M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 45

The Nook Tablet

So, I got a Nook Tablet for my birthday. I was tempted by the Kindle Fire, but most of my purchases are on the Nook, so I thought I’d stay with it. There’s nothing wrong with my other Nook except that it’s e-ink and not illuminated. And I didn’t like the clicking buttons on the side.

So. Get the Nook, love it. Put my books on shelves, browse magazines (you can buy individual issues, not just subscriptions–fun!) Also, all the books I uploaded from Calibre and Adobe were all in the same place, unlike on my old Nook, where some were in My Documents.

Then I buy the Android chip to root it so I can also read Kindle books on it. THAT was a frustrating day, let me tell you. Finally I googled and found out the Nook has to be plugged in for it to see the chip (which was nearly impossible to get in, it was so tiny.) So. Android now. Kindle, some other ereader app, Angry Birds, etc. But my bookshelves are gone on the Nook app and there’s no way to browse magazines. But Kindle has a lot of free books and I can read them on something bigger than my phone.

Then I try reading a PDF in the other ereader app, Aldiko. No way to make the font bigger for the whole book–you have to manipulate each PAGE. What a PITA.

Just now the Nook wasn’t recognizing the WiFi in the house to download books from Amazon, so I restarted it. Guess what? It went back to just being a Nook. If I hadn’t spent the extra $35 on that Android chip, I’d just leave it like that. Also, the Android chip sucks the battery like damn. I read about 90 pages yesterday and did some searching and lost 40% of the battery.

So essentially the rooted Tablet is a bigger iPhone. The lesson? the tablet is pretty cool on its own. I wish I hadn’t spent the money on the chip, so I think I’ll read as many Kindle books as I care to, then reboot it as a Nook and keep it like that.

And the Winner of Carolyn Hughey’s Book is….

Mary W/A Cora Blu! Contact me at mfechter @ gmail .com with what format you’d like and I’ll hook you up!

 

Fiesta holiday for me today–woot! 3 Day weekend!

Spending Birthday Money

Time for something light

My mom and I joke that we spend our birthday money over and over again. Every time we see something we like, we say, “Well, I got that money for my birthday….” even though we have said the same thing half a dozen times.

I have several things I’m looking at.

1) Game of Thrones on DVD. I watched the whole season on Netflix and had the DVD set in my Amazon cart a couple of times, but didn’t pull the trigger. I can get a used Blu-Ray for less than $40.

2) New Crocs, in brown. I have them in black already but my brown sandals are in bad shape. If I’d realized they CAME in brown in the first place, I would have just bought them then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) a cool burlap purse from Etsy. Because I don’t have enough purses (not to mention the ability to make them). But these are COOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) Cool tin jewelry from my favorite tin jewelry maker. I have a necklace and 3 or 4 pair of earrings she made but she has this really cool tulip set that I love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll probably wait until the arts and crafts fair this weekend. Maybe I’ll find something more fun. What do you do with your birthday money?

 

Introducing Indie Author Carolyn Hughey

Mary, thank you for inviting me here today to be your guest.  It’s always nice to connect with new readers and make new friends.

I’m traditionally published by Avalon Books under my real name, Carolyn Hughey, but have recently dipped my toes in the Indie arena and I’m loving it!

What was the inspiration for this book?

The Last Witness is my first mystery and my first Indie publication that’s written under my pen name, K. T. Roberts. The theme of The Last Witness is based on a true story that I twisted into something quite original, and consists of many interesting twists and turns with a surprise ending you’ll never see coming.  I had fun writing this story for several reasons, one of which was the interaction I had with my sister, a former undercover detective working for the NYPA/NYPD who guided me through the proper procedures, and I learned a lot along the way about how the justice system works.  And the other reason is that I love reading and writing in the suspense/mystery genre.

When I come up with an idea, I always know the beginning and the end, and of course that middle is sort of left up in the air.  I plot out the story and begin the process.  And then, something happens along the way, maybe it’s a muse who’s whispering in my ear, or maybe it’s one of the characters complaining to me about the ending, which puts a kink in the original plot.  But in all honesty, I love surprising my readers with an unexpected ending.  If you’ve figured out how my story is going to end by the middle of the story, I think it takes all the fun out of it and becomes what I consider to be a boring read.  Of course, not everyone likes that originality.  A review of my first lighthearted contemporary was to the contrary.  The commenter loved the story, but she gave me 3 stars instead of her intended 5 stars because she didn’t like my version of the happily ever after. Obviously, I would have preferred the 5 stars, but I appreciated her honesty.

What’s next for you?

K. T. is currently editing a contemporary with a little bit of spice, something that’s not part of Avalon’s rules.  It’s titled Magnetic Attraction and will be ready for sale by end of February, beginning of March.  And then my next novel will be Illusive Justice, Book 2 in my NYPD Detective series.  The tag line is:  What if a teddy bear belonging to a child who was kidnapped ten years earlier shows up on his parents doorstep?

When you’re procrastinating, what do you do?

Take a day off and go to the mall.  And like your previous guest, I’m surfing the Internet checking on my sales ranking, what’s happening on Wattpad with my free read, Twitter . . . you get the idea.   Here’s the link to my free read: http://www.wattpad.com/3386362-the-last-witness-k-t-roberts  And after you read it, please leave me a comment.  I always love hearing from my readers.

4.How many books in your TBR pile?

Wow!  That’s a loaded question. Ack! Uh . . . I have 26 on my Kindle and six John Grisham books on the shelf.  There are lots more, but I’m too embarrassed to tell you. I’m a full-time writer who has to force myself to read after writing all day.  Recognizing how important it is to read, I’ve started a new regiment where I stop writing at 5:00 o’clock every day and read until I have to pull myself away to cook dinner.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?

Chocolate has to be number one, but I’ve been known to enjoy massages, manicures and pedicures on a regular basis too.

Name 3 of your favorite things.

Besides my husband and our children, chocolate, cooking/creating recipes, getting together with friends, and writing—not necessarily in that order, and I know that’s more than three, but I just can’t seem to shut up.

Where can readers find you?

http://carolynhughey.com

http://carolyn-hughey.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/#!/ScribBLINGDIVA

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1266948307

Please comment for a chance to win her book!

RIP, Little Kitty

My heart is broken. Despite everything I tried, my little fighter kitty died this morning.

He did great on Saturday, sucking down 2-3 dropperfuls at a feeding. I went and bought a bottle so I wouldn’t have to keep refilling and reheating the dropper, but he wasn’t strong enough to drink from it (the nipple was too hard for him to suck) so I went back to the dropper, which he could suck the milk out of. Cindi called me Saturday afternoon to say her kitten from the same litter died and she was so upset it was something she did. I told her that hers wasn’t very strong or active compared to mine, when I saw it with the litter on Friday, trying to reassure her. We both hoped my little guy would make it.

Saturday night he was the hit of the party.

Sunday he didn’t eat as much, but he started crawling out of his box, and when I set him on one end of a sofa cushion, he crawled to another. He was strong and a fighter.

I was worried about what to do with him Monday, but Mom volunteered, and they picked him up Monday morning. I had to get everything ready just like for a baby. I even typed out instructions. When I went to pick him up after school, he was starting to fuss (again, like a baby) and so I sat and fed him and visited with Mom and Joe and drank a non-alcoholic mango margarita and fed the baby, who fascinated their giant dog. The kitten couldn’t quite settle down to eat, and maybe I overfed him, I don’t know. But he didn’t stop crying all night. Even when he was asleep, he was whimpering. I tried rubbing his tummy, thinking it might be colic. I got him to poop a bit and pee a lot, but not stop crying.

At three AM, after giving him most of a dropperful, I put him back in his box and went back to bed. The plan was to give Mom a check so she could drop him at the vet. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I remembered we’d just changed his formula from liquid to powder.

When I woke up, he was asleep, and quiet. I ran to HEB to get the liquid formula he’d been on, but when I picked him up to feed him, he was very lethargic. The little guy who was crawling on my shirt last night to cry in my ear wasn’t even making an effort to swallow. I knew it was too late. I held him against my chest until I had to leave for work (breakfast duty and testing today, no way I could be late.) I kissed him goodbye and Fred held him and tried to perk him up by sitting by the heater.

I cried all the way to school. Even if I’d had time to put on make-up, it would have washed off. I had to lock up my phone because of testing rules, so as soon as my student was done with his test and I turned in materials and could take a restroom break, I ran to the office to call Fred from the school phone. He confirmed that the kitty had died, and he’d buried him.  (See why I’ve been married 25 years? And why I write romance?) I started crying all over again, and have been, off and on, all day.

I know, it’s ridiculous to love something I only had 4 days so much, but I did. I miss him. The house feels weird without him next to me.

But I’ll never do the bottle-feeding kitty thing again. I can’t stop thinking, “If only.”

 

My Pinterest Party

Can you believe I only took one picture? It was crazy.

I started the project on Thursday, making the chocolate bowls for the ice cream (hit!) and sugar cookies (miss!)

Friday night I made the flautas (tasted good but looked like hell. The corn tortillas cracked. I baked the cupcakes that night, too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning I decorated the cupcakes (froze them first to make them easier to cut), made potato salad, which I didn’t like, made appetizers, put the stuff for the chicken tacos in the crock pot (easy!) and made the sangria, which I didn’t like. Too sweet and VERY expensive, with two bottles of wine and a peach liquer and fruit. Then I went shopping for a bottle for my kitten, got lunch, came home and napped. Got up, made corn salad, shredded the chicken for the tacos and decorated the cookies.

 

Barely had everything out before the company came. Everything was a hit, but dang there was a lot of food. And a lot of work. The next party—I think we’ll order in

Goals for the Week of Testing

I know, y’all were wondering what happened to me. I’m SO TIRED! First, one of the teachers found a newborn litter of kittens on Friday and I brought one home to try to keep it alive. As of this morning, he was doing pretty good. He hasn’t eaten well this afternoon, though, and he’s fussy. He’s strong, though, and can climb up the towel and out of his box!

Then there was the party. I cleaned Wednesday, cooked Thursday and Friday night and STILL had to clean and cook on Saturday morning until about 11. After that, I didn’t sit down except to socialize and feed the kitten. The party lasted until 11 PM, then I fed the kitten and watched Love Actually. Woke up at 4 to feed him again, then 7:30. That was the last time he ate well. The longer between feedings, the weaker he is when he does eat. But heck, the little guy just climbed out of his box again. He’s bonded to me. Fred tried to feed him with no luck. Mom is going to babysit him tomorrow.

So my goals this week:

1) Keep little kitty alive

2) Finish my short story (The last scene I wrote before I found the kitten? The barn cat had kittens on the hero’s bed.)

3) Breakfast duty

4) Survive testing–two days for me, one student. BORING.

5) Keep up house. I just need to maintain the living area and bathrooms, but the kitchen needs to be cleaned, and the bedrooms  were completely overlooked when I was getting ready for the party.

6) Exercise, since I didn’t at all last week.

7) Go to an arts and crafts show next Saturday.

Thank goodness it’s a four day work week, since it’s Fiesta. Still will be a long one!

The Big Day

 

Tonight’s my Pinterest party. I will report on the success of the recipes later

 

The Winner of Laurie Kellogg’s Book is…..

Roxy Burroughs! Roxy, contact me at mfechter @gmail. com and let me know your preferred format!

 

Happy Friday, y’all!

Introducing Golden Heart Winner and Indie Author Laurie Kellogg

Laurie Kellogg and I finalled in the Golden Heart together a couple of times, and I’ve always admired her ability to be consistently golden! Recently, she’s gone indie, and I’m here to introduce you to her!

What was the inspiration for this book?

All through high school, I wore a MIA/POW bracelet. When the prisoners returned during Operation Homecoming in ’73, I was heartbroken that ‘my soldier’ never made it back.  I’ve always wondered what it must have been like for those brave men to return home after so long—some were held captive and tortured for nearly NINE years. Those who were fathers were strangers to their children. Many came home to discover their wives and sweethearts had moved on into other relationships. I never forgot these heroic men, so when I began writing, I felt compelled to give a couple who’d sacrificed so much a happy-ever-after. This book, The Memory of You, was a two-time nominee and winner of the RWA® Golden Heart® award and a Romantic Times® American Title I finalist under another title.

What’s next for you?

I’m releasing my first Golden Heart winner A Little Bit of Déjà Vu, which incidentally beat The Memory of You for the GH when they were finalists together. I’ll also be publishing another of my Golden Heart finalists, which I renamed Hypnotic Seduction, under my name as L.L. Kellogg to differentiate it from my other books. My L.L. Kellogg books are red-hot romantic comedies that are “A Little Naughty and a Lot of Fun!” They don’t have the language and highly adventuresome love scenes found in erotic romances, however, they have more provocative plot lines and the focus on the heroes’ and heroine’s physical relationship bit more than the usual contemporary romance. They’re basically a racier single title romance with a Harlequin® Blaze heat level. What can I say? I like to write out of the box NY has established for romances. It’s why I’m an indie author.

When you’re procrastinating, what do you do?

I cook and plan vacations. I love to feed people, and I’m a travel agent wannabe who has to write up an itinerary with all of the attractions, times, prices, restaurant recommendations, and reservation numbers. I like to know what we’ll be doing on any given day while we’re away so we don’t waste our vacation sitting around saying, “What do you want to do today?”

How many books in your TBR pile?

Way too many. Since publishing my first book, I’ve been lucky to find time to read a book a week. Therefore, I’m extremely selective about what I choose to read. If a book doesn’t allow me to turn off my internal editor (which I have a lot of trouble doing), I toss it aside and pick up the next from my TBR pile.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?

Staying in my PJs all day and watching romantic movies. And if I really want to be bad, I add potato chips with homemade green onion and garlic dip.

Name 3 of your favorite things.

Romance books and movies

Going out to dinner with friends or family

Attending writers’ conferences to hang out with people who understand that just because I hear and talk to imaginary people doesn’t mean I’m crazy

Where can readers find you?

Readers can connect with me at http://twitter.com/#!/Laurie_Kellogg , http://www.LaurieKellogg.com , and http://Facebook.com/Laurie.Kellogg.Books