Friday Celebrations

Hello and Happy Friday!!

If it's Friday that means it's time for the Celebrate the Small Things hop. This week I'm celebrating:

1. I had a great time as always with the wonderful Tara Tyler at the Mad Anthony Operation Pumpkin bookfest last weekend in Hamilton, Ohio. We sat outside on Saturday and couldn't have asked for a better autumn afternoon. Best of all, we both sold quite a few books. Can't beat that!

2. The above pic of my poor Clancy was taken in August when he was recovering from surgery for a torn ACL. Just when we thought his troubles were in the past, he tore the meniscus in the same leg a few weeks ago. So he had to have another surgery and, to his total dismay, he had to wear the cone again. But today he is getting his stitches out!! He seems to be doing great, so I am hoping and hoping and HOPING that this will finally be the end of his troubles. Fingers crossed he can go vet-free for the rest of 2016!

3.

Baby Moo's Great Escape is part of the SCBWI Book Blast, which is running until November 18. This is a fun event showcasing hundreds of books for teens and kids, from both traditional and independent publishers. I had a good time making my page for the Blast and I'm excited to be part of it. 

4. And speaking of Baby Moo, I'm still celebrating that the book got a five star review from the Readers' Favorite site a few weeks back. The review totally made my day for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that the reviewer wrote that the book "teaches a child at a very young age that animals have feelings and need to be nurtured and loved." Everyone who visits here knows how much I love animals, so if my book helps to send that kind of message to a child I couldn't be prouder. If you're interested in the rest of the review just visit the Reader's Favorite site here. 

What are you celebrating this week? Happy weekend!

The Celebrate the Small Things hop is hosted by Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge and Tonja Drecker at Kidbits. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants

A Kindle, Finally!

I'm so excited, as I got a new Kindle yesterday, and I am already totally in love with it. I've been thinking about getting one forever, but for the longest time I thought I would hate it as I was sure I would never want to read a book electronically. I was insistent that I wanted a "real book" that I could hold in my hands.

But then I remembered that I had the exact same opinion when Ipods first became popular. I was certain I would always want cds. Then I got an Ipod, and it became my favorite toy ever. I've always been a music nut, and the Ipod only added to that, as I sampled music I never would have thought of buying otherwise. I have a feeling the Kindle will turn out the same, and will merely add to my love of reading by allowing me to discover authors I may have otherwise missed.

One thing I am very excited about with the Kindle is that I will now have the chance to read more of the works of my blogging pals. Ever since I became active in blogging, I have wanted to be able to read so many of the books I see on blogs, but when I tried reading them using the e-reader on my laptop it just didn't work for me, and bothered my eyes. Now I'm looking forward to going back and checking out all of the books I have missed, and also being able to participate in more book launches in the future. I'm excited that the Kindle gives me the opportunity to indulge my love of reading while also supporting my fellow bloggers!

I already downloaded a few last night, including Semper Audacia by M.Pax, and, in the spirit of the season, The Christmas Village by Melissa Goodwin and Once Upon a December Nightmare by Cherie Reich. I can't wait to read all of them.

In honor of my new toy, I decided to start writing reviews here on my blog, hopefully once a week. I've been wanting to try my hand at book reviews, as I thought it would be a great chance to sharpen my own writing skills while at the same time supporting other writers, so I feel like now is a great time to get that started. I hope to start sharing my reviews this week.

I am hoping that writing reviews will also help me to get back on track with regular blogging, as there is no question I have neglected that this month while I have focused on my WIP. I'm still thrilled to be making progress on that front, but I have missed blogging.

I only hope that now I don't end up spending so much time with my nose in my Kindle that I end up neglecting writing and blogging both! I need to make sure that doesn't happen, but I can't deny that organizing time is not my strong suit. I'm almost as bad at organization as I am at following directions. ;)

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday, and I am looking forward to catching up with all the blogs I have missed this week.