Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 82

#Music Monday: Jason Donovan - Too Many Broken Hearts

Jason Donovan's "Too Many Broken Hearts" has been among my favourite songs since childhood. It was one of the most played songs on the cassettes I had as a child, along with Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" and a few others I loved that were released during my childhood. I can't include them all, but I couldn't leave Jason Donovan out when sharing some of my favourite tunes. So, here you go... Enjoy!

Tori's October 2018 #Book #Reviews - #AmReading

Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.
~Dr. Seuss

It's time to take a look at what I read in October.

It's lucky my replacement Kindle arrived quickly, because October was a busy month for reading challenges and things. I had books to review, my first buddy read, and a couple of books I read for group challenges on Goodreads. Thankfully they all count towards my reading goal for the year, since I'm a couple of books behind on that at the moment. I'm hoping I can get caught up in time to meet my goal when the end of the year arrives, which isn't long now... Can you believe it's already November?

By the way, I haven't mentioned in the reviews which ones were for challenges, but will tell you if you want to know. Either way, let's take a look at them, along with the books I read in between those titles, shall we?

October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.
~John Sinor

Just for fun, I tried to keep a mystery, paranormal, or spooky theme to the books I read in October, in honor of Halloween.

Anyway, as with the previous posts like this one, if you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question.

Don't forget: the format I've reviewed may not be the format I read. Also, please remember that I read across multiple genres and age ranges, so you should always check if a book is suitable for the intended reader, especially when children are involved. Sometimes reading the book's description on its Goodreads page will be enough for this, but other times you may need to check elsewhere to figure out the genre and/or recommended reading level.

OK... On to the reviews!

Conspiracy of Silence by Sabrina Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great characters, a fascinating plot, and a wonderful ending.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the kind of creepy fairy tale that reminds you that the stories we know today had much darker origins than they do in most retellings. I wasn't sure what to think of either the plot or the main character for the first couple of chapters, but started to like both as I got further in to the book, and soon found myself enjoying reading it so much I didn't want to put it down. I don't feel I can give it the full five stars. After all, it took me a couple of chapters to really get in to it. But I do think it's a really great read, and recommend it to those who enjoy the darker side of fairy tales.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a 3.5 star read for me, but I rounded up. Anyway, for the most part I thought it was a fun read, filled with plenty of mystery and magic, as well as a dash of romance. But I found the way it jumped about in the timeline confusing at first, though it wasn't so bad once I got to know the characters properly.

Quest of the Brokenhearted by Charles E. Yallowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is an excellent read, filled with plenty of action, and a plot that will keep you guessing. Also, that ending... I so did not see that coming, but loved it!

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. The gadgets and equipment used by both sides were pretty cool, and I also enjoyed how we got to see events from both sides during the story. I'm looking fforward to seeing how this series progresses.

Mercenary by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a well-written book, which is a nice read in its own right, and a great addition to the series. Cherry's story is a sad one, but it was nice to get to read her story, and get to know more about her.

Freelance by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this addition to the series! It's wonderful how Elsa is so independent, and doesn't let her blindness stop her from doing things. The author did a fantastic job of portraying a blind character, and the story is interesting and well-written in general, so this is an all round great read.

Abby & Holly Series Book 2: Unfortunate Events by Janice Spina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent book in its own right, and a wonderful addition to the series. Mystery, suspense, ghosts, and some great characters... What more could anyone ask for?

Harry Potter: A History of Magic by Ben Davies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you're a huge Harry Potter fan who wants to learn more about the magical world, and the real history behind some of it, you might enjoy this book. Similarly, if you're an author who wants a little insight in to J K Rowling's cretive process, you might enjoy this book. If neither of those applies to you, you probably won't. I'm lucky in that both apply to me, so I did enjoy it. Although, I'm unclear why chapters on identical aspects weren't placed together, and think being able to pour over the information in physical form would have been better had that been possible for me, since even I found my attention starting to wander after a while with the audio version.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I thought I would. The story was a good one, and I like the characters, but the plot moves along slowly - probably because we're trying to follow so many characters - and the ending was rather anti-climactic. I try not to compare books to movies, and generally would tell you the book is best anyhow. But in this case I can't help it, because this is one of those times when I think the movie is better. The movie has been a favourite of mine for years. The book is a reasonably good read, but won't be making it on to my favourites list.

Aaliyah by Katrina Cope
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
You know those books that make you stay up past your bed time because you just don't want to stop reading? Yeah... This was one of those for me. The plot hooked me from the start, and wouldn't let go. The characters are interesting, and believable as "real" people, despite mostly not being human. Plus, the writing itself is excellent. All this combined to make for an excellent read, which I eagerly devoured in one sitting.
*NOTE: I was given a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced my opinion of the book, nor the contents of this review.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I actually didn't realize this prequel to "Practical Magic" existed before, otherwise I'd have read it first. Still, it turns out it doesn't really matter which way around you read them. At least, I don't think it does. But, what did I think of the book? Well, it was really good, and interesting to learn more about some of the family's history. It wasn't amazing. But, then again, neither was the book version of "Practical Magic" so... *shrugs* I liked it though, even if I didn't totally love it. It was a fun read, with a magical plot, and some great characters.

The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A great story, which will give you goosebumps for sure!

The Haunted Car by R.L. Stine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A creepy read, which is sure to give you goosebumps.

#FurkidFriday: What Lilie The #Westie Is Scared Of

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

The squeaky things in cages have been talking about things they find scary, because the humans mentioned this thing called "Halloween" - which I think I might remember happening around this time last year, but I was only a little puppy, so can't be sure - and apparently scary things is the theme for that particular holiday. So I thought I'd join in.

Only, I'm a big brave girl, and I'm not really scared of stuff.

When that thunderstorm thing happens, I either ignore it, or - if I think it's being particularly growly - growl back at it. Most times I just ignore it. I don't understand why Mummy loves when it happens so much, but I don't really care that it does.

I'm not scared of the dark, loud noises, sudden movements, or anything like that either.

I'm even OK with the hoover monster. Although, I admit I do watch it very carefully when the humans let it loose, just in case.

I can even deal with being left alone for a few minutes. I don't like it, and get upset. But I can deal with it, and don't get scared like I hear some dogs do. Sometimes I don't even cry right away.

See. I'm super brave!

OK. Fine. I admit it: there is one thing I'm scared of.

Drums!

Yes. I'm scared of drums.

I normally love music, and will even sometimes sing along with Mummy. But drums get me all scared and upset at the same time. I can't decide whether to cry about them happening, run away and hide, or try yelling at them to go away. So I usually end up trying to do all three at once, which doesn't work very well.

I have a good reason though: some giant drums came really close to me when I was a tiny puppy, and scared me loads and loads.

Look. I was a young puppy, it was my first ever time out on a big walkies, and the drums were very loud and close. You'd have been scared too! I can't help it if I never got over it, can I?

I'm not scared of anything else though. Not even fireworks. It's just drums.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

@MakerlyCrafts Box Review - #Crafting #Sugarskulls #Quilling

The subscription boxes from Makerly Crafts sounded fun, so I was delighted when I received my first box. I'm going to tell you all about my first box today, which is rather appropriate, given that there was a skull theme to this month's box, yesterday was Halloween, and today is the continuation of the Samhain celebrations, or the Day Of The Dead (depending on who you ask, and where in the world you happen to be).

Before I do though, I want to make something clear for those who aren't regulars to this blog: the quality of the finished project is not a reflection on Makerly Crafts, but a result of my being blind. Someone with sight would probably have produced something much neater, even if they were as new to quilling as I was. Just saying.

Right, now we have that out of the way, let's get on with talking about the box and its contents, shall we?

Makerly Crafts sends different crafts each month. One month it might be a sewing project, another month candle making, another month some kind of quilling kit (I list those because I know they've definitely covered those kinds of crafts, since I've seen them mentioned on their social media as past box themes). You get the idea. So you never know until the box arrives what the craft will be. They even make a point of giving some time for the boxes to arrive with people before announcing online what the craft for the month is. Looking at the past boxes they still have available, and the stuff on their blog and social media, they've had some fantastic kits. I'm only sad I missed some of those (I was too late to buy the pumpkin sewing project they did last Halloween, for example; I'd have loved that one, and brought the kit for that past box for sure, if they were still selling it among their past boxes for sale).

Anyway, back to the box I got this month...

They send the boxes out on the 15th of the month. When your box arrives, you'll get something like this:

(I put something over my address, since I'd rather not have my home address plastered all over the internet).

When I opened my box, it was like Christmas had come early, with a nice little package inside, and even a lovely little welcome note...


It was only at this point, when I was examining the contents of my box, that I learned what the kit was for the month. In this case it was a sugarskull quilling kit. A perfect kit for October!

The box contained...

The instructions and templateSome background paper to put the template on (in a couple of different colours)A quilling toolA quilling board (for making the actual shapes)Some tweasersSome pinsStrips of paper (in several different colours)GlueA frame to put your finished picture in
Here are some photos of everything that was in the box:


It was everything I'd need to make my kit, both when it came to tools and supplies. In fact, I could have easily made a second one. Although, I'd have had to buy my own frame for that one. Still, you get the point, I'm sure.

Anyway, they say the instructions they include with their kits are simple and easy to follow. They are very much correct. The instructions were clear enough that it only took one time with me having them read to me while familiarizing myself with the various items, and after that I was able to know what I was doing without having to keep asking for clarification on any of the steps. So anyone who can easily refer back to them when they need to would definitely have no problems following them, regardless of skill level. I did need help to cut out the skull template, and with colour identification (for obvious reasons) but that's not something most people would struggle with, of course.

So...

Once I had my skull template, and it was glued on to the background I chose...


I outlined the skull in black...

(Glad for the pins they'd included, which made this stage easier).

Then I gave my skull some eye and nose holes...


Before filling the rest in using my own chosen colour pattern...

(There is a pattern shown with the instructions, which you can follow if you like, but they say you can pick your own pattern, and I probably would have done that even if I could see theirs).

I didn't use tweasers to help with doing it. They suggested it might be easier. For some people it might. But I was managing fine just using my hands and the quilling tools, so I didn't bother. Actually, in my case it would have possibly made things more difficult had I used the tweasers. Still, that might not be the case for everyone, and I thought the tip about possibly using tweasers was nice, and the fact they even included them - just in case you did find it easier that way - was even nicer.

Anyway, once my skull was finished, I put it in the frame...


There you have it. One completed sugarskull quilling kit.

So, what did I think of it all?

The kit was fun. Not only that, but it was all presented nicely, which made me feel like they'd taken special care with my package, so made me feel good. Plus, as I already mentioned, they included clear and easy to follow instructions. I'm already excited about my next box coming, and I still have another couple of weeks before it will arrive.

Is it good value for money? Absolutely! It costs £15 (around US$20 with the current most common conversion rate) and you'd be hard pressed to get everything included in the kit for the cost of the box.

Would I recommend it? Definitely! In fact, consider this me doing so. Yes, to those of you outside of the UK too, since they do ship outside of the UK.

If you want to check it out, but don't want to commit to a subscription, you can buy some of their past boxes - while stocks last - from their website. The sugarskull quilling kit from this post, for example, is available to buy at the time I'm writing this, along with the cupcake candle kit (which I believe had been September's box).

Finally, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to them for this box, and for the hours of crafty fun it gave me.

#WriterWednesday - October 31st 2018 - #HappyHalloween!

Writing, real writing, should leave a small sweet bruise somewhere on the writer . . . and on the reader.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Happy Halloween! If you're doing anything to celebrate, I hope you have fun. I know this is officially a writing related post, but feel free to tell me about your Halloween plans in the comments, if you have any. I'd love to hear about them.

OK. Let's get back to writing related stuff, shall we?

First of all, there are stories in your heart - set them free.

No matter what you're writing, you need to take breaks regularly. It's not good for you to sit at the computer for hours on end. Then again, you also have to be careful that your quick break doesn't turn in to something distracting you for so long you don't come back to your writing any time soon. Yeah, I need to learn about both those things myself. So, for all our benifits, here's a post on how to take a writing break without getting distracted.

Oh, and here's a potentially useful post that explains how to be super efficient by batching your work.

So... It's 8pm. Why aren't you writing? Or, maybe it's 8am...? Look, just substitute the time for whatever time is meant to be your writing time. The point is, sometimes you just have to work with whatever writing time you can, even if it's not your best time. Yeah, I know. This is another thing I need to work on. This year really hasn't been a good one for me when it comes to getting my writing time in though, and it's more than just a scheduling issue in my case. Sometimes that happens though, and sometimes you have to let it. Sometimes you have to make sure your writing happens when it can be scheduled in, sometimes you have to snatch whatever moments you can, and sometimes the other stuff in your life has to come first, and writing has to take a back seat. Only you know which is the case right now in your own life.

On a similar note: here's some advice on finding the time (and words) to write, and writing when life is more trick than treat.

Writers do not live one life, they live two. There is the living and then there is the writing. There is the second tasting, the delayed reaction.
~Anais Nin

Though the reading or writing of mysteries and horror stories isn't limited to this time of year, it does seem like the perfect time to discuss tips for writing mystery, horror, and suspense, or writing terrifying horror fiction and monster stories. If your scary stories are aimed at children, you might want to take a look at this post on writing horror for kids, which bases its tips on quotes by R. L. Stine.

Regardless of the genre or age range you write for, if you write flash fiction, or would like to try doing so, here's a post on introducing the problem in few words.

Have you picked a title for your book yet? If not, check out these tips for naming your novel to help you find one.

Now your book has a title, do you need some marketing ideas? Check out this post on how to make use of locations in your marketing, even if the locations aren't actually real places.

Finally, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starts tomorrow. I'm not participating, but if you're participating... Good luck! Remember to take care of yourself while writing though. That goes for those not participating in NaNoWriMo too.

A #Weather Report, A Week Of Organizing, And A Little #Crafting

Mother Nature: our lives sprung from her life, our health from her health. So we look for that gentle, reassuring rise and fall of her breathing that tells us she is alive and well, that to-and-fro movement that carries her through the seasons.
~C.R. Milne

For those who like to know about weather in the rest of the world: the weather in my area has been sunny most of the time, with a mild storm or two, lots of frosty starts to the days, and a couple of misty mornings thrown in for good measure. But it's been kind of chilly a lot of the time. Not that I'm complaining about the temperatures. I quite like when cooler temperatures arrive. Plus, it's nice after the heat of the Summer. It's been ranging between 3 degrees C (about 38 F) and 16 degrees C (about 64 F). Towards the lower end of that scale more often than not, especially at night, and in the mornings and evenings. In other words, appropriate weather for the time of year. At least, it's what I think of when I think of Autumn weather, and what I think the temperatures should be at this time of year.

Anyway, either we were much more motivated to unpack than pack, not having our movements so restricted made a huge difference, my feeling better helped a lot more than expected, some other forces were at work, or some combination of these things, because we got a lot further with sorting things around here than I thought we would over the past week, even though we were actually taking the time to properly organize everything as we put it all on shelves this time around, and rearranged some furniture too.

That's not to say we're completely done sorting things. We aren't. But our home office now resembles one, our bedroom is only a bedroom again, and a lot of what we had packed is back to being on shelves instead of in boxes.

I think the furkids find it all rather strange. They were watching us closely, as though trying to figure out what we were up to. Especially Lilie, who had to be shut the other side of the babygate for her own safety more than once, since she was supervising a little too closely at times, and we didn't want to either hurt her, or get hurt ourselves trying to avoid doing so.

Anyway, apparently both of us wanted to just get it done as quickly as possible, since Kelly and I both devoted most of our time during the past week to moving furniture, unpacking boxes, and organizing the contents of said boxes on to shelves. There are a few things we didn't get a chance to do that we'd planned to, but the bulk of it is now done.

As I'm sure you can imagine, it gave my muscles a good workout, so I went to bed sore and achy quite a lot during the past week, and am still feeling it now. I don't mind too much though, because it's nice to be able to actually do stuff. It's also nice to have so much of it done already. The rest will be done slowly, as we get the extra shelving and things, sort the household repairs that are our responsibility, and replace items that need replacing. Or, in the case of stuff we just ran out of energy to tackle, when we have a few free moments to deal with it.

The rest of my time during this past week - what little there was of it - was devoted to keeping up with the usual day to day tasks as best as possible, playing with the furkids, and that kind of thing, with a little time for working on one of my craft projects thrown in. Though not as much as I'd hoped of the latter.

I've finished the kit from my first Makerly Crafts box, which was also my first attempt at quilling. I had fun doing it, even if I had to have a little help from Kelly to start with, and with some colour identification. But I'll tell you about that properly another day, since that's the one where I promised to review the box. Watch for that review coming very soon; since it's a sugarskull quilling kit, I'm posting the review on the Day Of The Dead... November 1st.

I'd planned to start on some of my other projects too, but all the organizing and unpacking took up a lot of time. Plus, it wore me out so much I was going to bed early. Since I had some reading commitments that needed to be met before the end of the month, I made those and the quilling kit my priority. Then I ran out of time to do anything else, despite the clocks going back and giving me an extra hour. It doesn't matter though. I finished what was most important, and got some rest in when I needed it. That matters more.

#MondayMotivation And #Inspiration - October 2018 Edition

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
~Buddha

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
~Mother Teresa

However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.
~Stephen Hawking

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
~Anne Frank

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
~Jim Rohn

Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 2

Here are the rest of our videos from the Hastings Bonfire Celebrations (October 13th 2018). You can find part 1 here, if you missed it last week.
















































There would have been more firework videos, because there were plenty more fireworks. But the camera's battery died.

Anyway, the last thing I have to show you for this event is a photo of the pin badge (button to some of you) that Kelly brought home for me, which he picked up at the event. So, here it is:

#FurkidFriday: Maizie Talks About The #Chinchillas' Fears

Hi everyone. This is Maizie the chinchilla.

Last week, our degu brother, Joshua, told you about the things that scare him, because that "Halloween" holiday is coming up. At least, the human caretakers say it is. So we decided we'll all tell you what we're scared of. Although, since my chinchilla sister, Mollie, is scared of the same things as me, I can just tell you what both of us are scared of.

So, what are Mollie and I scared of?

Sudden movements and noises. We can deal with loud noises and people moving about, but if they happen suddenly, we'll get scared.Being grabbed unexpectedly. We don't mind being petted, and will sometimes even agree to be cuddled - more with Mummy than with Daddy - but we need some warning that you're going to touch us, otherwise we get really scared, and will panic.Bad storms. We don't mind the little storms, but the bigger ones are scary, and will send us scurrying for our log house to hide.
Basically, the thing that scares us the most is things happening suddenly. Take things slowly, and we'll be OK.

Well, as long as there are no bad storms.

Or spiders.

Yeah. I'm scared of spiders. Mollie isn't. But I am. Even if they're on the TV.

The Mummy human is too, so at least I'm not the only one.

Squeak soon,
Maizie

"Abby and Holly: Unfortunate Events" by @janice_spina - #KidLit #Mystery #BookRelease

Abby and Holly: Unfortunate Events.
By Janice Spina

Abby and Holly are cousins who are more like sisters. They enjoy doing everything together. Holly lives with Abby and her family in a haunted Victorian.

Holly must deal with some difficult decisions in her family when unexpected and unfortunate events come to pass.

Abby is there to lend support to Holly along with two ghostly apparitions, Felicity and Minerva, who live in Abby’s house. These specters provide some magical and helpful advice along the way as they watch over Holly during this difficult time.

The girls’ friends, twins Davey and Derek Donato, from their own series, pop in to support Holly and bring some fun and comical relief to the story.

Buy the book from Amazon, or click here to buy it from Amazon UK.

About the author:
Janice Spina is a award-winning author with eleven children’s books, Louey the Lazy Elephant, Ricky the Rambunctious Raccoon, Jerry the Crabby Crayfish (won Pinnacle Book Achievement Award), Lamby the Lonely Lamb (won the Silver Medal from MOM’S Choice Awards), and Jesse the Precocious Polar Bear, Broose the Moose on the Loose (won a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award), and Sebastian Meets Marvin the Monkey, and Colby the Courageous Cat. Jeffrey the Jittery Giraffe, Clarence Henry the Hermit Crab Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series (Book 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) is a middle-grade/preteen series. Book 1, The Case of the Missing Cell Phone (won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and an Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite Awards). Book 2, The Case of the Mysterious Black Cat, won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and Book 3, The Case of the Magical Ivory Elephant, also won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and Book 5 won a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and a Silver Medal from Authorsdb Cover Contest.

Janice has published three novels under J. E. Spina, Hunting Mariah, a thriller/mystery, Mariah’s Revenge (Sequel to Hunting Mariah) a paranormal/mystery/romance novel, How Far Is Heaven, and a short story collection, An Angel Among Us, all available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She is working on a children’s book, and a mystery series for YA girls to be published in 2018. She needs to edit a YA fantasy series which will be published in 2019 and beyond. Her husband is her illustrator and cover creator.

Connect to Janice
Website: http://Jemsbooks.com
Blog: http://Jemsbooks.blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janice.spina.9
Twitter: @janice_spina
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7222888.Janice_Spina