Saturday, May 30, 2015

My Favorite Summer Vacation Spot -- East Hampton

My favorite vacation spot was one I went to every summer as a child -- East Hampton, New York -- otherwise known as the summer getaway of the rich and famous.

Current or recent Hampton residents include: Jerry Seinfeld, Sean "P Diddy" Combs, Calvin Klein, George Stephanopoulis, Steven Spielberg, Rachael Ray, Howard Stern, Kelly Ripa, Chuck Scarborough, Matthew Broderick & Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBCUniversal), Martha Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and Billy Joel.

The Maidstone Club (est. 1891), is THE place to hang out and rub elbows with the ultra wealthy.


On the other side of the Maidstone Clubhouse is their pool, surrounded by 30 or so "cabanas," and past the white awning is their private beach. 

When I was 10 - 16, I spent a month every summer with relatives in East Hampton.  I changed into my swimsuit in one of the cabanas visible above and frolicked in the pool or in the sea.  It was wonderful!  

My favorite part was going to the Maidstone's seaside cafe with my cousins and ordering sandwiches, fries, or ice creams and signing the bill with my grandfather's name.  I'd never been in a place where you just put down someone's name instead of paying money.  My teen-self thought it was the best thing in the whole world!



My aunt and uncle had a house on the beach.  The cousins and I took the walkway over the dunes and then played in the ocean and seashore.   It was usually deserted.  Only long rows of mansions' residents had access to the mile of pristine sands, and they were often busy jetting around the world or at one of their other homes...  

There was a stone jetty built from the shore to about 50 yards out in the ocean.  The rocks were slick with algae and mussels and dangerous to walk on, which made them irresistible to us kids.

My favorite memories are the salty smell of the sea and the roar of the waves that lulled me to sleep every night.


Visit others on the hop and see where their favorite vacation spots are!  And don't forget to enter the rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post.



The book I'm giving away in the rafflecopter is:


Soul Cutter
YA Horror/Romance

The Soul Cutter is hunting again.

        Seventeen-year-old Élan spends her free time videoing psychic scams and outing them online. Skepticism makes life safe—all the ghosts Élan encounters are fakes. When her estranged mother disappears from a film shoot in Egypt, Élan puts her medium-busting activities on hold and joins the search.
        In Egypt, the superstitious film crew sucks at finding her mom. When a hotel guest is killed, whispers start—the locals think their legendary Soul Cutter has come back from the dead. Élan's only ally is Ramsey, a film-crew intern, but he’s arrogant, stubborn—and hiding dangerous secrets.
       When Élan discovers the Soul Cutter is no scam, she finds herself locked in a deadly battle against a supernatural killer with more than her mother’s life at stake.
        Élan is fighting for her very soul.



The rafflecopter closes midnight on Monday, June 1st.  There are SIX books available to win. (Press the light blue arrows below Melanie's name on the rafflecopter to see the other books offered.) 

The winners of the books will be announced on this blog on Tuesday, June 2nd.  Good luck to all who enter!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, May 29, 2015

Celebrate: The Laptop Returns & Still Time to Sign Up

What's happier than a koala 
in his eucalyptus tree?

ME
with my laptop back home!!

This week I'm celebrating the return of my laptop with all programs running and no files lost!

I've outlined a new, shorter ending for my current WIP.  All the thrills in half the words.  (Or so I hope.)

The "Favorite Summer Vacation Spot" blog hop starts tomorrow (Saturday May 30) and there's still time to sign up and join in the fun!

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Is your favorite vacation spot 
a sunny beach, a bright city
or a secluded cabin

A romantic getaway

or a place you loved as a child?  

We want to see it 
and know why it's your favorite!

Join this fun Summer Vacation Hop!

1) Sign up on the Linky list below.

2) On Saturday May 30, put up a post "My Favorite Vacation Spot" and tell everyone about it!

3) Link to the 6 Blog Hop Co-hosts: 
Lexa Cain: http://lexacain.blogspot.com/
Melanie Karsak: http://www.melaniekarsak.com/
T.F. Walsh: http://www.tfwalsh.com/blog/
Vanessa Morgan: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com/
Jolie Du Pre: http://www.preciousmonsters.com/
Stuart R. West: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/

4) On May 30-31, visit the other blogs and see where their favorite getaways are!

Special Giveaways! 
Summer Reads that Thrill & Chill
There will be a giveaway featuring 
6 exciting novels on the Co-hosts blogs!

Favorite Summer Vacation Spot Sign-up:




Friday, May 22, 2015

Celebrate: Repairmen, Favorite Vacation Spot Hop & Freebies

My laptop crashed.
Sent it off to the repairmen.
Bummed.


I stole borrowed hubby's laptop, so I can get online, but all my regular tool-bar addresses and links aren't on his. I never realized that without my password auto-fill-ins I have no idea what my passwords are!  Ack!  

You can all cheer me up A LOT by signing up for the "Your Favorite Summer Vacation Spot" blog hop if you haven't already. It's gonna be a lot of fun!! And I really want to see where people love to go on their vacations!  (Sign up below the CTSM linky)

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Is your favorite vacation spot 
a sunny beach, a bright city
or a secluded cabin

A romantic getaway

or a place you loved as a child?  

We want to see it 
and know why it's your favorite!

Join this fun Summer Vacation Hop!

1) Sign up on the Linky list below.

2) On Saturday May 30, put up a post "My Favorite Vacation Spot" and tell everyone about it!

3) Link to the 6 Blog Hop Co-hosts: 
Lexa Cain: http://lexacain.blogspot.com/
Melanie Karsak: http://www.melaniekarsak.com/
T.F. Walsh: http://www.tfwalsh.com/blog/
Vanessa Morgan: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com/
Jolie Du Pre: http://www.preciousmonsters.com/
Stuart R. West: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/

4) On May 30-31, visit the other blogs and see where their favorite getaways are!

Special Giveaways! 
Summer Reads that Thrill & Chill
There will be a giveaway featuring 
6 exciting novels on the Co-hosts blogs!

Favorite Summer Vacation Spot Sign-up:



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for May 22, 2015:

Free SF/Action Adventure eBook – Milo James Fowler has a collection of 15 hilarious starfaring adventures featuring  Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude for FREE on Milo James Fowler blog. Get it now!


$25, $10, $5 Free Amazon Gift Cards, 1 Signed Novel, & 8 eBooks! – To celebrate the release of Kinda Maybe (NA Contemp Romance) by Elise Daniels, she’s giving away $25 Amazon card, $10 Amazon card, $5 Amazon card, signed copy of Kinda Maybe by Elise Daniels, 2 ebooks of Kinda Maybe, 2 ebooks of Awake by Elise Daniels, 2 ebooks of Beautiful Ruin by Alison Foster, $3.99 ebook of choice, $2.99 ebook of choice, via rafflecopter on My Book Addition blog. (ends May 26)

Free First Page Critiques -- Three fabulous and talented published authors are willing to critique YOUR FIRST PAGE FOR FREE!  Dianne Salerni (author of The Eighth Day series, HarperCollins 2014) and Marcy Hatch (author of West of Paradise, WiDo 2014) and Krystalyn Drown (Legasea, Curiosity Quills 2013) will post your WIP's first page (350-400 words) and offer their impressions as will their readers/commenters.  That's AWESOME feedback and super-helpful for any aspiring author!  For rules and mailing address go read the side bar on any of their blogs. Openings still available in June and July!


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Friday, May 15, 2015

Celebrate: The Mission, Vacation Blog Hop & Freebies

I've got something GREAT to celebrate this week. I published a new short story!

It's about two 13-year-old boys who can't resist going where they shouldn't.  It's scary -- but not too scary.  No violence or gore.  Just two adorable kids, lots of thrills, and edge-of-your-seat action! 


Something is waiting for Cody and Luke at the Mission.  And it doesn’t want them to leave.  Ever.

As in Stephen King’s It and Dan Simmons’s Summer of Night, curiosity is what lures kids down a dark path and pits them against their town’s most deadly secret.


The Mission sits in the desert like a crumbling tomb, silent and cold … but not empty. It plays host to a rising evil, one that wants victims. And it’s used to getting what it wants.

Cody and Luke are looking for adventure and thrills when they ride out to visit the place on a dare. Before the night is over, they’ll learn how far their friendship can stretch, and if they’re strong enough to survive the terrifying danger that waits for them. 

BUY for $.99 on Smashwords:



My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Is your favorite vacation spot 
a sunny beach, a bright city
or a secluded cabin

A romantic getaway

or a place you loved as a child?  

We want to see it 
and know why it's your favorite!

Join this fun Summer Vacation Hop!

1) Sign up on the Linky list below.

2) On Saturday May 30, put up a post "My Favorite Vacation Spot" and tell everyone about it!

3) Link to the 6 Blog Hop Co-hosts: 
Lexa Cain: http://lexacain.blogspot.com/
Melanie Karsak: http://www.melaniekarsak.com/
T.F. Walsh: http://www.tfwalsh.com/blog/
Vanessa Morgan: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com/
Jolie Du Pre: http://www.preciousmonsters.com/
Stuart R. West: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/

4) On May 30-31, visit the other blogs and see where their favorite getaways are!

Special Giveaways! 
Summer Reads that Thrill & Chill
There will be a giveaway featuring 
6 exciting novels on the Co-hosts blogs!

Favorite Summer Vacation Spot Sign-up:




Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for May 15, 2015:

Free YA Contemp Novel – The wonderful multi-published author C. Lee McKenzie (of Write Game blog) has put her novel Sliding on the Edge for FREE on Smashwords. I’ve read this one and it’s brilliantly-written with an enthralling heroine you’ll root for! Download your free copy today!

Free Short Story – Celebrate’s own Kimberly Robello (of Planet Kimberly) has put up a FREE story --- “La Claire Fontaine” on Wattpad. Go read it!




For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Friday, May 8, 2015

Celebrate: Favorite Summer Vacation Blog Hop & Freebies


Is your favorite vacation spot 
a sunny beach, a bright city
or a secluded cabin

A romantic getaway

or a place you loved as a child?  

We want to see it 
and know why it's your favorite!


Join this fun Summer Vacation Hop!

1) Sign up on the Linky list below.

2) On Saturday May 30, put up a post "My Favorite Vacation Spot" and tell everyone about it!

3) Link to the 6 Blog Hop Co-hosts: 
Lexa Cain: http://lexacain.blogspot.com/
Melanie Karsak: http://www.melaniekarsak.com/
T.F. Walsh: http://www.tfwalsh.com/blog/
Vanessa Morgan: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com/
Jolie Du Pre: http://www.preciousmonsters.com/
Stuart R. West: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/

4) On May 30-31, visit the other blogs and see where their favorite getaways are!

Special Giveaways 
Summer Reads that Thrill & Chill
There will be a giveaway featuring 
6 exciting novels on the Co-hosts blogs!


Midway: The Harvesting Series Book 1.5 by bestselling author Melanie Karsak
~ Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the beginning of the end. Join Cricket in this unique zombie apocalypse series. It's all fun and games until someone ends up undead!




Cloaked in Fur by T.F. Walsh 
~ Cloaked in Fur sees rebellious Daciana cast into a life-threatening adventure against her will to uncover who is killing her friends before the predator sets its sights on her.





Drowned Sorrow by Vanessa Morgan 
~ If Jaws kept you away from the ocean, Drowned Sorrow will keep you away from any water. Discover this chilling story of a remote village where water has become a supernatural element that can think, move, and kill.




Benton (Vol. 1) by Jolie Du Pre 
~ There's no place to go, no way to escape the zombies until Jennifer meets a young man who says he can lead her to safety at his family's ranch. The catch is that Jennifer has to trust him with her life - and maybe even her heart.




Zombie Rapture by Stuart R. West 
~ Someone failed to tell the dead they’re not in Heaven. Hunter intends to right that wrong.






Soul Cutter by Lexa Cain
~ A teenage skeptic goes to Egypt and discovers the supernatural she scorns is all too real. The legendary Soul Cutter is hunting again.






Favorite Summer Vacation Spot Sign-up:




In addition to celebrating the new blog hop, I've been blogging for three years now and this is my 200th post! :)

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Celebrate The Small Things Sign-Up Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)


Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for May 8, 2015:

Five Free Fabulous eBooks – Win all five of these fabulous books: The Great Time Lock Disaster by C. Lee McKenzie, Hurricane Crimes by Chrys Fey, The Six Train to Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz, Broken Branch Falls by Tara Tyler, and 52 Likes by Medeia Sharif. Enter on the rafflecopter on TB Markinson’s blog – click the “Rafflecopter giveaway” link near the top. (ends May 30)


Free YA Fantasy Novel – win Fabled by Vanessa Eccles via rafflecopter on the YA Asylum blog. (ends May 28)





For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

IWSG: Unfriended


Do you get "unfriended" on Facebook? Does your FB Author page lose "Likes"?  Does your blog or Twitter account lose followers?  

Does it make you insecure and wondering, "What the heck happened?" 

I joined a big "Add Friend" post in a Horror group on FB recently.  Every day I got notices of new people from the group accepting my requests or got asked to confirm their friend requests.  It was cool, and I got about 100 new followers. Yay! But one evening I happened to be online and saw a "1" pop up on my "Friend" icon.  In the time it took me to click it and hit the "Confirm" button, I got the message: "This Friend Request has been Withdrawn." 

Really??  

Hmm.  

Well, one wasn't such a big deal...

But on Twitter, I'm new and I've been scrounging for follows. One day, I was really surprised to see my follows drop by 15 while I was adding people!  It could have been just the sneaky type who follow and then as soon as you follow-back, they un-follow.  But it wasn't.

I found that Twitter doesn't automatically email you with every person who follows you, so you can follow-back.  They alert you to about three quarters of them.  

If you hit your "Followers" list, I bet you'll find out what I did.  That there are a bunch of people following you that you didn't even know about!  And if you don't follow them back after a week or so, of course some of them will un-follow.

So check your "Followers" list! 

And don't worry about losing a few friends or follows here and there.  There are a lot more fish in the sea! 




This is a post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It exists so the community of blogging writers can share and support each other, blog-hopping to cheerlead and commiserate. To find out more, visit: Insecure Writer's Support Group. Plus, check out the IWSG Website for lots of helpful info and links.

Friday, May 1, 2015

Celebrate: Progress & Freebies!

Happy dancing 
to celebrate a great week!
(Especially after the last
yucky week.)

This week I'm celebrating:

1)  The Evil Spammer is gone!  I closed the linky about 10 days ago but the spammer continued to post.  Argh!  However, whatever cached site the spammer was using must have finally updated to show no sign-up window.  The spammer disappeared last Sunday.  For a moment I thought maybe he/she/it had stopped spamming people with sex links out of respect for the Sabbath. (lol!)  But Monday was clear too.  Then Tues. Then Weds and Thurs. And now today is spam-free too!  I'm thrilled there aren't 30 spam links I have to delete from the master list every day!

I've decided not to re-open the linky (for a while anyway).  I'll have to input people manually, so I'll be changing the main Celebrate page to show my email and instructions to write and ask to be put on the linky.

2)  I finally finished my short story revision and sent it off to my group!  Once I get feedback and edit, I'll publish it -- I'm so excited!

3)  After changing header banners on Twitter every day for weeks, I finally found one I liked. (Silly thing to obsess over, but I'm weird like that.)  I'm starting to enjoy interacting on Twitter and have reached 875 followers.  Not a bad start!

4)  I'm doing a good job organizing a blog hop for May 30-31 (more on that next week).  I'm reading/reviewing books for other authors.  I'm making promos for my books and beginning to schedule what, when, and where I post.  It's hard to keep up with social media, and I need to be more organized about it.

How do you keep your social media things organized?

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:





 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for May 1, 2015:


Free Book of Poetry - Celebrate's own Carole Anne Carr has her book Kaleidoscope FREE on Amazon until May 5. Pick up your free Kindle copy now on Amazon UK or Amazon US.


Free YA Urban Fantasy/Mystery – win a copy of The Revelation of Louisa May by Michaela MacColl via entry form on page on The Children’s Book Review site. (ends May 29)

Free Bestselling SF Collector’s Edition novel – win a collector’s edition of The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner via the entry form on the page of The Children’s Book Review site. (ends May 22)


Free $20 Amazon Gift Card and Free UF Novel – to celebrate the release of Revelations by Jennifer Carole Lewis, she’s having TWO GIVEAWAYS. Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on Romance Novel Giveaway blog. ALSO win one of 2 print copies of the book by entering a Goodreads giveaway via a link under the first giveaway. (ends May 15) 

Free $50 Amazon Gift Card – to celebrate the release of Adrenaline by Sunniva Dee she’s giving away a $50 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on Romance Novel Giveaways. (ends May 20)

GREAT DEAL! Free $50 Amazon Gift Card - to celebrate the release of The Shadow of the Unicorn II: The Deception by Suzanne de Montigny she's giving away a $50 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on The Single Librarian blog. (ends May 14) ONLY 20 PEOPLE HAVE ENTERED - YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING IS VERY GOOD! GO ENTER NOW! I DID! :)



For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

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