Julie Kenner's Blog, page 109

Share your wildest shopping spree purchase (and maybe snag a set of Shadow Keeper novels and an early read of Release Me!)

Thanks for coming by!

About two years after we were married, my husband and I were driving down Interstate 10 in California from Palm Springs, returning to our rented house in Orange Country. We drove through a smallish town, Redlands, and thought it looked pretty from the freeway.

Being avid explorers of small towns and obsessive model home visitors, we considered turning off. But it had been a long weekend and we were tired. “On or off,” husband asked.

I hemmed. I hawed. Finally, I said, “Okay. Off.”

We were at an exit, and he whipped the car off, made a turn at the light and another turn at the next light and we found ourselves on a beautiful tree-lined street with dozens of historic homes mixed in with thirties and forties style bungalows. And then, in the middle of one street, just a few blocks from the beautiful campus of Redlands University, we saw a tall, strong, boxy-yet-compelling building in stunning blue with a white rail around a large front porch.

A giant pine tree stood even taller than the very tall roof of the house, which we later learned had been built in 1901 and was a designated historic home, in part because it wasn’t Victorian, but because it was a workman style home (I forget the exact term).

And right there in front was a For Sale sign.

It was Sunday, but I was curious as to how much it cost. We’d been looking at properties, but in Orange County. And we were still in shock at the difference between California and Texas prices. (Oh how I wish I’d bought the $99,000 condo on Fourth Street in Santa Monica when I had the chance. Real Estate Mistake, much?).

Turns out the real estate agent was around. The price was gasp-worthy in that it was almost–almost–Texas prices. Most important, I was in love with the house. Funky, strange, completely un-userfriendly for furniture (there was a spiral staircase in the middle of the living room. And I really do mean the middle). And it even had a huge lemon tree in the backyard.

We waited for the agent. We walked the house. We pondered. We drove around the town.

And the next day we made an offer.

Alas, this was not our home. But it was a castle to us!

It was our first house, and it was most definitely an impulse buy.

Not the day after Thanksgiving, but a house shopping spree seemed appropriate to the occasion.

So tell me, what’s your wildest and wackiest purchase? If you leave a comment (that includes your email addie) you’re entered for the Blog Hop grand prizes described below.

 

And be sure to also enter my Rafflecopter for a chance to win a signed set of my Shadow Keepers novels written as J.K. Beck, along with an early read of Release Me, which will be provided to the winner via NetGalley (the winner will need to sign up for a free NetGalley account in order to accept that prize–don’t worry, it’s easy–and the read will expire in 30 days).

 

And here’s another idea for your Black Friday shopping…A set of my superhero romances!  The first book, Aphrodite’s Kiss, is FREE for the Nook and iBook, and it’s only $1.99 at Amazon!
Learn more at WeProtectMortals.com or visit the Aphrodite Series Retailer List for links directly to your favorite ebook sellers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for the cool hop stuff! While the rest of the US is out handling the crowds, fighting for their holiday gifts, some of us like to stay in, shop online, or just ignore Black Friday all together. This year, join us in our second annual Black Friday Blog Hop! The hop is November 23rd and is ONE DAY only.

We are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that’s not all…. We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (everything but the swag prize is international.)

You MUST leave a comment in order to be considered for those grand prizes, and that comment MUST include your email address. If you came here via Facebook or Goodreads and want to read about and enter for the Blog Hop Grand prize, visit http://juliekenner.com/?p=3416

Here’s the linky link! Follow for more chances to win!

Finally Free!

Woot! Aphrodite’s Kiss is FREE for the Kindle! http://bit.ly/Xqw5Cu A Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award winner! “Like a carnival fun house, full of surprises and just plain good old-fashioned entertainment.”—Romance Reviews Today

Superheroes on Sale!

Woot! Aphrodite’s Kissis on sale for just $1.99 for the Kindle! http://bit.ly/Xqw5Cu A Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award winner! “Like a carnival fun house, full of surprises and just plain good old-fashioned entertainment.”—Romance Reviews Today

I wish I could drive what Damien Stark drives…

I’m over at The Whine Sisters today blogging about the fact that a new car is in my future (or, really, my husband’s future, as I’ll get stuck with the minivan). We’ll probably end up with something like a Honda Fit.

What I really want is the car Damien Stark, the hero from my upcoming novel, Release Me, drives:

Damien Stark drives this. Sigh.

I don’t know much about cars, but I can tell this one is sweet. It’s cherry red and polished to a mirror shine. The windows are tinted as dark as a limo. It’s so low to the ground that I’m afraid my ass will get bruised if we hit a pothole. It’s sleek and beautiful and definitely the kind of toy I’d expect a billionaire to own.

“What?” he says, seeing my smile.

“You’re predictable, that’s all.”

His brows lift. “Am I?”

“What is this, some kind of fancy Ferrari? I mean, what billionaire doesn’t own a Ferrari?”

“Ah, it’s much worse than that,” he says. “This is a Bugatti Veyron. It costs about twice as much as a Ferrari. Nine hundred eighty-seven horsepower, a W16 engine, top speed of two hundred fifty-three, and she’ll go from zero to sixty in under three seconds.”

I force myself to look unimpressed. “In other words, you don’t own a Ferrari?”

“I own three.” Before I can react, he grins and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “Watch your head getting in. She’s low to the ground.”

Have I mentioned I just love Damien? Not to mention his cars.

Alas, the Bugatti is only in my imagination. I have a feeling it’s going to be a Honda in the driveway.

What’s the car of your dreams?

Win a B&B Weekend « Karen Pullen

And I’ve only given away gift cards and books! This is an awesome contest prize … a stay at a B&B that looks darling in the picture. How. Cool.

Win a B&B Weekend « Karen Pullen.

Looking for a fun read after you fill up on Thanksgiving turkey?

Aphrodite’s Kiss, book 1 in my series of superhero romances, is #free on the Nook & at iTunes and at Smashwords! See all retailers here!

Useful tip of the day for Mac Users-Stickie Notes!

Sometimes I astound myself with what I don’t know. Maybe I’m the only one, but there’s a stickie note feature built into Mac computers, and it’s pretty darn sweet! Check your application folder for Stickie Notes! (And if you set the note to “float” and to be “translucent” it’s there on your computer but also out of your way.

I think this will save at least a dozen trees!!

More Popcorn Please

Why, yes, I did just order a new Stir Crazy 6 qt popcorn popper. Why, no, the one we currently own works fine. We just want to be prepared for a popcorn emergency. And, um, we want to be able to pig out on popcorn without having to transfer the popcorn to another bowl and then wait An. Entire. Three. Minutes. for another batch to pop.

(Yes, I am shamed. Shamed by popcorn …)

And, seriously, this puppy makes AMAZING popcorn. Just saying…

Haiku to you, too!

Ah, Hippo! You inspire me!

When I was in elementary school, we studied poetry, like most kids do. And we had to write a Haiku, like most kids do.

I still remember mine (prepare to be astounded):

Hippopotamus

Why do you like gooey mud

So brown and sticky?

Catchy, eh?

And on a similarly random note: When my oldest was a baby (as in, doing the baby babble thing), she used to say “Me-no-me”. D and I planned to catch her at that exact moment between babble and words and have her translate for us. We failed.

But to this day we all remember “Me-no-me” … though we don’t know what it means!



How about you? What nuggets from your childhood do you still remember?

Dark Shadows … from the beginning!

The kids will be in college before we get through all the discs in here!

Bought the kids and husband the entire Dark Shadows DVD collection (comes in a cool coffin-shaped box!) and we’ve started watching from Episode 1. Loving it!!! So much fun how it was made on the cheap and mistakes aren’t fixed. Loving the story lines and the mystery. Trying hard to hold back on going to Wiki to see what connection Victoria Winters does have to the Collins family (I’m sure there must be one!)

Don’t tell me!

The kids are loving it, too, even though they were already watching the Barnabus episodes on Netflix. About a hundred episodes to go before we get there. We haven’t even finished disc 1 yet!

No spoilers, please … but I’m curious: Are you a Dark Shadows fan? Did you see the movie? (I haven’t and don’t think I will …)