It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Apr 8

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.   

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.   

Posting early this week since the morning is busy. Still wishing you all a happy Monday. I hope you had a nice week. My week was filled with meetings and appointments, but I came away feeling productive because I reworked some of my marketing materials for consultations.

We are dog sitting for a couple of days while my brother-in-law takes his family to see the eclipse. Anyone else traveling for it?

You will see Travis is up to his old tricks of hopping into any open door or cabinet.

In my Facebook memories, the last photo of Yia-yia popped up. Today marks one year since she left us. I had no idea when I took this photo it would be the last one. I only took it so my daughter, who was coming home the next day, would see she was safely with us. I'm glad I was inspired to take it, because she had such a great day with us. It was almost like she was her old self before her dementia diagnosis. 

I listed a few books for sale on eBay. You can find them here. 

With my busy week, I didn't read a ton, but here is what I accomplished. I'm over halfway through this one on Audible. Book club is Wednesday, so I will have to finish it while driving to appointments this week. 

I didn't read any from this graphic novel approved by NetGalley. 

I read some of this one. 

I didn't read from this one last week. 

Didn't read this one on Audible because I need to finish The Secret Garden.

I started this one.

This one might be next after review books. 

This week at Christmas Year Round, we talked about the Christmas in April organization. You can find the post here.

Upcoming virtual book tours:

• It Will Have Been So Beautiful by Amanda Shaw - Apr 25 (review) 
• My Career Journal by CareerTuners - May 1 (review) 
• Be Resilient in Your Career by Dr. Helen Ofosu - May 16 (review)
• Mastering Your Scenes by J. A. Cox - May 17 (review)
• I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial by Emilio Corsetti III - May 31 (review)

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This arrived mid-week for my May review.

So you want to write an engaging scene, do you? This book was written with one main to help give authors a creative boost in their scene writing and toss writers' block into the oblivion of the abyss. In order to accomplish this, each chapter is written in a workbook-like format so that the steps provided can easily be implemented after they are explained. For each element of scene writing that is presented, J.A. Cox explains the How, Why, and When of its use along with his own description so that the information is easy to assimilate. He provides copious examples from his own writing of these elements in action as well as from shows and movies.

Here are the elements that you will be learning:

• Sketching
• Location
• Time
• Characters
• Perspective
• Resistance
• Objective

No new-fangled way of writing is about to be forced on you, but advice offered to help you realize things you are likely not seeing as you struggle to come up with ideas. As you make your way through these pages and consider these elements, you will end up in a state where it is difficult to shut down the tsunami of ideas that will come your way.

Finally, there is a completed outline format that can be used over and over for every scene you write to keep that creative pump primed. Therefore, you will no longer have to fuss over figuring out what prompts or hooks to use to start a chapter as your answer will come to you as you outline your scenes from the various questions provided for you to ask with each element.

This book will revolutionize the way you look at your scenes in the future...

That is all from my end of the world. Hope you have a fabulous day. See you around the blogosphere. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Sept 19

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.  

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 

Here we are at the third Monday of September. How does time pass so quickly? This week was filled with appointments, the MAR Conference, and two charity events. Friday night, I decorated the house for fall. I'm not great at it, but I love doing it. On Sunday, I pulled the rest of the goodies from the garden and tidied it up to get it ready for planting garlic for over the winter. 

Second Chance Animal Services free vaccination clinic at RAPV

Rick's Place Golf Classic Dinner at Wilbraham Country Club

Sea Crest Beach Hotel, Falmouth MA

Last week on this blog, I featured a spotlight of The Ack Ack Girl by Chris Karlsen. The author is running a giveaway through the end of the month. You can enter for your chance to win by visiting here.

I scheduled my review of Big Red for September 23. Here is the opening of that post: "Travel back to Hollywood's Golden Age for a story about Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles as told by a feisty gossip columnist." 

There will be a giveaway with this post, so be sure to check in on September 23. 

I am almost halfway through this seasonal short story collection. Loving it! 

I started reading this business book for my September 28 review. 

On September 27, look for my First Chapter Review of this middle grade fantasy novel at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. 

I will be reviewing this young adult novel on October 19 at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. 

I will review this historical novel on October 20. 

This review is slated for October 28.

After that, I will probably take a break for the holidays, but I still hope to read these. I will be traveling a week in November and a few days in December, so I will bring books with me. After that, I look forward to spending time at home. 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I wandered over to the library book sale on Friday. I'm picky about what I grab these days because I'm running out of room and have way too many unread books here. 

Female spies intrigue me, so I grabbed Kramer's book.

The second one I grabbed because I'm a wordie. Is that a word? Like a foodie, but with words instead of food. 

I also ordered the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.  

I am hoping to increase my blogging in the new year, but I really need to put a plan together to accomplish that. We will see what life looks like after November when most of  my traveling is done, and I will be in the mood for the 2023 business plan. 

Hope you have a wonderful week. 

Book Review: Infographic Guide to Creating Stories by Hank Quense

Visual learners such as myself will be thrilled to know the process of writing a book has been broken down into a series of infographics that cover the nuts and bolts of how to create a story. 

Infographic Guide to Creating Stories by Hank Quense helps you get started by talking about a story's components, then moves on to setting, character building, plotting, and designing a scene. You'll learn about storytelling, voice, and putting all the pieces together. Quense also provides extras at the end you'll find helpful.

This is a unique and engaging way to help would-be writers get off the ground. Infographic Guide to Creating Stories is loaded with tons of information. Because of the infographics, it is easy to find exactly what you're looking for. The author was wise to make these infographics colorful, so they catch the eye.

Even though I am an experienced writer, I found new methods and resources within this book's pages that I look forward to using in the future. 

If you desire to write, but aren't sure how to go about it, Infographic Guide to Creating Stories by Hank Quense is a fabulous resource to help you understand the process of writing and propel you forward.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PP6NYDZ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Strange Worlds Publishing (January 5, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 119 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8985309713
• Purchase here!

I received a free digital copy from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Feb 21

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday. 

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Welcome back to Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend. I should probably warn you I am in a foul mood. I didn't get as much accomplished this weekend as I needed to. It has also been so cold that I thought my face would freeze off. I am so over winter. 

Okay, enough grumbling. I'll share some fun pictures now so you can smile.

Boots hanging out.

Brothers Travis and Dwight staring at who knows what.

Check out my new Easter decorations.

One nice thing that happened this week is that award season started. Here is my first real estate award from 2021. 

I posted this GIF on Facebook of my eyes popping out as I make my way through 90 hours of post licensing education for North Carolina. It is dull, but necessary. 

Now, on to reading. I posted my review of this book on Sunday.

My review of this children's book appeared here last week.

I also reviewed this book at my children's book blog on Sunday.

Look for my review on this book on Thursday.

I am almost finished with this book.  

I hope these are next.

I am heading to Kentucky in March for a real estate conference, so I am still thinking if I just want to bring my Kindle or if I will bring along a printed book. If I bring something printed, it might be one of these.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

The Lil' Princess asked me to pick up a poetry collection for her last week. It arrived on Wednesday.

In her first collection of poems, Gabrielle G. depicts different love stories from the initial spark to the last heartbreak and writes in verses the heartache we've all been through. A poetry book to make your heart smile and weep at the same time.

Have you read it? Doesn't sound like something I would read, but I might check it out. 

That's it from me. Off work on the next 60+ hours of online education that I need to complete soon.