Jo Robinson's Blog, page 84
July 19, 2014
Reblog Saturday -Gourmet meal and taster menu for the delicious blogs I follow.
It’s time for Sally’s reblog Saturday!
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
Here we all are again then….a busy week judging by the number of posts on many blog sites – great to see and I hope that by sharing them, they will reach a new audience. Whether a blog has thousands of followers or like me a few hundred it is still very gratifying when someone new chooses to spend time with you.
Thank you to my new followers this week – I look forward to reading your posts and sharing them in coming weeks.
I have updated the Afternoon Video directory, talking dogs, one who does an impression of an emergency siren, Ellie the hero dog, a group of dogs who say grace before dinner and clear their plates away – basically my usual animal showcase.
My thanks to Egokiller last week’s Sunday Show guests – they are back again this week for part two of their story of the…
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July 18, 2014
Food for the Soul
I’m just going through everyone’s emails and checking the Facebook Rafflecopter, and I’ll start sending you all of your books tomorrow. I’m not sure why I did that Rafflecopter to be honest, because I’ll be very happily emailing copies of all of my scribbles to anyone who requested them anyway, and with the greatest of pleasure. SPAMMER ALERT. :D I’m at risk of planting myself headfirst into the carpet right now in super snoozemode though, so please be nice and forgive me if I only get to comments tomorrow.
I don’t ever listen to music when I’m in my office, and definitely not when I’m writing no matter where I happen to be. This last week has been quite a rush for me though. I’m that cool kind of tired where everything aches just a little, but it’s worth it, and I’m well pleased with myself for not caving and running away entirely. I’ve got through thousands of emails and bits and pieces, I’m finally nearing the top of my catch up pile for the first time in months, and today is a very smiley kind of day for me because I can feel an epic lot of scribbling coming on as well. So I reckoned that a cool song or two in the background wouldn’t hurt – just for today.
The horde sat really quietly for a while (after almost hitting the roof when the first song I loaded from Youtube started with a REALLY loud advert), and then the concert began. The weavers generally sing all day anyway, in between heroic pretend battles with lots of tiny but outraged screeches, and trying to bounce on each other’s heads. The music caused a ceasefire this morning, and they landed wing to wing on my keyboard, stared at it for a bit, and then joined in the fun. Proper concert in the park. Even the parrots warbled along. I probably wouldn’t really have taken much notice of the actual music if I could get at my computer, but my weavers don’t take crap from anyone when they’re doing whatever it is that they want to be doing, not even me, so I just sat back and watched them for a while.
It suddenly dawned on me that I’ve gone from being someone who used to listen to music a lot to someone who only listens to it now when I’m driving somewhere. And then it occurred to me that the same applies to sketching, painting and inventing new munchies in my kitchen. Those loves of mine have pretty much taken a back seat for a while now. Then I listened to a slightly mournful – but still gorgeous – song, and thought that those things aren’t really important parts of my life anymore. Writing gives me the biggest joy, and that’s all I should be concentrating on right now.
Funny thing though. Sitting back doing nothing except watching my little feathery guys have a ball and sing their hearts out gave me just as much joy, and I realised that I don’t have to define myself in any way, or do only one thing. Fair enough – singing along myself wasn’t an option – even I don’t want to hear that kind of racket. Beany the parrot chomped me on the nose the last time I had a go – I think she thought I’d been possessed by a foul unmusical demon.
I loved every minute of listening to it though, even after I regained control of the keyboard and got back to work. I don’t want to get old and decrepit and look back wishing that I’d done more of all the different things that make me happy, and I’m just realising that sometimes being in too much of a rush to achieve a goal could make you focus too hard on one single thing while life rushes right past you, and you lose a bit of who you really are. You can forget sometimes that you’re actually alive, right here, and right now, and that you can actually do anything you want to do. Anything at all – really. Not to mention that you could get taken out by a passing meteorite or miniscule alien spaceship piloted by super-sophisticated gnats with really cool hairdos at any second, and then you wouldn’t get to do anything at all anymore, and all this cultivating of bunions on your bum would be for nothing. Besides – now that I think about it, you have to live life if you want to write about it. Maybe some of us scribblers should stop for just a little while now and then, and add some long forgotten loves right back into our lives, because music and food and doodling a cool picture, or any other thing that makes you happy should never be lost as you zoom along your three score and ten, for any reason, person, or goal at all. It’s allowed to stop and smell any old thing you like now and then.
And for the boys – don’t ever take her for granted….
LOL, OMG and ILY: 60 of the dominating abbreviations
Originally posted on Just English:
Those using the abbreviations do so as a tactic for speed in text communication, a university professor on linguistics said, while others just choose to do so because they are a code that older people don’t quite understand.
WeAreSocial.com.au managing director Julian Ward said the various different shortcuts, which range from the the compassionate ILY (I Love You) to the more profain WTF (What the F***) are commonplace now and indicate the changing way people harness social media.
Using social listening tools, WeAreSocial.com.au monitored trending terms used by Australians on Twitter from April 1 to June 30.
The top ranking term was, LOL which was used a total of 1,242,935.
‘We can see a range of clever to practical acronyms as people look for speed and limited thumb work – plus of course it feels good to be in the know, especially on more subversive terms,’ Mr…
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It’s FREE!
Get Pamela Beckford’s beautiful book of poetry for free now.
Originally posted on Poetry by Pamela:
I finally got it right. Dreams of Love is free today and tomorrow only. Here is a great chance to read my first poetry collection.
Dreams of Love: A Poetry Collection
Enjoy the poems. Read them aloud. Review the book. Share the news with your friends.
My latest collection is Love: Lost and Found
July 17, 2014
Guest Author Submissions Update.
Book your slot in the tree – remember to send LOTS of bananas. :D
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog..... An Author Promotions Enterprise!:
Since my little post yesterday about Guest Author slots available
My new email Inbox was PACKED
THANK YOU to all the contributors :D
Just so you know, for fairness, I work on the basis of
‘First In, First Served’
and have reserved dates accordingly.
AUGUST is now FULLY booked and SEPTEMBER is well on the way.
SOOOO
IfYOU have NOT YETsent in yourGuest Author Articleand all the other bits I need
(see my submissions guidelines )
GET A MOVE ON :D
International Authors Day 18 July – Tour and Giveaway
There are National and International Days for just about every little thing under the sun, including Wiggle Your Toes Day coming up on the August 6 by the way. I for one have every intention of wiggling my toes like crazy for that entire date. When self-confessed super book addict and reviewer Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay found out that there was no International Authors Day she decided to remedy that sorry fact.
She said :
“ I was shocked to realize that there’s isn’t an International Authors’ Day that we can all celebrate to show our appreciation for the hours of hard work that authors put into their books… So I decided to do something about it!
I am going to celebrate ‘International Authors’ Day’ on 18th July. Will you join me?
I will be organizing a Blog hop that will go on from 14th to 18th July. Join in and write a post on your favourite Books & Authors, or about how you got into reading, or why you love reading, or …. you get my drift. Let’s show these folks that we love and cherish them! “
As a lifelong reader with my own incurable addiction to scribbles of all kinds, all I can say is that I was pretty surprised too. Of course there should be a day to celebrate authors. Their books have nurtured and educated me all my life. In times of sadness they’ve lifted me up. In other times that weren’t particularly particular, they’ve made me laugh, or think on things I could never have imagined. I’ve wandered down paths with Peter Rabbit, pondered the joys of Green Eggs and Ham, and gone on adventures with all of Enid Blyton’s crew. Furtively read bodice rippers and Jilly Cooper in those angsty teenaged years taught that most real men aren’t quite that … interesting. I’ve flown with dragons, travelled those wild plains before time with Jean M Auel, and sobbed over the death of a Duncton mole. Books have been my constant companions, and always will be. Many authors are my loves. Sometimes what they write will strike a cord, as if they could be writing about me. Bonds are formed when they wave their glittering wands and transport me to magical places and other times.
So tomorrow raise your glasses in gratitude to your favourite authors, without whom many lives would have been much paler trips indeed. And all you writers out there, lean back and bask in the warmth of our love – thank you for putting your worlds between covers and sharing them with us. Happy YOUR day finally.
Now – from a scribblers point of view – taking part in this wonderful blog tour entails hosting a giveaway of my books right here on this post. I’m sure that nobody will be at all surprised when I say that I’ve just spent FIVE hours trying to load a Rafflecopter onto my website to link here. I’m almost there I think, and hopefully it will go live in not too much time. I’ll update this if when it does. The Rafflecopter on Facebook seems to be working though, so it might be a better idea to head over there. My first one of these things – well done me! The only thing to do to enter the Rafflecopter is to add a thought on reading or your favourite authors in the comments of this post, and that’s only because it seems you have to do something to enter one of these things.
Apart from that, I will be giving away one of each of all of my published e-books to anyone who pops their email address to me from the Contact Me box above until the July 20 – comment or not. I’m a lurker too, and sometimes those comments just won’t come when you try and force one.
Here’s a list of participants in this tour just in case you fancy joining in – everyone’s welcome :
Smashwords Summer Sale Means Free Books
All Jennifer Paetsch novels free on Smashwords for you for the month of July.
Originally posted on Jennifer Paetsch:
Hey there. I’m participating in the summer sale over at Smashwords and this means that my books there are free. There’s a code to use when you check out. You’ll see it there on the book’s page. As always there is no DRM interfering with your ability to share my work as you see fit. Enjoy!
July 14, 2014
Miedo by Kevin Cooper – My Review
It’s not often that my jaw physically drops when I’m reading a book, especially in a biographical drama where you know you can expect a real life shocker or two, so you’re pretty much expecting them to come. I had a couple of those moments reading Miedo with the matter of fact way that Kevin Cooper tells his story. I read it in two sittings, because at every point you just have to know what happens next, and now I’m hoping that there will be much more to come from Miedo.
The author has a unique way of drawing you into these early years in a way that will keep you riveted, and the mixture of joy, shock, and some real hair-raising terror that are so skilfully woven into some of the delights of childhood not only had me right there in Miedo’s life, but also remembering things about my own childhood that I’m sure I wouldn’t have otherwise. The descriptive scenes in this book did for me what very few books do, and had me not only seeing the apple tree in the garden, but smelling the blossoms too. Even if the characters in this book were all fictitious it still makes for a five star read, and believe me when I say that a couple of them, like Miedo’s sisters, make for some definite jaw-dropping moments. For all the twists and turns in this child’s life, even though I was sometimes appalled at some of the things that happened to him, his strength shines through always, and you always feel rather safe and somehow comfortable in his presence. Wonderful reading, and I fully recommend it.
MIEDO: Living Beyond Childhood Fear
My Writing Process Blog Tour
I’ve been tagged by the most amazing friend, author and shaman Ailsa Abraham in the My Creative Process Grand Blog Tour.
Ailsa Abraham has worked at more jobs than she can remember, finally ending up teaching English in France over twenty years ago. Now on early retirement due to health problems she can devote herself to her passion for writing.
Her other interests include campaigning for animal welfare, motorbikes and studying ancient and modern religions. Her passion for genuine ritual practices are reflected in her writing.
Working under two pen-names she has published six books. As Ailsa Abraham published by Crooked Cat, she has written: Alchemy and Shaman’s Drum. Her work has also featured in magazines and anthologies both under her own name and her pen-name of Cameron Lawton.
Her only ambition is to continue writing and perhaps return to the UK to live one day.
If you enjoy Ailsa’s work and would like to connect with her, come and join the gang in Ailsa and Friends on FB – https://www.facebook.com/groups/294439520709930/
