Carly Phillips's Blog: Carly's Web Blogs, page 86

August 2, 2012

Foiled by Technology

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I can’t get online right now so let’s talk about what you’re reading!! For me,!i just finished Kristen Ashley’s Breathe! (more later when I can post).

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Published on August 02, 2012 06:34

July 28, 2012

What’cha Reading?

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I’ve been bad … about reading. I’ve been knitting! So tell me what you’re reading so I can get back into the groove!


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Published on July 28, 2012 03:00

July 27, 2012

Carly’s Giveaway!

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As I’m typing this, we’re having a HUGE STORM and the dogs are NOT happy. They’re in their Thundershirts (do they work? they can’t hurt!). Bailey can use anything to ease her stress. Brady likes anything Bailey does. So here’s a pic to make you laugh. As long as I’m in the house, I’m fine. I hate being out in the rain!



For a chance to win a $25 Amazon GC, answer this: Do you like rain/thunder/lightning? Or do you hate it? And while we’re at it, did you see the movie TED? Love it or hate it? I thought it was the funniest thing I’ve seen. Ever.

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Published on July 27, 2012 03:00

July 26, 2012

I might be missing RWA but …

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I’m still a RITA FINALIST! Thank you Janelle for sending me this photo!



The same book is also up for a Bookseller’s Best Award. I’m so so honored just to be nominated and I’m not just saying that!

Found out last night I won the Bookseller’s Best which makes me very happy!


I don’t have much to add … I upgraded my operating system on my Mac to Mountain Lion and I’m trying to figure some things out … anyone else do that?


That’s it! I already posted once this week, so I’m kinda tapped out LOL! Just let’s talk!

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Published on July 26, 2012 07:09

July 24, 2012

We’re Human!

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So Leslie and Janelle are at RWA like Julie mentioned yesterday and so they haven’t been here to post. And I figure this is as good a time as any (late even) to let anyone who IS going to RWA and expects to see me there know, I had to drop out at the last minute because of family illness. Everything’s OK but I felt better being closer to home. I’ll miss seeing Janelle and Leslie and I’m so sad to miss many of you! I won’t be at Literacy or the Berkley signing, obviously, and I’m sorry if I’m letting anyone down.


Now just want to mention this – paranormal author Lynsay Sands is running a contest near and dear to my heart – THE LADY IS A VAMP in honor of her upcoming release by the same name! Check it out. Enter. I know I did!



CLICK HERE FOR INFO TO ENTER:


HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

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Published on July 24, 2012 05:33

July 19, 2012

Welcome Guest Blogger Thea Harrison

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Please give a warm jungle welcome to ultra talented paranormal author, THEA HARRISON! Thea and I met after I read her first book, Dragon Bound – and posted on Twitter – people had been raving about the Elder Races first book and I was delighted to discover they were right. Thea has a way of creating a world that is amazing. Welcome Thea!


What was the name of that book anyway?


I read a lot of books. In fact, I had taught myself to read by the time I was four, so when I hit the third or fourth grade, I had already read a lot of books. As you can imagine, the number has only increased with time. *cough* No need to mention how much time…

I have read so many books that, until I got wise to my own shortcomings, occasionally I have actually rebought books that I have already read.


Argh, right?


Let’s be honest here. Publishers and websites like Amazon don’t really help matters in this regard. Occasionally you’ll find a book release that states right on the cover that it has never been released before, or that it is a reprint. Nora Roberts’ publications come to mind, and frankly, that is refreshing. Most of the time it’s a buy beware kind of market. Now I always do a little research before I fork over money.


For example, take Dorothy Dunnett’s The Game of Kings, which is the first book in her fabulous historical saga called the Lymond Chronicles. (If you’re a fan of antiheros, historical sagas, and high drama, you might want to give this series a try.)

If you search on Amazon for the title of the first book, this is what comes up: http://www.amazon.com/The-Game-Kings-Lymond-Chronicles/dp/0679777431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341460275&sr=8-1&keywords=the+game+of+kings. If you look at this entry, it says April 29th, 1997, both in the general search listing, and on the product page itself.


NOT QUITE TRUE, MY FEISTY INTERNET FRIENDS. The Game of Kings was actually published in 1961. I discovered the series in the 80s, and I devoured each one as fast as I could buy them. I loved them. I was breathless at the end of every one, and couldn’t wait to start the next. **I must say at this point, I have no idea how they would read now, so I don’t know how dated the series would feel to a reader in 2012. I would love to reread them again and find out how I would react to them now, as an older reader.**


I wish there was a way to organize the chaotic, half remembered, overstuffed library of half remembered plots, scenes, and things I have read in my brain. There are a lot of reader-oriented websites that can help with this, such as Goodreads and Shelfari, where you can add titles that you’ve read to your “bookshelves” and you can rate them, and share recommendations with friends. These sites are awesome and powerful, and they are a super way to connect with other readers. But they have their limitations too.

This is why I thought I would share another website with you, called What Was That Book? I’m intrigued and charmed by the concept behind this website. It claims, “This community reunites people with the books they’ve lost!” What an idea!

Have you ever had a half remembered phrase from a book, or perhaps a plot of something that you remembered absolutely adoring, but you cannot for the life of you pinpoint what the name of that blasted book was?


This website gives you a chance to recover those details. You can post a blog with the details that you remember, and people respond or not according to what they know. For example, one of the most recent postings starts like this: “There are three children’s picture books I would have read in the early ’90s (in America) that I have been trying to find for so long…here is what I can remember about them:…” The rest of that post is too long and detailed to copy here. And the person got four comments, the first of which hit the nail on the head and identified the books for the person who posted!


Eureka!


This website has its limitations too, such as how much information someone who is posting can offer, and who might be reading and responding at any given time. But I feel that it is a powerful addition to the many assets that are available to active readers who are online these days.

~~~



For readers, have you ever rebought a book you have already read, or have you tried to remember the name of a story you read?



Comment for a chance to a story of your choice from my backlist of current publications. If you already have the all the novels and novellas on my backlist, you can always give your prize to a friend! The giveaway will end at Carly’s discretion. Thank you so much, Carly, for having me on your blog!


Don’t forget to visit CARLY at Thea’s Blog – for a chance to win a Serendipity Backlist title … and talk about When Life Gets in The Way … Click HERE!


VISIT THEA HARRISON


Thea Harrison’s Website


Twitter – @TheaHarrison


www.facebook.com|TheaHarrison

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Published on July 19, 2012 03:00

July 12, 2012

My Summer Madness

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Since I’m obviously late in getting this post up, I might as well make it about why. My summer is hell. Let me start by apologizing ahead of time to all of you who work, who get up every morning at 6 AM or earlier, to leave the house. I don’t. I’m on school hours. High school hours which means during the school year I’m up at 6:20 – but I don’t have to shower or walk out of the house at any specific time that’s ridiculously early. For whatever reason, that means if I’m at my desk by 9 AM, I feel good, not rushed and like a human being. My summers used to be that the kids had to be out of the house around 7:30 for camp, which bought me another hour or so. I could wake up around 7 sometimes 7:30. Last summer, one daughter stayed up at college, the other worked in a job I had to drive her to at 10 AM. See how nice that was? Fast forward to this summer. Word from hell: DRIVER’S ED. I agreed to the 8:30 so I could get her to work at 10. That means we leave the house at 8:10, so I can sleep till 7. Definitely good. Somehow, this little addendum got sprung on me after I’d paid – every other day the lecture is at 7 AM. IN THE MORNING. I have to leave the house w/her at 6:40. AM. I can’t wake up at 6, jump out of bed, shower, be ready and leave the house by 6:40 AND FEEL AWAKE and HUMAN. I can’t do it. I can not shower, then come home and pull myself together but no matter how I slice it, my morning routine is screwed up. My body clock is screwed up. I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! It goes through August 15th. No joke. I now bring my laptop and do my writing in the car instead of driving the twenty minutes home and back again, losing all that valuable time. But I am NOT a particularly nice or happy person the rest of the day. I don’t like this about myself, but that’s how it is. I can’t control it. I feel out of control and I hate it. In other words, I’ve learned that I am an even more regimented control freak than I originally thought. And I already thought I was bad.


I can’t even think of a question to talk about. I’m too cranky. LOL.

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Published on July 12, 2012 06:20

July 5, 2012

Welcome Guest Marquita Valentine

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I’m out of town. Make that out of the country with my daughter and a bunch of her friends and another mom who organized a trip to ARUBA. Before you get excited or jealous, realize that the majority of my group are 16 years old. In other words, wish me luck! In my absence, I invited a guest blogger/new author to step in for me. I met Marquita on Twitter and over the last 6 months have begun sprinting with her (writing sprints where she keeps me accountable) and honestly this has been fantastic for me. I know you’ll enjoy her as much as I do!


Girls’ Night Out with Magic Mike


On opening night, two of my good friends, fellow Colin Firth-Stalker fan Michelle and the super-talented author Katharine Ashe, and I went to see a movie that’s quickly become as infamous as Fifty Shades of Grey. Or maybe it was because of the FSOG phenomenon that women felt comfortable going and telling people that they’d bought tickets to a movie about male strippers.

And show up in well-dressed droves they did.


They came in pairs, triplets and groups of fifteen (I kid you not). Ladies gracefully switched entire viewing rooms so that friends who’d been parted could sit together. Everyone was giggly, excited and nice (Hey if you were about to see Channing Tatum shake what his momma gave him, you’d be really nice, too).


(Not sure what’s hotter-the dance moves or the fact that he’s actively listening to a room full of women)


Turns out Magic Mike is loosely based on Channing Tatum’s former career as a stripper. Something that, despite the anything goes image Hollywood portrays, could have been a major career killer. But he owned it. He didn’t try to say it wasn’t him, that he’d been tricked into slipping on a g-string, or any other I’m-not-responsible-for-my-actions kind of attitude. And it paid off.


Although, there are circumstances when owning your past isn’t that simple.


In my debut novel, Twice Tempted, Christian Romanov is a movie star with a PAST. Shocking, right? Now his PAST has come back to bite him in his very fine arse. However, if Christian owns up to the photo-shopped pictures, it won’t hurt just his reputation—but an organization that does a lot of good for troubled teens, because not only is he the anonymous backer of said organization, but he’s slated to be their newest spokesman. Hello rock. Meet hard place. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for our British Bad Boy, his heroine, Zoe Ambrose, sees right through his ridiculous pick-up lines and straight into his heart.


Kinda like the love interest, Brooke in Magic Mike sees right through Mike and tells him exactly how things are for people in the “daylight”. Oh but, ladies, we can’t resist a BAD BOY and it’s why we loved to see them grovel and redeem themselves for the woman that’s captured their heart.



So tell me, plotmonkey fans, who is your favorite bad boy hero in a romance novel?


GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment to enter, and I’ll give away two copies of Twice Tempted (e-book only) to randomly chosen winners, announced on Sunday!


TWICE TEMPTED, coming soon-July 2012 (e-book)

Sometimes…


Born into wealth and power, Christian Romanov is Hollywood’s favorite bad boy with a golden touch…until the day his agent receives pictures of the movie star celebrating his birthday in a not-so-legal way. Now he’s been ordered to find a small-town girl to be seen with in order to improve his partying image. He agrees, but for an entirely different reasons-to protect the reputation of an organization that helps get teen off the street and back into the school. Not only is he the anonymous donor that’s been solely supporting the organization since its inception, he’s slated to be their newest spokesman.


What happens in Vegas,


Zoe Ambrose is a hopeless romantic masquerading as a realist. But she’s also a successful novelist, trying to fit herself into a staid life when what she craves is the adventure she found one night in the arms of a playboy who never knew her name. When her successful crime series is optioned by a major studio, she travels to Las Vegas to find that the prince of her fantasies and single night of pleasure is the main contender for the male lead. But for four years Zoe has been publicly eviscerating the man who left her stranded that night—he’s the villain in her series! Now the movie star doesn’t recognize her, and Zoe is determined to protect her heart this time.


Doesn’t Stay in Vegas.


When Christian braves the small town of Holland Springs and Zoe’s overprotective family to win the girl of his dreams, he finds that his Hollywood skills might not cut it—and learns a shocking truth he never imagined. Can he can tempt her again and finally give her the epic love story she has refused to write for herself?


BIO

Marquita Valentine writes small town romances that are anything but small. Lisa Kleypas, Carly Phillips and Rachel Gibson are among her favorite contemporary authors. Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man — and if that doesn’t work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.


You can find Marquita all over the internet:

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Website

Blog

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Published on July 05, 2012 03:00

June 28, 2012

Friends

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I just got home from a college reunion of sorts in NYC. A bunch of the girls I went to college with met up in Manhattan. This past Saturday night, my husband and I went out with my two college roommates and their husbands. These women – all of them – are not people I talk to every day, every week, or even every month. But they are people who, if I see their names pop up when the phone rings, or if I need or want to call them, I know I can count on the fact that not only will they recognize my voice, but the conversation will pick up as if we just talked yesterday. This is special. This is unique. I know it, I value it, and I cherish it. I can’t say that about everyone I come into contact with or am friends with. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have at least one of these type of friends in their lives/their pasts. I also know I share that bond with the women I formed this blog with. It’s special, unique, and unlike college, I hope to never be in the position where I speak to them only on occasion but recognize their voice when I do.


So that’s it for today. Appreciate the people in your life that you know hold a special place in your heart. And if the mood strikes you, let them know. I just did!

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Published on June 28, 2012 03:00

June 24, 2012

Sunday Winners

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Back! Sorry!

The winners of the Ruthie Knox books are:

Diane

Chris Bails

Kim Matlock


Email Ruthie directly: ruthie@ruthieknox.com


and the winner of Carly’s $25 gift card is: #28 – TIFFANY!


CONGRATULATIONS!


And now … from my Facebook Fan page, which I got from Pinterest – a lot of people, including non-Hunger Games fans (me) found this funny!

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Published on June 24, 2012 05:59