Jennifer Shirk's Blog, page 23

The End of an Era (sort of)

Well, it finally happened.

Two things, actually.

When my kiddo outgrew her crib (like 7 years ago) and went into a big bed, we moved her to a bigger bedroom in the house. For the longest time, we kept the "baby room" as is hoping I'd get pregnant again and have the room ready for the second one.
But that never happened.

So...last week we finally took away the crib, the Snoopy border, and painted it Cooled Blue from Sherwin Williams.
<--We plan on making it an extra office for moi/Wii room/kiddo's art room. :-)


The other thing that happened is...we got rid of our swing set.

*gasp*

It hasn't really been used in about 2 years, but still...the yard looks so barren now. So life-changing.

What are we going to replace the swing set with?

Hmm...I really don't know. I'm still trying to get over the swing set being gone. An end of an era.
NO more little girl. Sniff, sniff.

Kiddo apparently has moved on already.
She suggested replacing the swing set with a POOL, a PUPPY, or a HOT TUB.

Really? Wow, thanks. What choices. Gee, they all sound...

TERRIBLE!!

 I'm leaning toward puppy or hot tub, but I can't tell you how many people are trying to talk me into a small pool. But as much as it would THRILL the kiddo, I'm not sure it would still be used once she is in college. That means I'd have about...8 years of real use. Hmm...

What do you think? If you had the means, what would you choose, POOL, PUPPY, or HOT TUB?

Book Fuss Friday

Happy Friday, all!!

Well, it's that time. Friday.
Time for BOOK FUSS FRIDAY! :-)

Today's book fuss is a book from my new publisher, Entangled Publishing.

The book?
The Marriage Bargain.

Have you heard the fuss about this book? No?!
Good grief! Get out of the box you've been living in and listen up. LOL

Long before I submitted to Entangled, I had been hearing about their books from author friends and on Goodreads and Twitter.
Well, then, I kept seeing people tweet about this particular book to the point that I finally thought, "For $2.99, I have to see what the fuss is about!"

Yes, folks, you read right.

I ACTUALLY BOUGHT A BOOK BECAUSE OF TWITTER.

So please don't tell me marketing there doesn't work.
Because it worked on me. :-)


Okay, on with the fuss...

Well, I read the book and LOVED it. The characters were a complete hoot and their chemistry leaped off the page. I was completely entertained. Yes, in my opinion, it was worth the fuss.

In fact, if you want to hear more about HOW successful this story is, read HERE.

And then you can read HERE about how it's now in mass market print.
Jennifer Probst is also doing a Q&A chat on Goodreads all of September if you're interested in learning even more.

Here's the blurb:

The Marriage Bargain

A marriage in name only... To save her family home, impulsive bookstore owner, Alexa Maria McKenzie, casts a love spell. But she never planned on conjuring up her best friend’s older brother—the powerful man who once shattered her heart. Billionaire Nicholas Ryan doesn’t believe in marriage, but in order to inherit his uncle’s corporation, he needs a wife and needs one fast. When he discovers his sister’s childhood friend is in dire financial straits, he’s offers Alexa a bold proposition. A marriage in name only with certain rules:
Avoid entanglement.
Keep things all business.
Do not fall in love.
The arrangement is only for a year so the rules shouldn’t be that hard to follow, right?
Except fate has a way of upsetting the best-laid plans....

Have you read this book? (you should. it's really cute)
Have you heard the fuss?

How I Sold My Novella (Told in Fairy-tale Format)

Once upon a time there was a lovely queen in the Kingdom of Writerville. (We'll call her Queen M) There was also a sweet and sometimes funny princess who does P90x and happens to look fabulous for her age. (We'll call her... Princess Jennifer)

Stay with me

Anyhew, Queen M emailed er, wrote a short quilled letter to Princess Jennifer one day. In the letter the Queen lamented about how nice it would be to have a book that would be released around Christmas time. Princess Jennifer couldn't agree more. So Queen M said to Princess Jennifer, "Hark, Entangled Publishing has a submission call for Christmas novellas now. Why don't we each write one and submit it there?"

Princess Jennifer could not have been more pleased at the news. Although she was a little concerned since she had never written a novella before. But she diligently set aside her Fast Draft manuscript she'd been working on and started writing her Christmas novella. Well, after a fortnight, Princess Jennifer was 3/4 of the way done with her novella and very happy with what she'd wrote. So she decided to email er, also write a short quilled letter to inquire on Queen M's progress.

Unfortunately, Queen M had sad news. She had not begun writing her Christmas story because of a feared conflict with her current publisher. But as disappointed as Princess Jennifer was, she continued to write and finish her novella and was able to submit it right on time.

Then lo and behold after another fortnight, someone from Entangled Publishing contacted her! Countess Stacy loved Princess Jennifer's novella although seemed quite puzzled over the princess' choice of using Cupid as a character in a Christmas story. (You see, she did not realize how warped a sense of humor the princess had.)

However, Princess Jennifer did not mind changing her story one bit and turned it into a Valentine's Day novella. Countess Stacy was delighted and quickly sent the contract over to the princess. Then they all lived happily ever after.
The end.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now the shorter Contemporary version of the story:

Entangled Publishing bought my novella
A LITTLE BIT CUPID!!!

A novella in which a loner must find true love before midnight on Valentine’s Day or risk having humanity lose love forever, and with the help of Cupid’s son himself, she seeks out Mr. Wrong while Mr. Right is right under her nose.

It's scheduled for release sometime in January, 2013!!!
WOOT!

Don't you just love happy endings?

Book Fuss Friday

Happy Friday!!!

I'm introducing a new segment for the fall/winter called
BOOK FUSS FRIDAY.
I thought it would be fun to discuss books that have been fussed about around the Net or that I personally want to fuss about. I will probably take some quotes from others who want to fuss about a book too. The one caveat: you can't fuss about your own book. :-)

So basically I'll talk about a BOOK, it'll be every FRIDAY and there will be some FUSS.

Hence, the genius post title.

I know. I'm good.

Anyhew, on with the post... I've been seeing The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak on Facebook and Goodreads a lot lately. In fact, it's hard to believe this book was published in 2005 and not just last week.

I was at a Labor Day BBQ last weekend and I happened to mention this book to a friend. She says to me, "That's weird. I just bought that book on Saturday." (Her daughter has to read it as a Freshman in high school) She then went on to tell me that as she was leaving the bookstore, a woman saw the book in her hands and had to stop her to tell her that The Book Thief was one of her favorite books. LOL

Sheesh. Talk about a fuss!

So naturally, I went to my public library to check it out. I'm on the wait list now.

Hopefully, I'll get it this week. The librarian told me I'm first on the list. (Yay!)

How about you? Ever read The Book Thief? Have you being seeing a lot of fuss about it recently?

**If you have a book you'd like to fuss about or have been seeing some fuss about a book you haven't read yet, email me (jennifer AT jennifershirk DOT com) I want to see what all the fuss is about too!**

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Also, HUGE CONGRATS to a few of my bloggy buddies:

Linda Kage has a new YA release, THE COLOR OF GRACE! Available HERE.

Maria Zannini has a new Paranormal Romance release, MISTRESS OF THE STONE! Available HERE.

Linda Grimes has her debut Urban Fantasy release, IN A FIX!  Available HERE.
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Have a great full of fuss Friday! LOL!

Why Reading the Hunger Games Series is like Having One Too Many Glasses of Wine

Hope you all are having a nice long holiday weekend!

I figured since it's a holiday, now would be a nice time to ramble on about The Hunger Games --a series I JUST read while my Internet was down. Yes, I know I'm a few years late.
But better late than never. :-)

So I put off reading The Hunger Games for quite a while. Probably because I hate reading bandwagons. I've been burned by them before. **cough cough**
Twilight.

But anyhew, I decided to give this book a chance since my friend's children were reading it. Here is my experience and why reading this series is like having one too many glasses of wine:

WOW. Reading The Hunger Games --for me--was like going to a party and having a glass or two of wine. Fun. Not too much to drink, yet still feeling good. I had a great time and I didn't want to leave the party anytime soon.

So I decided to read Catching Fire immediately because the party must go on. I'm partying again, and sure enough, still having a good time. I feel like I probably had a few more glasses of wine. My head is buzzing. I'm not sure but there might be a lampshade on my head at this point. Wow, it's GOOD time.

Well, after that, I'm at the point of no return and HAVE to read Mockingjay . Uh-oh. So now I feel like I had way too much to drink and suddenly I'm home but don't remember how I got there. The party is over. I'm exhausted and starting to have a little headache come on. Mockingjay did not have to fast fun pace the first two books had, and because Katniss is going through hell and back, I'm starting to feel that way too. (Thank you, first person POV)
Then the book ends and I'm a complete hungover mess, crying like a baby at the bittersweet ending. I walk around in a melancholy state six hours after I've done reading and need a nap.

Yeah. That was some party.

I probably would have handled it better if I had spread the books out a bit. Instead, I ended up reading all three in about six days--which was a mistake. The end of the series left me completely drained and a little depressed. Sheesh. I walked around the whole morning I finished the book with teary eyes. I finally had to confess to my hubby why I was such an emotional wreck.

He just shook his head at me and told me to add a little more non fiction into my life.

Maybe he's right... :-)

Have you read The Hunger Games series? Did it leave you as emotionally drained and depressed as it did me?
Have you ever had a book affect your day after you were done reading it?

I'm Up and Running Again!

Hey, all!

What a week! I finally had Internet come back on Monday afternoon.
It was spotty up until last Saturday then I finally installed the new modem and totally RUINED everything--to the point where my hubby had to have his office tech guy come out to help fix my mess. :-) Which is why it took so long.

I'm still trying to get my bearings again, but I have one last Friday Favorite left in me.

It's this:
  I know. You're probably thinking, Seriously? You don't blog for a week and you come back with this? Yes! I LOVE this stuff. I spray it on all my veggies and fruits before I rinse them with water. It's supposed to naturally get rid of pesticide sprays and stuff so you're not eating it.  Does it work? Well, I was out of this wash for about 2 weeks recently and didn't rush out to get more because I was wondering if it was really worth buying. Then, I had some grapes I wanted to eat. So I figured I get a nice sudsy bowl of soap and water and let the grapes soak in that and then rinse them really well and all would be fine. WRONGO. I actually couldn't eat the grapes. To me, they still tasted dirty.  (I do have a sensitive taste palate though) After that, I was sorry I ever doubted my fruit and veggie wash. Long story short, I did buy more this week and now (between that and my Internet being back) all is right with the world again. Whew!   How about you? Do you use any special wash for your fruits and veggies? Do you think it makes a difference?   And more importantly, did I miss any news while I was away?    

I'm Down (and my Internet can't get up)

Experiencing technical difficulties now.

Apparently I need a new modem.

See ya soon! (Hopefully) :-)

Friday Favorites!

Hey, all!

In case you didn't know, it's been " Shark Week" on the Discovery channel this week. It's been pretty cool. Surprisingly, even the kiddo is in to it.

It's also made me realize my Friday Favorite for this week.

It's a movie.

And if you haven't guessed what movie it is yet, you need more coffee.

This week's Friday Favorite is Jaws.

The hubby and I watch this every year right before summer starts. We live near the beach and ocean so it's our sick little way of kicking off the season. LOL

I probably first saw Jaws when it played on TV. Edited.
Still, we had a pool growing up and after I saw the movie I couldn't go night swimming in it anymore. I obviously was young. :-)

I have a better appreciation for the movie now as an adult. We own the 25th anniversary DVD with all the behind-the-scene add-ons about how the shark didn't work, so they didn't show much of it in the movie but how that really added to the scariness. And how a few added scenes were even filmed in a swimming pool!

One of my favorite scenes is toward the end of the movie. Hooper, Brody and Quint are in the boat, drinking and sharing stories. That's when Hooper asks Quint about his time on the USS Indianapolis. He then goes into a really cool monologue about it. So cool that the hubby and I looked it up to see if the story was true.

And it was.

Several years ago we ended up reading the non fiction book In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton to learn more about it. I honestly cannot recommend this book more--especially if you like US History. This is not my normal go-to book, but I couldn't put it down.

This is the scene, if you're interested:



This is one of those rare movies the hubby and I can watch every year and not tire of it.

What about you? Are you a Jaws fan?
Do you have one of those movies you can watch over and over and not get tired of it?

Misc Monday

Hey, all!

It's one of those summer Mondays.
So here's some miscellaneous jibber-jabber:

As much as I LOVED watching the Olympics, I'm glad it's over. 
I can finally go to bed at a reasonable hour again. :-)

I have some fun news. Maybe Friday I'll share. But maybe Monday. (I know. I'm a tease)

I went to the hairdresser on Friday and was told I had HAIRSPRAY BUILD-UP. It was the first time in my life I ever had it. She used some sort of scrub on my hair to get it out. (And yes, I bought new hairspray)

I made Rice Krispie Treats and threw in a cup of milk chocolate morsels as I mixed everything up. (Try it. You'll never eat a plain marshmallow bar again!)

I went to the library the other day and finally checked out The Hunger Games. (Yeah, I'm a bit late to the party)

And lastly, here are pictures of my dining room makeover:
Dining Room BEFORE


Dining Room AFTER in "Sandbank" by Sherwin Williams
I know. It doesn't look that bad. But trust me, it looked PINK ten hours of the day. So I painted it beige and it looks much better.


AFTER AFTER in Barcelona Beige by Sherwin Williams

That's it for me.
How about you?
Any misc things you want to get off your chest? :-)

Friday FAVORITES #18!

Happy Friday!

Just so you know, my toilets are clean. (I know it's an oxymoron, but they really are!)
We have food in the house! (Thanks for not calling DYFS)
And yes, I worked on editing my WIP. (Not as much as I should have, so it's still a little miffed at me)

Anyhew, I have a new Friday Favorite this week.
Surprise, surprise. Ooh, but it's a good one. :-)

It's another song.

My hubby found it on Rhapsody. He was just fooling around with "If you enjoy... then you'll also enjoy..." function. And they were right! I did enjoy it.

The song is called "The High Road" by Broken Bells. It's a new favorite to listen to when I'm cooking.

Check it out:

(PS. I don't understand the video, but I still love the song)

How about you?
Any new songs out that you like or I should be aware of?