Mechele Armstrong's Blog, page 3

Happiness is a new release

Dear Rose 2: Winter's Dare released overnight! I'm so excited!!!!!  Rose Winter helped one relationship get together but now she has her work cut out for her. This time, it's personal.

Tucker and Ally have been Devyn, Rose's alter ego's, friends since college. And they've had a torch burning for each other all along. Now, the flame's in danger of sputtering out. Their friends with benefits relationship doesn't work for Ally anymore. She wants more, but knows commitment-phobic Tucker can't man up.
At least until not until Devyn dares him to make it work. And Tucker dares Devyn to help him.



With a plan that includes strip poker, a hot tub, a night never to be forgotten, it looks like Rose, that is Devyn's, sure to book another win. But can Ally and Tucker take the final plunge and make friends-with-bennies into forever?
To read an excerpt.

Dear Rose 1: Winter's Gamble is on sale now at Loose Id! ...

Dear Rose 1: Winter's Gamble is on sale now at Loose Id! Check out the deal before it gets away.  http://www.loose-id.com/specials/daily-deals.html

And Dear Rose 2: Winter's Dare is on track to release very very soon. It should go live in just a few hours. I will be back tomorrow to share an excerpt and share another one the end of the week. Check out http://www.loose-id.com  when the new books go live tonight!

You can blame my lack of updates on writing like a fiend! Winter's Risk is finished. I will be editing Winter's Source and Winter's Risk and submitting them very soon!

Blogged at TRS! http://theromancestudio.blogspot.com...

Blogged at TRS! http://theromancestudio.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-fable.html

Don't Delay! Enter today!

Both Sam Cheever's and my contest at Kate Hill's blog for her Haunted Library end tomorrow! Don't miss out on a chance to win! http://www.mechelearmstrong.com/conte...

Friday Five

1. Am sad right now. My uncle passed away this morning. Know he is in a better a place but will miss him. And ache that I'm not there for that family as they are in Florida.

2. Worked on line edits for Winter's Dare last night. I hope one more pass back to me and they will be done.

3. Writing continues on Winter's Risk. Want it to go faster. But want it written well so am struggling with both impulses.

4. Am ready for Halloween. Snoopy is up and ready. Don't forget I'm participating in several contests. For more details go here.

5. Loved loved Castle this past Monday night. Especially the last five minutes. The Walking Dead was wowsa too.

Mechele

Friday Five

1. Life is busy. What else is new? 2. Am writing! Word count wise am over 1/2 way through Winter's Risk. But the story doesn't feel that way in what I know is going to happen. Should be interesting. 3. My house is decked out for Halloween but no Snoopy yet. Didn't get it up before it started raining and it's rained a lot this week. 4. Loved Castle Monday night, especially the last five minutes. Also am enjoying Big Bang Theory and Agents of SHIELD. Cannot wait for the Walking Dead! 5. Read Sharp Objects. Wow. What a ride. Have Horns by Joe Hill to get started on. Mechele

Kate Hill's Haunted Library and two blog posts

Kate Hill's Haunted Library is open for business! Check out some awesome spookiness.

Thursday Thirteen blog post at Kate Hill's blog on scary stuff. Comment for a chance to win a Halloween themed box!

Thursday Thirteen blog on Banned Books I think everyone should read.

Banned Books Week: It's personal and what you can do

I've shared this story a few times but I have personal experience with challenged books. You can read it here. I didn't understand it then and I still done. Time hasn't shed any light on it, not even now that I have children of my own.

I'm a huge supporter of Banned Books Week in case you hadn't noticed. I wish I didn't have to be. I wish books weren't challenged/banned. With each post/tweet/update I hope to raise awareness that this does go on. I've attended events in my local area (a seminar with readings from banned books and read in the banned books room at our local library for two years (sadly they aren't having it this year but say it will be back)). I read throughout the year. I try to read a book that's been challenged during Banned Books Week every year. I reread Salem's Lot, and read Olive's Ocean, Sandpiper, Fahrenheit 451, and The Perks of being a Wallflower in years past. I'm rereading the Color Purple this year and maybe the Beloved if I have time.  I bought the red "I read banned books" buttons to help support the cause.

But I think the biggest things I do to support Banned Books Week? I talk to my children about the issues throughout the year. I encourage them to read books that have been challenged. When they were younger, I did hold them off from books until they were a little older but now that they are a tween and a teen, I let them read whatever they want. I try to know what they are reading and if we need to discuss something about the book, we talk about it.

Read freely.

Read banned books.

Challenge censorship wherever it rears its ugly head.

Don't declare because you don't want or don't want your child reading a particular book that no one should be able to.

Talk about these issues. It's the only way we will ever move past them.

Mechele

Friday Five-the five best banned books I've read

1. Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Yes, my own school system challenged the book. I was already a fan of it, having read it long before the challenge.

2. Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I was blown away by this book in college. Still floors me that anyone would want to challenge it.

3. Any Harry Potter book. I adore the Harry Potter series. Not only did I fall in love with it, but I firmly believe that series cemented oldest's love of reading for which I'm eternally grateful.

4. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Brutal book but heartwarming just the same.

5. Are you there God? It's me Margaret among other books by Judy Blume. Coming of age tales that influenced a generation and more.

Banned Books Week: What, When, Where and Why of Challenged Books

Over this recent past decade, 5,099* challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom.1,577 challenges due to "sexually explicit" material;1,291 challenges due to "offensive language";989 challenges due to materials deemed "unsuited to age group";619 challenged due to "violence"' and361 challenges due to "homosexuality.http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 
So double the number of books challenged for violence were challenged for sexuality. It's always amazed me how parents will let kids watch murder fests but god forbid there was sex and nudity in a film. Looks like it maybe the same for books. 
Most Challenged books 1990-99
Scary Stories (series), by Alvin SchwartzDaddy’s Roommate, by Michael WillhoiteI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya AngelouThe Chocolate War, by Robert CormierThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark TwainOf Mice and Men, by John SteinbeckForever, by Judy BlumeBridge to Terabithia, by Katherine PatersonHeather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea NewmanThe Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salingerhttp://www.ala.org/bbooks/100-most-frequently-challenged-books-1990%E21999
Most Challenged books 2000-09
1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Most challenged Classics
1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
9. 1984, by George Orwell

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics
At least 46 of the 100 books on the Radcliffe top 100 novels of the 20th Century have been challenged
To see where books have been challenged, check this link out. It happens all over the United States.