Archive for the ‘Promotion’ Category
Image courtesy of healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Do you want a marvelous haircut at a marvelous price?! Do you want to give back?
Head over to the South Elgin Hair Cuttery, home of The Hair Whisperer Bobby Berry. On Sunday, April 21st, from 5 – 7 p.m., Bobby Berry and his colleagues will hosting a cut-a-thon where they will be doing cuts for $10! And 100% of the funds raised during that time will be donated to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. On June 1st and 2nd, a group of Hair Cuttery field leaders will be walking 39 miles to support Avon’s initiative to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer.
Stop on by the South Elgin Hair Cuttery on Sunday, April 21st. It is located at 345 Randall Road, South Elgin, Illinois 60177. The phone number is (847) 531-8167. The event is first come first serve, so no appointments will be given. Call your local Hair Cuttery if you can’t get to South Elgin to see if they are participating!
This is a sponsored post. I am receiving compensation for writing this, however all opinions and thoughts are mine.
Have you been looking for a blogging conference that is affordable and nearby? How about attending one from the comfort of your own home? The Blog Workshop is just what you’re looking for!
This is THE conference to advance your blogging skills into a viable way to make money. The mission of the conference says it all:
Our mission is to provide bloggers and vloggers information that will allow them to take their blogging/vlogging ventures to the next level. We want to bridge the gap between bloggers, brands, PR professionals and more. With the right kind of information not even the SKY will be your limit.
Mark your calendar for May 17 – 19th and get ready to take your blogging/vlogging skills to a new level. Learn from the experts how to take advantage of the ever morphing landscape of the blogosphere.
While attending the on-line conference, you will learn:
- Blogging With the Bloggerpreneur Mindset. How to build a profitable empire.
- How to connect and build effective relationships with brands, advertisers and more.
- Providing a great starting point and tools to further your blogging enterprise.
From the comfort of your home–while wearing your bunny slippers and your fuzzy pink robe–you’ll have access to world class speakers who will share a wealth of blogging knowledge. Check out the full agenda of workshops to attend to further your blogging career. How can you pass this up?!
For only$175–there are no travel or lodging costs involved because you’re staying home!–you have access to everything! Click here to register. There are scholarships and grants available also.
Here’s a video to give you a peek!
What are you waiting for? Register today and join the party! Seriously, people are already tweeting (the official hashtag is #TBW), hanging out on Facebook and Google+ talking about The Blog Workshop! I will see you there!
About the Author:
A veteran of the performing arts and worldwide missions, Tessa Stockton also contributed as a writer/editor for ministry publications, ghostwriter for political content, and headed a column on the topic of forgiveness. Today she writes novels in a variety of genres, often laced with romance and intrigue. In addition to her Christian suspense/thriller, THE UNSPEAKABLE, she’s the author of the political intrigue/romance, THE UNFORGIVABLE, a fable, LOVE AND LULL, and the upcoming inspirational fantasy romance, WIND’S ARIA, with more in the works.
Visit the Author:
About the Book:
Who said forgiveness was easy?
When a furtive conflict is pitted between violent leftist guerrillas and a rightwing paramilitary group in Colombia, a North American woman mistakenly gets caught in the middle.
“I spent four months, one week and two days in a clandestine prison referred to as The Water Cave. Every day I stared hell in the face, and each day I wanted to die. I don’t want to share too much too quickly. To understand fully, you must join hands with me, fasten your heart to mine, and course through my book. Stumble over the incomprehensible human rights journey with me. I’ve pondered it to the brink of questionable sanity, and it is the only way. It’s the only way to explain. I suppose I should consider myself lucky I survived at all—for many did not—yet, perplexingly so, that’s not the premise of this narrative.
He altered my life, marked me forever.
But it’s not how you might imagine.
This is a story involving Horacio Botello, my torturer known as Puma.”
Purchase your copy:
Tessa will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC, one autographed copy of her book, The Unspeakable, and one autographed copy of her other book, The Unforgivable!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aveeno. All opinions are 100% mine.
Look at all the ways oatmeal can be used!
Since it’s National Oatmeal Day and Aveeno uses oatmeal in a lot of it’s products, I am giving away two packs of Aveeno products! Details for entering are at the end of the post!
I love oatmeal! In fact, I participated in a lively discussion on a mutual love of oatmeal on Facebook recently. Now I can enjoy my oatmeal and remember high school friends fondly as I do!
I love to eat my oatmeal with frozen blueberries, a splash of milk, and a dash of sugar. I don’t use instant oats, but I do cook them in the microwave. In addition to now thinking of high school friends, I also remember my Gramma Pfannenstiel who made us oatmeal when we stayed overnight. That steamy goodness sweeps me right back into her kitchen.
With my incredibly problem-prone skin, I appreciate the oatmeal in Aveeno products. It’s soothing and helps out tremendously. I’m so glad the Aveeno people thought about using oatmeal in their products!
How much do you love oatmeal? Any recipes to share? Has anyone tried cold oatmeal? I saw some recipes on Pinterest over the summer that had promise, but I never tried them!
Want to win a package of Aveeno products that utilize oatmeal? Comment below before Friday, November 2, 2012, at 5 pm to be entered into the drawing. I’ll draw two winners at that time! Sorry, the giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only.
Hi, allow me to introduce myself; I am Kelly Preston, author of Real Dogs Don’t Whisper, this is my first book and I am still surprised at myself that I took a vision and made it possible. It all started one morning in December 2010, I had a “light bulb” moment that I wanted to share an incredible, rewarding journey with special need pets. The goal was to inspire the audience that no matter what may face us, with determination, unconditional love and support from others; and, opening your heart to allow love in when not expected, amazing and priceless outcomes will occur.
Once I determined the goal and the reason why I wanted to write this book, it took a little over a year to complete. I can’t even begin to share how many times I had to go back and redo, delete, pace back and forth; and, start over again. What I was finding that I was writing too much and it was too heavy, I needed to find a way to lighten up the content and add humor to a serious subject. I looked at my one dog, Mr MaGoo, my spunky Lhasa Apso and knew at that point he would be my co-author. After months of reworking the chapters, adding Mr MaGoo’s flavor, I was pleasantly surprised with the finished work. In fact, I am delighted to read the reviews that I receive; of course Mr MaGoo has now a strong fan base and his fans want more, which I am happy to share, they will see more of his writing in 2013.
Read the Book Excerpt
It was at that very moment I realized Carla Mae was not just an angry, aggressive little cuss I taught to play and dance and cut loose. I saw Carla Mae for the first time as she really was—a scared puppy who learned to mistrust those around her and who learned self-preservation the only way she knew how—by biting first and asking questions later. She was a frightened little dog who eventually found a greater lesson in letting go and learning to laugh and play and yes, of course—dance. Carla Mae found unconditional love in our family and along the way, she learned to trust. Anyway, as for Dim-Bulb King, cooler heads prevailed that day and, lucky for him, his human finally dragged him away from us. But I sure learned something about my new sister that day.
Carla Mae turned out to be a competitive little tomboy and fair adversary. We love to play Kibble Attack—a game that involves her patiently planning preemptive Kibble invasions, only to be taken off guard by a MaGoo surprise maneuver, overrun and forever a close second only to me. She’s quite the copycat as well, often mimicking our moves. I’m not sure if she’s mocking us all, doing the “when in Rome thing”, or a little of both. What I do know is that I have learned to love Carla Mae and Carla Mae has learned to accept love and even try to nudge in on my petting time with the human and even with random human strangers in the house. She is loved and cared for and Carla Mae is no longer afraid… well, maybe a little afraid of King Crazy Dog, but who wouldn’t be? Other than me, of course.
About Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston is, first and foremost, an animal lover. Raised on a ten-acre property in a small town inPennsylvania, she grew up with horses, rabbits, and – of course – dogs. When she left home after college, she acquired Gizmo, an irresistible Lhasa Apso that started her on a journey full of joys and sorrows, hopes and tribulations, frustrations, endless lessons in patience, and above all else, love. All of this has come at the hands (more precisely the paws) of Gizmo, Betty Boop, Buffy, Carla Mae, and the inimitable Mr. MaGoo.
Mr. MaGoois a nine-year-old Lhasa Apso and the book’s co-creator and co-writer. He is, in his own words, “the alpha and omega of all dogs – in the cutest and sparkiest, most fun-loving package ever.” Ignoring Kelly’s persistent eye-rolling, Mr. MaGoo has forged ahead with this project in an attempt to, as he puts it, “present the facts from a dog’s perspective. In other words, the correct, most accurate, most interesting, only-one-that-matters perspective,” to which he adds, simply, “Woof!”
Purchase Real Dogs Don’t Whisper at Amazon.
Website Address: www.realdogsdontwhisper.com
Blog Address: www.realdogsdontwhisper.com/blog
This is a sponsored post, written by me on behalf of Beautiful Beasties. All opinions are 100% mine.
Pets are wonderful companions, but are so very difficult to photograph well. Luckily, Jamie Pflughoeft has written Beautiful Beasties: A Creative Guide to Modern Pet Photography to help us out!
Not only is the book filled with great tips on capturing our furry friends’ personalities on film, there are also great photos illustrating the techniques. I could spend hours just checking out the images!
Pflughoeft does a nice job covering photography in general. She has chapters on equipment (did you know you can rent lenses before you invest the money in buying them?!) and photography basics. I found the photography basics extremely helpful. I can never read information about ISO and aperture enough! Her writing style is low key and direct, so taking in the information is quite easy.
There is a chapter on composition, which is something I also cannot read often enough. Why do I always forget the rule of thirds?!
Beautiful Beasties goes in to great detail about the perils and joys of working with animals. The end of the book offers advice about starting your own pet photography business. But it is so much more than that if you are the owner of an animal. This book offers a way to capture our fur babies in the best way possible.
About the author (taken from the back cover)
Jamie Pflughoeft became addicted to photographing pets while studying animal behavior in college and working as a dog-walker and pet-sitter. She started Cowbelly Pet Photography in 2003, and today she serves commercial, editorial, and private clients as well as teaching photographers around the world about the exciting field of pet photography. Jamie also runs the Beautiful Beasties Network, an online community for pet photographers.
Would you like a chance to win a copy of this book for your very own? Leave a comment below before 5pm Sunday, September 30, 2012, answering one (or both!) of these questions:
- What is your biggest challenge when photographing your pets?
- What would you most like to learn from this book?
The giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only. A winner will be announced Monday, October 1, 2012, and will be drawn using random.org.
Good luck!
There are many reasons why I love Steampunk!
In the era Steampunk is usually written, which is the beginning of the Industrial Age, we literally thought anything was possible. We’d just seen the horse and buggy, which had been used in various stages for the past several millennia, replaced by a vehicle that worked with gears and a motor. We flew with power and control that a hot air balloon just can’t compete with. We conquered the Wild West. Women made their mark, started going to universities. We pushed railroad through unapproachable territories. The sky was the limit! The feeling of this era is intoxicating. I mean, just picture yourself in that time; watching your first movie, hearing your first radio show, going on your first airplane ride, driving a car for the first time.
I had the opportunity to talk to my grandmother when I was younger, and she was still alive, and she had all these stories. At the time, I poo-pooed what she said. I ignored the wonder in her eyes as she talked about all these things, but as I got older, I started thinking of the stories I would tell my great-great grandchildren. What had I seen? What had my generation done? Hers had won a world war. Her generation had shown the world that we were the strongest nation. Her generation dared to be different, paved paths that were previously thought to be impossible.
I think the thing that draws me the most to Steampunk is the sense of wonder. We literally thought at the beginning of the 20th century that we would have cities under the sea, that we could build cities in the air. We thought the common mode of transportation would be flying cars. We had such big dreams and huge hopes for the future.
That was the route we actually took, though. In Steampunk, we kinda follow that same path, but we veer left. We use resources that are easier on our environment, and toy with renewable energies. Instead of shooting bullets that run out, we shoot electro-static, which is, in theory, is easy to generate while it’s working.
That, I think, is the second biggest reason I love Steampunk. We have planes that flap their wings, airships that use steam. The weapons that were thought up in Steampunk works are just as interesting. Electro-static, electric-array, plasma-pistols. What you don’t typically see are expendable sources. You see vehicles that are just crazy (the spider in The Wild Wild West for instance) and can run forever, weapons that are insane and never run out of ammo.
During this time, we had some pretty ingenious inventors; Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers, Ida Henrietta Hyde, Andrew Alford, Henry Ford. Things were being invented on nearly a daily basis. The Band-Aid, the ballpoint pen, the radio, crayons, the light bulb, the zipper.
So when you think “Steampunk,” we’re talking about an age when anything was possible. You could be in a situation, and you need a widget in order to survive. It would be nothing to just whip up said widget using a nail, a spring, cayan powder, and a glass bottle. Presto! The widget was born!
With that, however, there are many failures, and that’s almost more fun than the things that worked. You’d find yourself in a gun fight, and your inventor hands you a pistol that doesn’t work! Remember when Grandpa would get up and smack the TV because it just stopped working? Can you even imagine smacking your TV now? Oh, no. No, no!
My Steampunk isn’t on planet earth, but the society that I wrote about in The Hands of Tarot is just breaching this age. We’re playing around with different inventions. We’re discovering what we could build, embarking on a new age. It’s a lot of fun! There are things that aren’t working so well, and a few that are. Steampunk is for the geek. It just is. If you’re a geek, a nerd, a dork, then Steampunk is for you! Take it. Own it. Geek is the new black!
The thing I love the most about Steampunk is that the heroes are scientists. That is freaking amazing!
About the Author:
SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, and Ms. Jack, who’s a real bird. She’s still learning to play the piano and guitar, which is going marginally better, and for those of you looking for an Arabic update, she has successfully learned one word, “Yalla, people yalla!”
She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories.
Her latest book is the YA steampunk, The Hands of Tarot.
Visit SM Blooding on the web at www.smblooding.com. Stop by SM Blooding’s blog at http://www.smblooding.com/blog/. Follow SM Blooding on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SMBlooding. “Like” SM Blooding on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smblooding. Check out SM Blooding at Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101760130723468098926/posts. Follow SM Blooding at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5234671.S_M_Blooding. Friend SM Blooding at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?locale=en_US&goback=%2Enpe_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1&report%2Esuccess=jgJxTlkGP726Ky-c5KwR61IrRQHo7WkbEMb_CbEDa703MvofkxsDCc06MMP3wv3vgcoytKSrRn0L_rsfDgJjp8-
Don’t forget to check out Colorado Paranormal Rescue: http://www.coloradoparanormalrescue.com/?q=content/about-us
About the Book:
She imprisoned and beat him.
And now she thinks he’s her trophy.
Synn El’Asim will do almost anything to prove her wrong. But he’s only proving her right.
Queen Nix awakened his Mark of power and inducted him into the House of Wands. She knew what she was doing. The son of the two most powerful Families standing against her is the ultimate prize. What she didn’t take into consideration was that maybe he was too strong for her.
Maybe.
The Families are weakened, and it’ll take a lot more than one young man with a powerful Mark to take on…The Hands of Tarot.
Watch the Book Trailer:
Book Trailer Link at YouTube:
Watch at YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gww98dMC1qk.
Okay, ten interesting things about SPIDER BRAINS: A Love Story or myself. And, I think I’ll be mixing it up a bit with both–my book and myself because, honestly, they will be forever linked.
1. I think I’m an extremist but not in the usual sense of the word. In 1997, I moved from the very hot and very overpopulated city of Phoenix, Arizona where I lived in a small house on a small city plot. I moved to the Pacific Northwest to a place with a population of around 8,500 year round that jumps up to about 12,000 during the summer months. Our house sits on 5 lush, inland acres of country situated on a small island off the coast of Washington State.
2. Because I moved to the country, I began collecting animals. I have 2 dogs, 12 cats and 14 birds. Plus, we treat the wildlife that live on the property as if they were pets–raccoons, deer, fox, crows, mallards, wood ducks, eagles… you name it! We encourage them to live among us.
3. I named our first “collection” of wild cats–the first litter–after food. Razberry Jammy, PNut Budda, Apricot Jelly and Marmalade.
4. I fashioned the cat, Delilah in SPIDER BRAINS after Miss PNut Budda. Delilah is Susie Speider’s pussy. (We must say “pussy” because, really, it’s only short for pussy cat, now, isn’t it?) PNut Budda acts, reacts and moves in such a wonderful cat-tish way that she ends up in many of my books. She also stars as Georgette Carlisle’s cat in The Bobby’s Diner Series.
5. Susie Speider in SPIDER BRAINS, is a huge fan of Morticia from the Addam’s Family.
6. Susie is actually super intelligent but she has ADD, attention-deficit disorder which makes her seem scatter-brained.
7. Susie’s late father hunted and Susie hated that aspect of her father.
8. Willa Speider, Susies mom, works at the headquarters for Costco in Poughkeepsie, NY which is close to where Susie and Willa live, in Ronkonkoma.
9. Susie has a great head for science and nature. Because of this fact, her next two years of science projects will be
a) incubating and hatching an egg for her junior year, and
b) building an ant farm for her senior year.
10. Susie Speider lives inside one of Susan Wingate’s favorite boots–the black ones with spotted fur.
About the Author:
Most recently, Susan Wingate’s novels, SPIDER BRAINS and DROWNING each reached Amazon Bestseller status in 2012. DROWNING won the 2011 Forward National Literature Award for Drama. She would love for you to read her books. You can find them all under the tab on this site labeled “Books”. SUSAN has written eleven novels, two short story collections, a few plays, one screenplay and tons of poems. Her latest 2011 novel DROWNING (contemporary women’s fiction), won 1st place in the 2011 Forward National Literature Award and also won a finalist award for the category of Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit in the 2011 International Book Awards. A vibrant public speaker, Susan offers inspiring, motivational talks about the craft of writing, publishing and marketing, and how to survive this extremely volatile (e-)Publishing industry. She presents these lectures for private groups and at writing conferences, libraries and bookstores around the country.
To get your copy of SPIDER BRAINS by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Brains-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B007KDAS0C/ref=la_B003CMMERK_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339336080&sr=1-6. To view all books by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Wingate/e/B003CMMERK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1. To learn more about Susan, go to her website. Visit Susan Wingate on Twitter. Like Susan Wingate on Facebook. Follow Susan Wingate on Pinterest.
About the Book:
If one were to bake the story SPIDER BRAINS into a cake, they should sprinkle in Charlotte’s Web, toss in one Jellicle Cat, then stir in a little Spiderman—but as a girl and not in that goofy latex outfit! A tale of hope, transformation, transition and inspiration.
After her father’s death last year and, now, in the throes of a gnarly teacher’s whim as she thinks ahead to college (or really just dreams of getting into college), a small black arachnid bites fifteen-year-old Susie Speider on the finger. The bite sends her nights into fantastical dreams about taking revenge on a teacher who, ultimately, holds her college aspirations in the palm of her cold calloused hand. But, after Susie figures out the dreams are real, she ups the ante by visiting the teacher regularly… as the spider! And, oh, by the way! Who is that boy spider munching on flies, hiding over there in the corner? A story of loss and forgiveness, tolerance and kindness, Susie Speider deals with the death of her father while Matt Ryder–the new neighbor boy–has just lost his mother. Ultimately, SPIDER BRAINS poses some important questions about how to treat Attention-Deficit-Disorder.
As an Aveeno Ambassador, I receive Aveeno products to try out and tell you about. But all opinions are my own, despite the free products.
My latest batch of products contained one of my very favorite Aveeno products. I don’t know about you, but I get a little lazy at night. Dinner’s cooked and I’m shutting down. Having a container of AVEENO® CLEAR COMPLEXION DAILY CLEANSING PADS in my bathroom means cleansing my face is going to be easy peasy! They are pre-moistened so you can start washing immediately. One side is slightly more textured so you can doing a little gentle exfoliation if you need it. Toss the pad in the trash, rinse, and you can be on your way!
Here are the details:
- Improves skin tone and texture
- Lifts away dirt, oil and makeup
- Dual-textured pads
- Pre-moistened, self-foaming pads lather on contact
- Unique round shape and larger than average size
- Oil-free, alcohol-free and soap-free
I also received AVEENO® CLEAR COMPLEXION FOAMING CLEANSER. I love this stuff. It’s so light and seems to cleanse my face just enough. I don’t leave the shower feeling my face has been tightened or over washed. Plus, it leaves my skin feeling slightly moisturized. My dry skin problems seem to be increasing daily, so any little bit helps! This offers enough comfort until I can get to my regular moisturizer.
Here are the details:
- Leaves skin clear, smooth and even-looking
- Removes dirt and oil
- Oil-free, soap-free and clean-rinsing
- Hypoallergenic and gentle enough for sensitive skin
The third thing is AVEENO® CLEAR COMPLEXION DAILY MOISTURIZER. I’m only using this at night because it has no SPF protection. Luckily, it’s a perfect night moisturizer. It’s not so heavy that I worry I’ll stain my pillow cases. I wish this had some SPF protection because I would love it use it as my daily moisturizer.
Here are the details:
- Helps prevent and clear up breakouts
- Naturally evens out skin tone and texture
- Oil-free and fast-absorbing
- Won’t clog pores
- Hypoallergenic and gentle enough for sensitive skin
Try these products yourself! Let me know what you think about them.
Yay! Janet Evanovich wrote another Lizzy and Diesel book, Wicked Business.
This time the hot duo is…
…after the Luxuria Stone, which might be infused with lust or true love. After professor Gilbert Reedy is thrown from his balcony, Diesel grabs Lizzy to help with the investigation. When it is discovered that the dead man has a hand print burnt into his skin, they know they are onto something hot because Wulf and his minion, Hatchet, are also on the trail. Lizzy reluctantly puts away the cupcakes she makes as the pastry chef for a bakery in Salem, Massachusetts, and joins Diesel in the search for the Luxuria Stone. With help from Glo (the wanna-be) wizard and Carl (the monkey with personality), they chase down clues and solve riddles. But who will end up with the Luxuria Stone?
My only complaint about Janet Evanovich is that she is not prolific enough. Couldn’t she get a little James Patterson in her and put a Stephanie Plum or Lizzy & Diesel novel out every few months?! Pretty please?
This time Diesel was quite dreamy for me because I keep picturing him as Thor (aka Chris Hemsworth). I’m not complaining, except I didn’t want Diesel to go away!
As you can tell, I loved the book and I can’t wait for the next one! I’ve got to go back and re-read all her other books…darn!
