Open Minds is FREE - Yes, FREE from Susan K. Quinn

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Susan - You are the BEST!!!!

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Day two free from captivity:

   

 It's over - whew!  I think I have some form of Post-Semester-Stress-Confusion because I can't seem to find my bearings! At least now I can say last semester now. Last semester was a combination of abstract math and literacy instruction overload. At least I can say based on my math and statistics grades I was challenged (anything less than an A- I consider challenging).

     I don't even remember signing up for Language of Math - I thought I took the fun math course that involves math puzzles. After all, these are extra courses for my minor - not core classes. I have a feeling my adviser put me up to it. Halfway through the course I told her I didn't want to take Language of Math II and she replied, "There is no follow up course - you're in it!" So now I can say I'm bilingual - I speak English and Math. I'll be the life of all the parties talking about negations and contrapositives. Not even Blogspot's spell-check knows what that last word is.
     As for my literacy course, I  learned some great writing tips and even broke some writing rules and got away with it. Still, what I'm most proud of accomplishing is being qualified to teach kids to read. Now that I treasure - even though the workload was enough to choke a hippopotamus from top to bottom-us! Anyone up for Dr. Seuss?

    So, now I am getting ready for the British Literature and Arts trip, and still feel like I have no idea what to do with my day. Which one of my personalities do I follow - Mary or Martha? Clean the house or live it up? Where's my syllabus for summer break?

     Missing: bearings. Last seen bouncing around following course outlines and completing crazy numberless math problems and research papers. Please post if found!

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I believe.....

....it is entirely possible to study yourself to death....or insanity!

     You think he's sleeping?  Probably had an aneurysm!  Of course his instructors most likely assigned all this work before Easter break and followed up with their instructions to "Make sure you take a little time for yourself!" and upon returning from the break (if you survived) are welcomed back by instructor comments like, "Well, you've had an entire three days off - I'm sure you had plenty of time to go over those extra assignments in the syllabus that we talked about sixteen weeks ago....."


     Just in case you are not convinced that students are merely test-subjects in their evil experiments......look what studying did to this guy....

Four more weeks to the end of the semester..........somebody please send me a joke!

Double Book Review: Angus, thongs and Full Frontal Snogging AND On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

   

Are you ready for something FRESH for Spring Break?  How about a set of books that will make you laugh so hard, your kids will take off their headphones and say,"What?"

Find AtFFS here

find BSGSG here

rim says "you.me."

     You know how there are some things in life that just make you happy?  Like good coffee - the entire pot for the taking- and a great mug or your favorite show has a new episode, well that's how Georgia Nicolson's journal entries make me feel. Louise Rennison is a British comedic genius !
     The two books are part of a set of 10 (yes - 10!) books about teenager Georgia Nicolson's drama-filled life. Each moment is recorded in her journal telling how she really feels and making you wonder, "Was I ever like that?" One minute she's on top of the world admiring her greatness, the next, prepared to die at the hands of the Bummer-twins. Either way, she rocks at "football"!
     Georgia spends the school year working on a scheme with her friends to get "Sex God" (SG) to  notice her, but first she works on her "Snogging" skills with the ever-so-willing volunteer instructor, Mark. Meanwhile, her family life is in turmoil and it's driving her mad that no one seems about HER issues. What is wrong with those people?
     The cover of book two gives away the result of her scheme as SG becomes her boyfriend, sort of...... In book two, Georgia is like a pendulum swinging back and forth from no-holds-barred-fun-living to behaving like the boy-magnet that she is. If only she could remember which one she is supposed to be at the moment!
     These books, chock full of fresh British slang, are full of hilarious images of Georgia being her goofy self....er - ahem, boy-magnet self, so if you want to have all eyes on you, just read and learn from the expert. Or even better, visit her webpage www.georgianicolson.com or jet off to Britain and see her stage show.

I give both books 5 stars with knobs!

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A PARODY OF JANE EYRE

A Parody of an Easy Reader

Jane Eyre

This is Jane.

Hello Jane.

Jane is poor.

Her dress is poor.

Her shoes are poor.

Her hat is poor.

Poor Jane.

This is Mr. Rochester.

Hello Mr. Rochester.

Mr. Rochester is rich.

He has a big house.

He has a big dog.

He has a big horse.

He has a big secret.

What is Mr. Rochester's secret?

Jane cannot guess the secret.

Can you guess the secret?

This is Mrs. Rochester.

Hello Mrs. Rochester.

Mrs. Rochester is crazy.

She has a candle.

The candle is lighted.

Mrs. Rochester can laugh.

She laughs: ha ha ha.

RUN JANE RUN

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-Anonymous

eBook/Novella Review and Author Interview with Jennifer Shirk

     

     No doubt love is in the air with Valentine's Day celebrations just a few weeks ago. If you weren't looking for love then, you'll certainly be seeking Cupid after reading Jennifer Shirk's novella       a little bit cupid.

     Wedding photographer, Phoebe Ward, believes she's content capturing love from behind the camera's lens.  Causing a ripple in her wall-flower lifestyl,. Cosmo E. Cupid III sets her on a hurried path to find true love in order to keep another realm's gods from destroying the love that exists throughout the earth. The catch - it's with her pre-selected soul-mate, Adam Lovello, the man she nearly sterilized with a scalding-hot latte.
   Phoebe, fighting the constant distractions of the gods, is relentlessly pursuing Adam. Struggling to keep her eyes on the goal of making cold-fish Adam fall for her in time to save the world, Phoebe accidentally finds herself in a lopsided love-triangle.

     This review has two firsts for me: my first contemporary romance AND my first novella.  I'm as tickled pink as Cosmo's business card that I got a chance to read it. Already a fan of Jennifer Shirk's blog, I am now a solid fan of her whitty, hilarious, and daring writing. Main character Phoebe's clumsy-quirky nature and her wide open heart won me over quickly. Not only will you find her character lovable, Adam and Cal will have you running for your squirt-bottle and fan to cool off. Even the cigar-smoking cabbie Cosmo will tug at your heart. You'll just have to read the novella to find out which one nearly breaks the heat dial for Phoebe.  Convinced Cosmo had a plan to hijack my blog and shoot his arrows from Reading, Writing, Raisin' Boys, I recommend you read a little bit cupid so you'll know how he works and who may now be after you to foil his plans.
     And if reading a spuzzy-spice novella on your Kindle, Nook, or Ipad over a few lunch breaks doesn't rock your world, Jennifer throws in a free sampler of Kissing Kendall as an encore. What more could you get for 99 Cents - laughs, heat, drama, even a bit of paranormal fantasy AND a bonus sampler.  Check out jennifershirk.com Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble to download a copy for less than the price of a cup of Phoebe's spilled coffee.

I give a little bit cupid   5 stars on quivers!

     And now onto my interview with the spuzz-master herself, I bring you Jennifer Shirk:


   Welcome Jennifer! I’m delighted to have you over at Reading, Writing, Raisin’ boys to talk about one of your new contemporary romance releases, a little bit cupid.

Thank you so much for having me today!!

I have to say, you had me just after “hello” with your pop-culture references that draw the reader right into the Phoebe’s perspective. You were also pretty daring with a few fun scenes. Do you always pump up your writing with these relatable metaphors  and taboo tidbits or does the shorter format allow you to take more risk with your writing?

I honestly just wanted to have fun writing this story, so I may have gotten a little nutty. So it really depends on the tone of the story for me and this one just screamed, "anything goes!" LOL

For those of us that think of the writer’s world as a mysterious realm, what differences are there in your creative process when you write a short story versus a full-length novel?

It was very bizarre writing this story because it was a novella and not a full length book. So in some ways, it was easier because I didn't have to go in depth with my internal conflicts, but in some ways it was harder because I couldn't do that in order to have readers really understand my characters. It was a challenge.

Onto the characters – do you have a favorite?

I LOVE Cal.

He was my favorite to write. He was funny but more the "straight man" to Phoebe's antics. I definitely think a little of that comes out in my writing too, because I've had a lot of people tell me they wanted more of him. (which is always nice to hear) :)

Characters typically do the opposite of what the reader wants them to do – what would you do if you hailed a cab and Cosmo started stalking you with a mission?

I'd call the police for sure and get him arrested! But then that wouldn't be much of a story. LOL

Just for fun – Let’s say you get a movie contract and you get to play Phoebe – who do you cast for Cosmo, Cal, and Adam?

Ooh, great question! Here's who I'd have:

Phoebe-- Amy Adams

Cal-- Channing Tatum

Cosmo- Danny Devito

Adam-- Ryan Gosling

Whoa! I'll take front row seats - thank you!

Do you think you’ll do another short romance in time for next Valentine’s Day?

Yes, I'm actually tinkering with the idea of doing Adam's story next. Nothing in stone though.

Lastly, but no less important – chocolates, bacon, or chocolate covered bacon?

I tend to eat more vegetarian so just plain chocolates for me! But LOTS of them!

This has been a blast! Thanks for writing such a fresh, fun-loving story and visiting with me for this interview. You’ve been such a busy writer that I’m watching for what next – the movie or another great read. I’ll be adding Kissing Kendall to my TBR faster than Cosmo’s arrow….

Yes!! This was so fun! Thanks for reading and for having me today!

I hope you all get to check out A Little Bit Cupid too! Only 99 cents!

When you achieve what you thought was impossible

     That moment - you know you all have them - when you do something you were just sure was going to be an epic-fail.  I had a huge hurdle I thought was going to be my downfall this semester and it turned out to be one of those moments.

     It wasn't a paper, a presentation, or even a major exam; it was the handwriting sample.

     What? Me afraid of a little ol' handwriting sample?  Can't an adult even write her ABC's legibly? Sheesh!

     There's more to it than that for me. I struggled in school with it and even asked my English teacher for help because my French teacher was putting big fat D'Nealian F's on my papers for sloppiness. I tried so many ways to change, but it always ended up looking like I was writing a prescription.

     This time, I tried something different. After all, I'm going to be a teacher - it's do or die. I practiced again, only this time I treated it like I was drawing. I treated it as copying a cartoon or sketch - verrrrry slowly - and it worked!

Have you ever had to change your approach to a challenge? What works for you?