Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award

Guess what? Magaly of Pagan Culture gave me an award because she liked my Quiche entry. In it I explained my relationship with the Andersons, since they made possible everything I used to make the Quiche (cookbook, kitchenaide mixer, even the stove).

I'm touched that she was going back through my entries, that is the sweetest thing ever. Plus I had totally forgotten that entry and I have some cute pics of my boys on there.

So onto the award...Magaly changed the rules a bit. I'm going to go back to the original 15. Just share the ones that I enjoy. I wonder if I have 15 on that list. Well let's begin:

1. A Cozy Reader's Corner - a great book review site.
   
2. Bones, Buried Treasures and Beliefs - a fascinating anthropology blog.
   
3. Bringing Up Salamanders - a pagan parenting blog by Nydia who also makes the gods/goddesses we all love.
   
4. Chickens in the Road - a farming blog written by a romance novelist. She is very entertaining.
   
5. Confessions of a Modern Witch - a blog by a witch working on living a more natural life with Organic produce and "embracing the sparkle"
   
6. Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom - need I say more?
   
7. Housewife in Hollywood - a pop culture diva and homeschooling mom
   
8. Muse Mama - a pagan mom, she just had a baby with complications. It has been great following her blog, she is a wonderful writer.
   
9. Octoberfarm - oh the recipes and pictures on this blog leave me hungry!
   
10. Our Princess in Pigtails - although the pigtails were recently cut off
    
11. PIP Designs - ok same author as Princess in Pigtails, but she also does wonderful blog makeovers, she designed my blog.
    
12. Riding on a Broomstick - a pagan mom with grown children who aren't quite done growing. It's a fun blog.
    
13. The Secret Life of the American Working Witch - showing that you can have a satisfying career and pagan faith at the same time.
    
14. Tribal Horse Designs - I love this woman's jewelry and we are entering garden season, she eats out of her backyard all summer.
    
15. Green Witch with Sprinkles - I just found this one so I can't tell you too much but I do feel peaceful after visiting.

There - now you who have been awarded are all on your own to take this award and pass it one. :) It is far too hot to stay in my house another minute. Plus it's time to grill burgers!

Review - The Accidental Lover

By: T.L. Peters
Originally reviewed for A Cozy Reader's Corner
Amazon Kindle - $0.99
B&N Nook - $0.99

Synopsis:
A moving tale of a young man down on his luck who has aspirations for something more.

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The main character Freddie is a bit slow, and the story is told from his perspective. He is quick to anger, but usually quick to forgive as well. He works in a copy room of a large company and develops a close friendship with Pete, the owner's son who also works in the copy room. The other employee in that copy room, Joe becomes his worst enemy. Freddie's mother died when he was younger, and he lives with his aging and diabetic father - who is a bit of a crab as well. The characters are realistic, sometimes likable.

I was surprised by the plot in this story. As I said, Freddie has a passion for the violin and one day when he want to see a violinist play on a very rare Stradivarius, he finds a violin case sitting in an alley without anyone else around. He nabs the case and thus begins his "accidental love affair" with the violin. He also begins to feel the stress of being a big time thief, this wasn't some little thing from the store, this one was huge...there was a $100,000 reward offered for the violin.

I really enjoyed this story, especially that it was from Freddie's p0int of view. You may not always know what everyone else is thinking, but the author keeps the story moving and provides enough details that usually you can figure out what is really happening in a situation without Freddie's unique coloring.

I read this as a PDF file and didn't see the cover art. I thought it was going to end up in a romance, but after knowing Freddie I can see why it went the way it did.

This novel had an interesting pace. I felt it was perfect, it never felt too slow...well maybe when Joe was making fun of Pete and Freddie, but that's because I thought Joe was a big jerk.

I'm not sure where the story takes place, but it wasn't that important to the story. It could have been anywhere, but being that there was a concert hall that managed to borrow a Stradivarius from a London museum...it's probably a larger city.

Overall I really enjoyed this story, it drew me in and I couldn't put it down. It's also very sad, so I may not read it again for awhile. lol I will leave you with this, the ending is much more upbeat and surprising than I expected.

Guest Blog by Karen Bergreen

I am often asked how I balance writing novels, with performing stand up comedy while raising two kids and try to keep a marriage pleasant. I wish I could say that I am a natural multi-tasker or that I follow a self-help guru or even that I have the self-discipline of Lance Armstrong..

But I can’t.

I wish I were the person who could say something like:“every morning I wake up at 5:15, and after a beautiful session of breastfeeding the twins, baking a bread, and putting the family finances in order I commit to five hours of solitary novel writing. I don’t get up. I even bought myself a pamper.”

But I can’t.

I wish I were the person who said I had to be a novelist before I learned to read.

But I can’t

In reality, I am a casual Type B+ person who needs creativity in her life. Don’t get me wrong. Writing a novel or two is serious work, but the gravitas attached to the process can be overwhelming. Raising two children is relentless work. And believe it or not, success as a stand comic requires rigor, discipline and a lot of time.

So guess, what I do? I do what I can. I don’t set myself up for being another Tina Fey, Jonathan Franzen or the Duggars. Instead, I just say that I’m going to do some comedy and some writing when I have breaks from parenting. Not the best comedy. Not the best writing. And don’t tell my kids, but I bet I’m not a perfect parent. But I do the best I can do. In fact, I used to envy perfectionists. Now I see them as people who don’t get to experience as many things as they possibly could.

So I don’t set my sights to high. Instead of saying today is the day I write my novel, I say, “today is the day I work on the Bloomingdales shoplifting scene or the eccentric dietary habits of Mona the mean boss.”

It’s less big that way. I don’t always write at a desk—or even a table. I don’t always use the computer. In fact my novels are a patchwork of scenes scribbled on the subway, in comedy clubs or waiting to pick my son up from kindergarten. Every so often I string the patchwork together and I surprise myself with a chunk of, dare I say, a novel.

Please visit me on Facebook or my website: www.karenbergreen.net

My book is called Following Polly.

On Amazon.com. Paperback to be released in bookstores in early August.

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I want to thank Karen Bergreen for taking the time to share a little of herself with my readers and me. I love that you put parenting first and let the other stuff happen when it can, that is the only way to do all that and remain semi-sane. lol

Review - Following Polly

By: Karen Bergreen

Amazon.com - $16.49
Amazon Kindle - $11.99
Barnes & Noble - $16.86
B&N Nook - $11.99
(coming out in paperback on August 16, 2011)

Synopsis:
Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker? Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson? No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.

Besides, everyone follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie director Humphrey Dawson, her chic looks, her wardrobe. Alice just follows her a little more….closely.

And when she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique. Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact. Because she’s accused of murder.

But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout? Charlie is Alice’s longtime unattainable crush. He might be able to help her out of the mess she’s in…in return for a favor or two, that is. And how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man Alice thinks he is?

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First let me give a shoutout to LibraryThing.com - this was my very first Early Reviewers win.

The cover is...well I guess vibrant is the word that comes to mind. I really wanted to read it based on that alone. Honest, I didn't have a clue what it was about.

The story starts with Alice just after she got fired as from her job working with a Casting director Mona Hawkins - who was a horrible human being. She stops to get some comfort food and runs into a woman she knew in college - Polly Dawson. Polly is now married to the Director of the movie Alice was helping Mona cast. Polly doesn't notice Alice, as if she were invisible. Alice starts following Polly, mostly nosy and something to do.

Things take a turn when Polly turns up dead and Alice is the #1 suspect. She goes into hiding and starts stalking Charlie, another person she knew from college - this one she had a crush on. Charlie discovers her, invites her into his home and life. He will help her clear her name, and she will help clear his father.

There are a couple of mysteries in this book, and they keep you guessing right until the end. The characters are lively and realistic. I love how Karen Begreen describes Charlie's house with the clutter...and that Alice finds it endearing. I also enjoyed Alice's tv habit...finally, not pretending that we don't all watch way too much tv. lol

I couldn't put this down, so if you can get a copy to read for yourself. It's in hardcover and e-versions right now, but it will be released in paperback on August 16. Happy reading!