Sandra Cox's Blog, page 277

Low Country Retreat

I'm heading to the Low Country Weekend Beach Retreat. Anyone else going? If so drop me a line or leave a comment so I can look for you. 
~*~Oh yeah, we went to see Alex Cross. Once again, I liked it better than the critics. Though, if I'd rated it, I would have given it an R instead of a PG 13 for violence. Not that anything overt was shown on the screen, but there was one torture scene that even with my eyes closed and my ears plugged it was hard to ignore. I wasn't sure how I was going to like Tyler Perry in that role. But it worked  for me. I thought he did a good job. Have you seen it and if so did you like it?~*~She had forgotten her umbrella, again. Head down, she turned the corner and ran full tilt into the arms of a stranger.
“I’m sorry,” Gabby mumbled into an expensive, camel-colored raincoat, her nose pressed against a hard chest.
She felt long arms wrap around her, steadying her. For a brief moment the clean smell of rain mingled with the scent of expensive aftershave and crisp cotton, before the man gripped Gabby’s upper arms and thrust her away, holding her at arm’s length.
Icy green eyes, colder than the wind whipping her hair about, stared into her own. His rain-darkened hair was drawn back in a ponytail and beads of water glistened on his coat.
“May I suggest you watch where you're going?” The stranger stared down his nose at her, his voice brusque, his manner arrogant. Letting her go, he walked away.
Gabby stared after him, as he wove through the throng of pedestrians with the lithe grace of a cat. Still feeling the heat of his hands, Gabby rubbed her forearms as she watched him disappear into a sea of umbrellas. THE CRYSTAL

SBB Dangerous Affairs

  Dangerous Affairs by Diana Miller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Abby wonders if she’s having the nervous breakdown the tabloids claim she already had, especially when sexy, skeptical police chief Josh Kincaid questions her story. When menacing hate mail arrives, Josh’s professional concern for Abby soon evolves into an intense attraction, and the feeling is mutual. And now Josh wonders if her psychic visions are of crimes past—or a premonition of terrors to come.
To survive, Abby and Josh must uncover the truth and stop a killer . . . before Abby’s worst nightmares come true.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
The doorbell rang, shooting a fresh blast of cold panic through Abby. She opened her mouth, but swallowed her scream—it had to be the police. Bad guys didn’t use doorbells. She unlocked and opened the front door with frozen fingers.
Josh was standing on the front porch, dressed in black jeans and a burgundy polo shirt, his hand on the doorjamb and his eyes narrowed. “What’s such a damn emergency?”
“I got another message. From the person who hates me.”
Josh expelled a clearly exasperated breath, running his fingers through his dark hair. “Look, I know I told you to take the letters seriously, but since the mail carrier delivered it hours ago, this isn’t exactly an emergency. Bring it to the station tomorrow. I’d like to get back to my date.”  “It didn’t come in the mail this time.” Abby’s voice rose an octave, her words tripping over each other. “It’s on my bathroom mirror, written in lipstick. Someone got into my house, and they could get in again.” She sounded half hysterical, but she couldn’t help it. This was in a different category from her normal hate mail.
Josh stepped into the house, closing the door behind him. “You were gone tonight?”
She slumped against one wall of the foyer, hugging herself and struggling to regain her control.
“Maddie and I were at a birthday party for Laura’s youngest son. At Pizzaville. We got home around nine thirty, and I put Maddie to bed. I read in the family room for a while, then went back upstairs. And found it.”
“Show me.” Josh grabbed her forearm and directed her up the stairs.
The message was short and to the point, capital letters written in red lipstick on the wall-size mirror:
LEAVE OR DIE BITCH. FROM YOUR BIGGEST FAN
 AUTHOR Bio and Links:
When she was eight, Diana Miller decided she wanted to be Nancy Drew. But no matter how many garbage cans she dug through, conversations she “accidentally” overheard, and attics she searched, she never found a single cryptic letter, hidden staircase, or anything else even remotely mysterious. She worked as a lawyer, a soda jerk, a stay-at-home mom, a hospital admitting clerk, and a conference host before deciding that the best way to inject suspense into her otherwise satisfying life was by writing about it.
Diana is a five-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award and winner of a Golden Heart for Dangerous Affairs—a romantic suspense novel that shows not everyone in her home state is Minnesota Nice. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family.
My website link is dianamillerwriter.com. I have buy buttons for both Amazon and Kindle on my website, but have no idea what you have to do to insert them since my web designer did it.
The URL for my Amazon page  is: http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Affairs-Diana-Miller/dp/1612186017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339532353&sr=8-1 

 
The author will be awarding one $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/09/super-book-blast-dangerous-affairs-by.html

Happy Halloween

Wishing you many treats and no tricks...unless they're of the fun variety.

Don't forget to enter the Halloween E Download Contest at:
Nightwriters.
Last time I checked we didn't have any entries so your chances of winning are extremely good:)
E's given away to one random entrant:
No Job For  A Woman
Crewkin
Vampire Island
Sally's Answer
Somewhere My Love
The Harvester

VBT Healing Notes

BLURB:
Rachel Cullen grew up in Scotland with a fiddle in her hand from the age of four. She couldn't imagine life as anything but a musician. When her husband brought her to America she was immediately embraced by the Celtic and Bluegrass communities. But after her divorce, Rachel's life is a mess.
A year of trying to prove to herself that she's woman enough for any man, and then a vicious rape while on tour with the band, leaves Rachel reeling. When she meets Noel Kershaw, an English teacher who is poetry in motion, she is definitely attracted. But he has a young child and he's suffering from his own divorce. The last thing Rachel needs in life is more baggage.
First, Rachel must reconcile who she is, what she wants, and how to get there. Maybe then she'll know how to be a part of the family she's always wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:
As she reached for the handle, the door opened and a little girl rushed out, maybe six or seven years old, with beautiful long blond hair caught up in a blue denim bow.  She ran to a light blue sedan next to Rachel’s and giggled as she skipped through puddles circling the car. Rachel couldn’t help but smile at the child’s carefree innocence.
After three circles, the girl stopped at the back end of the car, cocked her head and waved two fingers at her. “Hi.”
“Um, hi.” Rachel raised her hand and waved back. “Did you forget somebody? Your mommy maybe?”
“Claire, I told you to stay close.”
At the sound of the tenor voice beside her, Rachel started.  A man three to four inches taller than her had stepped out. In one hand he held several colorful ribbons attached to a bright pink, heart-shaped helium balloon that read Happy Birthday. He looked toward the car where the child was still giggling.
The little girl raced back. Skidding to a stop in front of Rachel, they bumped and Rachel teetered slightly toward the wall.
“Careful there.” A weathered hand reached toward her and wrapped around her elbow. His touch was softer than she expected, but her knees still locked, ready to spring if she needed to move fast. He held her up with one hand. Deep brown eyes, emphasized by his full head of short, wavy blonde hair, looked at her then turned toward the girl.”
“Apologize, Claire. You almost knocked her over.”
“I’m sorry.” A small hand lifted to touch her other arm.
“That’s okay. Really.  I should have been paying more attention.” Rachel smiled and pointed to the balloon. “Latha breith.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, I…” She had lapsed into Gaelic.  Something she hadn’t done in public since Kavan left her almost three years ago. “I said ‘Happy Birthday.’” 

AUTHOR Bio and Links: Maggie Jaimeson writes romantic women’s fiction and romantic suspense with a near future twist. She describes herself as a wife, a step-mother, a sister, a daughter, a teacher and an IT administrator. By day she is “geek girl” – helping colleges to keep up with 21st century technology and provide distance learning options for students in rural areas. By night Maggie turns her thoughts to worlds she can control – worlds where bad guys get their comeuppance, women triumph over tragedy, and love can conquer all.
HEALING NOTES is the second book in the Sweetwater Canyon Series of four books.  The final two books will be available in 2013.
Website: http://maggiejaimeson.comBlog: http://maggiemeandering.blogspot.comF... http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-... @maggiejaimeson
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/09/super-book-blast-healing-notes-by.html
Maggie will award one autographed cover flat to a randomly drawn commenter at each blog stop.  In addition, she will award  a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner's choice) as a grand prize to one randomly selected commenter on this tour

D.I.V.O.R.C.E

Its nerve racking and traumatic.  I don't think there's a woman alive that's not been through it.

During the first few months of being together everything is wonderful, perfect. Then as time goes by things change. There's a carelessness and sloppiness that wasn't there before. The color's not quite right.  The cut that was so good one month that you could weep is so bad the next month you do.  You stay even though its no longer good for you because you've developed a relationship and you'd feel guilty leaving.  Then something so heninous happens to your cut, color or perm that you can no longer ignore it and you decide to divorce.

I'm at that point. I'm divorcing my hairdresser. Or maybe she's divorcing me. She stood me up....again.  Only this time she didn't return my calls, like she usually does when she 'forgets' the appointment. I stood waiting outside the salon that was locked up tighter than a drum.  I swear people gave me pitying looks as they drove by.

Okay, I can take a hint.  This time its official, I'm  looking for someone new. Hmm, I wonder if I can find a hairdresser on match.com.

It's The Weekend

'Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.’ ~ Charles M. Schulz But don't lie awake tonight. Its the weekend. Enjoy. Sleep in.~*~ When I remembered last night, heat crept through me. The puma witnessed my change.
He’d remained motionless. His beautiful ocher eyes glittered, while I’d stood naked in the moonlight. It seemed so natural at the time. Only now did I feel embarrassment.
Why should I be embarrassed? What difference does nakedness make to a cat…unless, like me, the puma is a shifter? MINDER

Movies...Just My Opinion

Saw Looper
I didn't care for it as much as the critics did.

Taken 2
I liked it better than the critics did.

Big Miracle
We rented this. It didn't hold the hubby's interest, but it sure did mine. I thought it was a beautiful movie.






Talking whale? Captive beluga had learned to mimic human voices

The Next Big Thing Hop

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing This is a new kind of blog hop. It's a tag hop. I have to tag 5 authors who will post on October 31th. Then they tag 5 authors who will post a week later. So every Wednesday 5 authors will post the answers to ten questions. 
I was tagged by Barbara Ehrentreu, author of IF I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor.
Barbara's link:http://barbaraehrentreu.blogspot.com/2012/10/ten-interview-questions-for-next-big.html#comment-form

Okay here's the questions:

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book? 'Currently,and I emphasize currently, Mer Girl

Where did the idea come from for the book? Good question. I'll let you know when I figure it out.

What genre does your book fall under? Crossover YA

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? If I ever get that opportunity I'll let you know

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? It’s not easy being a nerd by day and a super hero by night.  
Will your book be self-published or represented                                   by an agency? I'm not at that point yet, by right now, I'm thinking agency.  
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I'm not there yet. Blush, blush.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Another good question I don't have an answer for.
Who or What inspired you to write this book? My muse, of course:)

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Heroine's voice and eye color
Here's my five picks to blog about the next best thing on the 31st. This is always tough, because I'm never sure who would like to take part or who would hate it. So if you're one of the five and you hate the idea, feel free to ignore the hop.
1. Julia Barrett2. Mike Hays3. Jo Ramsey 4. Lynn Crain5.Anny Cook Whew. Done!

Political Buzz Word: Pivot

Pivot: 'A whirling about on one foot.' Dictionary.com

The above definition is the one I think about when I hear the word pivot. Don't you?
Example: "At the sound of the gunshot, he pivoted, every sense alert."

Another definition by Wikipedia, 'The point of rotation in a lever system.'

I was fascinated to find out there is political definition for pivot. Being the savvy readers and writers you are, you probably already know about this, but it only came to my attention recently. For those of you who don't: pivoting in a political debate is a bit like a tap dance. And if its truly successful, the audience is unaware of it. Its avoiding an uncomfortable topic by  smoothly redirecting the conversation to an unrelated strength of the speaker.

Example: When Bush debated Kerry in 2004 he was asked about job loss, Bush pivoted to education and his No Child Left Behind Act.

Seriously, don't ya love words?  

Psychology of The Sleep Position

Have y'all been reading about this? Apparently the way we sleep, echoes our personality.
The research was done by Professor Chris Idzikowski. Here are the results:
The Fetal Position ( legs drawn up, arms wrapped around a pillow): Sensitive and shy
Starfish (lying on back with arms and legs stretched out): Good listeners, unassuming, offer help to folks in need
Log (Sleep on your side with your legs stretched out arms down): Easy to get along with
Yearner (sleep on a your side with your arms out): Tend to be suspicious
Soldier (flat on back, arms at side): Reserved and quiet
Freefall(lying on tummy,  head to the side) Outgoing, but don't care for criticism. But then who does?
Hmm, what do you think? Do any of these fit you?