My Two Blessings

Hello April!   Goodbye Challenge Craziness!   The first quarter of the year has been rather hectic and my reading has slowed down considerably.  I've read 13 books this month and managed to review 3.   March   The Scarlet Lion - Elizabeth Chadwick (review book) Spin - Robert Charles Wilson  Hothouse Orchid - Stuart Woods  The Cold Room - J.T. Ellison City of Bones - Cassandra Clare The Third Circle - Amanda Quick Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs Nausea - Jean  Paul Sartre (class) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne  (read aloud with James) The Scarlet and the Black - J.D. Gallagher (non fiction) Young Bess - Margaret Irwin (review book) Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway  (class) Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show - Frank Delaney (tour book) The same for February : The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan Shimmer - David Morrell (review book) Cold River - Carla Neggers Cold Pursuit - Carla Negge...

Cowboy Trouble By Joanne Kennedy Back Cover:  Fleeing her latest love life disaster, big city journalist Libby Brown's transition to rural living isn't going exactly as planned.  Her childhood dream has always been to own a farm--but without the constant help of her charming sexy cowboy neighbor, she'd never make it through her first Wyoming season. Handsome rancher Luke Rawlins is impressed by this sassy, independent city girl.  But he yearns to do more than help Libby out with her ranch..he's ready for love, and he wants to go the distance...   Then the two get embroiled in their tiny town's one and only crime story, and Libby discovers that their sizzling hot attraction is going to complicate her life in every way possible.... Joanne Kennedy's debut novel "Cowboy Trouble" is very well done and Libby and Luke tickle your funny bone from the very start of the story. Especially her first impression of Luke when he greets her with a H...

I think I just fell in love!  One of the authors I chose to read for my Nobel Literature class is Ernest Hemingway.   Father has "Green Hills of Africa" and has been encouraging me to read it, but I wanted to read "The Old Man and the Sea" first since I've never read any of his books.    Last night I sat down to read it and fell into the story hook, line and sinker.   Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.  It's a novella, only 127 pages long so I spent the evening reading it.   Now I want to read his other books.  I loved Hemingway's writing -  very descriptive without wasting any words and just gives you the impression of warmth.   In a nutshell:  Santiago is an old man, an old Cuban fisherman who has been unlucky.   For 84 days the fisherman has been unsuccessful in catching anything and is bound and determined to go out and catch the biggest fish there is. Santiago is old and poor and ma...

Where I am at in the Writing Process :   I'm currently having a Mwaahaaahaaa moment in Eyes in the Ashes .   My prime suspect just got killed off by a mystery person who is setting up someone else to take the fall. The story is moving along and I managed to write 3270 words in the past week.  I started the 50,000 words in 50 day s a week late, so have some catching up to do.  My Current Problem :  One is getting distracted from working on the novel every single day.   I did manage to write 4 out of the 7 days last week.  I made some major progress with the story so those days were very productive writing days.  I'd like to get back to writing seven days a week, so going an attempt to get up an hour earlier, since I've finally adjusted to the time change.  My other current problem:  Not admitting to myself I wanted to be published  and convincing myself that I won't be in comparison to all the experienced writers out ...

What's in the Bible Certificate Giveaway Winner Congratulations   Jenny of Home is Where You Start From and here's another glimpse of What's In The Bible Available now at your local christian bookstore or online at Christianbook.com. 

Young Bess The Girl Who Would Be Queen By  Margaret Irwin Back cover: "Growing up in the shadow of her moth, the infamous Anny Boleyn, young Princess Elizabeth has become a master at dodging the constant political games and deflecting the unpredictable royal whims that threaten to topple her precarious royal perch.  But when her distant father, tryannical King Henry VIII, dies, the future brightens for Elizabeth.  She moves in with Henry's last wife, Catherine parr, and Catherine's new husband, Tom Seymour--uncle of Elizabeth's brother, the new king Edward VI. Handsome Tom, however, is playing a risky game.  Marrying a widowed queen is one thing; flirting with the king's daughter and second in line to the throne is another.  As the adolescent Elizabeth finds herself dangerously attracted to him, the tragedy that looms ahead seems inescapable.  Elizabeth will have to summon the strength to claim her royal destiny, even if that means facing her future...

Hello My Darlings!   Thank you for all the wonderful comments, thoughts and wishes.   You all asked some great questions: Kristen asked:  " What has been your greatest challenge in blogging ?"  Time mainly. I never imagined how much time blogging would take.  Along with creating the blog, there is the time it take to keep it up to date, create and write all the posts,  I don't schedule my posts ahead of time because I like to see them out there as soon as I write them.  I tried writing some in advance and scheduling them to post later, but it made me antsy for some reason.   Sometimes I get ideas in the middle of the night, which has me sitting down in the morning and typing like mad or searching the internet for information to write my posts.  Or I get an idea to improve the blog and make a new widget.  I enjoy the creativity of blogging and writing.   Booksync of Books in the City asked:  " I notice...

Question Me An Answer! I'll be answering all your wonderful questions from My Blogoversary tomorrow.  In the meantime Enjoy Bobby Van from Lost Horizon, the musical singing Question me an Answer.  I really wish they'd released this movie in DVD. Question me an answer....

The Scarlet Lion By Elizabeth Chadwick   Back cover:  Already known as a Knight of uncommon skill and honor, William Marshall has earned the friendship of King Richard and the love of a wealthy heiress.  But when the Lionheart dies, leaving his treacherous brother John on the throne, William and Isabelle need all their strength and courage to face a shattered world. Their sons held hostage, their integrity at stake, the two must choose between obeying their king or honoring their hearts. The Scarlet Lion is a beautifully written historical fiction story by Elizabeth Chadwick, taking you into the life of William and Isabelle Marshall, their love and affection for each other and their strength as they work together to live their lives with King John on the throne and threatening to ruin them.  When William married Isabelle, she was the heiress to great estates in England, Normandy and Ireland.   When King John came to the throne, William wanted nothi...

Happy 79th Birthday, Dad  I love you!!! Life Lessons   You may have thought I didn't see, Or that I hadn't heard, Life lessons that you taught to me, But I got every word.   Perhaps you thought I missed it all, And that we'd grow apart, But Dad, I picked up everything, It's written on my heart.   Without you, Dad, I wouldn't be The woman I am today; You built a strong foundation No one can take away.   I've grown up with your values, And I'm very glad I did; So here's to you, dear father, From your forever grateful kid.   By Joanna Fuchs   courtesy of www.poemsource.com

(Picture courtesy Heather Katsoulis) “May the friendships you make be those which endure and all of your grey clouds be small ones for sure. And trusting in Him to Whom we all pray, may a song fill your heart every step of the way.-- Irish Blessing  Happy Blogoversary to ME!!! T oday is my 3rd blogoversary.  Hard to believe, isn't it. It just seems like yesterday when I started My Two Blessings.   Little did I know I'd still be doing it four years later and have not just one blog but three.  Well, more than that actually  if you want to count Hubby's blog since I'm the one who types all his posts. Or our 3 business websites which is another story all together.  For a person who failed "basic" in college, surprisingly I've haven't had too many problems mastering html, or figuring out ftp and wysiwyg.   Even though it all still seems like foreign language to me.  I  think blogs are an introvert's dream.   They allow you to rumin...

The first day of Spring.  The Vernal Equinox! The Latin translation - spring of equal night.   Did you know that if you were standing or floating as the case may be,  on the equator during the Vernal Equinox, it is one of two days (the other being the autumnal equinox) in which you could see the sun pass directly overhead.  But I'm sure you already knew that.   One of these years, I'd like to be at the equator when that happens.    I love Spring - nice sunny days, sitting on the patio, listening to the birds, watching the baby birds attempting their first flights and the mommy birds chasing my cats into the house, working in the garden and most of all, reading.  I even remodeled the blog for spring. How do you like my new look?  All of which brings me to Katrina's Spring Reading Thing 2010. Every year, Katrina of Callapidder Day's hosts Spring Reading Thing which is a very casual, low pressure reading challenge.  Here’s a...

Galway Bay I received an interesting list from Associates Degree online of all places (thank you Kitty) about the 50 best Irish Books we should read that will teach us everything we need to know about Ireland, the country and her people. There are some I hadn't heard of and I'll be looking into a few for the Ireland Reading Challenge.  I'll reading Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot for my Nobel Lit class.  And since I read Frankenstein last year, will be reading Dracula this year during spooky October.  Poetry The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats by William Butler Yeats: Take a look at this book to read works by Nobel prize-winning poet and dramatist Yeats, whose work and activism played a large part in the literary revival of Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Collected Poems: Austin Clarke by Austin Clarke: Try out this book to learn more about this poet, whose Gaelic-inspired works were a product of the generation of poets after Yeats. Poems...