s Church. Maryanne hasn’t seen Travis for years, so she goes to Sterling Lakes Diner to continue their conversation and to catch up. She’s happy to see him but isn’t pleased that his consortium group have plans to destroy the old barn along with its rare angel weather vane.

She’s surprised that while speaking with Travis in the diner she starts feeling warm. Why is Travis having this effect on her after all these years? Maryanne is a feisty and amazing woman. She decides to save the barn from being torn down, even though her fiancé, Elwood, disagrees with her. Her determination and compassion is what draws the town’s people to her goal of saving something that is more than a barn to everyone. It seems to represent the spirit of the people. It’s heartwarming how they come together as a unit to save what is important to their community. The barn is symbolic especially to Maryanne. She has happy memories of playing with her brother Mark in the barn before he died at age six. Losing the barn would be devastating to Maryanne because her childhood is tied with her precious times there.

Maryanne’s caring for others doesn’t stop at her TV studio. She reaches out to a pregnant teenager, Crystal, who needs her assistance. Travis is also a multidimensional character with his charity work being a priority in his life. He flies a helicopter for the Angel Flight Program and delivers transplant patients to the hospitals where the organs are available.

The way that Andrews weaved the story of Maryanne and Travis is touching, sweet, and even humorous at times. Reading how each character approaches their spiritual growth as Christians was uplifting to me. As I read this book, I felt like the author’s words poured from her heart as a Christian. Regina Andrews has created an inspirational romance readers will root for and I highly recommend this book.
~~~~
Click here to buy Angels of the Heart from DESERT BREEZE PUBLISHING!
Purchase Amazon Kindle Edition here!
To buy from Barnes & Noble, click here!

August Book SALE - 1/2 off!

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Beginning August 1st and all month long, buy any ebook through Whimsical Publications 1/2 OFF!!! I just found out from author Destiny Booze.

50% off sale for the entire month of August!
On every ebook available on the WP site.

Visit the various book pages and use the coupon listed there to get your books at half price.

Here’s the link to Whimsical’s home page: http://www.whimsicalpublications.com/

A Christmas Gift’s regular price is $3.99 for ebook format so what a deal to get it now for a much lower price! It’s definitely not just for Christmas and is a book to be enjoyed year round. If you should read it and like it, please write an Amazon review for me. I’m trying to get 20 reviews posted on Amazon - I have 16 so far. If I get 20, A Christmas Gift will become a recommended read! :)

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