Carly Phillips's Blog: Carly's Web Blogs, page 101

Carly's Sunday Winner and Funny!

The winner of Carly's two new April releases, preordered directly from Amazon is:

# 22 Stacie (email starts with: Staciele…)

Please email Carly at: carly phillips @ mac . com (no spaces) with your full name/address so I can order the prize!

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And the winner of Saturday's ONE THING contest is:

# 18 Quilt Lady (email starts with: ghu…)

Please email Julie at: julie @ julie leto . com (no spaces) with your information so she can handle getting you your prize!

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And now for the Sunday Funny, brought to you by my (usual) friend who sends me my jokes!

What happens when men bake and decorate cookies?

(I personally wouldn't know but …)

LOLOL! Happy Sunday!

Carly's Jungle Madness

Yesterday I told you about my 2 April Releases – a re-issue of HOT ITEM the MORE THAN WORDS Vol. 7 Anthology.

and

Today I'm promising to preorder a copy of BOTH books to be sent to one lucky winner directly from Amazon.com! Unsigned since I'm sending directly but I can send the winner two signed bookplates!

You know the drill! Comment to win! Have you been collecting The Hot Zone books with their new covers? Enjoy a good anthology? Talk to me!

P.S. Don't forget the first-ever Plotmonkey Internet-radio chat, this Monday, February 28, 8pm EST, on Blogtalkradio, at Secrets of a Romance Writer's Husband It should be a lot of fun–hope to talk to you then! By the way, if you don't think you want to call in and talk live on the air, please feel forward to post some questions that you'd like to ask here in the comments…we'll check them out and try to get to them Monday night.

Carly's April Preview

Next month I have 2 books in stores! One is a re-issue of HOT ITEM and the other is the MORE THAN WORDS Vol. 7 Anthology. Gorgeous covers, yes?

HOT ITEM – Reissue of The Hot Zone Series – Book 3:

Seen on the sidelines . . .



What star quarterback has been spotted with a new flavor of arm candy? It's notorious bad boy Riley Nash, but his newest flame is the last person this reporter could imagine—none other than Sophie Jordan, beautiful, buttoned-down co-owner of The Hot Zone, the industry's top sports management agency.

What's behind this unlikely team? Some say it has to do with the sudden disappearance of super agent Spencer Atkins. Could there be a connection between the red-hot quarterback and the missing dealmaker? Or has the famous groupie magnet simply met his perfect match in cool, collected Sophie? Watch this space, because the resulting news is bound to be one Hot Item.

You can PREORDER HOT ITEM at all online venues today. My website will be updated with appropriate links soon!:

Amazon

BN.com

Borders

And

MORE THAN WORDS, Volume 7, Charitable Anthology: Each and every one of us has the ability to effect change—to make our world a better place. The dedicated women selected as this year's recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award have changed lives, one good deed at a time. To celebrate their accomplishments, some of our bestselling authors have honored the winners by writing stories inspired by these real-life heroines.

We hope More Than Words inspires you to get in touch with the real-life heroine living inside of you.

In Carly Phillips's Compassion Can't Wait, two high school sweet hearts are reunited years later, as if by fate, and discover that if you believe in yourself and each other, anything is possible.

I'm thrilled to bring you a sports hero who reunites with his first love and introduce you to a very special charity, The Andrew Sobel River of Life Foundation. In April, I'll tell you all about this organization and the important role they fill. Joining me in this volume are Jill Shalvis and Donna Hill!

You can preorder MORE THAN WORDS, Volume 7, at all online bookstores today! My website will be updated with an excerpt and buy links very soon! :

Amazon

BN.com

Borders

Tune in tomorrow for my contest day … you won't be disappointed!

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A Reminder for those who like the social networking sites! Here is a list of places you can find me, Like Me, Friend Me, Talk to Me, etc. daily!

Carly's Twitter – I'm always around!

Carly's Facebook Fan Page – Looking to build my Fan Page so please share this with friends who love to read!

Carly's Good Reads

Carly's Peroozal – new site – have you peroozed?

Carly's Linked In

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Leslie here: The winner of my Tuesday giveaway of an ARC of COLD TOUCH is (thanks to a random number chosen by Bruce) is…Anna Dougherty! Comment # 18! Congratulations Anna. Please drop me a note at author @ lesliekelly . com (no spaces) with your snail mail addy. As soon as I get my ARC's from my publisher, I'll get a copy out to you.

Welcome Guest Eloisa James!

Today I have a special treat! An author who has always been particularly sweet and nice to me … New York Times Bestseller Eloisa James! Eloisa is a fabulously talented historical author and she's currently running a special promotion along with her newest release, When Beauty Tamed the Beast, available now! I'm going to let her explain and I guarantee you'll be impressed! You'll also want to visit her website and follow the directions for a chance to win! Lucky for us, she's also doing a giveaway here today …

Give a big jungle welcome to Eloisa James!



I grew up without television. None. If you think about it, there are two ways this could have gone in later life: I could have become a Bewitched junkie, making up for all I missed, or I could have never quite get the hang of it. In fact, I had marathon TV sessions in college, and then just stopped watching very much as I grew older. But if I can find a beautifully written show—one that is as witty, gripping, and emotionally absorbing as the average romance novel—then I do watch. And one of my favorites is HOUSE. In fact, the moment I decided to write my own version of When Beauty Tamed the Beast, Dr. House sprang to mind.

Serendipitously, the brilliant screenwriters on that show decided to make House fall in love—with Cuddy, one of my favorite characters! So do you think that they'll make it, long-term? I wrote a piece on that very question for TV Guide. Check it out—and don't forget to enter the contest! If you love HOUSE, then you definitely need all six seasons of the show. And if you've never watched HOUSE…then you need all six seasons and a good dose of the flu and you'll be in heaven!

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Carly again - so for discussion purposes here, let's talk with Eloisa after you've read the piece – Do YOU think Cuddy and House will make it long term? Personally I think House is too dysfunctional to form and maintain any real emotional attachments, but they sure make for good TV and since I'm a romance novelist, I definitely hope for the best. You?

One lucky commenter will be chosen at random to win a copy of Eloisa's A Kiss At Midnight! Winner will be announced on Sunday!

I'm Addicted

To ANGRY BIRDS! It's not easy for me to admit. I'm not a gamer. I never liked games and I'd downloaded some free ones on the iPhone and I never got hooked. I didn't think Angry Birds interested me … but I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I downloaded it. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE. OF ASTRONOMICAL PROPORTIONS. Once I started playing, I couldn't stop.

What's the point of the game? In a nutshell – the pigs stole the birds' eggs and made omelets out of them and the birds are pissed. They want revenge and so they are dive bombing the pigs to destroy them. Seriously. This is important stuff. Well, it became hugely important to me. So the birds go in the slingshot one at a time, and I send them to dive-bomb the pigs. And some of those pigs wear helmets and are very well fortified which annoys the crap out of me to be honest! Excuse my language, but that's what happens when I play Angry Birds. Anyway.

Two things I immediately noticed – the game was about understanding things that are usually beyond me – things like aerodynamics (how to position the birds to get them to hit the target) and a form of architectural and structural understanding (what are the weak spots in the structure, where to hit them, and with which bird – because not each bird does well on certain objects.) The yellow bird is great with wood not concrete, for example. And how long did it take me to figure out that the blue bird split into three if you tap the screen? Don't ask. It's embarrassing. But soon I became determined to pass each little screen within each level. OK that's fine, and I'd pass and move to the next one, and eventually I unlocked the Torpedo bird (not sure if that's the name) but for a measly $1 paid once, you can use this massive bird once an hour to demolish an entire screen – the bird follows a piece of meat you toss. If you toss the meat to the right place, you demolish even more and your score is higher. Now that was all well and good – exciting even – and then I finished a whole level – and discovered that Angry Birds suggested I go back and master that level by getting three stars on every screen. That was a little demoralizing because I hadn't realized that was the goal (see, I told you I'm not too swift). So where I had been happy to pass a level, I now wanted to get three stars – and that meant no Torpedo Bird use. I had to go with good old fashioned brain power (those who know me well, STOP LAUGHING!)

I've done very well for myself as I go up and up levels – there are some I just can't manage to get 3 stars on no matter how hard I try. And there are some that when I conquer a level, I'm just so danged proud! (Seriously stop laughing!) But then I came to something that literally fried my brain – the BOOMERANG birds. They're scary. You use the slingshot and send them past where the pigs are hiding – then you hit the screen and bam, the birds go chomping back towards the pigs. I can't quite figure them out. They scare me. So I'm back to focusing on what I do understand, getting three stars on the other screens. Eventually I'll face those Boomerang birds that I lovingly call DoDo Birds. Not.

I saw that during the Super Bowl, Rovio the makers will have a commercial for a new game that will unlock an all new super secret level of Angry Birds. EXCITING!

So here we are. Me, my iPhone and the Angry Birds.

As an aside, those of you who are wondering and I know there are many, NO I AM NOT GIVING UP THE BLACKBERRY FOR THE VERIZON IPHONE. Nor am I giving up the AT&T iPhone for the Verizon iPhone. Why not?

1. I need BBM for my friends and family. Must keep Blackberry.

2. I don't use the iPhone for calls because I don't get decent AT&T service in my area – BUT AT&T IS 4G and I can do more things at once; Verizon is still 3G.

4. It's not worth what it will cost me to break my AT&T service contract.

5. If I get any new iPhone that costs me money, I'll wait for the iPhone 5 to come out.

Whew.

So back to the point – anyone else addicted to Angry Birds? And if so, let's dish! If not, share your dirty little addiction secret? Scramble? What's your addiction? You know you have one!

Carly Winner and Sunday Funny

The winner of Carly's tote bag and notebook is:

# 1 Shelley Giusti

Email carly: carly phillips @ mac . com (no spaces) to confirm your email and send your snail mail to receive your prize!

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The winner of yesterday's giveaway from ONE THING with Leslie Langtry is:

#2 Kris (email starts with: krisgils …)

Please contact Julie at: julie leto at gmail dot com (no spaces, no "dot") and she'll take care of getting you your prize!

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And now for the Sunday Funny –

Sixth grade science teacher, Mrs. Parks, asked her class, "Which human body part increases 10 times its size when stimulated?"

No one answered until Mary stood up and said, "You should not be asking sixth-graders a question like that! I'm going to tell my parents, and they will tell the principal, who will then fire you!"

Mrs. Parks ignored her and asked the question again, "Which body part increases to 10 times its size when stimulated?"

Mary's mouth fell open, "Boy, she is going to get in big trouble!"

The teacher ignored her again and continued, "Anybody?"

Finally, Billy stood up, looked around nervously, and said, "The body part that increases 10 times its size when stimulated is the pupil of the eye."

Mrs. Parks said, "Very good, Billy." She then turned to Mary and said, "As for you, young lady, I have three things to say:

One, you have a dirty mind. Two, you didn't read your homework. And three, one day you are going to be very, very disappointed."

Carly Contest – Jungle Madness

Hope you like today's giveaway:

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Post for a chance to win a Carly tote bag and notebook!

Snow

Ad nauseum. I am sick and tired of the white fluffy stuff. I don't have totals for the year, I'm not an almanac girl. I can tell you Bailey hasn't been bathed or groomed because each time I plan it, it snows. We've had one storm a week for I don't know how long. My car is caked thick with mud and dirt from the thaws in between. I can no longer wear my Ugg slippers every day because my socks end up soaking wet at the heel. Bailey goes bounding chest first in the fluff, comes in with iceballs all over her fur, has to be locked up and barks incessantly. I know, this is grump, grump, grump. But I used to love snow and frankly it has become pretty darn miserable to live with.

If you live where it's snowing, are you happy or miserable? And if you live where it's warm, tell me more so I can live vicariously through you!

Never Travel w/Carly

Part 2 … 3 … 4 …???

I actually did a search of the blog for all the old Carly travel stories. I honestly believe there were more than I found or even posted but for those newbies to the blog, here are links proving why you should never, ever travel with me:

RWA Reno 2005 – no blog in those days but 24 hours from the time I left my house to arrival.

2008 RWA San Francisco

2008 Train to Yankee Stadium

RWA Washington DC 2009

And that brings us to this past weekend, taking my daughter to college for the first time. Let me start by saying we'd planned to drive up Friday, the morning she had to be there to move in by 9 AM (a 3 hour drive) but because we decided to visit family, we left the day before. Thank goodness we did because we never would have made it there otherwise! Take a look at the pictures. You get the gist.

A flat tire would have been enough of a story but HOW did it get to look so bad? Well. We were on a highway and the tire pressure light went on (nothing but aggravation with the tires and light on this car since day 1). And these were NEW tires because we'd been told the old ones wouldn't make it through the winter. Clearly we had to pull over. Because of the snow there was no breakdown lane, so we had stopped basically in the right hand lane. We used the emergency services button in the car and first asked for the police, then for a tow truck. (And for those of you wondering, NO, neither myself or my husband knows how to change a tire!)

Why a tow truck and not just someone to change the tire? Well … the car was jam packed with a girl and her stuff going to college. Do YOU think we could get to the tire or put the boxes and clothes on the wet, slushy, mushy ground? It took the police over 20 minutes to get to us – all the while, we sat in the car while the 18 wheelers went by us at what felt like 80 MPH and we prayed no one would hit us. Oh and did I mention the emergency services rep made my husband get out of the car to read him the information on the tires. That was scary enough but can you imagine if the tires had been on the side of the car that bordered the road? They weren't. (Sadly my husband and I both know people who were killed while parked even in a breakdown lane, so this was very scary as we lied to my petrified daughter that we were FINE.)

Finally we saw the police cruiser and thought, thank God. He'll put up flares and we'll be safer, right? Wrong. He stomps over to the car and speaks. What does he say? Here's a hint. It isn't "are you folks okay?"

"You can't stay here."

Duh.

"But officer, we can't move."

"Do it. I'll be right behind you."

Huh.

"At the next exit, go to the next right and turn into a church parking lot."

Seriously?

We drove over 2 miles to the next exit on said flat tire, sure that we were killing the rim too. The noise the tire made was petrifying. My husband had a hard time keeping the car on the road and not in the snow banks. I honestly thought that cop was on crack but it wasn't his car or his money. All of which explains WHY the truck tire looks the way it does.

In the end, we got to our destination, took our daughter to college, settled her in, went to orientation, and said so long. And yes, I cried all the way home and had a migraine the rest of the weekend. But now, the best news is that she's doing well. As I like to say:

If she's happy, I'm happy. She's happy.

But the motto of this whole experience remains: NEVER travel with Carly!

PS – My husband doesn't read this blog so he doesn't know the whole flat tire thing was my fault and bad luck so never ever tell him!

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Changes

It's been a week since Buddy passed and aside from the obvious – the pain we're all experiencing – we've been looking for changes in Bailey. Honestly we expected problems. She always cried when he left the house without her and carried on until he returned. She'd sniff him up and down like crazy when he got back, as if trying to figure out where he'd been and what she missed out on. We thought she'd be sad and looking for him, sniffing where his crate used to be etc. Remember Bailey has been a nervous dog for as long as we've had her. Granted she's gotten better lately and we've weaned her off medication, but she still has never been much of a toucher or a cuddler. We always assumed Bailey was the dominant alpha in the house because she'd take Buddy's toys and his food and he'd let her. The only time we'd see something different was if Bailey was sitting next to me on the bed and Buddy decided to get up and come over to me. Then Bailey would immediately get up and walk away. No questions asked, no fighting, no nudging. Hmm.

But now, instead of a sad, mopey Bailey, we seem to have a more relaxed Bailey. She still wants her space but she's much more willing to be cuddled, pet and brushed. If I get up from a sitting position, she doesn't always jump and run with me – just sometimes. No more panicked panting breaths. Very odd.

I don't want to keep dwelling on what I can't change, but I'd like to thank everyone who posted or emailed or commented to send condolences over me losing Buddy. Your thoughts mean so much to me and I'm so lucky to have so many people who cared enough to let me know.

It still isn't easy and there's a hole in my heart. To add insult to injury, my oldest is leaving for college tomorrow (well we're driving up today so I won't be able to reply) so during the day it'll be just me and Bailey.

Like I said in the title … changes.