True Love 101 discussion
Chit Chat
>
Random Chat... What's going on with you?
Ugh...I'm really getting sick of listening to authors complain about negative reviews. Mostly because it's becoming so commonplace. What happened to taking the high road and just letting things go?I agree; negative reviews suck when they aren't constructive and helpful. Time to move on!
Angie wrote: "Ugh...I'm really getting sick of listening to authors complain about negative reviews."An author whose books I quite like recently did a blog post in which she asked people to vote down negative reviews of her book. I thought it was a dangerous path and I told her as much. The dumb thing is she had a 100 or so reviews, most of which were 4 or 5 stars and she was getting upset over a half dozen 1 and 2 star reviews.
Why is Disneyland so expensive... Ugh!! Okay that was more of rant, trying to plan a trip in March but yikes!!
Leea wrote: "Why is Disneyland so expensive... Ugh!! Okay that was more of rant, trying to plan a trip in March but yikes!!"Isn't it horrible! I realize that prices have to rise but they've priced out the average family. We haven't been since the mid 90's when the boys were still young. Did a three day stay where we roomed at a Best Western that shuttled us to DL for free. Can't imagine how much that would cost now.
hmmm...I'm kind of wondering if there is a little puppetry of the sock going on with this book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
It could just be he asked a bunch of friends to read, review and rate high but looking at the reviews, a lot seem kind of similar stylistically...and from users who have rated and reviewed only one book.
Ian wrote: "hmmm...I'm kind of wondering if there is a little puppetry of the sock going on with this book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
It could just be he asked a bu..."
One of those has three - all three the same book. Five stars, of course.
The curse of the Boy Scout motto...Replaced my wallet today. Emptied the old one out and was about to bin it but thought I would double check to make sure I'd taken everything out. Opened the zippered compartment which I never use and what do I find but US$400!!! Lucky I checked.
lol...what else was in there. A foil wrapped pack of surgical stitches (god only knows why)...4 aspirin tablets...4 band-aids...a very small knife which I now realise has been through airport security who knows how many times...postage stamps (finally something that makes sense)...salt and pepper packet...a phone card which will only work in Japan...two condoms (lol...that was hopeful)...three medi-preps (again why?)...and one sachet of betadine mixed with bepanthen. Oh and of course credit cards and stuff.
Ian wrote: "The curse of the Boy Scout motto...Replaced my wallet today. Emptied the old one out and was about to bin it but thought I would double check to make sure I'd taken everything out. Opened the z..."
All that shit was in your wallet? Lol
Sadly, I go through every old purse thoroughly before throwing them out or donating them and have never had money luck like that. :(
Michele ~ la Smoocherina wrote: "All that shit was in your wallet? Lol "I think I see stuff and I think to myself...that could come in handy one day. I binned most of it. I kept the aspirin because I've heard that if someone is having a heart attack an aspirin under their tongue can sometimes help. Band-aids are worth having as are postage stamps...everything else went into the bin.
Ace...may the very luck of the Irish bless you with Bennys falling from the sky and landing at your feet.
Yes, Ian- Aspirin can help and make them cough hard. :)
How did that all fit in your wallet? Side note: my husband handed me my purse and said, "what is in here. It's so heavy". So I started handing all the crap my kids give me in a day...
My family calls my purses 'mom purses" which is sooooo unsexy. But given I have Kleenex, hand gel and random hair accessories in it, is probably more truthful than I'd like to admit.
Tellulah wrote: "My family calls my purses 'mom purses" which is sooooo unsexy."You could just subtly reinforce the idea that it's not a mom purse, it's an SAS purse. Longest ongoing patrol in Afghanistan and longest patrol without a resupply was carried out by Australian SAS...when you spend 30+ days in the dirt you take pretty much everything short of the kitchen sink.
Ian wrote: "Tellulah wrote: "My family calls my purses 'mom purses" which is sooooo unsexy."You could just subtly reinforce the idea that it's not a mom purse, it's an SAS purse. Longest ongoing patrol in A..."
Good plan. Also, gives me latitude to shove chocolate and more books stocked on my Kindle in there. You know, if I'm going for the long haul ...
You know what I notice a lot....
These guys are hard men...
This guy is a hard man...
Hard man...
Pretty boys.
Trying to find out if I have an ulcer or what exactly is going on with me. Just blech right now. :(
Oh man, Tellulah. I hope you feel better soon. I've been absent from here because i'm just not reading or anything. My boys have been on spring break and we've been doing day trips to the beach a lot.
Ian, we're working on finding stuff to send to you :)
That sucks, Tellulah. I had an ulcer after the birth of my first child and it's not fun at all. I hope you can get relief soon!Ian wrote: "You know what I notice a lot....
These guys are hard men...
This guy is a hard man...
Hard man...
[bookcover..."Your reasoning is the same reason I posted a pic of scruffy bikers in one of my mc book reviews. A lot of people don't fit the "model on cover" image that the publishers wants us to think of.
Am I the only one who feels like some series are being written to death? I am starting to miss standalones. Sometimes I really like series, but after a few books a lot of them get stale. I would think authors get bored going back to the same world or town over and over again, but maybe I am wrong. Maybe they really like it there. Unfortunately, sometimes I think it's just comfortable for them and that's why they continue.
I have some authors where I loved the first few books, but the rest--not so much. I am jonesing for something brand new from some of them!
Long series' drive me insane.Book three and I start thinking 'this should be over now'.
Ian wrote: "Long series' drive me insane.Book three and I start thinking 'this should be over now'."
Five is my limit if its the same protagonist throughout. But three is better.
I don't have a standard. For instance, I love the In Death series and that's almost to 40. However, in the same vein, the Stephanie Plum books should have stopped a looong time ago!I think it just depends on the talent and drive of the author. If they can keep up the same momentum, hell yes, gimme more. There isn't a perfect formula for me.
What do you all think of Sylvia Day's crossfire series? I mean setting aside the merits of the book / whether it's good or not / whether it's copy of another series or not...it was supposed to be a trilogy, was marketed as a trilogy. Then presumably someone decided they could make more money and decided to make it a 5 book series, presumably by stretching book 3 into 3 books.
I love the Crossfire series. Sylvia Day--not so much. The woman can't stick to a deadline to save her life.Personally, I don't mind that the trilogy was extended.
This is my problem: book three was the weakest of the series. Most of it was a bunch of sex scenes strung together with a weak plot--and I am not knocking that. The woman writes great sex scenes IMO. I just wish the book had had more substance. Why release a book with a weaker plot to follow it up with two others, when you could have (presumably) written a strong third and called it good?
The logical side of me knows this was probably done for money, but there is a little part of me that thinks maybe the author thought her readers would want more of the characters they loved so much.
Do you think some of the character names authors come up with are kind of dumb? It's like they are so determined to have this über-cool name that what they come up with is kind of ridiculous. I just saw one from Netgalley "Briggs Tanner". Imagine that conversation, 'Darling, what should we name our child?'
'If it's a girl, let's name her Fossick if it's a boy, let's call him Briggs."
Maybe I should write a book and name the hero Broggs Bromide and the heroine Mini Cooper.
There's a wonderful kids' picture book called Hubert Horatio Bartle-Bobton Trent about this boy whose parents were frightfully frightfully rich and had dined with everyone who was anyone, and travelled everywhere and wanted to do something new so they had a kid. But they could never remember his name and tended to call him H. The Briggs comment made me think of this.
We've been in Carlsbad (San Diego area) for the last week. Tonight we ate at The Australian Grill, it was so yummy. Ian, you we're a topic of conversation. They had a Tim Tams and my boys started talking about how much they love them. Tomorrow we head home...
Ian wrote: "Do you think some of the character names authors come up with are kind of dumb? It's like they are so determined to have this über-cool name that what they come up with is kind of ridiculous. I j..."Yes. Names can make or break whether or not I buy a book. I don't want to be so distracted trying to pronounce the name every time it's written that I can't enjoy the story.
Apostrophes are a no-no. If I read the blurb and there is an apostrophe in the name, I won't even finish reading the blurb. That's just too much complication. LOL
Here's another one, Ian.Davison Cabot Berkeley
I'm going to sleep now.Night hight folks xx
Lizzie wrote: "I'm going to sleep now.Night hight folks xx"
Wow...so were you awake for 4 days?
That's a long time, rest up Lizzie!
No I haven't been awake for four days. I have had sleep in those 4 days. I was just tired at the time when I wrote that.
Just got out of a really nice hot bath, how are you guys?.
4am...just took the dog for a walk. Now I'm going back to bed.
Something that really bugs me. To my way of thinking a good café is like an extension on your home. It's a place you can go, sit down, have good coffee and read a book for a few hours.
But most cafés these days are all about getting you in and out as quickly as possible. They've failed at what I see as the main reason for their existence.
I agree, Ian. When I was growing up my dad would always take me Sunday to Boulevard Coffee in our home town. The guy who owned in roasted his own coffee, sold it and had some pastries. Cliff would give me chocolate covered coffee beans and chat with up. It was a place we felt comfortable staying to chat and hang out. We still go there sometimes... I do miss it living so far away now. That's where my coffee addiction started. ha!
I never get rushed in Starbucks. I always take my time.
Lizzie wrote: "I never get rushed in Starbucks. I always take my time."I sometimes talk to café owners tell them where they're going wrong. One of them actually listened to me...he was in an open concourse in a shopping centre and I told him he should put some large potted trees along the concourse side to give his customers on that side a little privacy. Three weeks later he'd done it and suddenly a café that was usually half empty had people at every table.
I shot myself in the foot because I couldn't get a table anymore.
I told another café owner to change his chairs because they were uncomfortable. He said he couldn't afford it...I kind of thought he couldn't afford not to. I mean you need customers and if they're uncomfortable they won't come back.
But cafés that rush you are the ones that really bug me. I see it from their perspective. I mean a flat white costs $3.50...coffee and cake, maybe $10. You need to sell a lot of those to pay the rent. The problem is, they're paying the rent but defeating the purpose of being a café.
So...A couple in Glen Iris...a leafy established suburb of Melbourne were selling their home. It was passed in at $2,060,000.00.
The family who made that bid agreed to up their offer to $2,200,000.00 if the couple included their cat which their little daughter had fallen in love with.
That cat is worth $140,000.00!!! Premium food only I think.
That is ridiculous, lmao.
Hello peoples.Going swimming with my mum soon hopefully.
Well, Merry Christmas to you all! Did you have a happy christmas? I had one I might prefer to forget. Every year we have a theme. Most of my family are grown now so we try to keep it cheap. We've done books, socks, superheroes, charities...others I can't think of at the moment. This year's theme was 2nd Hand or Hand made.
So Bethany decided to do a cross-stitch thing. That's cool. But on Sunday she realised she had made a mistake and decided to throw out the one she was doing a start again. I told her I didn't think she had enough time but she insisted.
Then on Christmas morning she called my other niece in tears saying she wasn't coming because she hadn't finished it. lol...I generally have a bunch of gifts just sitting on the table in case someone calls in. Things like chocolates, umbrellas, iTunes cards...things that are generic enough that you can give them to anyone. I suggested she just take something from the pile as her gift but the drama must not be stopped till it burns out.
Anyway after that drama and a few other dramas earlier in the week from others in the family, Christmas turned out OK....err....except the gift my brother gave me was Calvin Klein aftershave. Can't remember which one I...generally don't wear Calvin Klein (too flowery). The only problem being it was aftershave his wife had given him and she didn't know he was planning on re-gifting it.
Is it any wonder this is my favorite Christmas song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTx-s...
True Love 101
Books mentioned in this topic
Once in a Lifetime (other topics)A SEAL at Heart (other topics)
A SEAL at Heart (other topics)
Forged in Fire (other topics)
The Summer He Came Home (other topics)
More...
Didn't venture out to any parties this year nor the Vegas Strip for the fireworks... watched them snug at home on my TV. But next year, my friends found a great restaurant with a front-row seat, so we'll probably reserve a party room and celebrate the new year in that way.