Interview with author, Kristen Kooistra

Blog Tour day. Author, Kristen Kooistra is with us.


Kristen fell in love with reading at a young age and never resurfaced. She loved solving mysteries, riding across the prairie, and sailing on the open sea. But her favorite books were those that held the fantastical. So when the time came for her to seriously approach publishing a book, it had to be fantasy!

Disney Song #Book Tag

I'm taking the time to reconnect with some old favorite books and presenting you with The Disney Song Book Tag created by Aria’s Books.  continue reading

Silent Wednesdays

My Weekend

Okay, so I don't usually blog about my day to day life.  Although it is something I want to try to do and hey why not?! It's not like my life is so crazy or abnormal that no one would be able to relate to it . . .

So on Saturdays I usually get up around 6am.  This Saturday, hubs watched the Baby all night, thank God.

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via GIPHY



I got the baby ready for his morning and then I made it on over to my writers group.  It's called Green Line Writers.  It meets at the Black Dog Cafe.  Black Dog, isn't that a cool name?!  It's a pretty hip place and always has music artists show casing their work.  It's kitty corner from a farmer's market so you get every type of person coming in and out of that joint.

Anyway, we usually write for a few hours based on some writing prompts.  This is totally the highlight of my week  because for two hours I get to act like Marta Kauffman (writer of Friends TV show) and sit down with other fantastic writers and write on-the-spot pieces.  Then we compliment and explore what made or or didn't make a specific piece.  (okay we don't actually do a whole lot of discussing) but more laughing than anything (it sorta turns into a stand-up comedy routine).

Then when I get home I usually relieve the hubs of his parenting duty, so he can go off and play cricket.  Because he's an awesome cricket player and that's what he does.

I usually play with the baby for a few hours and read books and watch Booktubers vlog.  And then eat dinner and go to sleep.

This Sunday,( major highlight of my week once again) I went to see a play.  I won't get into the specifics because I may want to write a review.  But I'll just say it was fabulous and the venue was way cool.  I've been there before but this is the second time I got lost and had to get help.  

There seems to be a difference between the way you plug in an address into a GPS vs. the way you put in the name of the place you want to go instead.  The latter seems to be more spot on and will get you there without delays.  But I'm glad I got lost because I was able to tell a perfectly nice stranger that yes there is a play center in the vicinity and yes you should go there sometime if you live in the area.



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via GIPHY


That concludes my weekend.



Readers, let me know about your weekend in the comments below.

Michael J. Fox:Love and Diapers

So I came across this old magazine in my house today and it really had me thinking.  Readers, I had no idea how old this magazine was until I flipped  o the inside and saw it was posted in 1989.  On the front cover was a picture of Michael J. Fox and a headline that said:

New Dad
Michael J. Fox
Love and Diapers

It had me thinking about all the ridiculous News Headlines that are out there, so I posted this clip for amusement.

Readers, do you read magazines and if so which ones?

Silent Wednesdays

Amir, Lane, Shadow Maker #thursdaythoughts, #amreading

With me today is Amir Lane. Amir was born in Canada and his parents are from Iraq.  He is a supernatural and urban fantasy writer and the author of the Morrighan House Witches series that debuted in October 2016. The series opens with Shadow Maker, and follows physics major Dieter Lindemann as he's dragged down against his will into Necromancy and blood magic.

Read This? Watch This-Book Tag

THE RULES of Read This? Watch This Book Tag

I.  Create five Book-TV Pairings.

II. Tag your favourite book bloggers/booktuber.

If You’ve Read:  House Rules by Jodi Piccoult 

You Should Watch:  Parenthood

Why:  Both have families with very supportive networks.  In House Rules we have the character, Jacob Hunt who is a teen with Aspergers who is accused of murder and in  the Parenthood drama series, the character of Max Braverman is diagnosed with Aspberger's and his family rile around behind him to support his individuality.

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If You’ve Read:  Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

You Should Watch: The Walking Dead

Why?  This is a stretch to be honest because I certainly wouldn't want a young adult reader of Hunger Games to be watching Walking Dead.  But they both have survival elements and fight to the death scenarios. Plus some really cute characters.

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If You’ve Read:  Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger

You Should Watch:  The Killing

Why:  I love, love, love William Kent Krueger ever since I read Ordinary Grace.  In Manitou Canyon, a wealthy businessman disappears during a fishing trip in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and a detective also disappears. Krueger weaves Native American culture and beliefs through his story.  Likewise, there are detectives and Native American beliefs intertwined in the second season of The Killing, along with an Indian casino and a mob plot.  Might I add that the character of Sarah Linden and Holder would make a fantastic couple.

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If You’ve Read:  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

You Should Watch:  New Girl

Why:  Both are about characters who are embaraking on new chapters in their lives.  Fangirl illustrates characters living in college dorms while New Girl shows the lives of room mates living together.   In New Girl, characters Jess, Nick, Schmidt, Winston, and Cece make you feel like your not alone when not knowing which decision is the right one to make in your twenties.  

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If You’ve Read:  Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster

You Should Watch:  Ugly Betty

Why:  If you read anything by Jen Lancaster, you know she is the funniest writer around.  But in Bitter is the New Black you meet a woman who has gone from six figures to unemployment and really has to check herself before she wrecks herself.  The same goes for Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty except her story is a bit opposite.  She is starting her career from the ground up in the fashion industry only her fashion sense needs a bit of work before she works her way up.  

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This was a lot of fun and took a tremendous amount of time thinking of all the series I've watched on Netflix, Amazon, etc. I got this idea for a post from Aentee over at Readatmidnight.com

I'm tagging Fanni Sütő fromwww.inkmapsandmacarons.com and Stacy and Mischenko, Writers of  twogalsandabook.com  to do this tag.

Readers, feel free to include any shows you think I should watch in the comments below.

#SilentWednesdays

Would You Rather-Book Tag #amreading

WOULD YOU RATHER Book Tag

This sort of book tag will probably shoot me in the foot one day when authors turn me away for reviewing their book so I’m preempting this post by saying I’m pretty open minded on the most part. This booktag was created by

RayKayBooks on Youtube and I first saw it done by Samantha, Hollye, and Anna over at spinesandcovers.com

1. READ ONLY TRILOGIES OR STAND ALONES?

I prefer stand alones. I find I'm satisfied with learning about characters within a short time span. Rarely do I need a trilogy to help me with that.  

2. READ ONLY FEMALE OR MALE AUTHORS?

I don’t like this question so I’m going to skip it.

3. SHOP AT BARNES and NOBLES OR AMAZON?

I’m going to have to go with Amazon. Back in the day when I didn’t have a touch phone I would have loved to peruse the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble.  But I’m such an on-the-go person. I love the flexibility of books I can buy on Amazon.

4. ALL BOOKS BECOME MOVIES OR TV SHOWS?

I’m going with TV shows. I know I just got done saying that I like books that are shorter vs  in a trilogy but when it comes to the big screen the options are endless and always engaging.

5. READ 5 PAGES PER DAY OR 5 BOOKS PER WEEK?

Five books per week, that is If I had the time.  I’m satisfied with just searching for five books a day, sometimes.  I like to read a book’s synopsis and wonder if it would be a perfect fit.

6. BE A PROFESSIONAL REVIEWER OR AUTHOR?

Definitely an author.  This question is like a double edged sword.  In order to be an author you need to read a lot of books and in order to be a great reviewer you may need to write a lot.

7. ONLY READ YOUR TOP 20 FAVORITE BOOKS OVER AND OVER OR ALWAYS READ NEW ONES THAT YOU HAVEN’T READ BEFORE?

I always read new books.  I think it was a motivational speaker that once said you should never watch a movie more than once, there’s so much out there, you should always diversify your interests. So I believe that same mentality applies to books as well.

8. BE A LIBRARIAN OR BOOK SELLER?

I like the IDEA of being a bookseller, a fictional character who sells books like A.J  Fikry or the Bookseller of Kabul.  But to be honest, I think I would rather be a librarian because of all the great books I’d come across while shelving.

9. ONLY READ YOUR FAVORITE GENRE, OR EVERY GENRE EXCEPT YOUR FAVORITE?

Ohh, tricky and mean question.  I think I would rather give up my favorite genre: contemporary.  I don’t want to be deprived of horrors like Stephen King Books or lose out on any fantasies that will later be adapted into movies.

10. ONLY READ PHYSICAL BOOKS OR EBOOKS?

If I had to choose I’d pick physical books. There's no phone charger or eye straining involved with a physical book.

I'm tagging Tamara at GetYourGiggleOn and Deb over at PeninherHand to do this book tag.

Truth or Lie?

1. I have danced in stadium in front of 30,000 people.
2. I have interviewed with Cassandra Clare.
3. I was once had Pica. 


Readers, can you answer any of these above questions? Is there a book that's just been in the back of your mind lately?

Great Dialogue from David Wallace Foster

I came across a site when looking for writers who really know their dialogue.  David Wallace Foster came to my attention.

This is an excerpt from David Wallace Foster

"The trajectory of nearly all technology follows this downward and widened path:by the time a regular person is able to create his own TV network, it doesn’t matter anymore that I have or own a network…..nothing really changes: the the individual’s ability to project his message or  throw his weight around remains miniscule.

..."In the case of the web, each of us has slightly more access to the mass audience-a few more people slide through the door" How Literature Saved my Life, By David Sheields



Here is a list of Essays that Foster has written, retrieved from this site .

• “9/11: The View From the Midwest” (Rolling Stone, October 25, 2001)
• “All That” (New Yorker, December 14, 2009)
• “An Interval” (New Yorker, January 30, 1995)
• “Asset” (New Yorker, January 30, 1995)
• “Backbone” An Excerpt from The Pale King (New Yorker, March 7, 2011)
• “Big Red Son” from Consider the Lobster & Other Essays
• “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men” (The Paris Review, Fall 1997)
• “Consider the Lobster” (Gourmet, August 2004)
• “David Lynch Keeps His Head” (Premiere, 1996)
• “Everything is Green” (Harpers, September 1989)
• “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” (The Review of Contemporary Fiction, June 22, 1993)
• “Federer as Religious Experience” (New York Times, August 20, 2006)
• “Good People” (New Yorker, February 5, 2007)
• “Host” (The Atlantic, April 2005)
• “Incarnations of Burned Children” (Esquire, April 21, 2009)
• “Laughing with Kafka” (Harper’s, January 1998)
• “Little Expressionless Animals” (The Paris Review, Spring 1988)
• “On Life and Work” (Kenyon College Commencement address, 2005)
• “Order and Flux in Northampton” Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV (Conjunctions, 1991)
• “Rabbit Resurrected” (Harper’s, August 1992)
• “Several Birds” (New Yorker, June 17, 1994)
• “Shipping Out: On the (nearly lethal) comforts of a luxury cruise” (Harper’s, January 1996)
• “Tennis, trigonometry, tornadoes A Midwestern boyhood”  (Harper’s, December 1991)
• “Tense Present: Democracy, English, and the wars over usage” (Harper’s, April 2001)
• “The Awakening of My Interest in Annular Systems” (Harper’s, September 1993)
• “The Compliance Branch” (Harper’s, February 2008)
• “The Depressed Person” (Harper’s, January 1998)
• “The String Theory” (Esquire, July 1996)
• “The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys And The Shrub” (Rolling Stone, April 2000)
• “Ticket to the Fair” (Harper’s, July 1994)
• “Wiggle Room” (New Yorker, March 9, 2009)

Silent Wednesday Blog hop #amreading

Creative tuesdays #tuesdaythoughts #tuesdaymotivation

Happy Tuesday.  I'm joining Creative Tuesday blog hop.  

I thought I would share with you some fun cars and creative cars and funny transit advertisements.