Stacy Verdick Case's Blog, page 11
February 22, 2013
Getting to Know Digs – A Day in the Life
You know he loves Louise but what is really going on in Digs’ head? Find out today over on Dru’s Book Musings. On the second stop of my A Luring Murder blog tour, I’m honored to be a part of Dru’s Day In the Life series.
Digs has been a fan favorite since book one. That’s why I decided to write my Day In The Life post from his point of view. I wanted to give you guys a chance to get a little closer to our resident forensic pathologist.
Click over to Dru’s Book Musings to read the full story. Enjoy!
Filed under: Blog Tour!, books, Guest Post, Writers Tagged: A Day In The Life, A Luring Murder, Digs, Dru's Book Musings
February 20, 2013
Blog Tour 2013 Starts Today!
Yes it’s that time again. Time to take the Stacy show on tour. Let the mayhem begin!
I can think of no better kick off location then over at Bless Their Hearts Mom. Bless their Hearts Mom hosted a stop of the A Grand Murder Grand Tour in 2011 and were gracious enough to have me back again for A Luring Murder’s tour.
Please pop over to Bless Their Hearts Mom and read my guest post about The Comfort of Books.
Filed under: Blog Tour!, books, Guest Post Tagged: A Luring Murder, Bless Their Hearts Mom, Blog Tour
February 14, 2013
Adventures of a Geriatric Mommy
Ever since my daughter (the smartest and most beautiful daughter ever) learned to walk she’s become like her daddy – unable to sit still for two seconds. She’s fearless and adventurous you have to love and admire that about children.
Her boundless energy trumps mine on any given day and if I stayed up late one night so I could watch something one TV other than The Wonder Pet she exhaust me at the morning diaper change with the kicking and wrangling needed to get her into dry pants. The morning in question just happens to be one of the late night TV mornings and I wasn’t at my most perky.
I managed the diaper change and even breakfast without falling over from exhaustion. After the smartest most beautiful girl in the world was done eating, I decided to turn on some morning cartoons for her and try to catch a few more minutes off light sleep. This happens a lot with both my husband and myself. We are after all geriatric parents (a term the medical profession assigns to anyone over 35 who dares get pregnant). Please don’t worry about her safety during these naps, everything is child proofed beyond what is normal. We are overly cautious even by our strictest friend’s assessment.
My daughter usually doesn’t seem to mind that mommy and daddy has popped off to dream land and plays with her dollies and trucks while we catch a few extra minutes of sleep.
Occasionally her play involves tucking us in and I’ll wake to find her blanket wrapped around my shoulders and all of her babies tucked around my legs. I choose to think of this as tucking in and not burying the deadbeat parent.
Some mornings though it’s hard to ignore the notion that you’re in fact being buried alive in a desperate bid for some attention. This day was one of those days. On this day I knew I was being told that only a shitty mommy would leave Dora the Explorer to babysit their precious one while she snored on the sofa.
Believe me the message that I’m a shitty parent was received loud and clear because I woke to find my face framed by a Dora potty seat. My chin cradled in the splash guard I peered up through the opening into my daughter’s smiling face. Almost like she were mocking me.
Part of my brain was thinking, “how funny is this?” And the other part was wondering when the last time the potty seat had been washed.
I quickly removed the offending toilet seat. And sat upright so that if I did fall asleep again she wouldn’t be able to frame me with the seat unless she became adept at ring toss.
Filed under: humor, Mommy, Moms, Random Musing, Women Tagged: funny, geriatric mommy, Humor, Moms
February 13, 2013
February 10, 2013
Fairy May Official Blog Stop
Author and Illustrator Jo Lindell has done it again! I’d read Jo Lindell’s first children’s book Out and About and the Zoo to my daughter and her love for Out and About At the Zoo is the reason I jumped at an opportunity to read Jo’s latest release Fairy May.
Fairy May is a fairy in training who desperately wants to be a tooth fairy. Here’s the official description from the author’s site:
Fairy May dreams of one day becoming a tooth fairy but she struggles at school and always seems to get things wrong. With hard work and determination she prepares for her test. Will she realize her dream and become a tooth fairy?
The night I received my copy from the author I sat down to read it to my daughter. She immediately fell in love with the adorable illustration of 
Fairy May. She anxiously wanted to know if Fairy May would become a tooth fairy. As soon as we were finished reading she made me read it again, which is the highest compliment as toddler can give.
The illustrations are beautiful and Ms. Lindell has even created a coloring page and a tooth brushing chart to go with the Fairy May book.
Pick up a copy of Fairy May Today!
Author bio:
Jo Linsdell is a freelance writer living in Rome, Italy. She writes articles for websites, newspapers and magazines and on occasion also updates travel guides e.g. the Weissmann Guide to Rome for Northstar Travel Media in 2006. Her books “Italian for Tourists” and “A guide to weddings in Italy” are currently available from various online bookstores including; www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. They can also be found at www.lulu.com/jolinsdell along with her various e-books.
Jo Linsdell was born in Gillingham, Kent (UK) on 16th September 1980. Married name Joanne Denise Feliciani (she uses her maiden name as her pen name).
Having passed 10 GCSE’s, she went on to study Business Studies, History and Art A-Levels at Yateley 6th Form. Jo left England and moved to Rome, Italy in June 2001, where she now lives with her husband. Their first child was born December 2007.
She has had various jobs including working in hostels, being a tour guide and teaching English as a foreign language. She now works full time as a freelance writer. She writes in both English and Italian.
She also writes several blogs. http://astheromansdo.blogspot.com, http://1sttimemums.blogspot.com and the multi-award winning http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com.
She organizes an annual online event for people in the writing industry called PROMO DAY taking place in May each year.
She is a member of The Association of Young Journalists and Writers
Filed under: Authors, books, ebooks, Moms, Writers Tagged: Children's Author, Fairy May, Jo Linsdell, Kids Book, Out and About At The Zoo
January 30, 2013
Do Not Disturb Reader Inside
More than anything I want more time to read. Don’t get me wrong, I read every day, but my reading comes in choppy chunks usually between “tantrums”, “diaper changes”, “honey where’s the”, “what’s that burning smell”, and “oh no! the toilet just over flowed” moments. What I dream about is a luxurious block of uninterrupted time.
Ah, that would be heaven.
A nice sunny spot with a wide soft chair I can curl up on with a warm blanket. Someplace where I can close the door and shut out the real world so I can concentrate on the world of the story.
A girl can but dream!
Filed under: Dreams, reading Tagged: books, loving books, Reading, Reading Space, Reading Time
January 20, 2013
Lead by Morning
In mid-2012 I read the book " target="_blank">Twitter for Good. It was my first introduction to Claire Diaz-Ortiz (the woman who got the Pope on Twitter!). Claire’s efforts to make social media a little nicer place to dwell really struck a chord with me after witnessing so many off-putting behaviors and exchanges on Twitter and its ilk.
I signed up on Claire’s website to receive her email newsletter and received a copy of " target="_blank">How to Be Social: A Social Media Manifesto, which was extremely helpful for me the anti-social, social-media participant.
When Claire put out a call for people to review her new book " target="_blank">Lead by Morning which is based on Claire’s ebook " target="_blank">The Present Principle: Seven Steps to Life in the Now (yep, I read that too) I jumped at the chance. I’ve become a seeker of a better way lately and Lead by Morning played right into my desires.
The concept of " target="_blank">Lead by Morning is not a new one to me. Start your day on a positive note and the rest of your day flows from that positive place and will hopefully be better.
What is new is using the seven steps of The " target="_blank">Present Principle (Pray, Read, Express, Schedule, Exercise, Nourish, Track) as your guide in the morning to get you to your positive place. This helps if you find mornings dysfunctional like I do. The seven steps are like a “For Dummies” guide to my positive side.
" target="_blank">Lead by Morning seemed to land in my Kindle at just the right moment. Lately I’d been hearing that Lorrie Morgan song lyric “I’m putting on my war paint” while I was putting on my makeup in the morning. Instead of intending for my day to be positive I was preparing for battle. Reviewing Lead by Morning forced me to shift from battle mode to a more contemplative frame of mind.
I received Lead by Morning on January 2nd and read the book in a day. Claire’s writing style and voice is very approachable so it’s easy to read.
Since then I’ve made a point to diligently follow the steps daily. " target="_blank">Lead by Morning includes 365 inspirational and thought provoking passages for the reader to study daily. The book also includes references to other books for those who chose to dig deeper.
It would be so great to end this blog post with a miraculous immediate turn around, but that only happens in fiction. I am not perfect and I still have a grump on that cannot be tamed on some mornings.
I am however happy to report that since reading " target="_blank">Lead by Morning and following the Present Principal for the past eighteen or so days (as of the date of this posting) things have gotten better. Not a complete 180 but a turn toward brighter days.
The practice does make me think about my mornings and my attitude toward my day. " target="_blank">Lead by Mornings has given me a different frame of reference to start the day. Instead of being angry going into a commute, in the past couple weeks I haven’t even noticed the traffic because I’m still thinking about the passage I read that morning.
I believe if I’m diligent about continuing on the path I’ve started with " target="_blank">Lead by Morning the miraculous change can still come.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Filed under: Authors, books, ebooks, reading Tagged: books, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Lead by Morning, The Present Principle, Twitter for Good
January 11, 2013
Anthem for Moms
As a writer words are very powerful to me. Words can cut me. Words can warm me. Words can move me to action. Words are power.
That’s why so much of the music I listen too are what I like to call story songs. In a world full of throw away pop music I collect musical story tellers with fierceness of a Star Wars fan at Comic-Con discovering a limited edition Boba Fett never removed from its box.
The most recent addition to my musical story collection I just had to share with all the Mom’s out there who only hear Barney and The Fresh Beat Band blaring from their speakers anymore because this is one I don’t want you to miss.
Kate Earl has written what I’m calling an anthem for moms (A Momthem?) everywhere. Please if you’re a mom take a few minutes out of your day right now to listen to this wonderful song. The first time I heard it I was looking at my daughter and nodding. I am her one woman army.
God bless all the moms out there and the dad’s too.
~S~
Filed under: Moms, Women, writing Tagged: Kate Earl, Mom Anthem, Moms, Words
January 3, 2013
It’s Here!
I’m so happy to announce that the second book in the Catherine O’Brien mystery series, A Luring Murder, is released! As many of your know it’s been a rocky ride to get this one out the door. Thank you to everyone who emailed me to offer support and a shoulder. You are all so wonderful! Thank you to the fans of A Grand Murder who asked for this book.
I hope you will all join me in the continuing adventures of Catherine and Louise. Here’s a little about A Luring Murder:
The irreverent detective is back, and this time she’s on vacation.
God help us all.
St. Paul, Minnesota Homicide Detective Catherine O’Brien and her loving husband Gavin are vacationing on one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. When a local is murdered Catherine is tapped to help the small town Sheriff until the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrives to take over the investigation.
Catherine is surprised when her partner Louise and Diggs the forensic pathologist, whose crush on Louise is only dwarfed by his own genius, show up to assist instead of the BCA.
Before long Catherine and Louise discover this sleepy little town has a dark side hidden beneath its placid lake charms. Somewhere in the tangle of cheating and deception is a motive for murder.
Filed under: books, Mysteries Tagged: A Luring Murder, books, Catherine O'Brien Book 2, mystery, writers
December 4, 2012
Delayed (Again)
So since today was supposed to be the day that A Luring Murder was official launched and it is nowhere to be seen I think I can officially say there’s been a delay. I knew it was a possibility but I was practicing the power of positive thinking. I kept saying it would be on time, it would be on time.
My power is weak. I’m working on it.
O seem to be apologizing a lot lately for missed deadlines and here’s another one. For all of you who have been waiting for A Luring Murder’s paperback release I am sorry it’s not here. I will let you know what I find out about a new release date.
Filed under: books, fiction, Writers Tagged: A Luring Murder, books, delay
