Maddy Barone's Blog, page 17
November 26, 2016
Book Sale!
Right now the books I own the rights to are on sale at Amazon until Monday November 28, 2016!
Sleeping With the Wolf=FREE
Wolf’s Glory=$1.99
Wolf’s Oath, Sherry’s Wolf and Wolf’s Lady=$0.99 each
You can find my books on Amazon at my author page.
And did you know that if you get Sleeping with the Wolf free on Amazon you can get the audio book for only $1.99? That’s a sweet deal! Same for Wolf’s Glory. Buy the kindle book for $1.99 and the audio book is $1.99. If you own others if my books in kindle format, the audio version is also just $1.99. Just go HERE to see a list of my books available in audio from Audible.
Happy Reading!
November 25, 2016
Hello, World! – An Update
“Hello, World!” is usually the title of the first blog post anyone makes on WordPress. It’s been so long since I made a blog post that I thought that title was appropriate.
I wanted to make posts, but I didn’t have anything to say. I didn’t think anyone wanted to hear me whine about the day job, or complain about my health issues, or grumble about my upstairs neighbors, or gush about how adorable my cats are. OK, maybe posting about the cats would have been alright, if you like cats. But if you don’t … well.
Here is what I’ve been up to these last few months:
Sneezing and hacking. Stupid sinus infection is back and it likes living here. It’s not moving out, no sir. Biaxin? Augementin? We laughs at your puny antibiotics! And hey, as the cherry on the top of your misery, here’s a yeast infection. Have a lovely day.
Writing. Deleting. Changing the middle. Changing the end. Re-writing. Deleting some more. Re-writing… Brave Hearts was supposed to be a quick little story for fun. Somehow it took me months to find the story. That hasn’t happened to me before, and it was hard on me and my self confidence. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but after writing about 70,000 words and deleting 50,000 of them, the story finally came together. I am really happy with it now. It is with the editor at the moment. That story releases in January.
Knitting. I completed a glamour wrap, and some hats, and and wrote a hat pattern. The heroine of Brave Hearts owns a yarn store and she teaches the hero to knit. One of the things he knits is a simple hat for his mom. That pattern will be included in Brave Hearts. I’ll also post it here when the book releases.
What is up next?
Tomorrow I start my Christmas novella Under A Christmas Star. This book is going to be published under my own name, Terese Cascio, and it will be an inspirational contemporary romance. I plan to write from November 26 through December 31, 2016. If it’s done, yay!! If it’s not, it gets put away for a few months. The story begins the day before Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas. I thought writing it between those times would make it easier to get into the spirit of it. So far it is too warm and sunny to feel Christmas-y. *sad face*
On January 1 I begin writing Victoria’s Cat. Victoria has her sights set on Marty Madison. It’s not that Marty is running away from her. He thinks she is absolutely gorgeous. But after a “subtle” hint from her dad and brothers, he decided it was better for his health to keep a little distance between them. He figures that won’t be hard, since he has to go to Omaha for the legislative session which lasts 4 months. But the mayor of Omaha/President of Nebraska has called for all the communities in the area to send a representative to the legislature. Guess who goes (along with a bodyguard of brothers) to represent the Clan?
I hereby swear to post more often. Even if it is just pictures of my cats.
August 16, 2016
Tuesday Teaser 8/16/16
Yes, I have a short teaser for you from my current Work in Progress! Before we get to that, let me get some updates out of the way. The book was going to come out on October 13 as part of Paige Tyler’s Dallas & Rescue Kindle World. I’m sorry to say I’ve withdrawn from the October launch and switched to the January 19 launch. This has a been a crazy summer. Between learning to live with diabetes, driving for days to take my mom to her family reunion, and working extra hours at the day job, writing has been slow.
The diabetes is being managed much better now. I’ve stopped taking the metformin (per my doctor’s orders). Since then my numbers have been a teeny bit high, but still mostly within the “normal” range, with 3 or 4 days in a month creeping up to the high “pre-diabetic” range. It hasn’t gotten above pre diabetic, though, so my doctor is very pleased.
Also a reminder about the newsletter giveaways. I will be doing a contest this coming weekend. This one will be a box containing a hand knit scarf, a few books from authors Karen Marie Moning, S.E. Smith, and of course, me. I’ll tuck in a little bit of swag too. The entry form will be included in the next newsletter.
August 6, 2016
Giveaways, Writing, Knitting
In other words, an update! I suppose I could break this up into a couple of different blogposts, but it’s summertime and everyone is busy, so I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.
I’m continuing my monthly giveaways. I really enjoy sending out boxes of goodies. These giveaways are open to those who receive my newsletter. Sometimes they are “grab bag” giveaways, where people enter to win a prize sight unseen. Sometimes it’s a specific prize or set of prizes. Last month’s giveaway was a grab bag. The lucky winner was Nichole from Michigan and this is what was inside her box: 2 full size paperbacks, a couple of short stories, earrings and a pearl ring, magnets, bookmarks, pens, and other swag from writers.
I have August’s giveaway ready to go. It will also be a grab bag, but one thing I know
will be in it: This hand knit shawl/scarf. I’ve been working on it all summer, and now it is finished and ready to go around someone’s neck just in time for the cooler mornings ahead. See? My cat Merry stood guard over it while it dried. If you would like a chance to win this shawl plus other great prizes, you can sign up for my newsletter.
I am currently working on my contemporary novella for Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. I am LOVING Dusty and Isabel! It comes out in mid October. Isabel owns a yarn shop with her sister, and the shop colors are fuchsia and black. Dusty, in a desperate attempt to catch Isabel’s attention, recklessly signs up for her Learn To Knit class. In
the first class the students learn to knit a dishcloth. Dusty swaggers in to class, confident that he can master knitting without any trouble. He slinks out, convinced that knitting was invented by demons out to drive humans crazy. In the second class, he knits this hat. I am considering writing the pattern up and including it at the end of the book. I’m not sure about that, though.
Do you think it would be appreciated by readers? Would most readers even care? Maybe it would be better to include a link to my website where I could post the pattern?
What are your thoughts about that? Please leave a comment, I would really like to know.
I hope your summer is going well. Only a few weeks until the kids are back in school. I come from a large family, and on the first day of school, my mom put out the flag. She said it should be a national holiday! LOL
Happy Reading!
I’m continuing my monthly giveaways. I really enjoy sending out boxes of goodies. These giveaways are open to those who receive my newsletter. Sometimes they are “grab bag” giveaways, where people enter to win a prize sight unseen. Sometimes it’s a specific prize or set of prizes. Last month’s giveaway was a grab bag. The lucky winner was Nichole from Michigan and this is what was inside her box: 2 full size paperbacks, a couple of short stories, earrings and a pearl ring, magnets, bookmarks, pens, and other swag from writers.
I have August’s giveaway ready to go. It will also be a grab bag, but one thing I know
will be in it: This hand knit shawl/scarf. I’ve been working on it all summer, and now it is finished and ready to go around someone’s neck just in time for the cooler mornings ahead. See? My cat Merry stood guard over it while it dried. If you would like a chance to win this shawl plus other great prizes, you can sign up for my newsletter.
I am currently working on my contemporary novella for Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. I am LOVING Dusty and Isabel! It comes out in mid October. Isabel owns a yarn shop with her sister, and the shop colors are fuchsia and black. Dusty, in a desperate attempt to catch Isabel’s attention, recklessly signs up for her Learn To Knit class. In
the first class the students learn to knit a dishcloth. Dusty swaggers in to class, confident that he can master knitting without any trouble. He slinks out, convinced that knitting was invented by demons out to drive humans crazy. In the second class, he knits this hat. I am considering writing the pattern up and including it at the end of the book. I’m not sure about that, though.Do you think it would be appreciated by readers? Would most readers even care? Maybe it would be better to include a link to my website where I could post the pattern?
What are your thoughts about that? Please leave a comment, I would really like to know.
I hope your summer is going well. Only a few weeks until the kids are back in school. I come from a large family, and on the first day of school, my mom put out the flag. She said it should be a national holiday! LOL
Happy Reading!
August 3, 2016
Sleeping With the Wolf is Featured
Woo-Hoo! Sleeping With the Wolf is a featured book on
eBook Daily!
Isn’t it great that we live in a world where we can learn about free reads and great book deals just be signing up for a newsletter? If you’d like to sign up for eBook Daily, just click the graphic above. They have all sorts of books listed that are free. Young Adult, Romance, Sci-Fy, Self Help, non Fiction… Lots of great stuff.
Look! My book is #114 over all in the Kindle Free store, and #2 in it’s genre! That makes me HAPPY!!! LOL
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded a free copy at Amazon, or anywhere else. If you haven’t already, why not download a copy for yourself? If you have the original version from 2010, it was updated slightly in 2015, so you might like to download it again and give it a re-read. Or let a friend who likes to read know about Taye & Carla, and Shadow & Glory, and… All the great characters from the After the Crash series need some love.
eBook Daily!
Isn’t it great that we live in a world where we can learn about free reads and great book deals just be signing up for a newsletter? If you’d like to sign up for eBook Daily, just click the graphic above. They have all sorts of books listed that are free. Young Adult, Romance, Sci-Fy, Self Help, non Fiction… Lots of great stuff.
Look! My book is #114 over all in the Kindle Free store, and #2 in it’s genre! That makes me HAPPY!!! LOL
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded a free copy at Amazon, or anywhere else. If you haven’t already, why not download a copy for yourself? If you have the original version from 2010, it was updated slightly in 2015, so you might like to download it again and give it a re-read. Or let a friend who likes to read know about Taye & Carla, and Shadow & Glory, and… All the great characters from the After the Crash series need some love.
July 3, 2016
Maddy’s Quick and Dirty T-Shirt to Peasant Blouse Tutorial
Do you have drawers full of T-shirts that you don’t wear? I do. I don’t wear them much because A) I have scads of them (don’t even ask how many fuchsia pink T-shirts I own), and B) they’re sort of boxy and not terribly attractive. Added to that, my figure is the Apple type (you know, skinny stick legs and BIG tummy, double-no, make that triple-chins) so I don’t like to wear things that are too closely fitting with round a neckline that comes up to my throat. And plain boxy T-shirts are … well, plain and boxy. No style. Plus, I am just barely over 5 feet tall, so most T-shirts come down to mid-thigh on me. Sure, they make great sleep shirts, but I want to get more use out of them than that.
T-shirts are great though, because they are so comfy to wear, and wash easily. I could donate them, but some, like my RAGT T-shirts, have happy memories attached to them that I want to be reminded of. I don’t want to get rid of my T-shirts. I want to use them!
Do you ever see something on Pinterest or somewhere and say, “Hey, I
can do that!” Well, I do, and I can, and I did. I took a plain white T-shirt, cut off the edges, ironed on some floral appliques, added a casing for a gathered neckline, finished the raw edges, and Ta-DA! My new summer blouse. Here is how I made this:
Maddy’s Easy Peasant Blouse
Supplies:
T-shirt in a size that is a little loose
Any appliques, trims, or other decoration you like. I found this floral applique on clearance for $1.97.
Approx. 1 yard 1/8-1/4 inch wide elastic, or 1.5 yards narrow ribbon to gather the neck.
Sewing machine or serger
Iron (if needed to iron on transfers or appliques)
Scissors
Thread
Directions:
Wash and dry your Tshirt. If you are using an Iron On applique or transfer, don’t use fabric
softener.
Cut off the bottom of the shirt so it is 2” longer than you want it to be. When the neck is gathered, the bottom of the shirt will rise a bit. Keep the actual hem because that is what you will use to create the neckline casing.
Mark a circle around the neck and cut. I measured 2 inches from the neck ribbing as a guide.
Cut a slit across the top of the sleeve to create a flutter sleeve. (This is optional. You can just have a plain sleeve with a ruffled edge) Cut off arm ribbing.
Add any trim you like now. Red and Blue ribbon in rows around the hem would be fun for 4th of July. Maybe a scatter of those iron on rhinestones? How abut a strip of lace down the center front? Or no trim to make it even easier and cheaper.
Take the bottom hem that you cut off in step 2 and trim close to the stitching. On the wrong side of T-shirt, make a casing
by stitching down the hem an inch or so away from the cut neck edge. Leave an opening to thread the elastic thru. Do not put the elastic in now. NOTE: if you want to use ribbon to gather the neck instead of elastic, you can stitch the hem on the right side of the shirt. The ribbon can be tied in a bow.
Create the lettuce edge to the bottom, the neckline and the sleeves. If you have a serger, you can use that to do a beautiful lettuce rolled hem. If not, a regular sewing machine works fine. Set your sewing machine up with a zigzag stitch. Stitch length should be like for a button hole, so .3 or 4, and width should be a 5 or 6. Be sure to hold your fabric very taut while you do this. If you don’t know how to do this curly edge, there are several YouTube tutorials like This One
Thread elastic (or ribbon) through neck casing. Fasten off.
DONE!!
These directions are pretty barebones, so it you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help you out.
Imagine how many fun things you could do with all your T-shirts! How about a tied dyed T-shirt? What if you added some lace at the hem instead of doing the lettuce edge? Wouldn’t this be adorable for a little girl too?
I hope I’ve given you some good ideas for making some cheap summer tops, but I have got to stop now. I have a book to write! I won’t be doing regular Tuesday Teasers for Brave Hearts, but stay tuned! I want to drop you a few tidbits here and there. Dusty is turning out to be a more complex hero than I thought he’d be. And Isa has depths beyond just a somewhat embittered woman wounded in war. I can’t wait to introduce you to them.
Happy Reading!
T-shirts are great though, because they are so comfy to wear, and wash easily. I could donate them, but some, like my RAGT T-shirts, have happy memories attached to them that I want to be reminded of. I don’t want to get rid of my T-shirts. I want to use them!
Do you ever see something on Pinterest or somewhere and say, “Hey, I can do that!” Well, I do, and I can, and I did. I took a plain white T-shirt, cut off the edges, ironed on some floral appliques, added a casing for a gathered neckline, finished the raw edges, and Ta-DA! My new summer blouse. Here is how I made this:
Maddy’s Easy Peasant Blouse
Supplies:
T-shirt in a size that is a little loose
Any appliques, trims, or other decoration you like. I found this floral applique on clearance for $1.97.
Approx. 1 yard 1/8-1/4 inch wide elastic, or 1.5 yards narrow ribbon to gather the neck.
Sewing machine or serger
Iron (if needed to iron on transfers or appliques)
Scissors
Thread
Directions:
Wash and dry your Tshirt. If you are using an Iron On applique or transfer, don’t use fabric
Cutting lines. Excuse my poor drawing skills!
softener.
Cut off the bottom of the shirt so it is 2” longer than you want it to be. When the neck is gathered, the bottom of the shirt will rise a bit. Keep the actual hem because that is what you will use to create the neckline casing.
Mark a circle around the neck and cut. I measured 2 inches from the neck ribbing as a guide.
Cut a slit across the top of the sleeve to create a flutter sleeve. (This is optional. You can just have a plain sleeve with a ruffled edge) Cut off arm ribbing.
Add any trim you like now. Red and Blue ribbon in rows around the hem would be fun for 4th of July. Maybe a scatter of those iron on rhinestones? How abut a strip of lace down the center front? Or no trim to make it even easier and cheaper.
Take the bottom hem that you cut off in step 2 and trim close to the stitching. On the wrong side of T-shirt, make a casing
by stitching down the hem an inch or so away from the cut neck edge. Leave an opening to thread the elastic thru. Do not put the elastic in now. NOTE: if you want to use ribbon to gather the neck instead of elastic, you can stitch the hem on the right side of the shirt. The ribbon can be tied in a bow.Create the lettuce edge to the bottom, the neckline and the sleeves. If you have a serger, you can use that to do a beautiful lettuce rolled hem. If not, a regular sewing machine works fine. Set your sewing machine up with a zigzag stitch. Stitch length should be like for a button hole, so .3 or 4, and width should be a 5 or 6. Be sure to hold your fabric very taut while you do this. If you don’t know how to do this curly edge, there are several YouTube tutorials like This One
Thread elastic (or ribbon) through neck casing. Fasten off.
DONE!!
These directions are pretty barebones, so it you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help you out.
Imagine how many fun things you could do with all your T-shirts! How about a tied dyed T-shirt? What if you added some lace at the hem instead of doing the lettuce edge? Wouldn’t this be adorable for a little girl too?
I hope I’ve given you some good ideas for making some cheap summer tops, but I have got to stop now. I have a book to write! I won’t be doing regular Tuesday Teasers for Brave Hearts, but stay tuned! I want to drop you a few tidbits here and there. Dusty is turning out to be a more complex hero than I thought he’d be. And Isa has depths beyond just a somewhat embittered woman wounded in war. I can’t wait to introduce you to them.
Happy Reading!
June 19, 2016
Back From RAGT!
I’m back from Lori Foster’s
Reader & Author Get Together!
As always, I had a fantastic time. My first time at RAGT was in 2011, so that makes 6 for 6. If this was baseball, that would mean I was batting 1000. I think this is one of the best reader events out there. This is the only one I’ve ever been to, but I still think it is the best. Why is it the best? It’s small enough that there is time and places to hang out with authors and readers. It’s big enough that there is always something going on to do, but if you want to just sit down in the ballroom and relax you can do that too. I got to spend time with some of my favorite people like Paige Tyler, Janet Juengling-Snell, Monette Michaels, Joni Anderson, Janet Rodman, Wendi Zwaduk, Jennifer Sapa, Linda and Mary Ellen Faneuff… There are just too many to name! And this year Tina Holland, my fellow LSB author and local critique group member, came to RAGT for the first time. I think she liked it a lot. Who wouldn’t?
The raffle baskets are awesome! The Science Fiction/Fantasy basket my friend Jessica and I put together was pretty popular. It had the Star Wars quilt I made, the first season of Sherlock on DVD (not specifically fantasy, but Benedict Cumberbatch!!! Need I say more?), a Firefly Monopoly game, and gift cards to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Jessica and I both put in a large number of tickets but didn’t win anything. I was disappointed, but as Jessica said, it was a great donation to One Way Farm, and how would we fit any winnings into the car for the drive home? It was already stuffed to the gills.
I did my third fashion show at RAGT. Lori Foster caught us and did an impromptu filming of each model. Fun! Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/lorifoster/videos/10153648932642966/
And of course Paige and I had to play with Dean and Sam! Most of
us had our picture taken with one or more of the hunky cut outs.
Reader & Author Get Together!
As always, I had a fantastic time. My first time at RAGT was in 2011, so that makes 6 for 6. If this was baseball, that would mean I was batting 1000. I think this is one of the best reader events out there. This is the only one I’ve ever been to, but I still think it is the best. Why is it the best? It’s small enough that there is time and places to hang out with authors and readers. It’s big enough that there is always something going on to do, but if you want to just sit down in the ballroom and relax you can do that too. I got to spend time with some of my favorite people like Paige Tyler, Janet Juengling-Snell, Monette Michaels, Joni Anderson, Janet Rodman, Wendi Zwaduk, Jennifer Sapa, Linda and Mary Ellen Faneuff… There are just too many to name! And this year Tina Holland, my fellow LSB author and local critique group member, came to RAGT for the first time. I think she liked it a lot. Who wouldn’t?
The raffle baskets are awesome! The Science Fiction/Fantasy basket my friend Jessica and I put together was pretty popular. It had the Star Wars quilt I made, the first season of Sherlock on DVD (not specifically fantasy, but Benedict Cumberbatch!!! Need I say more?), a Firefly Monopoly game, and gift cards to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Jessica and I both put in a large number of tickets but didn’t win anything. I was disappointed, but as Jessica said, it was a great donation to One Way Farm, and how would we fit any winnings into the car for the drive home? It was already stuffed to the gills.
I did my third fashion show at RAGT. Lori Foster caught us and did an impromptu filming of each model. Fun! Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/lorifoster/videos/10153648932642966/And of course Paige and I had to play with Dean and Sam! Most of
us had our picture taken with one or more of the hunky cut outs.
June 7, 2016
Off To RAGT!
Every year for the past six years I have attended Lori Foster’s Reader & Author Get Together. It is a fairly small romance novel conference as these things go. Lori keeps it limited to only 500 attendees, 100 authors and 400 readers, and the focus is on readers. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. It’s not so big that shy little me feels overwhelmed, and I get to actually meet and spend time with readers. It is closed to the general public, but the book signings at 3pm-5pm on Friday and Saturday are open to everyone. If you are in the Cincinnati, OH area, stop by the Marriott in West Chester on Muhlhauser Road and say hello to me. I’m signing on Friday. I’d love to meet you!
We (we being me, my friend Jessica, and fellow LSB author Tina Holland) are leaving tomorrow morning at 7:00am and heading to Ohio. I’ll be mostly out of touch for the next few days, but I promise pictures when I get back.
Also, since I’m positively giddy with excitement over RAGT, I have reduced the price of Wolf’s Glory from $3.99 to $0.99. The price will go back up on Monday June 13, so if you don’t have it yet, this is a great time to pick it up. Don’t forget that the first book, Sleeping With the Wolf, is still FREE. And hey, if you like audio books, if you buy these in digital format on Amazon, they are only $1.99 each over on Audible. As my grandmother would say, such a deal!
Wolf’s Glory at Amazon.com
Wolf’s Glory on B&N
Ciao for now and Happy Reading!
We (we being me, my friend Jessica, and fellow LSB author Tina Holland) are leaving tomorrow morning at 7:00am and heading to Ohio. I’ll be mostly out of touch for the next few days, but I promise pictures when I get back.
Also, since I’m positively giddy with excitement over RAGT, I have reduced the price of Wolf’s Glory from $3.99 to $0.99. The price will go back up on Monday June 13, so if you don’t have it yet, this is a great time to pick it up. Don’t forget that the first book, Sleeping With the Wolf, is still FREE. And hey, if you like audio books, if you buy these in digital format on Amazon, they are only $1.99 each over on Audible. As my grandmother would say, such a deal!
Wolf’s Glory at Amazon.com
Wolf’s Glory on B&N
Ciao for now and Happy Reading!
May 29, 2016
An Update From Maddy
Once again it has been too long since I made a post. I have not fallen off the end of the earth, I promise!
Life has been a little crazy lately. I was diagnosed with diabetes a few weeks ago, and since then my life has revolved around exercise and learning how to eat. I can’t tell you how much I mourn the loss of eating half a package of cookies at a time. But on the other hand, I’m feeling much better already. I have more energy, more enthusiasm for things, and I’ve already dropped a few pounds. I’m doing fairly well with managing my blood glucose. I started out with my numbers in the 120s to the 170s, and now it is usually in the 90s to 120s. That’s practically normal! I don’t even flinch anymore when I have to press the button to poke my finger.
Life has been a little crazy lately. I was diagnosed with diabetes a few weeks ago, and since then my life has revolved around exercise and learning how to eat. I can’t tell you how much I mourn the loss of eating half a package of cookies at a time. But on the other hand, I’m feeling much better already. I have more energy, more enthusiasm for things, and I’ve already dropped a few pounds. I’m doing fairly well with managing my blood glucose. I started out with my numbers in the 120s to the 170s, and now it is usually in the 90s to 120s. That’s practically normal! I don’t even flinch anymore when I have to press the button to poke my finger.
April 28, 2016
Olivia’s Mate is Out!
Today is the Day! At last, Olivia’s Mate is out!
Olivia Stensrud, a beloved daughter of the Lakota Wolf Clan, lives a charmed life in a world recovering from the nuclear attacks seventy-five years earlier. When she is stolen by a feral cat-shifter who insists she’s his mate, the men of her clan track her down and take her back. Sent away to safety, Olivia finds it impossible to forget the handsome savage who lives according to nature’s law.
Kit is heartbroken. A mate is a rare thing for his kind to find. Her father promised to kill him if he ever came near Olivia again, but Kit can’t give up such a precious treasure. Determined to make himself a fit mate for a Daughter of the Wolf Clan, Kit goes to live with humans and learn their civilized ways.
Will the thin veneer of culture be enough to win her heart? Or will her menfolk drive him off before he even has a chance to court her?
Olivia’s Mate is the first book in a new spin off series called The Daughters of the Wolf Clan. (There may be a second series called Sons of the wolf Clan. Taye and Carla’s son, Colby, is just screaming for a mate of his own. As you’ll see in Olivia’s Mate, Colby needs to be whipped into shape before he can make a good husband.
