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?

My new addiction.....

.....free ebook links from Bookblast!


That's right - a website ( http://bookblast.co/ ) that will email you links to Amazon.com for free and super-cheap ($.99-2.99) ebooks all from Young Adult Fantasy and Paranormal or whatever genre you select to have included in your daily email.  Did you see that - I said DAILY! 

What could be better than coffee and browsing personally selected FREE ebooks?  Can you think of anything? 

                                         ...okay, free hugs maybe....

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Spreading the love with a giveaway!

It's Valentine's Day! And you know what that means -- love is in the air! And nowhere is that more apparent that at Entangled Publishing. We're sharing A LITTLE BIT CUPID with you today, and wish you a day filled with romance and of course, CUPID.

A LITTLE BIT CUPID, by Jennifer Shirk: Finding love should be easy, but wedding photographer Pheobe Ward knows better. When Cupid shows up on a crazy mission to help her —and save the world in the process—Phoebe realizes love might be even more complicated than she thought. Even with Cupid showing her Mr. Right , she can’t stop thinking about his best friend, Mr. Wrong. Cal Crawford has never had time for love, but now he’s falling for Phoebe. Which means it’s got to be just plain wrong to set her up with his best friend, right? But even though seeing Phoebe with someone else will break his heart, he can’t walk away from her. Phoebe can’t afford to choose the wrong guy with the fate of the world at stake. But maybe Cupid has it wrong. Maybe she has to rely just a little bit on Cupid, and a whole lot more on her heart. Get your copy today for only 99 cents!

To get you in the Valentine's Day mood, download A LITTLE BIT CUPID and then enter to win our CUPID inspired giveaway! One lucky winner will receive a swag bag that includes an eBook of A LITTLE BIT CUPID, an eBook of KISSING KENDALL, and a box of chocolates! Just enter using the Rafflecopter widget below--today only, so spread the love this Valentine's Day! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hastings, how do I love thee?

 Score!!! Went in to Hastings for a book for my 4th grader.......

..................Came out with a SIGNED copy of REACHED!!

If you haven't met Cassia, Ky and Xander in the Matched  trilogy, you have yet to read one of the finest modern dystopian teen-fiction. You can read my review here - Matched floored me with the subtle acts of resistance. I can't wait to finish the  trilogy with Reached.

Happy Blogversary RWRB!

Today is Reading, Writing, Raisin' Boys' 3rd Blog-versary! Yay!! Let the confetti fly!!

   While a few bloggers are moving to Wordpress, some are turning to other forms of social media, and some are re-evaluating blogging at all - I am here to celebrate. I am HERE. I haven't moved and I plan to stick it out until RWRB gets too big for Blogger and is forced to move (not even close yet).

     What do I get out of blogging? Why take time out of my busy, busy life with school, kids to raise, and job?

That's the best question ever!

Here's what:

     I've had a chance to practice my writing. Writing for an audience (even if no one reads it) is way different than just writing in a journal. It holds me accountable for my writing. It's got to be interesting. It's got to involve the reader. It's got to be spelled right and punctuated correctly. 

     I've had a chance to hear about and promote some of the most fantastic books that may not be getting out there in the hands of readers without word-of-mouth.  Small publishers are my favorite!  The Ganzfield Series published by Spencer Hill Press has been the most exciting of all to share.  Hopefully, Kate Kaynak will release the next book, Soulmate,  before I go nuts wondering about Maddie and Trevor.

     I've learned so much about writing from other bloggers. Authors are so generous in sharing their writing tips. It's like a mini-conference at my fingertips.

     It's a place to share my overflow of babble where people have the choice to tune in-or tune out. For me, I like that better than Facebook status updates. No one has to "unfriend" me if they tire of my incessant chatter.

     Best of all - the people I've met through blogging. This past three years of RWRB has opened the doors to meeting writers, bibliophiles, mom-bloggers, and random people I may never have know I had anything in common with- without the blogging (theirs and mine)

     I hope you all stick with me for this next exciting year. Soon to come: A new genre for me - Contemporary Romance. Also, the British-Lit tour and Mom-Mondays will continue (although the boys have been a bit private lately so it's occasional that I post about them). Here's looking forward to another great year!
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