Bri Clark's Blog, page 13
March 15, 2012
Momsomnia
Today as a guest poster we have Bridget Straub. And boy did you hit a home run that knocked me off the bench. I can so easily related to the melancholy of being up at night, my thoughts, all haywire, and then finally worrying about one of my kids. Read on you'll see.

Sleepis not something that comes easily here in my mid- life. When it does finallywash over me, it is short lived. On any given night I will wake up at leasttwice, and when I do, my mind is always shifting its focus on any variety ofsubjects. Last night it was my son, who is about to have his twenty sixthbirthday. First off, I had the thought that this is just crazy. I am not oldenough to have an adult child, and there is no getting around the fact that bytwenty six, you'd had better be an adult. Secondly, what kept circling my headwas that I was only a year older than him when I decided I had to have a child.
It'shard to imagine now, but back then I thought I had all the answers, and afairly clear picture of how my future would play out. I had lived through avery violent crime, and knew things could change in an instant. As a result, Ihad an accelerated desire to avoid putting off what could be accomplished inthe here and now. Just because my Mr. Right hadn't come along, that didn't meanI couldn't have a baby. Turns out, my Mr. Right still hasn't shown up, whichleads me to wonder about the best laid plans and all of that.
Myson has not yet found his calling, and as much as I can now step back and knowthere is plenty of time, I sense he feels that same urgency I did. We wentthrough a rough patch several years ago, when like so many teens, he fell inwith the wrong crowd, and developed a meth addiction. Those were terrifyingtimes, but happily he has recovered, and I couldn't be prouder. There areconsequences to something so destructive, however, and he now feels trapped inan unfulfilling job, and is stuck living out of state. It's the old catch 22 ofnot being able to afford in California what he has in Arizona, which is a nicehouse, and a steady, albeit not great,Laterthis month, his sisters and I, along with much of his extended family, will traveldown to see him, and to celebrate his place in our hearts and our lives. In themeantime, I'll continue to think of him in the middle of the night, in betweenwriting imaginary posts and novels. After all, I'm his mom, and I'm notsleeping anyway.
Wow Bridgett. Thank you so much for a poignant and personal post. I do hope to hear how your trip turned out hun.
Guess what Bridgett is not only a mother but and author too. Find out more about her book Searching for my Wand.


Published on March 15, 2012 05:00
March 14, 2012
A Well Crafted Grocery List
Please welcome to the blog E.F. Cussins who describes himself as "son of a factory worker who loves technology and saving money." His guest post is about a well crafted grocery list and I have to admit I didn't expect it. But I'm intrigued. Go on read it you know you want to.

Have you everexperienced looking in the refrigerator, in the cupboard, and in the pantry,then say to yourself "There is nothing in the house to eat"? Has thevery same thing ever happen the day after doing the weekly grocery shopping? Ifis has then you are not alone. Finishingthe weekly grocery shopping, then not find anything in the kitchen thatwas appetizing is a sign of bad shopping.
The refrigeratoris full. The kitchen pantry is full. Still the mind and taste buds go blank asto what to fix for dinner. At this point so families jump into the family carand heads to the local McDonald's. So instead of spending $1 or $2 per personon that dinner, now it costs $5 or more per person.I understand everyone likes to go out to dinner. There are timeswhere I even get a craving for a big greasy hamburger that is made from thelocal hamburger joint down the street. What I am writing about is puttingtogether a menu plan and grocery list makes the family want to eat at home.[image error]
Putting together a well crafted grocery list does take time andthought.
Do we starting by doing an inventory of the refrigerator?
No!
Do westart by surveying what is in the cupboards and then writing the list?
No!
Thenwhere we start?
Quiz the Family Members - We start by asking the familymembers as to what they would like to eat in the coming weeks. There is nothingworse than having a kitchen full of food that no body wants to eat. The reasonfor this is not adjusting the meal planning and shopping to the family's likesand dislikes.
I like liver and onions. The rest of the family hates the idea.Our daughter does not like fish, but she loves chicken. My wife does not carefor pancakes, but she loves pork steaks. After putting all our likes anddislikes together, it becomes a little bit of a challenge to come up with mealseveryone will eat.Seasonal Eating Habits - Winter time is great for soupsand sandwiches. As the weather gets warmer salads and BBQ become the familyfavorites. This also holds true for certain time of the week. We like to eatpancakes on Saturday morning. Sunday morning is reserved for eggs andGerman sausage.
FixingTime -A hundred years ago it was nothing for the average house wife spend all daycooking for dinner. Today, if it takes more than 45 minutes to fix a meal, itis to long. This is where going to places like the Food Network and AllRecipes.com for ideas becomes important. The pressure ofkeeping the cooking time short is just as important as making themeals desirable.
Survey the Kitchen - Here is where a good imagination comes into play. Look atall the items that don't get eaten. Look for ways you can fix them differently.Put on the shopping list what is needed to make those uneaten items moredesirable.
Take just plain macaroni sitting on the shelf in a glasscontainer. One thing I like to do is make hamburger goulash. All it takes issome noodles (of any kind) add hamburger and a can of stewed tomatoes,then add a few selected spices to the mix. The end result is a quick easy meal.
Plan Meals - Now comes the step of planning out an exciting group ofmeals for the next week or two. Make sure you take into consideration familyactivities. It does no good to plan a nice sit down meal when everyone will behome briefly and off to a basketball game.
Here is where using Google Calendar would be great. Get everyonein the family using Google Calendar. Have them keep it updated with theiractivities. Have the whole family shared their calendar's with each other. Now you know when everyone will be homeand at what time.
Write Out the Grocery List - Now you do have enoughinformation to create a well crafted shopping list. Once the meals have beenplanned, now an ingredient list can be built. From that ingredient list what iscurrently in the kitchen can be subtracted. What remains is the basic wellcrafted shopping list.
Ohyes, there are two things that needs to be added. One, get something that is quickand easy to fix like pizza. Nobody wants to spend a lot of time cooking afterthey are worn out from shopping and putting everything away. Two, add sale itemson thing you use on a regular basis. It never hurts for stock up, especially ifyou find an on sale.
I amalways interested in hearing from you about your shopping experiences. You canemail me a efcussins@theshoppingnazi.com.
I'm so very impressed. That was a fabulous post full of informative and completely useful ideas. Thank you so much for coming and sharing.

Published on March 14, 2012 05:53
March 13, 2012
How to Gain Blog Traffic from Writing Communities
Please welcome Nicole Pyles my first guest blogger in the month long "Guest Post win a Kindle" event. Nicole describes herself as "
I am a writer social networker bookworm and blogger that loves spending her time with family books the bookstore and the beach." She shares some great info on blogging and some basic do's and don'ts. Find out more about Nicole here. Enjoy.
Photo Copyright by Nam Nguyen
Since June of 2011, I have been blogging about the writing process and everything that has inspired me to write along the way. I have blogged about things that I have learned and I also have reached out to several writing communities to help me out with some posts. But what I have noticed the most about those communities is that if you treat them right your blog can actually benefit and see some growth from those communities. But if you don't...you may find that you are all alone in a desert
Photo Copyright by Flickr User Sporst
So, how do you do it? How do you figure out all those unspoken rules and etiquettes in place in any community? Well, I can't make a blanket statement for all communities, but these tips can help you to engage better and see more of a following to your blog.
1) Don't just post links to your blog.
Whether you are using Twitter, GooglePlus, or like me, Reddit.com, and Writer's Digest Communities, take a look at the last few posts and comments you made. What were they? Were they just links to your blog? If that's all you do, I can guarantee with almost 100% certainty that you will never see very much blog traffic. When all you see from someone is links to their content, than it's obvious the only person they care about is themselves.
2) Engage with other people.
I had a friend once who seemed shocked and repulsed that people she didn't know were following her on Twitter. If this sounds like you and you are timid and alarmed at the idea of talking back to the people in your online community, you aren't benefiting from the very best part of these social networks. My advice? Talk back occasionally. Respond to questions people ask. Encourage others. People will pay attention to you more and those links you do post won't be ignored.
3) Don't be antagonistic.
Having an occasional debate online can be a good thing - informative, exciting, and a great way of seeing another point of view. But are you attacking other people personally? Try not to. Remember one cardinal debate rule- don't attack the person, attack the idea. If you become that person who always picks fights with people, few people will be drawn to you or your blog.
4) Promote other people.
Everyone likes being promoted. Whether its a retweet, a share, or clicking the link of a post shared within an online community, it's a good feeling to know other people are paying attention to you. So, make sure you are giving some love to your fellow writer kind by promoting what they have to say. Why? Well, if you do you are more likely to see them giving you the same appreciation.
5) Do non-promotional/non-blog related stuff.
Remember these are writing communities, and even if all you are on is Twitter and GooglePlus, you are probably engaging with a great deal of writers. So, what these people need to see is that you are serious about writing. That means that it's a good idea to do writing related activity that has nothing to do with your blog. For example, I am part of an flash fiction contest group on Writer's Digest (which you can join here!). I never post blog links there and all I do is engage with my community. Whether or not I see traffic from the people in that group doesn't matter. What does matter is that they see I'm serious about writing and my writing communities. I'm not just a self-promoter.
So, this list is not an exhaustive of everything you should do to promote your blog, but it's a good start and a great way of learning how to engage with the people around you.
Now, go out and make some friends.
Photo Copyright by Nina Matthews
Thank you so much Nicole for your do's and don't. While I find myself already knowing this I hav ea tendency to forget. It's always good to remember the basics.
I am a writer social networker bookworm and blogger that loves spending her time with family books the bookstore and the beach." She shares some great info on blogging and some basic do's and don'ts. Find out more about Nicole here. Enjoy.

Since June of 2011, I have been blogging about the writing process and everything that has inspired me to write along the way. I have blogged about things that I have learned and I also have reached out to several writing communities to help me out with some posts. But what I have noticed the most about those communities is that if you treat them right your blog can actually benefit and see some growth from those communities. But if you don't...you may find that you are all alone in a desert

So, how do you do it? How do you figure out all those unspoken rules and etiquettes in place in any community? Well, I can't make a blanket statement for all communities, but these tips can help you to engage better and see more of a following to your blog.
1) Don't just post links to your blog.
Whether you are using Twitter, GooglePlus, or like me, Reddit.com, and Writer's Digest Communities, take a look at the last few posts and comments you made. What were they? Were they just links to your blog? If that's all you do, I can guarantee with almost 100% certainty that you will never see very much blog traffic. When all you see from someone is links to their content, than it's obvious the only person they care about is themselves.
2) Engage with other people.
I had a friend once who seemed shocked and repulsed that people she didn't know were following her on Twitter. If this sounds like you and you are timid and alarmed at the idea of talking back to the people in your online community, you aren't benefiting from the very best part of these social networks. My advice? Talk back occasionally. Respond to questions people ask. Encourage others. People will pay attention to you more and those links you do post won't be ignored.
3) Don't be antagonistic.
Having an occasional debate online can be a good thing - informative, exciting, and a great way of seeing another point of view. But are you attacking other people personally? Try not to. Remember one cardinal debate rule- don't attack the person, attack the idea. If you become that person who always picks fights with people, few people will be drawn to you or your blog.
4) Promote other people.
Everyone likes being promoted. Whether its a retweet, a share, or clicking the link of a post shared within an online community, it's a good feeling to know other people are paying attention to you. So, make sure you are giving some love to your fellow writer kind by promoting what they have to say. Why? Well, if you do you are more likely to see them giving you the same appreciation.
5) Do non-promotional/non-blog related stuff.
Remember these are writing communities, and even if all you are on is Twitter and GooglePlus, you are probably engaging with a great deal of writers. So, what these people need to see is that you are serious about writing. That means that it's a good idea to do writing related activity that has nothing to do with your blog. For example, I am part of an flash fiction contest group on Writer's Digest (which you can join here!). I never post blog links there and all I do is engage with my community. Whether or not I see traffic from the people in that group doesn't matter. What does matter is that they see I'm serious about writing and my writing communities. I'm not just a self-promoter.
So, this list is not an exhaustive of everything you should do to promote your blog, but it's a good start and a great way of learning how to engage with the people around you.
Now, go out and make some friends.

Thank you so much Nicole for your do's and don't. While I find myself already knowing this I hav ea tendency to forget. It's always good to remember the basics.

Published on March 13, 2012 00:00
March 10, 2012
Sweet Saturday Sample: Gentry Piss

And lets not forget to got back for more Sweet Saturday Samples.
Published on March 10, 2012 00:00
March 6, 2012
Guest Blogging Invitation...Most hits wins a Kindle.

My dear friends I am going to be slammed in thecoming weeks. I have a blog tour that will start on March 13-April18th with Bewitching Blog tours. Withthat in mind I thought I would open up my blog to guest posters.
The Belle of Boise gets at least 200 hits on newpost days and 100 on average no post days with 4-5,000 a month. Between mysocial media, followers through newsletter, rss, networked blogs, and GFC Ihave amazing readers.With that in mind I'd like to invite you to be aguest blogger.
BlogSubjects It can be whatever you want it to be. On theweather, on your pet, on the book you just read, just released, or just foundout about. There are literally no limitations on subject. Well other thanPG-13. Lets keep it clean y'all.
Bloggers Anyone can guest post. Here at the Belle of Boiseblog we don't discriminate. We hate everyone equally. (kidding) Seriously,though you do not have to be an author, avid blogger, reviewer, writer, poet.You can be anyone with something to say.
Benefits So here are the benefits. At the end of the guestblogging month I will pick the blog who got the most hits. These are anaccumulation of hits through the month. Not on posting day but the month. Soyou need to keep advertising your blog on social media.
That blog's owner will receive the following.
· A Kindle· On said Kindle there will be a copy ofall my books and including my next release The Eternal Witch.· If they are an author I'll post one oftheir books for 30 days up at my top side bar.
Fill out the form below for the guidelines andcement your date. Good Luck
Make sure to include the date you want. March 13-April18 being the range.
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Published on March 06, 2012 07:46
February 27, 2012
It's Official: Moma ain't going back to the kitchen

It's funny the way you can reuse things when you think about it. I was having a hard time leaning over and constantly looking at my agenda. So I took the recipe book holder I had for recipe books in the kitchen and boy did that baby work like a charm.
And since I absolutely hate cooking with a passion, it's a great reminder to work hard so we can afford to eat out more. LOL
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Published on February 27, 2012 00:00
February 25, 2012
Sweet Saturday Sample: The Eternal Witch meets Death


Thank ya kindly for visiting. Don't forget to mossey back on over to Sweet Saturday Samples for more delicious words.

Published on February 25, 2012 06:09
February 23, 2012
Traces of ....


Author: Danielle Ravencraft
Genre: Contemporary Romance Erotica
Blurb: Ophelia Martinez has a chance encounter withinternationally famous rock-star, Trace Curtis. To Ophelia, Trace will alwaysbe the charming boy she met in high school. They share one night together inwhich Trace falls in love with Ophelia. But Ophelia knows she can't continue tolive in the past, at least not with the secret that haunts her present.
Buy Links:· Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HSCV9I· Barnes&Noble.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-trace-of-love-danielle-ravencraft/1105098324· SmashWords.com: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82286· GoodReads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12515190-a-trace-of-love· MuseItHOTPublishing.com: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=192&category_id=60&keyword=a+trace+of+love&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Author: Danielle Ravencraft
Genre: Contemporary Romance Erotica
Blurb: Ophelia's in for a birthday surprisethat turns out to be a birthday nightmare as she's reunited with hunky rockstar, Trace Curtis. The pain of her defiance runs deep and he won't leaveOphelia alone without an explanation. The more time they spend together, themore their passion grows. Ophelia knows in her heart she should tell Trace thetruth, but will her secret drive him away?
Buy Link
Bri~Trace of Passion is the second in a trilogy of novellas. What made you decide to go this route?
DR~What made me go with a trilogy? In all honesty, it's just how things turned out lol. My publisher wasn't happy with the ending of "A Trace of Love". They wanted me to flesh it out and give it a happier ending, but first of all, Ophelia wouldn't have it, and second I wanted to keep the story short. At the time I had been mulling around the idea to continue to story in my head, so I talked to my editor about it and she loved the idea of bringing the characters back, so it evolved into two books. But as soon as I finished writing Book 2, I knew there would have to be one more because there are some surprises at the end of Book 2 that Trace and Ophelia need to address before they can truly have their happy ending.
Bri~Boy I can relate to that. Characters that demand things their own way are impossible to ignore. The heros name is actually Trace in your trilogy, as in each of your titles the same word is used. Was that planned? How did it come about?
DR~Heehee. Yes I did that on purpose. I like to have titles that mean something or are a play on words. It's just something I like to do...Like a signature mark or something. I spend weeks with a dictionary and thesaurus open until I find the right combination of words. Sweet, simple, catchy, and will make the reader giggle once they figure it out. :)
Bri~ I'm the same way. Little techniques or patterns that are distinctly me. Even if I'm the only one to now it's still important. Tell us about the third installment? Is this the end? There were two surprises at the end of Passion will those two be resolved?
DR~ Yes the third book, A Trace of Hope, will be the final installment. This might end up being a little longer than the fist two books, but the story will finally end. Makes me sad just thinking about it, but I also feel like I owe Trace and Ophelia their happy ending after everything I put them through.....
Bri~ Darn straight you do. They have been through a lot you spiteful woman. LOL
Review
So I'm not one to summarize an already great blurb so I tend to leave those out of my reviews. In short I almost ripped Danielle a new laptop hole after I read Trace of Love because I wanted the sequel immediately. Trace and Ophelia are amazing characters. The way that Danielle can create characters of that kind of depth and a plot with such intensity in so few words is a testament to her craft and talent.
Buy it Now!

Published on February 23, 2012 00:00
February 20, 2012
Pampered Chef is Indestructable
Apparently Pampered Chef is forever. Why do I say that?
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Because my granny gave me a round stone she said she'd had for like twenty years. And this thing was black! I mean dark as night, no amount of scraping or scrubbing would change it black.
So I've had said stone for about ten years. And it is still black.
That is until recently.
So I keep this stone in the oven for easy access. Well I hadn't cleaned my oven, or my house for that matter, in a long time.
I have a self cleaning oven...I figure WTH.
I'll set it and then at least that will be clean. So I do all the button pushing, the oven door locks, I go upstairs to take a shower.
Well an hour later the house is all smoking, the detectors are silent (at least we learned that) and the oven is locked. I open up the windows and start the fans. Hours later we find out that the oven wasn't that dirty. The Pampered Chef Stone was!
And now my stone is as good as new looking. Crazy huh!
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[image error]
Because my granny gave me a round stone she said she'd had for like twenty years. And this thing was black! I mean dark as night, no amount of scraping or scrubbing would change it black.
So I've had said stone for about ten years. And it is still black.
That is until recently.
So I keep this stone in the oven for easy access. Well I hadn't cleaned my oven, or my house for that matter, in a long time.
I have a self cleaning oven...I figure WTH.
I'll set it and then at least that will be clean. So I do all the button pushing, the oven door locks, I go upstairs to take a shower.
Well an hour later the house is all smoking, the detectors are silent (at least we learned that) and the oven is locked. I open up the windows and start the fans. Hours later we find out that the oven wasn't that dirty. The Pampered Chef Stone was!
And now my stone is as good as new looking. Crazy huh!








My Blog 2 Questions 1 Lit Agent A Sassy Southern Belle=

Published on February 20, 2012 21:42
February 13, 2012
The Inverted C and the L desk
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So if you follow the blog you know that I openedmy own consulting business called Belle Consulting. If you didn't tada! I did. Wellit kind of took off at a pace no one really expected...especially the haters.(Booya how you like the apples!)
With that said there are a couple of new developmentsthat have physically happened. · My butt is much flatter because Iliterally spend about 10 hours a day on it at the computer.· I actually weigh less than I did inhigh school now, because I don't eat for 10-12 hours a day. And when I docriteria like it has to be quick, loaded with protein, and not leave anyresidue on a touch screen, key board, or mouse. So no more Cheetos ;(· I actually have a waist. No really!there are these little things on my sides, above my hips, that are like inwardcurves. It seems this is a side effect of my morning yoga sessions to deal with thestress of success.· I'm actually making some money for allthis work!· And finally sitting at the computer inthe incorrect position for so long actually has caused the top of my spine togo into an inverted C.To elaborate, according to my chiropractor, thetop of the spine should look like a C with the top of your head bouncing aroundfluidly on top.

Mine is backwards. Which made my spine go into aflipping zig zag.
Can you say painful?!
Well apparently my desk set up was wrong. I hadall my papers in front of me and kept leaning forward toward the screen. Mydoctor suggested I try attaching an L to the side I could turn toward in orderto correct the issue.I would then move the computer screen closer and keep my papers etc on the L desk.
Well after 5 thrift shops I gave up and cried tothe hubby. (I may be making money but I'm still frugal.) And then said I'm taking your desk.
Well apparently he must have wanted to keep his(really his office furniture was mine for years)because he came home from workone night and started up the saws. He's an amazing carpenter.
So I thought "Hey, he'll rip down two boardsthrow some screws together and it'll all be good." (We'd just be out timecause we had some spare wood in the garage.)
I should have known. The man is so not capable ofsimple. And don't get me wrong I love him for it like nothing else. But I hateto take any of his precious relaxing time. He works as hard as I do, goes toschool full time, and did I ever mention we have a herd of kids?
So here it is people...my simple L shaped desk.

Oh yes those sides are routed! Yes those arecustom columned looking legs. Yes it's was lovingly hand stained with threecoats of polly added.
So what chya'll think?
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Published on February 13, 2012 00:00