Chit Chat

[Erin]

I wasn’t sure where to post this but Nora posted the title of her 2023 standalone on Instagram. It’s called Identity!

[Jonetta]

I’m waiting on a US edition description before adding to the site. It’s not on Amazon or the publisher's site (or Nora’s) yet. She said the details will be released in 2023.

[Anita]

FYI Identity is up to recommend on the Overdrive library system. I used the advanced search for title and author as just looking for the title didn't work. Thanks for the heads up. If I don't happen to get an ARC I will get an early library copy at least.

[Jonetta]

Thanks, Anita!

[Jonetta]

Not the audiobook. Bummer.

[Anita]

No audio . . . yet. It's strange, sometimes the audio pops up first, before the e-book. Keep checking, I bet it won't be too long before it goes up too.

[Jonetta]

You bet! I’ve been fortunate to be first in line on release day for her audiobooks.

[Anita]

Text to Voice is a topic that has been discussed from time to time. I just decided that I was going to figure it out. I did a web search on Text to Voice and found several ways to make that happen. The one I choice is not perfect, it doesn't work with my ARCs, but it worked awesomely with the Kindle books I own and those I borrow from the library.

I have an iPhone 12 with a Kindle app installed. I downloaded alexa to my phone and after some fiddling around told alexa to "read my Kindle book "Fire and Ice" by Julie Garwood" and it did!

This is the link to the site I found the most helpful:

"How to Make your iPhone or iPad Read Kindle Books Aloud to You" by Reagan Rose

https://redeemingproductivity.com/mak...

[Sharon]

I received an email from St. Martin's Press today with the audio for the first chapter of Payback in Death. I never read an early excerpt, but I couldn't resist. The first chapter had me crying. It is a beautiful Eve and Roarke chapter. 😭

[Anita]

Hurricane Hillary, The Storm of The Century, in SoCal is bearing down. They are predicting high winds, power outages and downpour rain. I'm prepared. I have wine, cheese, crackers and meats and the new Beneath Dark Waters by Karen Rose, so I'm good to go.

The forecasts freaked me out, so I was a busy bee yesterday. I got sandbags because my sunroom/family room tends to flood in heavy rain. My daughter in in Palm Springs and left her windows open and her patio cushions out, so like a good mom I got everything battened down for her.

[Jonetta]

Anita, I’ll be praying for your safety and that everything turns out okay. Enjoy that book!

[Maggie]

Keeping you in my thoughts Anita!

[Anita]

So far it has just been heavy rain in my neighborhood. The worst of it is sweeping up the center of the state which is desert. My daughter and her husband are home and didn't have a problem coming from Palm Springs. Oh, we had a 5.0 earthquake in Ojai in Ventura County.

[Shelby]

Anita stay safe here's hoping everything turns out OK.

[Jonetta]

Anita wrote: "So far it has just been heavy rain in my neighborhood. The worst of it is sweeping up the center of the state which is desert. My daughter and her husband are home and didn't have a problem coming ..."

A hurricane and an earthquake…sounds like a bad disaster movie. If only it wasn’t true.

Thank you for checking in and I’m really happy things turned out okay.

[Sharon]

California had a strange weather weekend. I hope you are doing OK.

[Anita]

We came through just fine. Heavy rain that reveled, unfortunately, that we need a new roof. No power outage. My husband got really wet while unplugging a drainage pipe at out church. For us along the west facing coast it wasn't bad. Other areas got hit worse.

[Erin]

Nora’s book for May of 2024 had a cover & blurb. I just saw it on her fb page! It sounds awesome of course.

[Jonetta]

Thanks, Erin! I’ve added it.

[Lauren]

Sad news about the passing of a romance giant - Barbara Taylor Bradford. I read so many of her books when I was a teen.

[Sharon]

I didn't hear about Barbara Taylor Bradford. She was one of my go-to authors when I was younger.

[Jonetta]

[Sharon]

I have a grammar question. Did the rules for 's and s' change?

I write Roberts' often in reviews, but I noticed a lot of reviews have Roberts's.

[Jonetta]

Yes, they changed some time ago. I learned the rules you follow, Sharon, and then noticed everyone else was doing it differently.

[Sandra]

Sharon wrote: "I have a grammar question. Did the rules for 's and s' change?

I write Roberts' often in reviews, but I noticed a lot of reviews have Roberts's."

I still find that grammar sites or whatever say to use 's on singular nouns as in Sandra's house and ' after plural nouns like my parents' house. I still do it this way (parents'). I guess it's writers' choice now.

[Sharon]

Thanks. I try to keep up when rules change, but I'm old enough to say, "this is how I always did it." LOL

[Jonetta]

No idea why they felt the need to change this. It was clearer the original way.

[Robin]

I think they make these changes so they can update and sell reference manuals. I believe in the 35 years I worked in an office, we were told to purchase new Gregg Reference Manuals at least three times so we could keep up with the changes. If no changes are made, very few manuals will be sold.