Cathrina Constantine's Blog, page 47

#AtoZ - Letter D

Cheat Day
I really thought the song and movie were, Don't Eat the Daisies, but I'm wrong. Since research ended with zilch, I'm cheating.
Please Don't Eat the Daisies 
sung by Doris Day
(lots of D's in there)
The song is part of the movie's soundtrack.




The Movie released in 1960

Drama critic Larry McKay, his wife Kay, and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kay settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York. Kay soon begins to question Larry's fidelity when he mentions a flirtatious encounter with Broadway star Deborah Vaughn.


I think it's a cute movie. Has anyone seen it?

#AtoZ - Letter C #celebratethesmallthings

CONVOY I was going to post The Christmas Shoes, but that's a sad one. So I went with this good 'ole 1978 Film with a silly theme song that makes me giggle.
CW McCall's ode to truckers and CB radios, released in 1975, struck a chord with a nation that was, for a short time, in the throes of a fascination with big-rig culture. The song was kind of a rap number, a narrative of CB radio conversations between Rubber Duck, Pig Pen and Sod Buster as they drive across the nation during a fictitious trucker rebellion. McCall recorded a new version of the song for the film, which starred Kris Kristofferson, Ali McGraw and Ernest Borgnine.


I did see this film many moons ago, and I believe, I liked it!!! And guess what? I recently heard the song played on the radio.





Hop over to Lexa Cain to join this sweet hop. Lexa's co-hosts are 







I'd like to wish everyone a Blessed and Happy Easter!

#AtoZ - Letter B & Prah & Constantine Revew

Born Free
"Born Free" is a popular song with music by John Barry, and lyrics by Don Black.[1] It was written for the 1966 film of the same name and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[1]
The Great Andy Williams sings Born Free:



The Movie:
Released in 1969Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, raise Elsa, a lion cub. When Elsa approaches maturity, Joy determines she must re-educate Elsa to living in the wild so that the lioness can return to a free life.
Born Freethe song:"Born Free" is a popular song with music by John Barry, and lyrics by Don Black.[1] It was written for the 1966 film of the same name and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[1]


Today is also the Prah & Constantine Review. This month we're introducing a new member to our Review Team:
Empi Baryeh. ***Welcome Empi***
**Now we offer 3 Book Reviews**




This month we read:
Lady Honor's Debt (the Baxendale Sisters) by Maggie Anderson Freedom. That’s all Lady Honor Baxendale wants—for her sisters and for herself. Honor has a bold plan to become financially independent, using a skill she learned at her father’s knee. She seeks the help of a solicitor and is pleased with her choice…as long as she can resist the solicitor himself.
Lord Edward Winborne has been happy to come to the aid of his four sisters in the past. But when a neighbor’s daughter, Lady Honor Baxendale, requests his help for a dangerous scheme she has in mind, he feels it his duty to dissuade her. When that fails, he wants to protect her, and then somehow finds he wants to do more. Much more.
AMAZON LINK:http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Honors-Debt-Baxendale-Sisters-ebook/dp/B00QQ623XY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426772233&sr=1-1&keywords=lady+honor%27s+debt

Cathrina's Review:

I should read historical romance more often. I love it. The author Maggie Anderson pens a historical romance like a true expert. I was brought back to the 1800's with ease and clarity. Ms. Anderson paints a vivid picture and places the reader in that time period.
Lady Honor's Debt is a sweet novella of a woman, Lady Honor trying to help her family claim money from an unscrupulous gambler who swindled her deceased father. If you've read the blurb, then you know Lady Honor employs the help of the handsome Lord Edward. The attraction is instant although, neither Lady Honor nor Lord Edward are looking for a relationship.
The tale spins with sweetness and honor and totally sizzles by the time the reader turns the last page. 
If you enjoy Historical Romance, I definitely recommend Lady Honor's Debt!

**Now hop over to Nana Prah and Empi Baryeh's to read their reviews***

#AtoZ - Letter A

Here We Go 
The First Day of the 
***A to Z Challenge***
My Challenge for this year is to post Songs that were Made into Movies
and Cheating is Involved....
AGAINST ALL ODDS
The Song: 1984




http://youtu.be/SWSQS06i7-w

I loved this song so much I learned how to play it on the piano. 
The Movie

A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, and the twists start to appear.

A Great Big Thank You to Arlee Bird for this Fun Brain Child. I hope to hop around to make some new blogger friends this year!



**End of Day One**



Thank you Alex Cavanaugh and the wonderful people that co-host each month.
This month, Alex's awesome co-hosts are
 Suzanne Furness,Tonja Drecker, Toi Thomas, Rachna Chhabria, Fundy Blue, and Donna Hole!

I've had a busy month of book promotions, and attempting to add a few words to my WIP, that I barely had time to be my typical neurotic self.
Not until today did my neurosis kick into play. My brilliant editing service sent me my Editorial Critique and edits for my sequel to TALLAS. She gave me excellent advice, and I intend to utilize her critique to the best of my ability. 
Let's just say I have plenty of work ahead. 

BEACON by Angela Brown

Pick Your StatusThanks for having me Cathrina J If it’s okay, I’d like to do something a little different. This means we’ll need visitors to get ready to comment below.Ready?Okay.Beacon, my YA urban fantasy dystopian, is a story of self-discovery for the main character, Macie Breen. She didn’t get to choose being a registered citizen of The Colony. And because her parents disappeared when she was so young, she didn’t get to choose to be a ward of The Colony either. Now that she’s close to graduating high school, she’s hoping, wishing, dreaming of revoking her registered status to become an unregistered. But… would you? If you could choose your citizen status in The Colony, what would it be? Here are a few pros and cons of each status.Registered:- Shelter is provided, a home to fit single, family or housing for wards without guardians.- Must give blood every three months once you qualify (girls upon breaking first blood and boys by age thirteen).- Clothing is provided.- Clothing is restricted by Colony regulations. The standard wear for outlying townships includes cargo pants, thermal shirts and combat style boots.- You must maintain your CCT, a Colony Communications Tag that is suctioned to your ear.- Rules are provided for your protection and must be followed, especially the sunset curfew. No one outside after the sun goes down, except officers on patrol.Unregistered: - You must find or build your own shelter. You can use materials left over by The Colony revamp and citizen exodus to the capital city of Bliss. - Any plumbing or electrical use must be pre-purchased or bartered via services to the local township. Any uses provided are secondary to registered citizens and occasional lack of access is expected.- You can choose to wear what you want to wear. - You are not required to provide a blood offering every three months.- The Colony rules do not apply while within designated unregistered areas, unless otherwise noted. - You will not have a CCT.The one thing both have in common is that everyone has a duty, big or small, to work to sustain the welfare of where they live.Okay, so which would you choose?Remember, this isn’t about right or wrong answers or either status being better than the other. This is just a fun activity for all of us to enjoy.For me, I’m stuck on the fence. If this had been asked of me when I was much younger, I probably would have said I’d go unregistered. The main reason is that I’m so terrible with giving blood. Not that I don’t want to, but I had a few bad experiences when doing so lol! But lately, I’ve been spoiled by many of the conveniences in life so being registered seems attractive. And I’m not afraid of working to earn my keep, no matter which status I go with, although if I’m forced to kill a cute animal so I can eat meat, I may end up a vegan lol!

 Beaconby Angela Brown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they're told.
They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend. 
Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price. 

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven't kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is.

Excerpt:
The corner of Thane’s lips curved in his infamous smirk. “I’m here to protect you from you, silly.”
The elevator dinged our arrival to our floor. Thankfully, floors for the Attendees were guarded by other Surreption agents, to prevent citizens from accessing them by surprise––and to keep out the expected rebel against Bliss.
I fell silent, thinking about Thane’s answer. Any other day, it would have been a joke. We’d ha, ha, ha, laugh it off as Thane being the smartass he was. I’d punch him in the shoulder. He’d feign pain and we’d move on. But now, what if he was right? Not just keeping me from taking my anger out on some pink-haired guy making fun of me. But from whomever—or whatever—I really am. What if it was the world that needed protection from me?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Angela now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary - mostly young adult - fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Angela Brown in the Pursuit of Publishness blog: http://publishness.blogspot.com/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Angela-Brown/e/...
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaLBrown...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALBrownwrites
Buy Links:
Evernight:  http://www.evernightteen.com/beacon-b...
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Beacon-Ripped-T...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of Blood and Sorrow by Christine Rains

OF BLOOD AND SORROWBy Christine Rains
Erin Driscol works the perfect job consoling fellow demons by feeding off their grief at Putzkammer & Sons Funeral Home.
When fledgling vampire Nicolas Reese comes to Erin for help, she learns the truth behind the legends and hides him from his sire and the vampire hunters who seek him. But when the Putzkammers begin to die one by one, Erin is caught between her act of kindness and the need to save her adopted family. Only by facing her own personal demons can she stop the slaughter and still rescue Nicolas from his dark fate.

Add it to read on Goodreads.
About the author:Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She's married to her best friend and fellow geek living in south-central Indiana. They have one son who is too smart for his parents' own good and loves to pretend he's Batman. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not reading or writing, she's going on adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. (South Central Indiana Fiction Interface). She has several short stories and novellas published. Of Blood and Sorrow series is her first urban fantasy novel.
Please visit her website( http://christinerains.net ) and blog ( http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com)

You can also find Christine on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Buy links:
Amazon
B&N
Kobo
Smashwords

#celebratethesmallthings #Goals

Hop over to Lexa Cain's and add your name to this fun weekly hop.

Lexa's marvelous co-hosts are
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

My biggest celebration I didn't see. My very first grand baby took his firsts steps!!! Then I watched him the next day and guess what? No walky for gramma. 
The weather's still very cold and we have snow flakes swirling, but it has to end sometime, doesn't it?
****************************************


This hop originated by Mishe Gericke and The Five Year Project. Hop over to add your name here. It's a good way to keep tract of your goals.

Last month my goal was to add 5k to 10k to my WIP. 

I added only 3k to my WIP, and then was interrupted. 

Unexpectedly, I was asked if I wanted to write a short story for my new Untethered Realms Group for their new Anthology. And I was interested. So I accomplished over a 5k short story, which even surprised myself. 

Although, after receiving my Editorial Critique from my newest book, who knows if UR will even want my short story. I'll let you know at a later date....

What are you Celebrating? Do you have Goals?

S.J. DAVIS- GHOST in the MACHINE BLOG TOUR & #AtoZ Theme

 Josephine, Bodhi, and Caroline, live in a scientifically advanced Victorian London as the Industrial Revolution is in full swing. Infrared goggles, dirigibles, and analog computers exist alongside bustles, parasols, and high tea. On the grounds of an Old Saxon church, three strange net-runners arrive from a future where everyone is assigned a barcode from the moment of birth. What you buy, what you read, your health care history, your bank accounts, your measured intelligence, are all captured by this barcode and sent to the feed of OmniCorp. Human data mining forms the basis of a massive Industrial Complex, a thinly veiled profit center, based on the control of human behavior. To interrupt the inception of OmniCorp, the net-runners, a subversive underground group, enlist the aid of the steampunk Victorians to thwart a meeting between two men, who hundreds of years earlier, laid the foundation for OmniCorp. Extraordinary figures race toward a rendezvous with history, weave in and out of time, fight evil steampunk automatons, hide in Victorian brothels, fight Indian mutinies, and take refuge in dystopian cyberpunk pawnshops, to insure a future where personal privacy is protected over corporate power.

Amazon | Goodreads | TwitterSJ runs three Indie Publishing companies: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly, Hot Ink Press, and Vamptasy Publishing, UK.Ten percent of all proceeds for SJ's books go to Turning Point, a counseling center for women in crisis or experiencing domestic abuse.On a personal note, SJ Davis is the daughter of an ex-patriate British mother and a Southern Baptist former CIA father. As a child, she spoke in silly accents and recounted outlandish tales of fantasy over afternoon tea. To this day it remains her favorite activity. Born in Long Island, NY, she was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC and went to school for a ridiculous amount of time. She moved from Virginia to New Jersey to Philadelphia to Chicago to Detroit, and began her writing career once her children were old enough to reach for the goldfish themselves. SJ is an avid tea drinker, a stiletto aficionado, Doc Marten worshipper, punk rock listener, and lover of flip flops and cardigans. She has a terrible sense of direction, loves gummy bears, and is a Johnny Depp fangirl.


My A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal:
To the best of my ability, I plan on posting 
Songs that were eventually made into Movies.
I may have to cheat, a little....

The Rescued Heart by Tierney James

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**Happy Release Day**Tierney James is a Solar System Ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab as well as a former
geography teacher. Besides working on a Native American reservation, floating the Okavango Delta of Botswana, Africa and visiting The Great Wall of China, she has spent time at Space Camp for Educators and volunteering her time for Friends of the Library board. Living in a mining community for many years led to writing the novel, The Rescued Heart, a romantic suspense.  Between traveling, gardening and writing, Tierney serves as an officer for Sleuth’s Ink, a mystery writing group. Creating a writing workshop for beginning writers is her latest project. 
Looks like you mix adventure and suspense in your personal and professional life. Why write about mining? That doesn’t sound very romantic and this is a romantic suspense novel.There are a lot of rugged and brilliant men and women out there in the mining industry that would just take your breath away. Having lived in several mining communities I’m here to tell you they are what superheroes are made of. I almost titled the book “Heroes Underneath” because mining is deep in the earth. The reason I didn’t was because I had already written An Unlikely Hero (adult/action/adventure) and a children’s book, There’s a Superhero in the Library. I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t write about anything but heroes. Having said that I thought writing a romantic suspense where mining is the backdrop would intrigue readers. I hoped it would be something they weren’t familiar with and would want to see how things played out. Mining is dangerous, exciting and full of cultural experiences like no place else. Living in mining communities help shape who I am today.
So give us a taste of The Rescued Heart.

[image error]How were you able to bring technical information into the book?My husband is a mine engineer. He helped me with terms, drawings, info books and general experiences you might find in lead mining. Even though I’ve been underground it pays to have an engineer help explain what you’re seeing and how it works. Lead mining is completely different than coal mining. I’m so glad my husband made me go underground to see the difference so I wouldn’t be so scared every day when he went to work. I also took a week long education class The Doe Roe Company taught in St. Louis to help me experience things like explosives (yes, we blew something up) and touring other kinds of operations.
Do you ever envision your novel as a movie? If so who would play the handsome Garrett Horton and gruff Big Jim Turnbough?I do envision a movie. Garrett would be played by Mark Wahlberg. Jeff Bridges might be a perfect, cantankerous Big Jim Turnbough. I have a pinterest board with all kinds of things about mining and the area where this novel took place.  www.pinterest.com/ptierneyjames/the-rescued-heart/

I understand you are a big fan of book series. Will this be the first in a series for mining stories?No. There’s only one. However, there is a prequel I wrote many years before The Rescued Heart. I might get that out and dust it off. It needs to be completely rewritten, but I don’t mind doing that when things slow down a bit for me. Garrett shows up in one part of the book. This story is about his sister. As far as series goes I have The Enigma Series which is near and dear to my heart. An Unlikely Hero was the first book. This June 8th, Winds of Deception will be released and in the fall expect #3 Rooftop Angels to be completed. In the meantime I’m working on my first urban fantasy. I’m having a lot of fun writing and researching.Tell me three things that might surprise readers if they met you.Even though I write about explosives, guns, terrorists and mayhem I’m actually a girlie girl with tomboy tendencies. I’m not afraid of snakes or lizards, but show me a hamster or mouse and I’ll go screaming down the street. I love all kinds of music, especially world music. I especially like Asia music to fall asleep.
Who has had the most influence on you as a writer?I would have to say James Rollins, Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, Steve Berry, Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown. There are many more but they always pop in my head when I write. Their style and command of tension is inspiring.
How can readers connect with you? http://www.ptierneyjames.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/TierneyJamesAction http://www.pinterest.com/ptierneyjames/ Twitter: TierneyJames1Other books by Tierney James

#celebratethesmallthings

Hop over to Lexa Cain and join this fun weekly blog hop.

Her fabulous co-hosts are
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

1. It was warm enough to take my grandson for a walk around the block. (at least one day)
2. Met my new neighbor yesterday. Saddie, and 3 little boys: Harrison, Thomas, and Lewis. And Saddie brought me delicious chocolate chips cookies. Yum.
3. Going out for dinner on Saturday with longtime friends. It's always a night of yakking it up!!
What are you celebrating?