Did I Notice Your Book?

Anyone for a writing experiment?
I’m participating in the Did I Notice Your Book Blog Hop which began with Ciara Knight 
This is the first time I’ve participated in this and I’m looking forward to the response and seeing how this works!
With all the new tools out there to monitor book sales and blurbs mentioned about their books, we are highlighting a new book each week. I’ll post it in the morning. If by the end of the day that author finds her book on this post I want her or him to tell us how they discovered it; word of mouth through the close network of writers, a Yahoo group mention, or through some new fangled Google tool.
Now, how will I choose this book each week? It will be a book that caught my attention. As a reader, I will keep an eye out for something that either provoked me to read the blurb, look at the author’s blog, or purchase said book.
Before I reveal my choice I want to clarify that this author has no idea that I’ve chosen his/her book!

The book I noticed is Gifts of Grace by Lynn Bulock

 When Carl Brenner saved a struggling widow and her small children from spending Christmas in a cold, ramshackle farmhouse, he’d had no idea how his lonely life would be forever changed. The storekeeper may have given Grace Mallory a fresh start and renewed her faith in God, but she made his house into a home.

One filled with laughter, singing and the best home cooking in all of Missouri. And now Carl prayed for God’s gift of grace once more. For how else would he ever find the key to unlock Grace’s precious heart?

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I noticed this book on eHarlequin.com. The story interested me because it is the classic story of a woman in need, being rescued and hopefully a happily ever after for all. 
You can buy Gifts of Grace at eharlequin. Click here.
What do you think? Does this kind of story interest you? Would you read this book?
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There are thirteen of us participating in DINYB Blog Hop!  Check them all out:
Historical Fiction – http://emerylee.wordpress.com/
Grand Central Station: www.ciaraknight.com


Scentsy Launch Party!!!!

If you are reading this post, you have either already gotten up super early to take advantage of the great deals because it is Black Friday, or, you aren’t going out to the malls or any retail establishments today because you refuse to fight the crowds!

Thank the Lord for the Internet! Great deals available here, too!

I’m at home today, planning to get some organizing done and hang out with my little guy as my daughter is with grandma.

I’m also celebrating the launch of my Scentsy business!

Yes, yes, I’m still writing.

Yes, I’m still working my 9-5 job.

But a while back I was introduced to Scentsy wickless candles.

The Scentsy system is where you have a warmer that is a beautiful piece of pottery as you see in the photo to the right. You plug the warmer into a near by electric socket which lights a low-watt bulb. At the top of the warmer is where you put your wax. The scented wax heats and as it heats, puts out the most magnificent aroma. There are over 80 scents to choose from. The variety of scents is from clean scents to woodsy to masculine scents.

I love candles, but with young children, accidents happen. Sometimes, we adults are accident prone. The thing I like about Scentsy wickless candles is that the wax doesn’t get too hot to touch. Even while the warmer is plugged in and the scent is being produced, I can still dip my finger into the wax. It feels like warm bath water. So, if my child accidentally knocks the warmer over, he won’t get burned.

 Also, using wickless candles doesn’t blow black soot into your home like standard candles.

 This is a picture of Scentsy’s Silent Night plug in. These are just darling! Great to plug in a bathroom, for example. But you can plug them anywhere!

I love this product because you have a nice scent for the room plus a night light.

I had to share some of our Christmas products with the Silent Night Plug in shown above and the Gingerbread Full Size Warmer as shown to the right.

These are a fun way to decorate your house. Also, they’re great as gifts! With Christmas coming, you’ll need to buy for family members, friends, teachers, coaches. Why not by them a Scentsy System!?

Scentsy has a product for everyone. On the left, this is our Anti-bacterial Fragrance Foam. Black Raspberry Vanilla is one of my favorites, and a part of my personal collection.

Scentsy also has scent circles – I like to put these in my car. I also have one hanging in my children’s room. The circle comes in purple as shown above, and has been dipped in the fragrant wax. It doesn’t overpower the room or the car.

Above, I’m showing you a Combine and Save pack. Scentsy has some great deals with Combine and Save which was one deal I took part in when I made my first purchases. Here, you will get a Premium Full Size Warmer, a Full Size Warmer and 6 Scentsy Bars of your choice. In this combination, you are saving $15!

My launch party is going on now, on my Scentsy website. I’d love it if you did some of your Christmas shopping through my Scentsy Website and here’s a link to the Fall/Winter Scentsy Catalog.

Visit me at the FAITH Blog where I’m giving away a free gift!

Coming This Week to FAITH Blog – Maria Sutton!

Maria Sutton is the author of The Night Sky. Please join me on The FAITH Girls blog, this Friday for a great interview and book giveaway!

About the Author:

 
Maria Sutton was born in the barracks of Germany’s former Wehrmacht command center, which had been converted to house Europe’s Displaced Persons after WWII. 
In 1951, Maria, along with her Mother, Step-father, and sister immigrated to America and she has lived in the greater Denver metro area since that time.  Her book, The Night Sky:  A Journey from Dachau to Denver and Back is the culmination of her 43-year search for her biological father, who disappeared shortly after her birth in war-torn Germany.  Without knowing the spelling or his name, nor his date and place of birth, Maria was able to find him – proving that with unwavering determination, anything is possible.
Maria graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting and has also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  She has been employed by the U. S. government in several capacities throughout her Federal career, receiving many awards for her writing and investigative skills.
The above title is available from Johnson Books, an imprint of Big Earth Publishing.  Her memoir will be translated into several languages, including German, Polish, and Ukrainian.
Maria and her family reside in Golden, Colorado. 

Keep Me Accountable – Day 5 – The Duel!

My bud, Dianna Shuford, is still my guest blogger over on FAITH through this weekend. If you haven’t gone over, drop by and say hi. You’ll be entered to win a $25 Office store gift card and I’ll announce the winner on Faith on Sunday. The address: http://www.thefaithgirls.com.

Now, I mentioned a duel in my title. You see, Dianna has challenged me  to a writing duel this weekend. I accept the challenge!  This morning I logged in about 500 words.

Here in Georgia, it’s a beautiful fall day and I won’t be home for long.  I need a little competitive spirit to join in this duel and see how many words we can get through this weekend. Are you in?

Since I last posted, my word count is 3,207. My stated goal, 80,000.

Good luck!

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{photo courtesy of http://www.movie-page.com/1999/StarWarsEpisodeOne.htm)

R – Reviews & Winning

I gave a book review of Ruth Logan Herne’s Waiting Out The Storm on the FAITH Blog and am giving away a copy. I’ll announce that winner on Friday, April 22nd. Ruthy has graciously said she’ll also give a winner Made to Order Family.  I’d love to see you hop over to the FAITH Blog and leave me a comment for a chance to win!

And be sure to check out Friday’s post here on At Split Ends to enter to win Lindi Peterson’s Debut Novel, Her Best Catch!  The winner of Her Best Catch will be announced TOMORROW!!!!

Making Changes

On Sunday, I blogged on FAITH how there is a time for everything. Every second of every day, I try to accomplish something, but one thing that is a consistent slip for me is meal planning. I find myself busy with everything, and then, when meal time comes, I’m at a loss. Eating out is getting more and more expensive, plus, it’s unhealthy!

On Julie Jarnagin’s blog,I read about her success using E-mealz. Basically, you choose the store that you shop most frequently and you will receive a customized menu that corresponds with the store’s weekly deals. I just signed up for this and I hope that I can plan more meals for my family and save money in the process. Already, I have an easy meal set up for tonight, something I can pull together in about an hour.

SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH E-MEALZ MEAL PLANS

What are some ways you have learned to save time, money and get more accomplished?

TTIN Challenge: Days 20-23 Link to the article: “Untangling the Waiting”

Hi all!  I’ve been quiet on the blog front, but I’ve been working… Today, I finally finished Chapter 1 of my historical. I reworked the scenes onemoretime to get them to a point where I think I can move on to the next chapter. I also had to begin working my 6-page synopsis down to a one page for future contest entries.  As I type this, I realize how slow this is going. But as we all know, life happens and just the mere accomplishment of writing anything, writing something, is better than nothing at all.

I ran across an article I thought would be very helpful for all of us still working toward publication.  
Untangling the Waiting by Ronie Kendig

My current total word count is 4,422…. That’s only 75,578 words to go to reach completion!