Lara Schiffbauer's Blog, page 25

Blogger Book Fair Guest Rebecca Hamilton

The Forever Girl (Forever Girl Series #1)Video Trailer Reviews BUY NOW Kindlegraph!HarperCollins: "It’s rare to see such natural flow and tempo from a debut author."Sophia's family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves. At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her. Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous. One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago. If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.
The Forever Girl is a full-length Paranormal Fantasy novel that will appeal to lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, witches, vampire fiction, ghost stories, paranormal mystery, and paranormal horror.

 
Her Sweetest Downfall (A Forever Girl Journal)Video Trailer BUY NOW Reviews Kindlegraph!Ophelia's been successful at hiding her true identity, until the mark of the serpent appears on her neck--a death sentence, should it be seen by anyone in her town. Hiding the mark might save her from falling victim to the witch hunts of her era, but the scorching sensation it carries can't be ignored. When the mysterious Ethan is sent to collect her for a life of something more, she learns concealing the mark is the least of her worries. She's destined to don a new mask--to join a dark, supernatural world and protect the future of people she may never meet. What she doesn't know--what she learns too late--is that her initiation won't be complete until she kills the man she loves. Set in an alternate Regency England, "Her Sweetest Downfall" is a standalone novella in the "Forever Girl" series, written as a gift to fans of the Forever Girl series. HER SWEETEST DOWNFALL will appeal to lovers of paranormal romance, fantasy, and vampire fiction.     

Funny Friday Photos and a Sweet Award

Happy Friday! I think I need to reacquaint myself with you all! Between moving my parents to Nebraska and attending the Eric Jensen conference "Teaching with Poverty in Mind," I totally got all blogging/writing discombobulated. I missed Friday Photos last week because I was marooned in Dallas, Texas, after my flight on Thursday was cancelled. My bags made it to Denver on Thursday, but I didn't! That put me behind on everything, including picking my children up from my parents in Nebraska, and so I missed the first installment of "Something Bizarre Happened." I even had a great story from being marooned in Dallas.
All water under the bridge now, right? While I was taking my forced break, my wonderful writing friend, Melanie Marttila, bestowed a new blog award upon Motivation for Creation! Here it is!
The Super Sweet Blogging Award!There are some rules, which include answering some sweet questions, but I promise I'll be brief, so we can get to the photos. Or, if you want, skip this part and head right to the photos below!
The rules:Thank the person who nominated me.Answer five Super Sweet questions.Include the award in my post. (check!)Nominate a baker's dozen of deserving bloggers. (gulp.)Notify my nominees on their blogs.
The Thanks:

Thank you, Melanie, for the fabulous new award! I love blog awards!

The questions:

Cookies or cake?

Both. I eat cookies more because they're easier to make, and don't spoil as fast, but I love both.

Chocolate or vanilla?

Um, vanilla, I think. I choose plain vanilla ice cream and vanilla cake over chocolate ice cream or cake. However, I love chocolate candy bars, pudding, pie, etc... So, I guess maybe both, again?

Favourite sweet treat?

Chocolate chip cookies - from dough to cookie. And I usually eat more dough than cookies.

When do you crave sweet things the most?

All the time. I have a bad habit.

Super sweet nickname?
My husband and I call each other sweetie. :)
Nominations: I don't have thirteen bloggers to nominate, so I'll just come up with as many as I can think of:
Cindy Keen Reynders, David Walker, Denise Wilson Falvo, Lexa Cain, Kelley Lynn, Suzi Weiland Retzlaff, Nicole Bates, Stacy Stenberg Jensen, Mike Schulenberg, Joe H. (Cranky), Fel Wetzig. (I got eleven! If I'm forgetting someone, I'm so sorry.)
You are all so sweet and dear to me. You have stuck around and/or been helpful and supportive. Thank you and enjoy the award, if you want to accept it.
And now to Friday Photos!

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This is the pun of the day, but I really think it gets the best costume for a horse award.


My favorite this week is the Eleplant. I just relate to the poor little thing. I'm always doing things like that. But Catnip totally cracks me up, too.
What is your favorite?

Creature Feature: Jackalope

For this week's Creature Feature, I thought it might be good to start with some local lore. Growing up, we all knew about the Jackalope. It's said to be a cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope, which means it looks like a rabbit with antlers.




This Jackalope obviously has deer antlers. There is another species that has antelope antlers, but I couldn't find a photo. 
Interestingly, stories of horned rabbits extend as far back in time to 17th century Europe, and possibly even further than that.


Local lore states that, while mostly extinct worldwide, a small pocket of Jackalope live in the Western United States. I grew up thinking they were only from Wyoming.
Jackalopes are said to sing harmony with cowboys in a lovely tenor voice, move at speeds near 90 mph, and sleep belly up. If you are able to milk a Jackalope while it is sleeping, the milk has medicinal properties. However, Jackalopes are aggressive and will fiercely attack with its antlers, consequently earning the name "warrior rabbit."
The origins of the Jackalope are varied, but there is a virus, Shopes pappiloma, that causes growths on rabbits which resemble (loosely) horns. The poor bunnies looks so sad I didn't want the picture here, but if you are interested in seeing what the virus looks like, here is a link. 
Have you heard of Jackalope before?Do you have Jackalope where you live?

Funny Friday Photos

Happy Friday! How was your week? I have no idea how mine was, because I'm writing this on Tuesday and scheduling it. I am helping my parents move and will be getting back home as you read this! I'm going to believe it's all going to go well, though.
Last weeks winner for funniest photo was:


And here are this week's photos:

Me in the morning.

Me pre-coffee.

Me post-coffee.

Me post-work.


Me... no, just joking. I've never used drugs, but this is the poster goat for what drugs will do to a person.

It's actually a vampire guinea pig.
My favorite for the week is the goat. I actually think it's kinda cute. In a backwoods, in-bred sort of way.

Which is your favorite?

Theme Park: Woman Power

Photo Courtesy freedigitalphotos.netThe first theme I'm going to tackle on the very first Theme Park is that of strong women. It shouldn't have surprised me that the female characters in Finding Meara are plucky and don't let others define who they are. Most of the women in my family are very outspoken and stand tall in the face of adversity. One of my favorite role-models of woman power in my family is my maternal great-grandmother, Irene.
As a child, my mother, sister and I would visit my great-grandma Irene on her ranch near Mule Creek Junction, Wyoming. By that time, Grandma Irene was in her 80's. She was a plump old lady with salt-and-pepper grey hair, some soft-looking jowels, and a twinkle in her eyes.
Scrubby plains surrounded the four room house in which she lived in by herself, her son living in a separate house next door. My sister and I enjoyed winding our way through the weathered red barns which once sheltered cattle and sheep, or hiking to the buttes which towered a significant distance away.
Grandma had been born in the late nineteenth century, a time which expected women to get married and have children – end of story. Grandma didn't pay attention to the times, though, and decided to write her own story. Following secondary school, she attended college to become a teacher. She graduated and taught in Dewey, South Dakorta, where she met the cowboy destined to become my great-grandfather, but she wasn't ready to settle down yet.
From 1919 to 1920, she and her sister each homesteaded plots near the Cheyenne River in Wyoming, while living together in a small cabin. Water was scarce. Grandma and Aunt Helen hauled water to the house to wash laundry on washboards. They cooked on wooden stoves. Horses were their only transportation. It was hard living, but Grandma proved the land (followed the rules to make it hers) all while teaching at a nearby school. She said you had to be determined to be successful.

My great-grandfather Mose homesteaded right next to Grandma Irene. Finally, in June of 1920, he convinced Grandma that they should marry, and they combined their homesteads.

Even after marriage, Grandma continued to teach for a while. She worked the ranch with Grandpa. She had three children, and kept the house. She canned the family’s food, tended the garden, sewed most of the clothing they wore, weeded the corn, and sent milk and eggs to town with the mailman to get credit for groceries. She and my grandfather were married for over fifty years before Grandpa died. They treated each other with respect, and provided love, guidance and a safe place for my mother and her siblings as they grew up.

I always enjoy telling people my Grandmother was a homesteader. While I'm sure she wasn't the only woman to do so, they always act surprised at the revelation. The best thing about Grandma Irene, though, is that she taught those around her about hard work, determination, love and family. She was the embodiment of a strong woman at a time when women weren't expected to be strong.

Funny Friday Photos

Happy Friday to one and all! I hope the week treated you well, and the weekend treats you even better!
We have a miller moth infestation of huge proportions going on in my town. It's absolutely disgusting how many there are. I killed at least 50 today, through insecticide and the trusty old fly-swatter, but they just keep coming. This is the second wave, too. We had about a week where there were none, and then they hit with a vengeance the other day.
This weeks funny photos were kind of lean. I did the best I could, but if you don't find any very funny, I apologize in advance. Apparently people are out enjoying the lovely weather and not writing silly captions on pictures of animals.
Last week's winner for funniest photo was:


And here are this week's!

That's a rough looking cat.


It's an honest mistake. No? Okay. :)





Children's literary reference. What can I say.






A true Downward Facing Dog. 
And not just one pun, but two!


I hope you could find at least one that made you laugh. Hopefully next week there will be more to choose from.

My favorite is Edgar Allen Pooh. Did you find a favorite?What bug do you hate worst in the summer?

Funny Friday Photos Celebrates Summer

Happy Friday and Happy Summer Solstice! As it is officially summer, I included the funny hot weather pictures. Just today I was thinking about how June in Wyoming is probably the best month of the spring/summer. It is still cool in the mornings and the temperatures stay below 90 degrees (usually.) When we have an active tornado season, the tornadoes are usually done by now, plus the prairie grass is green and the rolling hills where I live looks like pictures I've seen of the Scottish/Irish landscape.
That all changes in July. We stop getting rain, everything dries up and turns brown. It becomes hotter than heck and the deer flies show up. And then August hits, we're back to school and if we're lucky, we have a short fall before it becomes winter again and the wind starts blowing the hair off your head. Wyoming is a climate of extremes, for sure. However, I am ever so grateful that it never gets hot enough here for a plastic mailbox or a traffic cone to melt.
Last weeks funniest photo was:

And here are the new photos! I hope you enjoy them.

Maybe it's the hoof hanging out, but I feel a little embarrassed looking at the picture.

Who thinks of these things!

I don't think they're going to do a lot of good.

Giraffe photobomb. Ha.

Poor thing melted.

The rest of the caption is: "Get out of my way."

Maybe that's how a Yorkie sees itself in the mirror.
And the pun...
I've been feeling a little of that recently, too.

I forgot to mention! In preparation for a bunch of promotion I've got planned for July (that's actually starting next Friday), I have Finding Meara going on sale for 99 cents. If you know someone who might like a fast-paced contemporary fantasy summertime read, please share the news!
It's hard to choose a favorite, but I'll go with Yorkie on Steroids.
Do you have a favorite picture?What about a favorite summertime month?

Getting on the Branding Bandwagon

Image by kromkathog courtesy of freedigitalphotos.netLast week I attended the Indie Recon Marketing Mania, and the first session was with author CJ Lyons. After a wonderful post on how to brand yourself (in practical, easy to understand language), she spent the day visiting people's websites/blogs and giving them feedback. I was so impressed. 

Her feedback on my website is listed below. Some things I can change, and some I can't.

If my blog is going to be geared toward writers (and the name "Motivation for Creation" implies a blog for writers), I should make sure readers know that up front on my website, or change content. Also, I should have the blog open in a new window.

I can't change the way the blog opens, unless I move my blog, and I'm not willing to do that. So, that is a no change. However, I've been contemplating what kind of content I have on my blog for a while. After three years of writing motivational and inspirational posts, I was already trying to come up with a new direction for blog content. So, I have come up with a new editorial calender, writing about things that interest me and hopefully will interest others (including you, who are currently reading this post.)

Funny Friday Photos will continue, with the addition of a post on Tuesdays which will follow this pattern (to be referenced on the side-bar, as well.)

Week 1 Tuesday: Theme Park (Themes and values found in the stories I write. These can still be the inspirational type posts, or about other things - like parenting and loss.)Week 2 Tuesday: Creature Feature (A look at the different creatures found in the different mythologies.)Week 3 Tuesday: Something Bizarre Happened... (An anecdote about something strange or funny that happened to me or I witnessed during the previous month, like the time I saw a cryogenics truck driving on the interstate on my way to work. We'll see how this one goes.)Week 4 Tuesday: For the Writers (A writer related post about something I found helpful or think other writers might be interested in.)Week 5 Tuesday: Off! There's not many five week months, so it'll be a Funny Friday Photos only weekI don't know what to call the blog now. Maybe just my name with a tagline?

The header is generic, and I should create one that evokes my books. She stated twice that the cover art for my book is fantastic (thank you, Ivan Zanchetta). She believes that the portal on the cover implies adventure and fantasy, and as fantasy should be the focus of my branding, my cover art would be a great place to start.

This is going to take a little more time and work. I'm kind of concerned that my cover art is different shades of gray (no jokes!) and might make the website kind of a downer. Also, I don't think I'd like the header and the book to be exactly the same. So, I'm going to have to contemplate that aspect of her feedback for a bit.

I do agree that I should look to fantasy to be the focus of my brand. I turned to my Facebook friends to help me come up with a tag line. (Huge thank you, to Rick Bylina, Jo Eberhardt, Brin Jackson and Cathy Yardley for some great suggestions.) I'm trying to decide which one of five I think would evoke both the magic of fantasy, and the adventure that might go along with the portal. 

So, that's my plan. Don't be surprised if you click over for Funny Friday Photos and find something new and different.

Have you ever changed up your blog or website?What worked for you?

Funny Friday Photos

Friday is here and it's the first Friday of summer vacation (for me.) I'm not gloating, I promise. I'm just overjoyed! And don't have much to say, because I've been a hermit at home. So, I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)

Last week's winner for funniest photo is:



I have some funny hot weather photos donated to me by my friend, David N. Walker, but there were so many cute animal photos I just couldn't stop adding them. So, next week be ready for some funny hot weather pics. And now, here are this week's funny photos!

I posted a cat emoticon photo a while back, but this one was new to me. And cute!


Chocolate demon milk?


And I think that's as far as it'll go, too.


I swam (once) in a lake in the dark, and this is all I could think.


Most scuba divers don't know about the deadly turtles.


Excuse me, that's SIR Ian McKellen.

And the pun of the week, just because it matches one of last week's funny photos:




I have been a little lazy with blogging, but starting next week I'm going to be posting twice a week again - once on Tuesdays and then on Fridays with funny photos. Next week's Tuesday post will explain further about my developing plan, based on some information I gained by "attending" Indie Recon's Marketing Mania. 

My favorite photo today is the goat and Sir Ian McKellen. I can see the resemblance. Can you? Which is your favorite?

More Summer Giveaways Looking for Bloggers

Here's another promotion I'm involved in this summer. I totally didn't realize that the Blogger Book Fair and the Sizzling Summer Giveaway are running the same week of July, but the more giveaways, the more fun, right?
If you're interested in hosting the event, you can click the sign up button below!


YA Bound Book Tours is organizing the Sizzling Summer Giveaway event featuring 50 authors!  This giveaway event will take place July 22nd to July 27th.  If you would like to participate to host this event on your blog, please fill out the form below.  Please select 3 authors you would like to host and we will do our best to accommodate.  (Note that you are not guaranteed the author you pick).  Bloggers will receive a promo post provided by author (excerpt, dream cast, playlist, character interview, etc.) book info and rafflecopter giveaway code for 2 Kindle Fire HD's pre-loaded with some of the author's books.  Rafflecopter will have an entry option to follow your blog as a thank you for hosting.  Blogger chooses the date they would like to post.  All information will be sent to you the week before the event starts.
-Nereyda Participating Authors:
Rachel Harris Trisha WolfeAlyssa Rose IvyC.C. HunterBethany LopezCindi MadsenTiffany KingJuliana HaygertRaine ThomasLaura HowardPatrice MichelleJennifer SnyderCarrie ButlerAndrea HeltsleyJennifer LaneShannon DuffyDevyn DawsonNazarea AndrewsCherie ColyerT.M. FranklinDawn PendletonLisa SanchezMorgan WylieEliza TiltonLiz LongMeradeth HoustonDawna RaverErin DanzerLisa CollicuttE.J. WesleyA.K. MorgenElle ChardouLara SchiffbauerJaycee DeLorenzoJD NelsonSharon BaylissC.R. EverettThea GregoryBrandice Snowden (not shown)Nicki ElsonDiana CastillejaA. W. ExleyKrystal WadeElizabeth SharpKrissi DallasTia BachJamie AyresMichelle MutoM.R. Polish