M.L. LeGette's Blog, page 46
March 26, 2013
Guest Author Stephanie Payne Hurt
I would like to introduce author Stephanie Payne Hurt, a romance novelist, to everyone. Thank you very much, Stephanie for being my guest! I find her tips of writing to be right on the mark. If you are an author and would like to be my guest, click here to find out how.
1. What’s your name?
Stephanie Payne Hurt
2. Where do you live?
Georgia (USA)
3. When did you start writing?
When I was a teenager which was over 25 years ago but only published my first book May 2012.
4. What type of books do you love writing the most?
Anything romance.
5. Share three tips about writing or publishing.
1: Write what’s in your heart.
2: Self Publish and be proud of it. Don’t let someone change your work to the point you don’t even recognize it.
3: Always reread your work out loud as you can get a feel of it that way.
6. What was the last book that you read? How would you rank it?
“A Marriage of Convenience” By: Doreen Owens Malek – I give this book 4 stars. It had all the things I love in it, cowboys, horses and romance. The story kept you guessing. I enjoyed it to the point I read it in two sittings.
7. Now pick one of your books and share a link.
“Rekindled Flame” Amazon
March 24, 2013
500 Likes! Good Golly!
I am stunned and thrilled by the enormous number of people liking my Facebook page in such a short amount of time. Thank you, thank you! I know that the best gift to share my gratitude is to publish my latest work, but alas, Quest for Milo isn’t ready yet. Instead, here is the first chapter to my second novel: The Tale of Mally Biddle. Thank you, over and over! Enjoy!
The Tale of Mally Biddle ~ Chapter One
Guest Author Rosie Amber
Thank you Rosie Amber for being my first guest! If you are an author and would like to be my guest, click here to find out how.
1. What’s your name?
Rosie Amber
2. Where do you live?
I live in Fleet, Hampshire, England.
3. When did you start writing?
I loved writing as a child, but only got back to it last year.
4. Share three tips about writing or publishing.
1. Writing about what you know can give it depth.
2. Don’t be afraid to try self-publishing.
3. Your future book sales will be to our children, they are all into electrical tech gear, so it’s most likely that they will buy mostly e-books.
5. What was the last book that you read? How would you rank it?
The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching, it was a paranormal YA book which was very good, I gave it 5*s.
6. Now pick one of your books and share a link.
Talk of the Playground UK Amazon / USA Amazon
March 18, 2013
Would You?
If you could save your country from tyranny, even if it meant your life … would you?
March 17, 2013
Louie
The farm has a new bottle-fed lamb this year. We’ve named him Louie and he is an absolute doll.
March 6, 2013
No Joke — April Fools Giveaway
No Joke – Win Big April Fools Giveaway
Kindle Fire HD 7″ Giveaway
April 1st
Bloggers who post will be entered to win $100 in gift cards and copies of the sponsoring author’s books. If you’re interested in signing up for this fabulous giveaway, then Click Here to sign up for a chance to win big!
March 2, 2013
Reviews by Readers — The Unicorn Girl
This morning, instead or working on book 3, I created this review sheet for Unicorn Girl. The hardest part was deciding which reviews to use. You people have given me so many marvelous ones!! I can’t thank you enough! I have plans on creating more like this one, but using the book blurb and quotes. What do you think?
Bloggin’ Awards
A big thank you AGAIN to A drip of Truth for nominating me for both these lovely awards.
The rules for this award are: 1 . Display the award logo on your blog. 2. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you. 3. State 7 things about yourself. 4. Nominate 7-15 bloggers for this award. 5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back.
So, here are 7 random tidbits about me:
1. I have a car but never drive.
2. I’m a member of a family farm so it’s a good thing I LOVE vegetables.
3. I wish my hair was curly.
4. I only sing if I am firmly positive I am alone.
5. I drink probably two to three cups of tea a day. My brother much, much, much more than that.
6. I live in knits.
7. I never wear makeup.
My nominees:
February 26, 2013
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
My Rank: 5 StarsSummary:
At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England’s history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England—until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight.
Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell’s student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.
My Take:
The book is massive, packed full (including footnotes) of historical details of magic that not only merge seamlessly with actual history, but boggle the brain. The amount of backbreaking work that Clarke put into the pages leaves me nearly speechless. Along with weighing over a pound and a half, the book is slow in pace. Not a dull yaw-to-death-middle-school-history-lesson slow but more like a sedate walk through the park slow. The atmosphere and inhabitants may not be riveting most of the time but they are constantly pleasing.
The writing is gorgeous. The dialogue is magnificent. The story’s strength is its humor, which flowed easily. Overall the tone was light and cheerful even though there were haunting parts that will not be leaving me any time soon. The characters (and there are many) are full bodied, rounded, and diverse. They are complicated and some did not show their redeeming qualities till the very end. Though I loathed the gentleman with thistle-down hair, he had the best lines. Clarke did a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous job with him. Not all my questions were answered, however, which seems rather odd with how much text is in the book … but luckily those hidden answers aren’t bugging me too greatly.
To be honest, I teetered on giving it 4 stars, but decided against it. It’s just too much of a massive feat of writing for me to downgrade it in the slightest. It’s too full of beautiful characters — too utterly imaginative. My only objection is that it went on a bit too long. The last two hundred pages are a whirlwind that highly reward the reader who has reached its pages and I didn’t put it down for a second until I was finished.
My Favorite Lines:
“Such nonsense!” declared Dr Greysteel. “Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful!”
“Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner,” said Strange. “That has a sort of moral usefulness, I suppose, in making one feel uncomfortable and encouraging sober reflection upon one’s imperfections.”
“And how shall I think of you?” He considered a moment and then laughed. ‘Think of me with my nose in a book!”
“What nobility of feeling! To sacrifice your own pleasure to preserve the comfort of others! It is a thing, I confess, that would never occur to me.”
It has been remarked (by a lady infinitely cleverer than the present author) how kindly disposed the world in general feels to young people who either die or marry. Imagine then the interest that surrounded Miss Wintertowne! No young lady ever had such advantages before: for she died upon the Tuesday, was raised to life in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and was married upon the Thursday; which some people thought too much excitement for one week.
“You mean to say he became mad deliberately?”
“…Nothing is more likely,” said the duke.
“It is these black clothes,” said Strange. “I am like a leftover piece of funeral, condemned to walk about the Town, frightening people into thinking of their own mortality.”
He screamed.
“Mmm?” inquired the gentleman.
“I…I would never presume to interrupt you, sir. But the ground appears to be swallowing me up.”
“It is a bog,” said the gentleman, helpfully.
“It is certainly a most terrifying substance.”
“you must learn to live as I do – in the face of constant criticism, opposition and censure. That, sir, is the English way.”
Could soldiers read? Mr Norrell did not know. He turned with a look of desperate appeal to Childermass.
Childermass shrugged.
“Beware Stephen! There will probably be a magical combat of some sort. I daresay I shall have to take on different forms – cockatrice, raw head and bloody bones, rains of fire, etc., etc. You may wish to stand back a little!”
..(As to what they might be resting upon, Stephen was determined not to consider).
“I have been enchanted!”
February 21, 2013
Liebster Award
Thank you, thank you R.G Dole, runner of the darkly exciting book reviewing blog, A drip of Truth. She nominated me for the Liebster award.
Here are the rules of the game: thank the person who nominated you, answer the 11 question they have asked you, nominate 11 other people (i fudged here) and ask them 11 questions in return. According to the guidelines the Liebster award should be sent to bloggers with less than 200 followers.
The Questions from R.G. and My Answers:
What is your favorite kind of cookie?
Chocolate chip, because they just CAN’T be beat. They just can’t. And when I say chocolate chip, I mean homemade with TONS of chocolate and walnuts.
If you only had one day left to live, what would you do?
If it was all preplanned? I would have a spectacular dinner with all sorts of fabulous things and mixed drinks — lots of mixed drinks. And I would eat and drink and laugh all night with my family. They are the best.
What is your goal, at this very moment?
To finish my novel.
What would be your ideal pet (it can be mythical)?
Dude. That’s a tough one. Of course I’m going mythical here. Let me see. If I was into horseback riding I would pick unicorn in a heartbeat, but I think what I’d really, really want would be a miniature dragon. I have a feeling that dragons come in a ‘larger than house size’ only, but there must be a breed that doesn’t get that big. 
Pirate or Ninja?
Pirate. But the seasickness and sharks would take getting used to.
Answer the question you imagine being right here.
The question I imagine here is: If you were an animal, what would you be? And my answer: Rabbit. I think. Though a tiger would be really cool … but I suspect rabbit.
If your life was a book, what would the title be?
Daydreamer.
Who is your favorite superhero?
Honestly, I don’t have one. I’ve never been all that into the superheros, though I certainly enjoy spiderman and batman.
What would you wish to know more about?
Concocting fabulous mixed drinks.
Do you prefer books or movies?
Eeee. I’m a writer and book blog reviewer but I’ve got to be honest. A glorious book will beat any movie, but movies are so much faster.
What would you prefer, to be the smartest person on earth but with no sense of humor, or to find everything amusing but never know what’s going on?
Both sound horrid! I would like to say neither, but if forced to choose I’d pick the latter.
And here are my nominees (i realize i don’t have eleven listed … so many of the people i follow are SO popular. silly rule.)
Ty: http://tyzeiter.blogspot.com/
Hannah: http://nr11blog.wordpress.com
Cameron: http://mydaybydaymusic.wordpress.com/
Meg and Maddi: http://megamad4books.com/
Michael: http://suburbandigs.wordpress.com/
Here are my questions:
1. If you could live anywhere in the world where would that be?
2. Burgers or pizza?
3. Introvert or extrovert?
4. If you could invite any three characters (from movies or books) to dinner at your house who would be invited?
5. Who is the one person you would be beside yourself to meet?
6. If you were able to suddenly time travel where would you go?
7. What t.v. show (if any) are you currently following?
8. What is your go to: Comedy or Drama?
9. What is your favorite sport?
10. What do you absolutely LOVE?
11. What do you absolutely HATE?
Cheers!
