Vivian Arend's Blog, page 36

12 Days of Giving 2015: #12

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Last Challenge- no cost except time.

Give a moment to remember what’s important.

This is a season of great importance in many religions. For other families there are traditions and  rituals that help bring the family together and give us something to celebrate. Slow down in the middle of the visiting, the cooking, the serving, eating, unwrapping and squealing to put it all in perspective.

Another part of being thankful…

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Thank you for joining me over the past days. I’ll post the names of the people drawn for gifts and for the $100 charity donations on Dec 27.

From my heart I  (and Nicole!) want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful holiday season. I’m so thankful for all of you.

12 Days of Giving 2015: #11

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Time to reach out and touch someone. The challenge today is to let someone you know you appreciate them.

Give someone a hug.

There’s no way I could make it without my friends. At this time of year I’m thinking about the people who have made a difference in my life, and the list goes on and on. Today, even if it’s a one-liner, or a one minute phone call, let at least three people know you are happy they are in your life.

And I’ve got gifts to give away. Some people I appreciate (I could list more but have to stop somewhere!) 

Elle Kennedy, Lauren Dane, Deanna Chase, Cora Seton

      

   

 

 

During 2015, these authors encouraged me to write the next word, to reach for the next step. They’ve been supportive and/or demanding when needed, and I love them for it.

So my gift is to give your friends. Or you–I’ve got one book from each of these authors to giveaway. If I pull your name for –Lauren Dane– and you’ve read all her books, then you get to ask me to send your favorite to your friend. (ebook or print, your choice as long as I can get it to you somehow.)

Leave a comment to let me know who you’re going to give an extra hug today!

12 Days of Giving 2015: #10

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Time to refocus…

Give a whole lot of Thanks.

When my kids were young and we lived in a rather remote location, I found a homeschooling community online. It was wonderful to have ‘adult’ conversation during the day, even though it was all written communication. The funniest thing though–I remember a lot of the ladies mentioning taking from Thanksgiving to Christmas off from formal schooling with their littlest children since the kids got lots of informal school writing Christmas cards, doing math during baking, etc.

I thought this was the most extraordinary thing. Take off from mid-october to Dec 25? Crazy! Then I realized they were taking about US Thanksgiving to December 25, which isn’t as insane as it sounds.

But let’s go a step farther. We’ve been busy lately, really busy, right? And there are moments of frustration that sneak in and make us want to throw up our hands or sit down and have a good cry.

I challenge you to stop for just a minute and make a Thankful List. Fifteen things in fifteen minutes or less. What are you thankful about this year? From the BIG picture down to the littler things. Because it’s tough to be stressed over what’s happening in our lives while we’re being thankful for what’s happening in our lives.

One commenter will get a $10 gift certificate to the books store of your choice! You don’t have to share your 15 things if you don’t want, but leave me a comment to be entered for the gift.

12 Days of Giving 2015: #9

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It’s Monday, there are four more shopping days until Christmas, and if it’s not bought, wrapped and shipped already, it’s probably not getting to where it’s going on time. You have a houseful of people descending in a few days and the house needs to be scrubbed from top to bottom still. Panic setting in?

Give up trying to make things perfect.

Yeah, this is a bit of a revisit to the ‘Give yourself a break’ idea, but really. Think it through. The people who are coming to see you are coming to see you, (and your kids  ) and if the house is clean, but not picture perfect, are they really going to mind? Now be honest–some of us have people coming over who we could scrub for three weeks in prep for their arrival, and these peeps would still find something to complain about, re-organize or clean to a better standard.

:head desk:

So what’s the solution? Try even harder to meet a standard that you can never achieve, or take a look around and make sure your house, your menu and yourself are the way you want them?

I suppose the flip side of this challenge is to make sure our expectations of others are reasonable. Our partners can’t know the perfect gift for us if we don’t tell them. Our families don’t know how to help if we don’t ask. The whole mind-reading thing works great in stories, but not so much in real life!

If there’s one thing that would really make this season special for you, have you told anyone, or made sure you’ve arranged for it to happen? Because that’s a far more achievable perfect than meeting everyone else’s expectations.

Today’s gift to you is a your choice of one of my print books, signed if possible, or any two of my backlist ebooks. Leave a comment telling me the one place you’d go for the holidays if you could (and which book/books you’d pick  if you win.) I’ll give out gifts to two commenters.

12 Days of Giving 2015: #8

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I promise I’m not going to make too many of these challenges cost $$, but this one might.

Give a kid a gift.

If you have a local charity, you know right now is the time they are really looking for help. Angel Trees, or whatever the organization is called in your location, have the kids names and information already waiting. These are kids who won’t get a present if someone else doesn’t pick their request up. (And the older ones, while not as much fun to buy for, need loving too)

But you know what? There’s also another way you can join this challenge, and it’s no cost and sneaky organization efficient, while also teaching your own kids a lesson in giving. If you’ve got a family, and there will be new ‘stuff’ coming into your house in the next couple weeks, what if you grabbed a box, and had a few ‘old’ toys (kids or otherwise) get passed onto a thrift shop?

It will make more room in the toybox (electronic/computer/kitchen shelf) and the proceeds from good thrift shops turn around by not only providing an inexpensive place to purchase things, but often the profits stay in your community.

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I have a couple copies of the children’s book “A Porcupine in a Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 days of Christmas.”

Remember, you don’t have to DO the challenge if you can’t, this is just to make us think, right? If you’d like to have your name added for this gift, make a comment about anything holidayish you love.

12 Days of Giving 2015: #7

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Moving into high gear today. This challenge might make you squirm:

Give away a book (or two)

I readily admit to cheating on this one. Since I’m reading more and more ebooks, I’ve been cutting back my print collection. As I replace beloved books in digital format, I’ve been passing on the print version to try and hook others…I mean, to share my love of reading. 

If you have a book on your shelf that you simply love–why not pass it on to another to enjoy?

Now, I have two new books to give away- The Ghost Exterminator is a signed copy.  You don’t HAVE to give away a book to enter, just leave a comment. But I hope you take up the challenge!

***

Rebel meets by-the-book businessman. Love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

Jo Banks has been seeing ghosts since she was six, so normal was never really an option. Embracing the weird and shunning normalcy makes her the top Ghost Exterminator in her region. Then she meets Wyatt Haines, the uptight, materialistic and irritatingly sexy owner of a successful resort chain.

Wyatt’s new Victorian inn is extremely haunted and the Commando Barbie Ghost Exterminator is just the girl for the job. Except Wyatt doesn’t believe in ghosts, or Jo, or anything outside the norm. He’ll have to start believing fast, though, because Jo’s extermination goes awry and accidentally throws two prankster ghosts into Wyatt’s body to haunt him.

Every time he falls asleep, the mischievous ghosts take over, turning his perfectly ordered life into chaos. His waking hours are no less chaotic, with his thoughts possessed by Jo’s quirky appeal and Playmate physique.

Unfortunately, Jo’s ghost-exing mojo is on the fritz just when she needs it the most to unhaunt Wyatt and figure out why his inn is swarming with ghosts. Preferably before his spirit is permanently separated from his mouth-watering body.

And before her heart is permanently attached to the most sexy, frustrating, normal man she’s ever met.

Warning: This book contains prankster ghosts, PG bondage, and a not-so-PG trip to the mile-high club.

***

 

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen…

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.

 

 

***

To be entered to win one of these books, leave a comment: Which book would you give away (if you’re brave enough) from off your shelf?

12 Days of Giving 2015: #6

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Make sure you’ve added your name in the 

Okay, now that everyone is back; this is another challenge that will take time, but not much money.

Give a letter of encouragement.

Some people are very very good at this. It doesn’t have to be long, like pages and pages, but even a few lines can make a huge difference in a person’s day. Who can you write to? Your parents/ children/ siblings/ friends/ relatives/ teachers/ co-workers/postal carrier/ bank teller/ pastor/ someone in the military service/ and many more.

One year when money was tight, my hubby and I exchanged letters as Christmas gifts. That’s all. A letter. He wrote how much he appreciated me and some of the highlights he saw in our past year. Some of the things he was looking forward to in the coming year. I cried when I read his note, and it meant more to me than any store bought goodie could ever have. I still have that letter…

If you’d like to be entered to receive a set of DreamMakers ebooks (you can gift them to a friend if you already have them), you can add your comment here. Let me know- have you ever sent or received a letter that made someone smile? Or is there someone you plan to send one to now?

Friday Feature: Falling Freestyle

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Are you a fan of a lot of heat in your books? How about a menage relationship between life-long friends? If so, look no further than FALLING, FREESTYLE!

He continued to stare away from her as she waited. Temperamental ass. Fine. She knew how to handle Kane when he was in a mood. She grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled hard. He slipped off the railing to land in a puddle at her feet.

“Fuck it, Dara, what was that for?”

She glared at him. “I wanted to apologize for springing this idea of mine on you, and it’s too freaking cold to stand here in my bare feet while you pout.”

“I do not pout, and damn right you should apologize.”

She stuck out her lower lip. “Did I offend your delicate feelings with my wicked proposal?”

He leered at her as he rose to his feet. “Hell no, I was just trying to figure out how you managed to avoid suggesting it a long time ago. Two righteous studs at your beck and call for years, and it took you this long to finally come to your senses?”

She shivered, and he scooped her up, carried her to the hot tub and placed her carefully on the rim.

“Are you going to swim with me?” she asked again. The bottoms of her feet tingled as she lowered them into the heated water and a groan of pleasure escaped her lips.

Kane stared into the cabin. “I think I’m going to skip it right now.”

Dara leaned over to see what Kane was looking at. Inside the living room Jack gestured madly at Kane. She laughed out loud. “You getting his sign language or shall I interpret?”

“Fucker.” Kane yanked open the door. “What?”

“Kiss her already.”

Purchase Links

Digital: Amazon US | Amazon UK |Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |  Samhain | iBooks US | iBooks UK | iBooks CA| GooglePlay | Scribd

Print FREESTYLE Anthology: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Booksamillion | Powells | Samhain

12 Days of Giving 2015: #5

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Upping the ante. This one is going to cost you- a little. Ready for the challenge?

Give to the food bank.

Over the holidays we usually have special dinners to prepare or attend. Even when money is tight, we try to have things that make the season special to the family. For years, the only time I bought Gherkin pickles was at Christmas. That $1 jar of tiny sweet pickles always signaled the start of the season to my daughter.

When you’re shopping this week, pick up one extra can of…something, and drop it into the food bank donation bin before you leave the store.

For every person who adds a comment to this thread, I’ll purchase an item for our local food bank. I also have the pick of my backlist in ebook for one commentor. Let me know what special food treat your family enjoys over the holidays.

12 Days of Giving 2015: #4

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Ready for a challenge? This one might be hard today.  Give someone a smile.

It might be hard, but even a little smile can change things. They say if you smile when you answer the phone, people can hear it in your voice. I know when I’m smiling it makes me feel better. And as we rush around shopping, cooking, working, it’s sometimes difficult to remember what’s going on our face can be intimidating to others.

Giving another person a smile is usually contagious and they’ll give you one right back. Or, they will wonder what you’ve been up to. Win win situation, I say! 

And add your name to this thread to be entered to win a romance ebook of your choice (up to $12 value) because romance makes me smile.