M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 44

The Winner of Linda Andrews’s Book is….

Gayle Cochrane! Gayle, email me at mfechter @ gmail .com and let me know which format you’d like.

Going on a Rant–Anyone Want to Come?

This has been one messed up week as far as jaw-dropping moments at school. Honestly, I don’t know where to start. So I’ll go in sequential order.

I’ve been playing Boomwhackers with the kids, a combination synthesis lesson (putting together everything they’ve learned) and a fun lesson. Boomwhackers are pitched percussion instruments played by, well, whacking them. I write out the music, color coded, and the kids play when their color of note comes up.

Last week one of the fifth graders decided to act like the Boomwhacker he was assigned was part of his anatomy (predictable). When that didn’t get a reaction, he acted like it was a bong (WAY not predictable.) When I told people, they said maybe he’s seen it in movies. I can only hope so, but….

Tuesday, my little, sweet kindergarten class came in. (Okay, I’m joking. They’re little, but not so sweet. Pretty terrible, actually.) Some of them sat boy-girl-boy-girl (not unusual). Then the boys put their arms across the backs of the girls chairs and the girls leaned into the boys’ sides! One of the boys stroked the girl’s cheek! I finally picked up my jaw enough to ask what was going on, and the other kids said, “They LIKE each other.” Well, that was enough for one boy to move away, but what the living hell? When I told the counselor about it, she said another teacher had said the girls in that class were calling one of the boys sexy and “MANCANDY!” WHAT. THE. LIVING. HELL? Kindergarten!!!

That same day, when the fourth graders came in, I told them to zip it, and one of the boys made an obscene gesture with his tongue in his cheek (literally). I couldn’t believe it, but then he did it again. I walked into the teacher’s room next door and said it was time for me to retire.

HOW do these kids know this stuff? Okay, maybe they learn it from other kids at school but where do THOSE kids learn it? One kid (not one mentioned above) admitted he snuck his mom’s iPad so he could watch Game of Thrones and True Blood. Other kids go to R-rated movies with their parents, either because their parents don’t tell them no, or the parents can’t find a sitter.

But my biggest concern is, what if they’re NOT learning it from the movies? What if this is what they’re learning at home? We talk about teaching changing from years past–but the most rapid change I’ve seen has been in the past five years. So many of the children are treated as little adults that they don’t know how to be children. They listen to grown up music and wear shirts (made for kids) that say “I’m Sexy and I Know It” and “LMFAO” (I know the last one is a band, but COME ON.) The fifth grade girls have to be repeatedly told not to let their bra straps show, and one got a fake tattoo tramp stamp and tied up the back of her shirt so everyone could see it.

I’m just sad and stunned and hoping I can retire by the time that kindergarten class gets to 5th grade.

Introducing Indie Author Linda Andrews

Linda Andrews lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, three children and a menagerie of domesticated animals. While she started writing a decade ago, she always used her stories to escape the redundancy of her day job as a scientist and never thought to actually combine her love of fiction and science. DOH! After that Homer Simpson moment, she allowed the two halves of her brain to talk to each other. The journeys she’s embarked on since then are dark, twisted and occasionally violent, but never predictable.

The Blurb: The extraterrestrials have landed and they’re human.

Rae Hemplewhite didn’t believe in aliens until a close encounter with out-of-this-world technology drags her into the extraterrestrial security program. Helping alien refugees adjust to life on Earth is difficult enough, but her first clients have a price on their heads. Plus, her new partner seems torn between the urge to kiss her or kill her.

And that’s the good news.

The bad news: Alliances are forming in deep space. If Rae doesn’t keep her witnesses alive long enough to transfer their top secret information to the right faction of humanity, Earth will become a battlefield.

What was the inspiration for this book? My husband is a big conspiracy and UFO buff, so one summer we had watched maybe 20 hours of documentaries from Netflix about the topic. About 16 hours in, something just clicked in my brain. Actually two things did, but the first was the one I found characters for. It began with two small questions–What if aliens were really here on Earth and what if some of them were human? From that came Blue Maneuver.
What’s next for you? Currently, I’m sprinting for the finish line on a paranormal romance centered around the magical town of Amores. It’s a Valentine’s Day story that features a heroine who is cursed to love too much and a man who doesn’t think he’s lovable. After that I’m going to finish destroying most of the world in the two Redaction sequels.
When you’re procrastinating, what do you do? I love to play Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, read blogs, play Montezuma and answer emails.
How many books in your TBR pile? 175 books. Fortunately, most of them are ebooks. For pleasure (pardon the pun) I read romance and mysteries. I also have my favorite urban fantasy writers and will pick up almost anything if it appeals to me at the time.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure? Going out to eat with my husband. All but one of my children are adults but I still feel guilty about going out to eat breakfast without them. Of course, my kids don’t wake up until after lunch so I shouldn’t feel guilty.
Name 3 of your favorite things. Reading, sleeping and eating. Not in that particular order and never in equal amounts. I really, really like to sleep.
Where can readers find you? My website is: http://www.lindaandrews.net My blog is http://lindaandrews.wordpress.com Twitter:  @LindaAndrews    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...

Be sure to comment for a chance to win a copy of her book!

Free Books–Good or Bad?

I know, it seems weird that free books could possibly be bad, but that’s the discussion going on at one of my loops right now. Authors are offering their books for free, leading to a glut of free books and people won’t spend money to buy books that aren’t free.

 

I’m guilty of both. Midnight Sun is currently free on Amazon (and in the top 20 overall) and I have hundreds of books on my Nook. BUT I’m still buying books. I tend not to tweet or Facebook about books that aren’t free, because dang, I already do a lot of retweeting. But I do still buy books, like the new Nora and the Robyn Carr book that I’d already bought but couldn’t unlock, and the dozens of books I’ve bought to replace the paperbacks on my shelf. I’ve bought indie books if they appeal to me, and I’ve bought books of friends to support them.

What I do worry about when it comes to free books is the expectation that an author will make all of her books free at one point. I know one author who has only been self-publishing a few months and already has made both of her books free. I at least waited until Midnight Sun had been out 9 months.

I’ve also wondered if that’s why I’m not getting as many comments on my Indie Wednesdays, because why comment for a chance to win the book when more than likely, it’s going to go free sooner or later?

But overall, I don’t see free books as a bad thing. I just wish I had more time to read them!

Goals the Week of OMG Busy

This week is going to Kick. My. Butt.

First, the aide who does lunch duty with me is taking the week off and they don’t get subs so I have lunch duty on my own. I may beg for help, at least the last ten minutes of lunch so that one person can take the kids who are done outside and the other can stay with the kids who are still eating.

Then, parties! Retirement parties, birthday parties, graduation parties!

On the plus side, three grade levels are having field trips, and two of the grade levels are having them Friday which means after lunch duty I am DONE for the day!

So.

1) Go see The Avengers. Sorry, that has to be at the top of my list. We actually already have the 3D glasses. Fred’s are Captain America and mine are Iron Man

2) Go to the library to pick up Unholy Night. DYING to read this book.

3) Write.

4) Exercise

5) Cook/keep up house

6) PARTY–Mary B’s retirement dinner Thursday

7) PARTY–Mom’s birthday Friday

8) PARTY–Josh’s graduation from the CC on Saturday

See why I’m tired in advance?

80s Flashback

The restaurant where we go every Sunday has been playing 80s music, and it’s made me crave more, so I’ve been listening to the 80s alternative channel on Slacker Radio on my iPhone. It’s made me so happy! I’ve heard songs I’ve completely forgotten about, that I’ve loved. Here are a few that I heard this week:

Enya

Howard Jones

Midnight Oil

Go-Gos

INXS

I know there are more, but, wow, made me happy!

Now, time to work on my cowboy Also, to watch the workers pour cement at the house behind me. Neighbors are getting an addition!

 

The Winner of Bella Street’s Book Is…..

Linda Andrews! Contact me a mfechter @ gmail .com and let me know what format you’d like to receive!

 

Happy Friday, y’all! Gonna be a busy one!

Booksellers’ Best and The Book That I Love

I got a call yesterday that Something to Talk About is a finalist in the long contemporary category of Booksellers Best, sponsored by GDRWA!

The call came when I was talking to my husband, crying because I’d screwed up our plane ticket purchase. I’d gotten my Smashwords payment, I’d called the bank to raise the limit I can spend a day, I’d filled out the itinerary–and bought tickets for the wrong day! Now I don’t even know how that happened because I’d been searching for that day for, well, days. But when the confirmation itinerary came through with the day BEFORE—Thank God Expedia has a panic button and I could cancel, but my money won’t be back in my account until next week. Considering that the plane tickets went up $30 each from Tuesday to Wednesday….UGH.

So anyway, I get the call and I look at the unfamiliar number and do something I never do…call back. The woman says, “I was just leaving you a message!” I said, “Who is this?” She said, “Patty S (not even going to TRY to spell it) calling to congratulate you.”

Of course the poor woman got my whole story because, dang, it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten one of those calls. And for it to be this book….that makes me really happy. AND, if you haven’t gotten it yet, it’s only $2.99 at BN.com!

Now, to get to work on the next one

Introducing Indie Author Bella Street

Bella Street is another Indie author I met through Indie Romance. She’s written an adorable sweet paranormal romance called Kiss Me, I’m Irish. Be sure to comment for a chance to win a copy!

 

What was the inspiration for this book?

Many time-travel books feature characters going back in time, so I thought it would be fun to reverse that. Add to that my favorite historical time period (Regency) and the lure of the Irish in the South, and I ended up with a light-hearted romance.

What’s next for you?

Book 2 in this series (Time For Love). There will be 3 books, all time-travel romance and all in Tennessee. The next one features elements of the War of Northern Aggression and a mysterious girl.

When you’re procrastinating, what do you do?

Haunt time-wasting, but oh-so-addictive websites like Awkward Family Photos, Demotivational, Photo Bomb etc. Cheap entertainment that gives my brain a break. LOL

How many books in your TBR pile?

About 200. There is just never enough time to read all the books I find. But I keep plugging away. Reading is my first love before writing!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?

Not very original here. Chocolate. To be even more specific See’s chocolate. Fairly expensive for a mom with a kid in college, but soooo yummy. And I have no self-control. I could never limit myself to just one piece. So it’s a good thing I rarely buy it!

Name 3 of your favorite things.

Besides chocolate? My friends and family, of course. A good book. And time to read it!!

Where can readers find you?

Website: www.bellastreetwrites.com

Blog: www.bellastreetwrites.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bella-...

Twitter: @BellaStreet

Thanks so much for having me, MJ! It’s been a delight!

Goals for the First Week of May

23 more days with the kids. In there are the talent show and field day and a mess of field trips now that testing is over.

Last week was Not Good as far as goal meeting. I had two crazy days taking care of the baby kitty, then two days crying and catching up on sleep.

I also realized my WIP is going to be more complicated than I thought. So I’m giving myself until the end of the month. Which means I have to kick butt this summer.

The cool thing about being music teacher this time of year? When kids go on field trips, I get a free period when their class is supposed to come to music. Monday, 4th grade is on a field trip (which means I also don’t have lunch duty), and Thursday kinder and 3rd grade are going. So yay!

This week:

Kick writing schedule into high gear
Write a blog post for Tori Scott
Visit my SIL for her birthday–she had foot surgery last week and needs some cheering up
Exercise
Keep up house

Not overwhelming–a good week to kick the writing into first place.