Autumn Harvest Blog Hop

CONGRATULATIONS TO LISA F.W. WHO WON THE $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD

Autumn is such a fun time of year. The heat of summer is gone, at least here in Michigan. Crisp cool night, comfortably warm days. Great holidays. Columbus Day--big sales, anyone? Halloween--kiddies in costumes but, please get that candy out of my house! My birthday. What? You didn’t know that was a holiday? Veterans Day where we honor those who have served our country. And then there's my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving. Fun time with family getting together, a chance to give thanks for all our blessings, overdosing on great food, falling asleep on the couch while the guys watch football.

But, there’s another reason, a better reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite. You see, I was married on Thanksgiving. Some people think it’s weird to get married on a holiday. I guess weirdness runs in my family since my grandmother and mother were also married on Thanksgiving. I thought it would be kind of cool to carry on a tradition. Hubs says he’s grateful because he doesn’t have to remember a specific date. Wouldn’t you know, my daughter also decided to get married on Thanksgiving. That's four generations of women marrying on that holiday. (Note to granddaughter: you do NOT have to follow that tradition. You can get married any day you wish!)

This year, Thanksgiving is very special as I celebrate forty years together with my best friend, the man I love.

What do you love about Autumn and Fall? 

One commenter will win a $10 Amazon e-Gift Card. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. For more chances to win, enter in the Rafflecopter giveaway.

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My science fiction romance Switched takes place in Autumn. 

When wise-cracking Jessie Wyndom is beamed from her Michigan farmhouse aboard an Alliance starship, she meets a regular Mr. Spock. Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by a free-spirited Terran. Fate brings them together. Treachery tears them apart.

Excerpt from Switched: 

     “So, is there a secret salute I should know?” Jessie glanced at the little guy. “A troll. Nice costume, kid. Aren’t you a little young to be one of my nerdy brother’s friends?”

     The man who called himself Captain Viator raised a finely-sculpted black eyebrow. “Ensign Drakus is not a child. He is a Trucanian.”

     She snorted again. “From the planet Trucania, I suppose.”

     “The planet Trucan,” the troll corrected with glee.

     “Right. And I’ve been kidnapped by aliens.” She rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. I’m not going to fall for that gag. I recognize Tim’s handiwork here.”

     “Captain, she does not believe—”

     The tall man held up his hand. “It is better that she not.”

     An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She shook it off. “I like your outfit, big guy. Pretty authentic looking.” Hobbling on one shoe, she circled the Captain, examining him. “You’re quite an improvement over the geeks Tim usually hangs with.” She stopped behind him. “Great buns.”

Switched is available at Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Smashwords

To continue on the Hop go to http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/  for more links and to qualify for the  THREE grand prizes. There are over 200 participants in the Autumn Harvest Blog Hop. You can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times! So, be sure to leave a comment! And don't forget to leave your email address.

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (Sorry this prize is available only to US addresses.)

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address.

New Year's Resolutions

Wait. It’s only November so why am I writing about New Year’s Resolutions? I’m not jumping the gun. Back in January, I wrote about goal setting for 2012. One of my writer friends (thanks, Margo) suggested revisiting this topic. I guess it’s accountability time.

On the personal level, one of my goals was to organize my photos. <nasty buzzer sound> Nope. Didn’t even touch them. I still have eight weeks. Guess I’d better get started. Another goal was to reduce the number of books and DVDs. <ding, ding, ding> I did it! I gave away a whole boxful of books at MMRWA's Retreat and the DVDs went to a good home. Shred old papers was another goal. <nasty buzzer and tiny ding> My intentions were good. Does that count? Of course not. We all know where the path of good intentions leads. Poor Hubs. He made several trips to the recycling center with boxes and boxes of paper, but I hardly made a dent. I resolved to work out four times a week at a fitness center. <buzzer and ding> Most weeks, I make it at least three times so I figure I’m doing pretty good.

Then, there were my business goals:

• Request five reviews of Switched. I requested ten and received two. Two are better than none so I’m ahead.
• Publish Switched, Too by March 31st. Missed my self-imposed deadline by a few weeks, but it went up on June 8th.
• Increase online presence by:
• writing a blog post every week Did it! (or is that "doing" it?)
• host a guest once a month Did It! Actually, starting in August I host a guest once a week.
• increase guest blog appearances by 50% That was under ambitious since I’d only done two in 2011; don’t know what I was thinking with that goal. I’ve done 13 guest appearances so far and am scheduled for two more this year plus two blog hops.

Speaking of blog hops. I’m in (or is it "on"?) my first one this Friday, the Autumn Harvest Blog Hop. Lots of prizes, over 200 participants (which means you can visit all and have over 200 opportunities to win prizes). I’ll be giving away a $10 Amazon e-Gift Card so be sure to come back here on Friday and join the fun.

Regarding accountability for my 2012 resolutions: I’m doing a lot better with my writing goals than with my personal ones. Meantime, I’d better get started on those photos.

How did you do with your resolutions?