Friday, February 17, 2017

Celebrate: Money, Money, Money & Giveaways


This week, I'm celebrating: Money!
1) In 1993, I moved to Egypt and started working at resorts. At the time, the dollar to Egyptian pound ratio was about 1 to 3. So one dollar would exchange to 3 pounds.
2) Over the years, I decided to keep a chunk of my money in dollars. Due to the dollar steadily strengthening against the pound, as of about 3 years ago, the ratio was 1 to 10. It gave me a pretty nice nest egg for my retirement.
3) And then came the IMF and its demand for Egypt to allow its pound to "free float" in world exchange. Egypt (desperate for the IMF loan) did it. The ratio is now 1 to 16.  My nest egg became a chubby chick! 

But it's not all fun & games as government subsidies (on things like food, utilities, and medicine) are going down and inflation is soaring. Still, any income I make from writing will buy a lot more here than it would in the US. So I keep fingers crossed that the ratio continues to widen.


Are you the type who watches interest rates, stocks, and 401k balances? Or do you just cross your fingers and hope for the best?



Patricia Lynne has a new release!



Blurb
Savannah Janowitz’s perfect life was destroyed the night she and her boyfriend vanished without a trace. When she reappears a year later––alone––she’s a shell of her former self. Robbed of her popularity and her boyfriend, she has no memory of what happened to her. Savannah struggles to move forward as strange, new abilities manifest.

Evan Sullivan never gave extra-terrestrials much thought until the night he and Savannah were abducted. While Savannah’s memory was wiped clean, he remembers every horrific detail. Constantly reminded of the experiments that made him less than human, Evan hides in the shadows and watches Savannah rebuild her life without him. But neither can let the other go.

When their paths cross, Savannah and Evan finally see a glimmer of their old lives return. As they face what happened to them, they soon discover they aren’t safe. There’s more to fear than what’s hiding in the stars.


Available for $.99 at Amazon



About the Author
Patricia Josephine never set out to become a writer. In fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. She was all about art. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head. That was the start of it and she hasn't regretted a moment. She writes young adult under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow, and an obsession with Doctor Who.

Contact Links
Twitter  ~  Website   ~  Newsletter  ~  Books
Google+  ~  Wattpad  ~  Goodreads


My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:


** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **


 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 Friday Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for Feb 17, 2017:

Free Online Short Story – Celebrate’s own D.A. Cairns of Square Pegs blog has posted a short story, called “A Sympathetic Interlocutor” on his Square Pegs E-zine that he edits and is open to submissions. Read D.A.Cairns’s new short story “A Sympathetic Interlocutor.”  Check out the Submission Policy for his ezine HERE.

Free Signed YA Fantasy Novel – Win The Wish Granter by New York Times bestselling author C. J. Redwine, about a young man who accidentally trades his soul and the safety of the kingdom’s people to assume the throne and then must train his naïve sister to take over as his payment time grows near. Enter via rafflecopter at the YA Books Central blog. (ends Feb 21)


Free Signed YA Fantasy Novel & Tote Bag – Win Frostblood by Elly Blake, about a girl from the minority Fireblood community vowing revenge on the Frostblood King for killing her mother, and the Frostblood boy who also seeks to over throw the king. Enter via rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (US and Canada only; ends Feb 23)


Free Custom Necklace based on YA Thriller Novel – Win a custom-made necklace based on the novel Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel, about a girl who discovers her new neighbors are harbingers of death and that her town is due for a disaster unless she can stop it. Enter via rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (US only, ends Feb 23)


Free Supernatural Mystery Novel – Win Elusive Elixir by Gigi Pandian, about a 3-and-a-half foot tall Gargoyle chef who thinks he’s a modern-day Poirot and is slowly turning to stone unless he, with the help of a lady alchemist, can solve a centuries old mystery. Enter via Entry Form on the France Book Tours blog. (ends Feb 28)


Free $50 Amazon or B&N Card and a Print Paranormal Romance Novel – Win Becoming Dragon by Eve Langlais, about a man who escapes from a laboratory replete with scales and wings and the beautiful dragon shifter who must convince him he isn’t a monster. The author is giving away a $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card and a print copy of the novel via rafflecopter on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog. (ends Feb 25)



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

36 comments:

Rachel Pattinson said...

I don't have a clue about money - any time anyone mentions numbers, my brain switches off :). I really should be more savvy! Congrats on your chubby chick though! (There's a sentence I never thought I'd say...)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's great your stash continues to grow!
Congratulations to Patricia.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Awesome that your money is growing and that your writing is helping. Congrats to Patricia!

Julie Flanders said...

Hooray for your growing nest egg! Here's hoping that keeps going. And congrats to Patricia!
I have to admit it took me a second to get the top picture. I guess I can blame the fact that it's early in the morning here LOL.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

A growing nest egg is really good.

Will there be a certain audio book giveaway soon?

Cathrina Constantine said...

Lucky you!!! Keep feeding that chubby chick!!!

Congrats to Patricia!!!

Rachna Chhabria said...

Its great Lexa that your nest egg is becoming bigger and bigger and bigger. Congratulations To Patricia!!

kimlajevardi.com said...

Congrats on the chubby chick. That is the weirdest congrats I have ever given. :)

I am the one in the family who pays attention to the money side of things.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I may need to move to Egypt. It seems like my dollars are suffering in our economy.

Tamara Narayan said...

I should pay more attention to financial things, but I don't spend nearly enough time on this. I did start a 401K in my twenties and listen to all the advice my dad gives since he is a knowledgeable guy when it comes to this stuff. Good for you on saving up though!

Andrew Leon said...

I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff.
1. It too easily becomes an obsession.
2. It can all just go away in an instant.

Not to be a downer. Just speaking for me.

Dihiwi said...

What a great investment! And, you get to write novels in your retirement, so that's even better. Congratulations on your wise choices. Hope you have a great weekend! Participating this week in the #CTST challenge! www.dianeweidenbenner.com

Nissa Annakindt said...

I could really use a million bucks. Cause I'm running low on venison.

Nissa
http://myantimatterlife.wordpress.com

Heather R. Holden said...

Wow, that's awesome. Glad living in Egypt has made it easier for you to save money!

Kate Larkindale said...

It's good that you kept that money in dollars. Shows good foresight!

stephen Hayes said...

I don't pay much attention to interest rates since I have no control over them, so i guess I just hope for the best.

Anonymous said...

Hubby and I need to get on investing some money for the future.

Thanks for hosting my new book.

Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine

Unknown said...

What if, in a few years, you could live off writing!!!? Good for you. We're building up our savings now and it feels fantastic.

Congrats Patricia! Headed to your blog shortly. :)

messymimi said...

We invest wisely and then leave it and forget about it. It's the only way, if i had to obsess over every dip in the market, i wouldn't sleep a wink!

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Good news about your nest egg. That always makes a person feel goo. I'm retired now and am thankful for my savings.

I've seen this book a couple other places. Lovely cover. Looks interesting.

Have a great weekend.

T.F. Walsh said...

Hope that chubby chick gets bigger... how exciting that it's done so well :) That is very exciting to have a nest egg for later on. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Nope. I prefer safe to possibly more. Most of my money is in a term deposit account at the bank. It's earning less than I used to get from my passbook account years ago, but still more than my other accounts and it's safe. The only thing I do is when the term deposit needs renewal, I work out how many months will get me the best deal. That's it.

Julia Thorley said...

Well done on being such a canny investor. I check my bank balance everyday and usually know what my interest rates are but that's as far as it goes. My husband is the one with the spread sheet to monitor the rise and fall of the pension fund.

Cathy Kennedy said...

Lexa, Sounds like you're a savvy investor! DH keeps an eye on his 401k. I use to look at the balance when the statement arrived in the mail but since then we opted to go paperless, so I'm not sure how things are progressing. However, when DH decides to make a change in the stocks he involves me. It really a guessing game on how things will go if a stock trend holds. I hope things progressively do better, though. We've taken a lot of hits in the last 8-years with the wild fluctuations in the market. Thanks for the sharing Patricia' new book blurp. It sounds like a story I'd like to see in a movie! ;)

Rhonda Albom said...

I love that photo of the deer. I try not to look at the finances too much. I wonder if social security will still be afloat when I retire.

Tonja Drecker said...

May your cash get fatter and fatter!

SENCO Cat Herder said...

I've always been a saver for a rainy day rather than a big spender and I certainly like finding good bargains so I try to make my cash go a long way. However, I certainly don't have my eye on investments or the share market and obviously after Brexit the pound has slumped against the euro so things aren't as good as they've been for spending power but I have a roof over my head (that's almost paid for) and my health so I can't complain and hopefully I'll be OK for the future. Good to hear that your canny move of keeping those dollars has seen you well and grown that chubby chick :) http://lexacain.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/celebrate-money-money-money-giveaways.html

Nas said...

Congratulations to Patricia! Abducted Life sounded intriguing and I one-clicked it :)

Kelley said...

I'm glad you're able to save and grow your money!

L.G. Keltner said...

Congratulations on your growing nest egg, and congratulations to Patricia Lynne on the new release!

Unknown said...

I hope your investments continue to grow! It's nice to have a financial security blanket like that.

Mark Murata said...

Of course it's good to save and invest. I never watched the show Family Ties much, but I remember an episode in which Alex Keaton told his young brother, "I'm destined for greatness. You're destined for greatness. Your sister is destined to be supported by the state."

Jenny Baranick said...

I hope your chubby chick grows into a big fat hen! And Patricia's book sounds great.

Theresa Milstein said...

I'm a pretty good saver. My husband follows stocks, etc. more than me.

Thanks for all the book links.

Unknown said...

Haha, funny bucks meme. That's great about the $, wishing you more success with that strategy. =-)

And congrats to Patricia, the cover is great.

Cathy Kennedy said...

Lexa, congrats on the release of your Bloodwalker audio book and giveaway! Have a good week, my friend and thanks for visiting!

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