B.L. Blair's Blog, page 11

Portland Oregon – Glacier National Park

We recently took a 10 day trip out of Texas. The idea was to go north and escape the hot summer heat; unfortunately that didn’t work. It was hot, but we had a nice trip anyway.
We began our trip in Portland, Oregon. We took a tour of the Columbia River Basin and saw Multnomah Falls. Portland has a wonderful park called Washington Park in the heart of the city. There we visited the International Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Holocaust Memorial. Very nice day.
That night we took an overnight Amtrak train to Glacier National Park. During our four day stay, we took a tour on Two Medicine Lake, a guided tour of the Going to the Sun road, and then visited the park on our own to ride the shuttle around the park. It was absolutely beautiful. If you are interested in nature, I would definitely recommend it.
We came back to Portland via the train and on our last day, we took a tour of the Oregon coast. Again some beautiful scenery.
I love to travel, but this trip was a little difficult because of the heat and the amount of walking/hiking. I’m getting to the point where I need a slower pace; however, I’m really glad I got to see both Portland and Glacier.
Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Vacation

I'm on vacation - see you next week.

Book Videos

I’ve been working on creating videos for my books. I guess you could call them book trailers, but I am just taking a short scene from the book and putting it on a few slides and running it as a video. This was my first try. What do you think?

Re-reading Books

The latest installment of the Chrissy McMullen Mysteries by Lois Greiman is coming out July 25, 2018. I really liked the first seven books in this series. I find them very funny. The last two I haven’t enjoyed as much, but I’m still reading them. In preparation for the newest book, I have starting re-reading the previous books.
Is this something you do? Do you re-read the books that are part of a series before the newest one comes out? I do almost every time. Which means I re-read a lot of books. Some of them I know so well I just skim them, but I like reacquainting myself with the characters and situations before reading the next book.
I also re-read a series just for fun. Recently, I re-read all of the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. I love that series too!
Ilona Andrews is releasing the last Kate Daniels book in late August so once I finish the newest Chrissy book, I’ll start re-reading Kate.

Book Club

I’ve decided to start an online book club. I’m not sure how successful it will be, but I’m hoping a few of you might want to join. It is a closed group so that only those who are members can read the posts. This way we have a little privacy.
This book club is for those who like to read and discuss cozy mysteries. We will read one cozy mystery chosen by group consensus each month. Throughout the month, members are encouraged to comment and post about the book. On the last Saturday of each month, members should log in to rate the book and vote on the next read. For questions, contact me at bbsbookclub@yahoo.com.
If you would like to join, I would love to have you. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1773875129364141/
After you have selected the join group button, I will approve you, and you will have access to the group posts. I have created a poll to help choose our first book for August. Please vote or offer your own suggestions in the comments.

Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

If you have been following me for any length of time, you probably know that I love Ilona Andrews. They are a husband and wife writing team. I have read just about everything they have written. Their Kate Daniels series is my favorite, but I really enjoy the Hidden Legacy and Innkeeper books too. They also have a two book series that doesn’t seem to get as much pub called the Kinsmen that I really enjoyed.
So I was looking forward to their latest, Iron and Magic. I remember the April Fool’s joke the authors played regarding this book. I saw their fake book cover and read the description thinking it was really odd. It took me a little while, but I figured it out before they announced the joke. I thought it was very funny.
Like some of the other reviews I read, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about Hugh as the “hero.” He is an awful person in the Kate Daniels series, but Andrews handled it well in this book. I actually like him now. Not sure what that says about me!

Happy 4th of July! Be safe and enjoy!

Giveaway - $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

My monthly giveaway is back! I will be offering a giveaway each month. I will be doing things just a little differently this time. You must be on my email list or join my email list to be eligible to win. Hey – I need to get something out of this. J

I'm going to be busy at the end of July and first part of August so this giveaway will actually be two months. Let's make it big. $50 Amazon or B&N gift card.
To enter:If you are already on my emailing list, simply enter your email address for the first entry in the rafflecopter form below. You will then be able to add additional entries if you like.If you are not already on my emailing list, complete the form on the right-hand side of this blog. You will receive an email to confirm. After confirming, enter your email address for the first entry in the rafflecopter form below. You will then be able to add additional entries if you like.
Please note: Some of you may think you are on my email list, but in May, I sent an email asking you to re-signup. If you did not do so at that time, you are not on the list.
Terms and conditions are available on the rafflecopter. Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vertigo

One of my goals this year was to write the next Leah Norwood mystery. I had a general idea of the story, who the killer would be, and who Leah would need to help. The first few chapters went okay but slowly. Then I had some things happen at my day job that made finding time to write difficult. I got back on track and made some progress with the book, but three weeks ago I started experiencing vertigo and it will not go away.
I’ve been dealing with vertigo episodes for the past 15 years. I say I have 3 levels. Level 1 is when it’s there in the background. I feel it occasionally especially if I move too fast. It’s just kind of hovering around. Level 2 is when I feel it all the time. I have to move slowly but can still function. It’s just exhausting, and it takes me so long to do anything. My normal morning routine goes from 45 minutes to well over an hour. Level 3 is when I can’t really do anything. I typically just have to stay in bed or sit in a chair. It’s no fun at all.
Since June 9, I’ve been fluctuating between levels 1 and 2. I had one day last week when I thought it was all gone, but it came back the next day. Yesterday was bad, but I feel much better today.
If you have ever experienced it, I know you understand what I mean. To me, this is one of the craziest “illnesses.” I, mean, I don’t look sick. I look normal. I’ve been to doctors and always get the same answer – there is no cure. I’ve tried the exercises, and one doctor did prescribe some medication. I don’t think it helps, but it’s hard to judge. Am I feeling better because of the pill or just because the vertigo is less?
As I’m feeling better today, I’m going to try to get some work done. I’m determine to finish this book! I hope you all are having a great weekend. Enjoy your Sunday.

Book Clubs

I recently saw Book Club. It was a cute movie - funny and sweet. It got me to thinking about book clubs. I have only been in one myself. Years ago I was teaching at a two-year college, and a couple of teachers tried to start a book club with some of our students. It didn’t go over very well, and we only meet a few times. I believe it was just the wrong environment.

In our world today, we don’t need to meet in person to be part of a book club. There are thousands, if not millions, of online or virtual book clubs. Goodreads has a list with close to 25,000 groups. There is a website, https://www.my-bookclub.com/, that allows you to search for and join clubs as well as creating one of your own. Celebrities have book clubs. Emma Watson started Our Shared Shelf, a feminist book club. And, of course, the big one – Oprah.
I’m not part of any book club, but reading about this has gotten me interested. I am considering starting one or maybe just joining one. I have a short four question survey below. I would love your feedback.
Happy reading!