A Faerie's Secret by Rachel Morgan - Cover Reveal!

I started reading Rachel Morgan's Creepy Hollow Books last summer. It was one of those series that I read the first book and instantly downloaded the other two. I just couldn't wait! I CAN NOT wait for these next books to come out!!! Which is why I'm participating in the cover reveal. I'm evil and I want to get everyone else as hooked on these books as I am. Bwahaha. 

Cover Photography by Regina Wamba @ Mae I Design

A Faerie's Secret, by Rachel Morgan

YA Fantasy

Coming June 16, 2015

It's been ten years since Lord Draven fell. Ten years since the enchanted winter came to an end and fae across the realm began piecing their lives back together. Ten years since a now-forgotten foe was thrown into a faraway prison and began planning his next move ...

Join beloved characters and new heroes as the bestselling Creepy Hollow series continues!

Add to your to-read list on Goodreads

PRE-ORDER NOW BEFORE THE PRICE GOES UP!

Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Faerie Guardian (**FREE E-BOOK**)

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Other Creepy Hollow Books

Find all purchase links here on Rachel's website

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Pure Food Book Review

I love to cook and I adore cookbooks but I've never reviewed one before. When I saw the awesome selection to choose from on Blogging for Books I knew that I had to try it. I am so pleased with this book!

Pure Food - Eat Clean with Seasonal, Plant-Based Recipes by Veronica Bosgraaf is perfect for someone like me who loves to curl up and actually read a cookbook. It has a section on building a "pure" pantry that is full of information and each recipe has tips and info along the side of the page. The book is soft and floppy (which is an important trait for a cookbook, in my mind) and the recipes are in an easy to read, step-by-step format. It doesn't have pictures on every page but the photos it does have are stunning.

  Unlike other cookbooks I've used, this one is not divided by recipe types. It is divided by the seasons. Each month has a handful of recipes that correspond with what's in season and a sample menu. It took me a little while to get used to it but it works well for the vision of this particular book.

  I've only had the book for a week so I haven't made all the recipes but I did try a few. I am not vegan, I just like whole foods, so I did substitute a few ingredients for things I had on hand. I made Warm Blueberry Buckwheat with Hazelnuts ( I didn't have hazelnuts... I need to get some and make this again) and it was comforting and delicious. My kids ate it relatively well and I can't believe that I'd never thought of buckwheat for breakfast before.

   I also made Irish Hash. Oh. Wow. I didn't know veggies could be so good. It is chock full of potatoes, cabbage and other produce. I plan on making this often. It was so quick and easy.
  The final recipe that I've tried so far is Grandma's Blueberry Buckle. This was easily my children's favorite dish out of the three. It was pretty, tasty and huge.

  I definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys cooking simple but delicious recipes using healthful ingredients.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review from Blogging for Books.

What's Up Wednesday

It's time for What's Up Wednesday!!!

WHAT I'M READING  Are you sure that you want to know?  It might take awhile... I'm currently working through Great Expectations.  I'm going for a chapter a day but its more sporadic then that. I'm also reading Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Greir and Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and... Yeah, I sorta started Inherit Midnight too. I try to keep a book of poetry and book on writing craft going at all times. Right now I'm reading The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson and A Dash of Style. 
   My kids and I finished reading The Secret Garden this week and are now finishing The Princess and the Goblin. I had set it aside for awhile because it was challenging for me to read it in an entertaining way and I thought I should wait until they were older but they begged me to finish it :) I guess it isn't over their heads after all. 

WHAT I'M WRITING (+ WRITING GOAL)  I'm still making a spreadsheet to track several key elements in my fairytale WIP. It's already pages and pages long... It's helping me understand what needs to be done and learn the stories weak points but I just want it done already!
My goal is to work on it every day until it's done, even if I only have five minutes. 

WHAT WORKS FOR ME  Exercising in the afternoon. It might not sound related to writing but it gives me the energy to stay awake when I have time to write. 

WHAT ELSE IS NEW  I'm attempting a small container garden and a few flowers this year. I'm used to gardening where the ground stays frozen until April so gardening in Florida is a totally different adventure. I can't get over all the bugs and toads I find every time I turn my spade in the earth. 

Book Review: An Uncertain Choice

I love Jody Hedlund's adult novels so when I heard that she was looking for a team to promote her new YA release I applied and got accepted. Yay!
So, on to my review of An Uncertain Choice!

(isn't it pretty!?!)

First thoughts: I wish this book had been written I was a young teen! I loved anything and everything medieval, especially when a spunky princess was involved.

What it's about: Rosemarie cares deeply for her kingdom and throws everything she has into their well being. Even though her parents made a vow that she would have to join the convent when when she turns eighteen she cheerfully makes plans for how she can best serve her people from the inside of it's walls. One month before her birthday everything turns upside-down. A trusted friend arrives bearing the news that he has found a loop hole. If she is married before the sun goes down on her eighteenth birthday she does not have to fulfill the vow. To help Rosemarie have a chance at love, the friend has brought with him his three most trusted knights. With three men trying to win her hand Rosemarie must decide which path God intends for her to take, all while something sinister seems to be lurking beneath it all.

What I liked about it: I loved that Rosemarie was sweet and pure yet had a headstrong streak at the same time. The knights portrayed various personalities and showed something of what is important in a real relationship.

What I didn't like: While I enjoyed the book, I wish the characters had been a bit more detailed.

Who I would recommend it to: Anyone who loves clean, inspirational fiction would enjoy this story but I think that young teen girls would be particularly drawn to it.

What parent's might want to know: This is a very clean and moral book. It is sweet yet exciting. The only thing that I can think of is that there are a few descriptions of medieval torture. They aren't overly detailed and are integral to the story.

I received a copy of this book from the author and her publishing team. 



Jody's blog is full of information for writer's. If you haven't already checked it out, I highly recommend it. She is also having a Noble Knight's Blog tour. You can check it out here.



 

The Distance Between Lost and Found blog hop!

  I'm jumping in a bit late. Where did February go??? 
This blog hop is in celebration of the release of The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes. Congrats Kathryn!!!

  For this blog hop I'm suppose to:
Write a love letter to someone important to your life -- as a writer or reader  -- and post it on your blog by February 26th, 2015. Your love letter could be to an author whose books inspired you, a beta reader who said just the right thing at just the right moment, your spouse for making innumerable cups of coffee for you while you write, write, write, or ... it's up to you!

My letter is to my grandmother. She left this world years ago now but her influence on my life lives on. 

     Dear Grandma,
   I haven't seen you in ten years. It's hard to believe that its been that long. I wish that you could have met my children. You'd love them. My youngest son wants to fly just like you always did. He looks at the birds soaring above him and his bottom lip starts to quiver because he wants to join them but he's stuck on the ground. I hope he grows up to be like you, not becoming discouraged by what isn't, but living and learning, enjoying what is. I hope that he keeps his dreams alive like you always did. 
  I'm not sure that I would be brave enough to have the lofty dreams  that I do if it hadn't been for you. I remember you leaning in and whispering "Always learn everything you can about everything you can." You always smiled when you said it and I always answered that I would. Those words echo in my head even now and I am doing it. I'm still learning, as much as I possibly can. Your example showed me the way. I remember you reading a Spanish primer just for the fun of it and the way you were always making something new, trying a new pattern or craft. You loved me for who I was and believed in my creativity. You encouraged me to dream big and work hard. You showed me how to not let the mundane areas of life bog me down. You should me the connection between learning and dreaming. I know I am better for it. Sometimes when my dreams feel to far away or to silly for a busy mom of three little ones to waste her time on I remember your words. They keep me learning and dreaming. I love and miss you. 
Buddies Forever

Love, Sarah 

Writer Recharge (update 2)

 Here is my update!

• WRITE/REVISE –Complete a scene by scene spreadsheet for the WIP I'm revising and revise/rewrite the first five chapters. Add 5k to my middle grade WIP. Revise the short story I'm working on.

I did a small amount of work on my spreadsheet. I keep overthinking things which results in little progress.

This week's goal is to add 14 scenes to my spreadsheet and write 2,500 on my middle grade WIP.

• READ/REREAD - I have a few books I have to read for various reasons and I feel weighed down by them. I want to read/finish three of them this month. 

 I finished one book and read half of another :) 

My goal this week is to finish the one I read half of and post my review for it.  

• STRETCH - I want to create some art for my walls. I love being creative but making something large that everyone will see intimidates me. 

 So far I have been collecting ideas (can you say Pinterest?!?). I really want to modpodge pages of an old book (if I can get myself to dismember a book...) to a canvas and then add a silhouette of a tree or something over the top. I'm using a literary theme to decorate our hall/bookhording area so I think it would be a great fit. I also have this idea involving skeleton keys but that might take me awhile to collect the supplies.

My goal for this week is find an old book (preferably one in horrible shape) and pick out what sort of silhouette I want to use. I have an old canvas that will do already.

• SELF - I want to do one of my Ellen Barret workouts three times a week. I love her workouts and how graceful they are but I got out of the habit of fitting them in.

Uh. Yeah, I'm changing this one. I haven't figured out how to fit in a 45 minute video and still have time to write. I could do it during the day but then I'd have 30 something pounds of added resistance because my three year old loves to "help" me work out. 

 This week I didn't do very well fitting in workouts but  I did go on  several walk/bike chasing expeditions (one involved hunting down robot armies) and I loaded up my three year old and one of his buddies into my bike trailer and took them and my older kids to the park. That was fun :)

New goal: Do something active with my kids three times a week for at least 30 minutes.

• CONNECT - I have a plan for this but am keeping it secret so the person doesn't find out before intended :)

 I did the first step of my plan. 

This week I want to complete my plan and join in a twitter party/write in.

• FUN - I want to take my kids to explore a state park that we've never been to before. There are so many near us and we've only visited a few. 

We haven't done this yet. I wanted to take them to this peninsula that is suppose to have amazing beaches this weekend but the weather and schedules didn't allow it to happen. Maybe next weekend.  

Writer Recharge Update

 I just joined last night so I don't have much to report except that I'm happy to be apart of this and I desperately need to recharge. What is it about this time of year that sucks the life out of goals and dreams?
My original post is here.