Laina Turner's Blog, page 75
August 13, 2014
Wedding Wednesday
When a bride thinks about the important exciting things that have to do with the wedding the budget is usually the farthest form her mind. I’m no different. I hate to think about any thing as silly as a budget interfering with the things I was to buy and put in place for my special day. Even if it is my second.
However, the practical me, and the need to not drain my savings, prevails over the desire to spend a ton of money on pretty things.
So then I sat down and tried to decide how much I needed to spend versus what I wanted to spend and what I could actually afford to spend. Like most budgets it wasn’t any fun and did end up being more than I had anticipated.
The venue was the most, if you don’t count the ring, which we haven’t bought yet. I only have rough numbers for the caterer but plan that food and alcohol will be the next biggest expense. Then the dress. Add in photography and flowers and it quickly adds up without even thinking about the little things. The bad thing is I still am not sure how much to spend and how much to try and cut back because it silly to spend on an event that is just an event. Not an investment like a house, which incidentally we are also saving for.
How did you decide how much to spend?
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August 12, 2014
Basil is HOT
Not spicy hot but the cool kind of hot. Like that dude is hot. It’s awesome!
Basil is a culinary herb originally native to India. Now it can be grown in my backyard in central Indiana so clearly if I can grow it is has adapted well to other climates.
Considered the KING of herbs by those in the know basil smells good, tastes good, and is easy to use. While I’m not the best cook I do like to experiment with basil and here are a few of the things I have tried.
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August 11, 2014
Romance & Revenge : It’s Almost Here
The bookkeeper at Jared’s company has been murdered and if that wasn’t bad enough someone is trying to sabotage the company by leaking company documents to other firms who are then upstaging their presentations. Jared asks for her help to find out who is trying to take Sleeping Bear Designs down and while Presley is always willing to help a friend, she is also hoping it will take her mind off obsessing over Cooper.
Presley and Cooper are on a break or are they broken up? It was never really clarified and she just found out he’s in town and he hasn’t called. Is he avoiding her? What does that mean?
Are they done for good?
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I got Romance & Revenge, the 9th Presley Thurman mystery, back from my editor in April. It’s now August 11th and I have yet to finish it. It’s 90% finished and it has taken this long because I wasn’t happy with it. I thought the was a bit boring and it took me awhile to figure out how to fix it. I finally figured it out and have been working feverishly trying to get it completed. The summer has been crazy with the kids sports schedules, moving, and just life in general so I’m mad at myself it has taken this long but I also realize that life happens and better the book be good and late than to rush it.
Since it is almost finished and I want to make the book release a big production, I decided to do something a little different this time. Starting Monday August 18th, 2014 I will be releasing 2 chapters a week of Romance & Revenge to the subscribers on my mailing list. On the 10th week you will get the final 3 chapters and a copy of the book in its entirety. This means if you are on my mailing list you will get this entire book for FREE!
So please tell your friends so they can subscribe here and also get this book for free!
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August 8, 2014
Fab 5 Friday
So many to choose from it’s hard to pick just five. But I loved these ones!
Peanut Butter Runner – The Best Homemade Chicken Enchilada’s ….it’s one thing EVERYONE in my family likes.
MaskCara – Eyeshadow School: The Halo.…I really need to through out all my make up and buy new and actually learn how to use it.
Girlfriends Are Like Shoes – Free Inspirational Printables…we all need to be reminded of how wonderful we are.
Savouring Simplicity – Finding Your Online Voice…I struggle with this a lot and I have read and re-read this post in the last month.
Hip2BMom: To The Person Who Called me Madam…funny, funny, funny.
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August 7, 2014
Get to Know Trixie and Her Friends – for free
Today you can download a FREE copy of A Day In The Life Of Trixie Pristine and get to know Trixie, and her friends Berklie and Sophie. The three considered themselves typical thirty something females until someone turned up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Or was one of them the intended target?
Available on Amazon and FREE today only!
The post Get to Know Trixie and Her Friends – for free appeared first on Laina Turner.
Today you can download a FREE copy of A Day In The Life O...
Today you can download a FREE copy of A Day In The Life Of Trixie Pristine and get to know Trixie, and her friends Berklie and Sophie. The three considered themselves typical thirty something females until someone turned up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Or was one of them the intended target?
Available on Amazon and FREE today only!
The post appeared first on Laina Turner.
August 6, 2014
Wedding Wednesday
The ring. One of the exciting parts about the material aspects of being engaged is the ring? Am I right? It’s also one of those things that us ladies tend to be very picky about. Should the guy surprise us with whatever he picks out, should we go together to look at what we like and don’t like and the guy gets the final say, or does he propose without a ring and then we go shopping?
The one thing all these choices have in common is the guy has a chance of picking the wrong option, and therefore make a HUGE mistake and really pissing us off. I feel for the guy, I do.
I currently, don’t have an engagement ring, When we had briefly discussed getting married I had made comments about wanting to us my moms ring. So when he proposed he didn’t have one, thinking that we would be using my mothers. Actually, he did give me one, a Tiffany blue paperclip ring. That was to be temporary.
And yet I am still theoretically wearing it. We went to the jewelers and I decided that as beautiful as my moms’ ring was, it wasn’t really me and I wanted one of my own. That is when it started becoming more complicated. We have very different tastes so I wanted something he liked but that I also liked. Not an easy feat. Then he said those words that put him in the danger zone…I don’t care what you get.
It was really important to me that we get something we both liked and here he was saying he didn’t care and it was very upsetting. The whole, I just want what’s going to make you happy, normally is a great thing but I really wanted this to be a joint effort.
Which is why 2 month later and I am still ringless. It has taken this long to find some styles and looks we both like and now it’s about finding time to go shop for them. It is a part of the process I want to take care of because it will feel more official but the truth is the ring doesn’t make the relationship. Just like the entire wedding event does not make the relationship. Something we often forget in the excitement of planning.
So what is your preference? Do you want to be surprised or do you want to pick out the ring?
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August 5, 2014
Kindle Select Did Boost My Sales
I have not been a fan of Kindle Select. Not because it’s not a good marketing tool but I’ve just had a bit of an issue personally with being exclusive to Amazon. If you don’t know what Kindle Select is read this post from Jane Friedman’s site.
I admit, I sell 3 times more on Amazon than I do on Nook, iTunes, Kobo, or Smashwords, but I still haven’t really felt comfortable going exclusive. Until now.
The last several months my sales have tanked with a capital T. I haven’t really done anything different from a marketing standpoint the sales started dwindling in November and have steadily declined since. So last week as I was brainstorming how to make August bounce back I thought about select. I thought what if I put one book in select (I have 23 altogether) in select for giggles and see what happens. So I did.
I enrolled one of my books, Tiaras & Texans, in select. Last Friday, August 1st I put it as a free download day. I did absolutely NO advertising of the fact it was on Select. I wanted to see what would happen naturally. To my surprise there were just under 1000 downloads. Even more surprising is I sold 18 copies the next day. Last month I sold 11 – all month! As of this post my daily sales average is 4 times what it was last month. All my titles are riding the wave of that Select promo and I didn’t even advertise it. Clearly, Select works.
I am going to play with it over the next 90 days and see what happens. I still am not a fan of going exclusive to Amazon but I am a businesswoman and if that is how I am going to earn enough to eat then I need to keep it consideration.
What have been your results with Select? Would you, or would you not, go exclusive?
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August 4, 2014
Green Bean Delivery has Sexy Rutabaga!
I know what you’re probably thinking. I’ve lost my mind by thinking that rutabaga is sexy. I mean it’s a vegetable, right? And as far as vegetables go it’s not one of those more popular. I wouldn’t even be talking about rutabaga if it weren’t for Green Bean Delivery sending me a container to try.
I am one of those people who really love my fruits and vegetables and was excited to try this delivery service that not only makes it more convenient but is very fresh. And it was on both accounts.
It came with grapes, a mango, pears, blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, kale, rutabaga, red/white potatoes, and corn.
The fruits and vegetables were over the top fresh and amazing. I was eating the cherry tomatoes like candy and even when the produce was sitting on my counter it smelled amazing.
The blueberries lasted about 5 minutes they were so sweet.
Everything was tasty.
To try your own yummy food from Green Bean Delivery use coupon code: “15LTml” It is good for $15 off your first orders and expires in exactly one week from this post. It is for new members and reactivations only.
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August 1, 2014
Friend Friday: Running From Demons by Megan Suthers
Title: Running from Demons
Author: Megan Suthers
Genre: Fiction Crime
Release Date: May 9, 2014
Blurb:
Erika moved to Minnesota and took a job as a paramedic to forget two things – the FBI case that ended in disaster and the partner she thought had betrayed her. For the five years after she left, she stumbled through life guarding her past with a vengeance. Then when on duty, she gets called to a scene of a brutal execution which mirrors one that happened years ago. The past she ran from is suddenly front and center. People from her past start showing up in the most unexpected places. People she hoped she would never see again. The walls she had carefully built around herself start to crumble. The demons she has ran from are everywhere. Life will never be the same again.
Author Bio:
As a child, I craved adventure and excitement. Growing up in a small town, there really wasn’t much in that area so I wrote. And I read. And wrote and read some more. I grew up, moved away and found adventure and excitement of my own. My careers have been varied. EMT. Bartender. Racetrack security manager. I have traveled down dark roads and well lit avenues. Now I’m as grown up as I’m going to be and my excitement is limited to the equestrian center I manage. The healing power of horses has completed my journey to give me the discipline to finally sit and put onto paper all the stories in my head mixed with the adventures I have experienced.
Buy Links:
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