My Two Blessings

It is an absolutely gorgeous day and I've spent most of it outside after I finished writing my humanities diversity paper on the differences and similarities between male and female.  Much easier choice rather than going with  straight/gay, enabled/disabled, judeo-christian/muslim or african american/white american.  Have to say I thought I was taking the easy way out, but discovered lots of interesting studies about the male and female brain.  Three more weeks left so I really need to get started on my final project paper about George Bernard Shaw paper.  Eek!   Speaking of writing, I'm crashing and burning.  You know how everybody says you should write every single day on your WIP or you'll lose momentum.  I seemed to have lost my momentum and working on getting it back.  I'm back to fighting my characters and have written myself into a hole.  In the process of digging my way out.   I can't blame summer vacation becaus...

Clash of the Geeks Last night I was just about to go to bed, but before I did, checked my stat counter and found  I had gotten an extreme number of hits in a couple hours for an old post I'd written back in 2010 about a painting created by Jeff Zugale for Wil Wheaton (remember Wesley of star trek fame) and John Scalzi and a fan fiction contest.  Check it out here and watch their hilarious video. It'll give you some insight into their minds. Anyway, when one of my posts suddenly starts getting lots of hits, somebody's mentioned it somewhere.  So I followed the various worm trails until I discovered that Wil had tweeted while doing storytime at the Phoenix Comicon this: @Wilw  If you're in the theater for Story time, look up the Unicorn Pegasus Kitten painting now. It's important. My post came up # 1 on the google search over Wil Wheaton or John Scalzi.  Odd but true and I kind of got a kick out of that.  What he should have said wa...

What blogging has done for me Blogs, twitter, facebook, commenting, meme's, giveaways, authors, writers, books, ebooks, audiobooks, publishers, life, love and laughter, connections and relationships.   Who knew four years ago when I started blogging, I would discover a world wide web of people. People like me who love life and books and talking about books, writing books, reading books.  Thanks to the blogosphere, over the years I have connected with a number of people including readers, writers and published authors - a supportive community of people whom I'm proud to have as friends. A disparate, diverse group that I probably wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise.    As an introvert, I have a tendency to go about life with blinders on, afraid to be nosy, get in other people's business.  My husband and son have absolutely no problem starting up a conversation with anyone they see.  Blogging has given me the freedom to do that.  To br...

Almost Home by Mariah Stewart Synopsis:   "When she was young, Steffie Wyler always knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life: 1. Make ice cream. 2. Marry the coolest boy in town. 3. Live happily ever after. These days, Steffie is the proud owner of One Scoop or Two, a wildly popular ice cream parlor. But the cool guy left town right after high school, before they could scratch the surface of their mutual attraction to see what, if anything, lay beneath. Steffie’s made a great life for herself in St. Dennis, but true love has never come knocking. Wade MacGregor left for college in Texas and remained there to start a successful business with his best friend, Robin Kennedy, but he’s always felt something was missing. Then life throws him a curveball: A third partner has robbed the company blind, and Robin has died—but not before entrusting Wade with a precious secret. Now back in St. Dennis, Wade’s determined to do whatever it takes to protect his friend’...

Welcome to my little corner of the Blogosphere.  I'm Robin and I'll admit it, I'm an addict. A book addict.  Have been ever since I learned to read at six years old.  I've collected a fair amount of books (I like to keep my books) over the years and our overflowing bookshelves are a testament to that.  I bought a nook last year and discovered the world of e-books.  So many new temptations out there.  *grin*   How do I roll?  I'm a Jill of all trades at the moment.  It all sort of crept up on me and before you know it, a full busy life but I wouldn't trade it for anyone's.   I'm a homeschooling mom, student, aspiring writer, business owner, book blogging, bookaholic.  A few random facts:   We have a noisy household with four very talkative cats, my extrovert husband and son who love to share everything.  I'm an introvert which is probably why I love writing. It allows me peace and quiet time.  I have an...

Happy Sunday!  Sorry things have been a bit quiet around here lately.  My humanities class has been quite time consuming, involving a lot of writing and with only four weeks left, things will continue that way for a bit more. Besides our weekly class assignments, I am in the process of figuring out my outline for my Final Project which is due June 19th and involves a lot of reading.  My final project paper is on George Bernard Shaw and the role his socialism played in his writings or something to that affect.  But at the end of all this is the end of the Rainbow - my Bachelor's degree.  So digging in.  If postings or visits and comments to your blogs are a bit scanty, you'll know why. Edwaert Colyer "quiet life with manuscripts" Amidst the class stuff, we're still plugging away with 5th grade lessons. Due to various illnesses and vacations, we still have 10 weeks left to go which puts us at the end of July.  I was starting to panic because we were...

Bullhead City, AZ overlooking the Colorado River and Laughlin, NV Hello, my darlings.  We made it back safe and sound from visiting my parents in AZ.   It's taken me the past week to get caught up with mine and James school work, work and household stuff.   We had a wonderful time with my parents.  Very relaxing actually. We did a whole lot of nothing which was a nice break from all our busyness.   Mom is recovering from her stroke and getting around with a cane now, although it is slow going for her.  Dad has turned into a regular Suzie homemaker, taking on all cooking and cleaning duties.   We gave him a break and took over the kitchen for a few days while we were there. Enjoyed getting to spend time with my sister, Annie, who I hadn't seen for eons.  Aren't they cute!  Dad, Mom and Annie!  So adorable! My folks have a regular animal sanctuary in their backyard with all kinds of rabbits, ...

We're off for a week to see my parents.  Haven't seen them in eons.  So happy!  No posts while we are gone but will be browsing the interwebz from time to time.  We taking only one computer (mine) so will be sharing and I reckon the boys will be hogging it.  Prayers and wishes for a stress free trip would be appreciated,  as well as fingers crossed we manage to avoid the infamous airport security hand groping.  *grin* Don't have too much fun without me.   If you get bored, see those folks in the side bar.  Pay them a visit or two or three.

Welcome to Elle Newmark, author of The Sandalwood Tree as well as The Book of Unholy Mischief and The Chef's Apprentice .  Jakhu Temple While in India, researching The Sandalwood Tree, I visited Jakhu Temple, dedicated to the monkey god, Hanuman. Jakhu Temple sits at the highest point in Shimla, almost 9,000 feet, and on a clear day in March we left the car at the base of a slate stairway that stretched that disappeared in the clouds. I grabbed a bamboo walking stick and started up, determined to make it all the way no matter how long it took. Halfway up, I stopped to catch my breath and something big and heavy hit me in the head and almost knocked me over. I didn’t know what happened until I saw a monkey sitting a few steps away holding the sunglasses that I’d been wearing a moment before. He just sat there, looking smug, and I was ready to kiss my glasses goodbye when a bored looking caretaker threw the little thug a pre-packaged monkey treat. The cunning thief grabbed his tr...

The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark Front flap:  "In 1947, an American anthropologist named Martin Mitchell wins a Fulbright Fellowship to study in India.  He travels there with his wife, Evie, and his son, determined to start a new chapter in their lives.  Upon the family's arrival thought, they are forced to stay in a small village due to violence surrounding Britain's imminent departure from India.  It is here, hidden behind a brick wall in their colonial bungalow, that Evie discovers a packet of old letters that tell a strange and compelling story of love and war involving two young English women who lived in the very same house in 1857.   Drawn to their story, Evie embarks on a mission to uncover what the letters didn't explain.  Her search leads her through the bazaars and temples of India as well as the dying society of the British Raj.  Along the way, a dark secret is exposed, and this new and disturbing knowledge creates a wedge...

Get Caught Reading Yes, May is Get Caught Reading month as well as Creative Beginnings Month.   Can't imagine anything better than reading or being creative. Speaking of creativity, for ROW80 (A Round of Words in 80 days) I'm still working on first draft of Red Thief.  It's going a bit slowly and shame on me, but I didn't work on it every single day this week.  Kind of an off week. Check out how everyone else is doing here .    I just finished reading " The Sandalwood Tree " by Elle Newmark and will be posting my review on Tuesday.  Excellent historical fiction novel set in India during two time periods - the 1840's and 1940's.    Now I want to read her other books "The Book of Unholy Mischief" and "The Chief's Apprentice."   And guess what, Elle has written a guest post for me about her travels in India while researching "The Sandalwood Tree" which will be live on Wednesday.  My book buying ban seems to have...