PINTEREST-ing

Cleavage Caddy? 
Gun Alarm Clock? 
Bridesmaid Flasks?

You'll get a laugh out of my latest Boomers & Books post on these seemingly unrelated subjects.

Here's the link: 
Boomers & Books

Book Beginnings and Friday 56 - AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG

My Book Beginnings and Friday 56 excerpts today are from AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG, a true story of a family whose teenage daughter was killed by a drunk driver. The author says, "It's a funny, poignant celebration of her life more than a eulogy of her death."

BOOK BEGINNING:
August 23, 1981
   The doctors stride into the emergency waiting room, nodding curtly to neighbors and friends, indicating that they want them to leave. The door swishes shut, entombing me with these harbingers of death, who sit in a semi-circle about ten feet from me - as if getting too close might somehow contaminate them. They introduce themselves, one by one, but their names wash over me unheard. It is the looks on their faces that I will always remember.

FRIDAY 56:
   The doctor insisted that I remove all the baby's clothes and he would return shortly, a word that apparently means different things to different people. The doctor disappeared, doing whatever it is that doctors do while patients wait in small rooms devoid of their dignity.

AUTHOR: Micki Peluso
GENRE:  Memoir
LENGTH: 308 Pages
AMAZON LINK: Paperback and eBook
TRAILER: YouTube Video
BLOG: "A Writer's Journey"

MY THOUGHTS:
Beginning with Micki's marriage, this is the story of her family, with all the joys and challenges that being a family entails. It is told with humor and feeling. Although this touching story is sobering and could have been depressing, the family's love shines through the pages instead and it is joyous. 

***

Anybody can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 
Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts.
Find other Friday 56 bloggers here.
                

- Sandy Nachlinger

Teaser Tuesday - A Stop in the Park

A STOP IN THE PARK by Peggy Strack was released this past week, and I bought it immediately. It's such a great book that I had to feature it as soon as possible.

Teaser:
Dash off to dinner, devour it so the girls don't become uninterested in the restaurant, then rush back home so everyone can take their places: Emily and Megan in front of the television; Jamie ogling the computer screen; and him upstairs in bed scanning fifteen hundred channels of digital cable, unsuccessfully seeking something of interest to watch until sleep set in. Ever since Jamie told him she was considerating a trial separation, he'd been walking on eggshells, and he was tired of it.
[at 6% on my Kindle]

AMAZON LINK: A Stop in the Park

GENRE: Fiction

NUMBER OF PAGES: 372

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS: 
     Michael Stolis, a DC attorney, is frustrated by twelve-hour work days, tightly scheduled weekends, and his family's chaotic habits. He explodes over minor irritations like being stuck in traffic, and his tantrums need to stop. His disillusioned wife, Jamie, is sick of his anger outbursts, and wants him out of her life. Michael longs to reignite the passionate love they once felt for each other. Jamie prefers to spend her time fostering illicit Internet relationships. Michael had simply followed his Greek father's instructions for a successful life, but something went terribly wrong. A lucrative career, a Georgetown brownstone and a BMW coupe didn't deliver happiness as promised. 
     When his family is about to implode, Michael finds hope through Rufus, an astute retired bus driver he meets over a game of blitz chess in Dupont Circle. Michael is intrigued by Rufus's prescription for fulfillment, but is it too late to change a life, chase a dream, revive a marriage? Michael must decide how much he is prepared to lose if he embarks on a quest so very different from the world he created. Touching, romantic, and deeply provocative, A Stop in the Park, follows the story of a man and a woman who yearn to escape the trap of the modern American dream.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

- Sandy Nachlinger

Thank you, Jacqueline Gum, for your FIVE-STAR review of I.O.U. SEX on Amazon. 
Here's the link: Truly a Fun Read!

Jacquie is the author of CONFESSIONS OF A CORPORATE SLUT. You'll enjoy her blog too.

Link to Jacquie's Blog

Link to Jacquie's Book

IF I COULD STILL HANG UPSIDE DOWN...

CREATIVE BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

If I could still hang upside down from the swings, I'd tell you.....

it's all in how you look at things!

I thought I'd share some creative birthday greeting ideas that I've tried. Feel free to use any of them!

1. When my best friend Sandy had a major birthday not too long ago, I sent her the same number of cards, one for each year. I numbered them and mailed them in order, but they didn't exactly mind their manners and arrive in the same fashion. Some traveled in packs, and three would sometimes put in an appearance together. This was a little pricy to do, but it was great fun and worth every penny!

2. Keeping these same types of “over the hill” greetings in mind, I used a similar theory when my brother had a big birthday last week. I had to do a little “male” research to come up with some nasty, oops, I mean nice big sister birthday wishes. But this time I sent him the same number of emails as his age, and all on his actual birthday. He was besieged with birthday emails ALL day, and he loved it. It was free and lots of fun to do!

3. My next brilliant birthday idea came when my husband had a big birthday. (Notice I am not giving away anyone's true age in this post. Aren't I being thoughtful?) I used some of those same birthday greetings and typed them up, printed them out, then cut them apart. Later, during the wee hours of the night when he was snoring in dreamland, I stealthily snuck around the house, taping those numbered wishes (the same # as his age!) here and there. Then I made up a poem and pasted it on an envelope telling him to find them all and put them in it to take to his next breakfast with his old pals to read for some laughs. What a fun surprise for him to wake up to on his birthday!

Here are some examples of the birthday greetings I used:

You know you're getting old...
when the only time you live life in the fast lane
is when you have ten items or less!
Happy birthday!

You eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise, and know what happens?

You just continue to look a lot more like your driver's license photo!
Happy birthday!

Have you noticed the older you get, the younger you feel?

Me neither.

Happy birthday!

A little birdie told me it's your birthday.

Then it crapped on my car.

Happy birthday anyway!

A big pile of money would be a great birthday gift, I thought.

But mall security yanked me out of the fountain before I was able to scrape up

a respectable amount. Happy birthday!

For your birthday I would like to share some of my most cherished wisdom:

Never hold in your farts!

They travel up your spine, stop in your brain, and...

that's where crappy ideas come from.

Happy birthday!

*Disclaimer: Some of these sayings were in cards I sent or received, sayings I heard, or they simply come to you from my warped brain. I hope you enjoyed my birthday suggestions.

Miss Pickles (alias Sandra Allen)

Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56: Coming of Age ... Again

COMING OF AGE ... AGAIN by Carol Mizrahi is my featured book this Friday.

Genre: Women's Fiction
Length: 234 Pages
Amazon Link: Kindle & Paperback

BOOK BEGINNING:
It is quite possible that if Miss Thompson had been an altogether different kind of person, Irene, Sylvia, Barbara, and Rochelle would not have become lifelong friends. One can only guess about that, but what we do know is that the kindergarten teacher's autocratic style and stern demeanor brought them together and created a bond that lasted for over fifty years.

FRIDAY 56:
The throw pillows never moved, and her collection of Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, standing on bookshelves, never changed position. Day after day, year after year, nothing new was added and nothing old was subtracted.
(This book is on my Kindle, so I estimated where the 56th page might be.)

MY IMPRESSIONS:
There were lots of funny scenes in this book, and I loved the characters. The idea of lifelong friendship between four women -- from kindergarten to their early sixties -- really appealed to me. I'll admit that sometimes I'd get impatient when one of the women let her children take advantage of her, but I also understood how that could happen. I came to care about the characters and cheered when they took charge of their lives.  


Anybody can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 
Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings post.
Find other Friday 56 bloggers here.
                

- Sandy Nachlinger

Teaser Tuesday - Hollywood Beginnings

Want a quick, funny read? Then you'll enjoy Hollywood Beginnings by Kathy Dunnehoff.

Here's my Teaser Tuesday choice, at 15% on my Kindle: 
As I turned from the spectacular view of the ocean to the little metal cafe table right on the sand, Brian Keller rose from his chair to six feet two of muscled gorgeousness. Well, hell, Malibu had all kinds of natural beauty to admire.

Author: Kathy Dunnehoff
Length: 78 Pages
Genre: Romance
Amazon Link: Hollywood Beginnings

To read more Teaser Tuesday posts, click here.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

- Sandy Nachlinger 

Book Trailers - Mysteries

Do you love book trailers? I do. I love the way the narrative, the pictures, and the music all combine to showcase an author's creation in a brief and catchy way. Best of all, each one is unique, just like the books they represent.

So just for fun I'm posting links to book trailers for a couple of sexy mysteries. Just click on the link below the covers and enjoy!

 

      

THE LOVE SONGS MURDERS Trailer         
DEADLY PLEASURES Trailer
                                                             
To see the trailer for I.O.U. SEX, click on the "Trailer" tab above.

- Sandy Nachlinger

                                                           

Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56: RYELEE'S COWBOY

BOOK BEGINNINGS:
Clint Maloney ran toward his screaming daughter faster than if the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels. She tearfully pointed up into the heavily foliaged, white ash tree. He expected to rescue a stray cat, but to his consternation, he spotted Ryelee Snyder, his live-in nanny and housekeeper, high up in the tree.
FRIDAY 56:
"It's too late now. Besides, who's going to believe the town drunk's daughter?"
(This is an eBook so I estimated where Page 56 might be.)

Author: Kathleen Ball
Genre: Western Romance
Length: 200 Pages (approximately)
Format: eBook
Available from Secret Cravings Publishing and Amazon.

My impressions:
I love the characters in this book. Clint is a widowed dad who lost the family ranch. His goals are to buy back his ranch and raise his daughter. Clint's nanny/housekeeper Ryelee has grown up poor, the daughter of the town drunk. Unmarried and pregnant, she pours her love into Clint's daughter Rheenie; but mistreatment, insecurities, and fears from her loveless childhood affect the decisions she makes. She wants the best for her unborn baby but doesn't expect much out of life.
All the characters are believable, and the author did a great job of creating sympathy for each of them. 

Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings participants.
Find other Friday 56 bloggers here.
                      

Teaser Tuesday - A Collie Rescue

I'm taking today's Teaser Tuesday entry from Page 1 of A COLLIE RESCUE (Emily Dahill CID) by Lindsay Downs. This ebook novella is only $1.99 and 50% of all proceeds from this book go toward THE PET FUND. (Link)  

Teaser: 
"From curbside trashcans, she'd been able to scrounge a few shards of soap, which she kept in a plastic bag. Her most valued items were objects she couldn't wear to keep warm: a Bronze Star, Distinguished Service Medal, and a Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster. To some people these might seem like insignificant items of cloth and metal, but to her they were reminders of better times."

Amazon link: A Collie Rescue

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Former Army Sergeant Sandi Charleston, diagnosed with PTSD and homeless, barely survives day to day. By a miracle of fate she meets Taz, a uniquely special collie, who helps turn her life around. Only through him does she find the courage to go head to head with her worst enemy-terrorist bent on mass destruction.
     Bound by a special love to help and protect each other, side by side these two unlikely partners willingly march forward into battle. A fight to the death neither is sure can be won but fighting as one, they will try to. 
     Kidnapped and forced to reveal what she knows Sandi realizes there is only one individual who can save her from certain death. It’s not the government but her new best buddy. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Sweet Saturday Samples - Sept 8

I've missed the past few Sweet Saturday Samples, but I'm back today with more from Elly and the Geriatrics, my work in progress. In this scene, Elly and Derek are sitting in his truck at the Sonic drive-in restaurant and they’ve just shared their first kisses. 

      As he watched her sip her cherry Coke, Derek wondered if their kisses had affected Elly as much as they had him. The touch of her lips had sent a lightning bolt of lust straight through him—something that hadn’t happened lately. He turned to look out the window, trying to keep his thoughts from turning X-rated. He hadn’t meant to kiss her and wondered what had come over him. He glanced over to see her brows creased in a frown. Maybe his actions puzzled her too.

       Actually, she was the one who took it from a friendly kiss to a sizzling liplock. He liked that—a woman who didn’t play games but went after what she wanted.

       But what's with the ex-boyfriend? Is she still hung up on that jerk?

       Now that she’d confessed her living arrangement with Mrs. M, it all added up. No wonder she’d been around the neighborhood so often.

***

       Elly wondered what had possessed her to grab the man and give him such a lustful kiss. She’d been surprised when he reached for her and kissed her—surprised and delighted. She didn’t even stop to think before she kissed him back. It just felt right.

       Then the reality of all she’d said hit her. Why did she bring up all that stuff about Rick? Damn, she always talked too much when she was upset. And making out at the Sonic in the middle of Shannon Ridge? Adult women don’t behave that way.

       Oh, yes, they do, Granny’s devilish voice chirped in her mind.  Especially when faced with a good-looking man.

       Elly frowned and stared down into her drink.

       Slow down. Remember Rick.

       Then the memory of Mrs. Bagley's warning about Derek nagged her thoughts.

       Would she make up something like that? Yeah, the old girl probably thought kissing on the first date was sinful, but still….

       What do I really know about Derek?

       She scooted closer to the truck’s door and sipped in silence.

What's Sweet Saturday Samples?

Each week, writers post brief samples of their work on their own blogs and then link them to the main site, so readers can conveniently “hop” from blog to blog, meet new authors and become better acquainted with ones they already know. All samples are rated PG-13 (or milder), though the books from which they're taken may be spicier. 
For more SWEET SATURDAY SAMPLES, click HERE.

Book Beginnings: Season of Sisters

This week's Book Beginnings on Friday excerpt is from Season of Sisters by Geralyn Dawson. This is the first paragraph.

EXCERPT:
Holly Weeks kept her dreams tucked inside her wallet. The list of thirty-two items had been penned in black ink on white paper, folded into a small rectangle, and slipped into a special spot between her driver's license and, appropriately enough, her Discover card. Across its front, bold red ink and loopy handwriting fashioned the heading: My Life List.

MY THOUGHTS:
SEASON OF SISTERS is set in my old stomping grounds of North Texas. It was so much fun hearing Texas accents and visiting familiar towns in the Dallas/Fort Worth area throughout this book. But what I enjoyed most was reading about the friendship between three women -- one young, one middle-aged, and one a senior citizen. Their unlikely bond makes for a lively story, full of love, laughter, and wisdom.

AMAZON LINK: Season of Sisters

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader (Gilion Dumas). Click HERE to see beginnings from more books.

Here are Gilion's instructions for participating:
Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.
TWITTER: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. Gilion's Twitter handle is @GilionDumas

Semi-Autobiographical?

Have you heard the latest about I.O.U. Sex? Philippe Matthews just posted a great review of our book on his blog. As you can tell from his name, Philippe is a guy, and his male perspective on our novel really made our day, starting with his first sentence:

I.O.U. Sex, by Sandy Nachlinger and Sandra Allen, is an awesome read and super awesome promise!

We took that to mean he thinks the promise of payback sex from an old girlfriend would be “super awesome.” That statement made us laugh out loud! It’s nice to know a man thinks it’s a fun idea.

But Philippe’s next insight made us both look at each other and raise our eyebrows—and that’s not an easy thing to do when we live 2,000 miles apart. Philippe wrote:

In this semi-autobiographical hot read, I.O.U. Sex, by Sandy Nachlinger and Sandra Allen, is about best friends June, Kiki, and Peggy, who graduated from Dallas's Rayburn High School – all of them still virgins.

Semi-autobiographical? Oh, my! Does Philippe think the two of us really did go looking for our old steadies to offer them payback sex? Does he believe the characters in I.O.U. Sex are really us in disguise? After a laugh-filled phone conversation, the two of us realized that probably wasn't what he thought at all. We both grew up in Dallas, we're life-long friends, we used places and themes from our high school years in our book, and the whole thing started when we read Sandy's old diary. So the term “semi-autobiographical” could be somewhat accurate, couldn't it? But that's as far as it goes, honest! I.O.U. Sex is pure fiction, and it comes to you straight from our quirky, warped minds.

So, to Philippe Matthews we send a great big “thanks” for posting such a nice review and for making us see our story in a new light.

Here’s the link to Philippe’s review: The Philippe Matthews Show

~ Miss Pickles (alias Sandra Allen)

*If you're new to our blog and would like to know why I call myself “Miss Pickles”, go to the Blog Archives on the left side of our blog and click on 2011. Then click on March, scroll down to the bottom, and read the posts from bottom to top. You will also see some photos of Sandy and I "back in the day" if you look carefully!

To connect to I.O.U. Sex on Amazon, click on the book’s cover on the left, underneath our smiling faces.

Teaser Tuesday: A Lot Like a Lady

Want to escape to 1800s England? Then you'll enjoy A LOT LIKE A LADY by Kay Springsteen and Kim Bowman.

Teaser:
"Annabella..." Juliet backed away and found herself up against the bedroom door. "What willy-nilly plan are you hatching in that chicken brain of yours?" 
[at 4% on my Kindle]

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Ladies’ maid, Juliet Baines has gotten herself into a pickle by agreeing to go to London and taking the place of her mistress and best friend, Annabella Price, stepsister to the Duke of Wyndham. After all, what does a servant know about being a lady? But Juliet soon finds that pretending to be a lady isn’t nearly as hard as guarding her heart against the folly of wanting a man who’s completely out of reach. Graeme "Grey" Roland Dominick Markwythe, Sixth Duke of Wyndham, approaches his duties as a nobleman with great dedication and meticulous care. And he’s a man who is not easily fooled...except when he tries to convince himself he's not utterly and madly in love with the beautiful imposter who has turned his life upside down. Will society and his responsibilities to his noble status keep him from opening his heart to the woman he loves?

Amazon Link: A LOT LIKE A LADY


To read more Teaser Tuesday posts, click here.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.