This week I'm celebrating:
1) I changed my internet provider. I've had 4 over an 8 year period.
a) Dialup. The first was an ADSL connected to a phone line. You had to click the Dialup button and fill in the number every time. It was incredibly slow at 100kbps. The provider went out of business.
b) USB Stick. I switched to a "Vodaphone" USB stick that taps into wifi. In the first month I had it, my laptop was infected by so many viruses that it crashed twice. No thanks.
c) More USB sticks. "Etisalat." Got one stick with a 2G download limit. Soon bought a more expensive package for 4G limit. But it sometimes refused to connect or downloaded really slowly. I bought a second stick and eventually another (improved) Vodaphone stick. Every month I'd pay 240 LE (Egyptian pounds, which is comparable to the buying power of $240 in the US.) That's a LOT and I still had a limit of 11G/month.
d) Back to an ADSL. Over the last year I've exceeded my 11G a month several times and had to buy more giga. Knowing I'll be promoting more books in the future in FB groups, Twitter, etc., I need way more giga. I went to Egypt's government owned phone company (for landlines), I had a new landline installed in my apartment and got a deal for their ADSL. I now get 1M download speed and 100G/month download limit for about 130 LE.
It's AWESOME!
I realized that since everyone's using wifi and USB sticks on their smartphones, laptops, tablets now, the airwaves are crammed full of net surfers. But because no one really uses the landlines anymore, the company now charges a pittance, desperately happy anyone wants one. Who'd have thought something so old-fashioned would turn out to be better?
Yay!
2) I'm very happy to feature fellow Celebrate member Lori MacLaughlin and her new release!
Trouble By Any Other Name
(Sequel to Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble)
By Lori L. MacLaughlin
Release Date: May 16, 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Blurb:
Tara Triannon is no stranger to trouble. She's yet to find an enemy her skill with a sword couldn't dispatch. But how can she fight one that attacks through her dreams?
With her nightmares worsening, Tara seeks answers but finds only more questions. Then her sister, Laraina, reveals a stunning secret that forces Tara to go to the one place Tara's sworn never to return to. Her troubles multiply when Jovan Trevillion, the secretive soldier of fortune who stole her heart, is mentally tortured by an ancient Being intent on bending him to its will. And worst of all, the Butcher — the terrifying wolf-like assassin she thought she'd killed — survived their duel and is hunting her again.
Hounded by enemies, Tara sets out on a harrowing quest to discover the true nature of who she is, to come to grips with the new volatility of her magic, and to defeat the evil locked in a centuries-old trap that will stop at nothing to control her magic and escape through her nightmares.
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo iBooks
Lori L. MacLaughlin traces her love of fantasy adventure to Tolkien and Terry Brooks, finding The Lord of the Rings and The Sword of Shannara particularly inspirational. She's been writing stories in her head since she was old enough to run wild through the forests on the farm on which she grew up.
She has been many things over the years – tree climber, dairy farmer, clothing salesperson, kids' shoe fitter, retail manager, medical transcriptionist, journalist, private pilot, traveler, wife and mother, Red Sox and New York Giants fan, muscle car enthusiast and NASCAR fan, and a lover of all things Scottish and Irish.
When she's not writing (or working), she can be found curled up somewhere dreaming up more story ideas, taking long walks in the countryside, or spending time with her kids. She lives with her family in northern Vermont.
You can find her here:
Website/Blog Goodreads Facebook Google+ Pinterest
Have you ever found that the older version of technology was better than the newer ones?
Two Members Removed from Celebrate list – Update Your Blog Rolls:
(haven’t posted in 3 months)
Caring For My Veteran (Jamie Dement) https://caringforaveteran.wordpress.com/
My Creatively Random Life (Melissa Ann) http://mycreativelyrandomlife.blogspot.com
New Member for Celebrate – Update Your Blog Rolls:
Allison Bruning - http://www.abruning.com/#!blogger-feed/c1ymd
Welcome Allison!
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 **
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 May 27, 2016:
Download FREE at: Amazon B&N iTunes Kobo
Download FREE at: Amazon B&N iTunes
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
