Ketchup is a Vegetable

Literary Friday ya’ll….

Friday- end of the month. Tomorrow is December 1- which means 24 days till Christmas day. So line up those pictures with Santa, listen to some Christmas music, and enjoy the holiday season.

1. Deep South Magazine took last week off from their #literayfriday post due to the holidays-but is back up and running for this week. Included in today’s #literaryfriday is how to donate a new or used book to victims of Hurricane Sandy, a review of The Cutting Season (a book on DSM Fall/Winter Reading List), links to the “Best of 2012” book lists, and news that Robin O’Bryant’s Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves is 99 cents for November 30, 2012 (TODAY Only!)

2.Robin O’Bryant– author of Ketchup Is A Vegetable has been hosting giveaways all week to say “Happy Birthday, Ketchup!” If you haven’t won a giveaway, have rotten luck, dislike Facebook- whatever the reason-do not despair- Robin’s book Ketchup is 99 cents today! Sit back with a copy of Ketchup is Vegetable, a glass of wine and prepare to laugh until you cry!

3. Tomorrow, December 1, at Lemuria Books- Peggy Sweeney-McDonald will be signing copies of Meanwhile, Back at Cafe Du Monde: Life Stories about Food. I plan on attending and will be doing a blog post about the event later next week.

4. What are you reading for #fridayreads? I’m reading Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn. Not just loving it, but attempting to give it a fair shake!

5. I just finished Broken Harbor by Tana French- and while from the jacket cover description I expected to LOVE it, I was at times not loving it. It took some turns that I wasn’t digging. But, it was still a pretty good book. If you’ve read Broken Harbor, let’s discuss!

6.December 1-8 is Cozy Mystery Week! If cozy mysteries are your type of books- then join Jenn’s Bookshelves for Cozy Mystery Week! Cozy Mystery Reviews will also be celebrating Cozy Mystery Week- giveaways, recipes, authors dropping by!

7. If you’re a fan of Cleo Coyle Coffeehouse Mystery Books (like I am!) the wait for the newest book in the series is not much longer! December 4 Holiday Buzz will be released! Yay!

8. Be sure and stop by She Reads today- Man in the Blue Moon is being discussed all day over there!

9. Oh and if you love Pinterest (and come on- who doesn’t?) check out Deep South Mag’s Pinterest page!

Happy Reading!

 

 

Confessions and Giveaways…

With so many great bloggers out in the internet world, finding and reading them can be hard. I’d been hearing for sometime about this one blogger- Jen of People I Want to Punch in the Throat- but for multiple reasons had not made it to her blog to see what the fuss was about. Even after Robin O’Bryant- the author of the humorous Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves– I still meant to read Jen’s blog, but just had not. Yesterday, though, Robin posts a link to Jen’s book Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat and I bought it for 2 reasons: 1. becasue it was 99 cents! and 2. Becasue I’d been meaning to check her out, and I adore people who can be real about the holidays (because let’s face it: if there isn’t at least 1 person at your holiday get together that you don’t want to punch in the throat- then you must be on some good meds or have the tolerance of a saint- I’m just saying.) So back to the book- bought it, begin reading it, loving it. The story of the McDonald’s toy was worth the 99 cents alone! Also included is the story of Elf on the Shelf that went viral and made Jen a big deal- while I don’t have the Elf on the Shelf (no kids)- I can feel the pain of the mom’s who have to deal with the Elf.

Currently, Spending Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat is still 99 cents- it’s a Black Friday special- so I’ll assume that at the end of Cyber Monday, the price will go back to original. Do yourself a favor- buy this book. Have a laugh. The holidays are coming up y’know- having something funny in your life will make any holiday dysfuncion seem so much easier to handle.

For the giveaways, back to Robin O’Bryant. Her book Ketchup is a Vegetable:And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves turns a year old this week. So Happy Birthday, Ketchup! In honor of the birthday and becasue Robin is just that kind of nice- she’s giving away 10 copies of Ketchup this week on her Facebook page- go “like” her for more details about the giveaways. Also, one day this week she plans on Ketchup being marked down to a low, low, low price- the book is hysterically funny- Robin’s got a way with words- and the stories about the girls; well they are great. Robin is the kind of person you want to be BFF with if you have kids or even are thinking of having them!

Ketchup is Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves is book that mom’s to be should read, women getting married should probably be given it as well. Even single girls find it funny (I loved it!)

A quick wrap up of other thoughts:

1. Reading Tana French’s Broken Harbor– I’d been loving it, then some chapters started to drag, and back to loving it (I think)- There is a section of the storyline that if it does not get resolved in the good way or becomes very relevant to the storyline- I’m not going to be pleased. Overall, I’ve been enjoying the book, though.

2. Read Notorious Nineteen yesterday. Not bad, however, nowhere as near as good as the first several of the Stephanie Plum series. At this point- even though I’m a Cupcake fan- I don’t care who she picks. I feel that the series either needs a big shake-up or ending.

3. A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn- a gift from my brother- he picks out different cozy books for me to read as part of my birthday gifts. Usually he has good taste- he’s introduced me to Cleo Coyle and others- this one, though, is dragging. Will finish it, but can’t say that I’ll pick another in series.

 

Social Media and Authors- good together?

I tweet like nobody’s business. I tweet about books, daily events, great restaurants, upcoming events- and a million more things. I tweet about TV shows, I tweet certain lines from books- I tweet! If I like you, like your book, show, event- I’ll tweet and spread the word (don’t get the wrong idea- if I don’t like you, I don’t sabotage- I’m just really kind to things I like!)

I’m not a writer, really, in any shape, form, or fashion. Tweeting was my blog (limited to 140 characters) before I decided to take the plunge and join the blog world. Blogging has been a fun way to write about different events and books that I’m loving, currently looking forward, or am re-reading.

I also enjoy posing a question for the people reading this- so today’s question is: Social Media and Authors- a good mix like peanut butter and chocolate or a terrible idea like dialing while intoxicated?

I’ve been thinking on it and I’ve got some ideas:

I think social media, for new authors, especially is probably a good idea- if used correctly. You should use it to connect to fans, to connect to would-be fans. Hosting a giveaway is never a bad idea (people LOVE free books). Hosting a giveaway where you’ll buy the book from the nearest independent bookseller is even better idea (Thanks, Hallie Sawyer!)

I think fans like to connect with authors they admire or enjoy their books.

The bad side of social media- as I’ve said, I’m in no way a “writer”. I also don’t work for a publishing house. Maybe it’s because I tweet about books a lot- but I get MANY follows from self-publishing authors- and while I respect that writing is hard, it’s some of those people that give pause to other authors trying to decide if and how to use social media to their advantage.

I’m curious to hear thoughts on this subject- and also do you think established authors should jump on social media train or is for the newly established and trying to get established?

Last thought on social media- you start following an author, see them tweeting with fans- so you try to interact and never hear any interaction from them? Chalk it up to their being exceptionally busy? Leave a bitter taste in your mouth? Would social media, in this instance, be harmful to the author (maybe you won’t recommend book to friends)?

Finally, a shout-out to 3 debut authors that I think are using social media to their advantage AND gaining fans/attention all along the way : Kimberly Brock The River Witch, Erika Marks Little Gale Gumbo, and Robin O’Bryant Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves. Well done, ladies!