Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Reading and writing and everything in between...

First, I owe my apologies to Michelle once again. I thought that I would have time to participate in the read-a-thon as Child Eater had been released and I Love the Changing Seasons is still a work in progress. However, once again I fell short on the reading. Partially it is because I am sick and cannot focus on anything for long before the pressure in my head builds beyond bearing. This includes reading and writing, unfortunately.

I did manage to get some reading done. I started on a Kathy Reichs novel. I had a hard time getting into it. It is very technical, and there is a French-Canadian aspect that I was not expecting from my experience with the TV show Bones. I was unable to get into the book. I am not giving up on her books, but as I said before, my head is in a fog and focus has been lacking. So, I switched to another book on my list. I began reading Bodyguards in Bed. It is a compilation of three stories from three different writers. I did read the first story in it, which I enjoyed quite a bit. However, as is often the case with collaborative works, I found myself wishing that the story was a full length novel instead of part of a compilation. I felt robbed of what could have been a far more intense story. However, it serves a secondary purpose in itself. I now have another author to add to my list of new authors I would like to explore more thoroughly. I will include my thoughts on this story as well as the other two when I write my full review.

I did manage to get a little bit more writing done on The Adventures of Bear B. and Stone Kitty. I thought I might share an excerpt from the beginnings of this new adventure here.

   My name is Bear B. I lived in a wonderful little house right in the center of town with my humans. I could watch the kids coming and going from school right out my window. Sometimes, I could even bark at them when someone forgot and left me in the yard. But one day, that all changed. They bought us a new house out in the country.
   I don’t know why my humans insisted on moving us to this new house. I was content with the old one. When we arrived, everything was in boxes and bags. I got lost trying to find my way from room to room. I am not a fan of change, and to make it all worse, I couldn’t find my froggy.
   I wandered from room to room, lost and confused. The furniture was all there. It was all the same pieces I was used to, but the boxes were stacked everywhere. Just as I was wandering through the last of the bedrooms, I saw Stone Kitty peeking out of one of the boxes.
   “What are you doing?” I asked him.
   “Exploring,” he answered vaguely.
   “Did you discover the location of my froggy during your explorations?” I inquired next.
   He replied with a grunt and gracelessly hopped out of the box, sending it tumbling to the floor. Its contents spilled out before me. I nosed through the mess. There was no froggy there.
   I wandered back into the living room. My boy was there on the couch. I whimpered and whined. I tried to ask him for my froggy. He wasn’t listening. I collapsed on the floor at his feet.
   “Harrumph.”
   I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew it was dark outside.
   “Mom, I can’t find any pajamas,” my girl yelled from down the hall.
   “Wear one of your brother’s t-shirts,” Mom yelled back from the kitchen.
   “What t-shirts?” my boy shouted back.
   Mom headed towards my little humans. I followed on her heels. Perhaps while she found the pajamas she could also find my froggy. 

I would love to hear some thoughts and feedback on this excerpt. I know it isn't much, but it's what I have thus far.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What's in the Works?

So, we have quite a few projects going on right now. First, my alter ego just released her first book. For more information you can visit her blog here. You can also stay up to date on her plans and progress by becoming a fan on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Clark is working hard (although today he is taking a break so it is more accurate to say hardly working LOL) on the illustrations for I Love the Changing Seasons. It is a process and we anticipate it being a few more months before it is ready for release.

In the meantime, by popular request of our older readers, I am working on a chapter book for the older elementary students. The Adventures of Bear B. and Stone Kitty (working title only), has begun its decent into the literary world. I have been scratching out ideas and working hard on pulling together the first chapter.

To stay up to date on the latest news and information about both works, check out our new fan page on Facebook here.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Time for another read-a-thon!


Today starts another read-a-thon, hosted by Michelle over at The True Book Addict. If you would like to join, you can sign up here.

Now to decide what to read. I have such a huge stack of TBR. Where shall I begin. Between the Kindle Books I now have on my new Kindle Fire and the stack of books I have won over the last few months and the stack I have of books I received for Christmas, I am definitely not short of any to choose from.

The mini challenge for today is to take a photo of my TBR and to choose my titles. I will start with the photos.

My Christmas Presents TBR

My Prize Winning TBR

My TBR that's been waiting FOREVER, lol

This doesn't even include the stacks of TBR inside my Kindle, as I am not sure a picture would turn out for that. I believe I am going to start with Kathy Reichs. I absolutely LOVE the show Bones, and have wanted to check out the books since the beginning of the show. My husband finally located the first three books in the series this last Christmas. So far as I can tell, this is the first book.




So, it is where I will begin. I look forward to not only reading the start of a TV series I love, but also comparing the differences and similarities between the book and the show, as I often do with books and movies, so why not for a TV show?

Good luck and happy reading to my fellow read-a-thoners, and thank you again Michelle for hosting. :)

Friday, January 6, 2012

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

Well, The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge comes to an end in a few hours. I guess I didn't do to bad considering that I had a much busier Christmas season than I am used to. I made it to mistletoe level on the reading challenge levels ladder.

Levels:
--Candy Cane: read 1 book
--Mistletoe: read 2-4 books
--Christmas Tree: read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)
Additional levels:
--Fa La La La Films: watch a bunch or a few Christmas movies...it's up to you!
--Visions of Sugar Plums: read books with your children this season and share what you read
*the additional levels are optional, you still must complete one of the main reading levels above

I managed to complete a total of 3 books and one short story. I am so close to finishing what was intended to be my final novel for the challenge, but I seem to have fallen short. I will still finish the novel, of course, but it does not appear that I will manage to finish it in time to include it in my wrap-up. For more detailed information on my reading during The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge, you can visit this post.

I did make it to Fa La La La Films level. Lordy, did I ever watch a bunch of Christmas films. Between all the childhood favorites that continue from generation to generation (Classics such as Rudolph or Frosty) and you cannot forget Lifetime, LMN, and Hallmark for all the romance Christmas movies. Then, there were also a few movies picked up on other channels. My favorite of course was It's a Wonderful Life. The Christmas season is never complete without that movie.

And, I managed to make it into the Visions of Sugar Plums level as well. I must have read We've Seen Santa a billion times. Okay, probably not really, but it sure felt that way. My daughter has it memorized. The other day when the kids received a late Christmas present from their Nonnie; she said, "Let's open up gifts and have some fun." Proof that she has either heard it or read it far too many times, LOL. We also read Jingle All the Way. You can read my thoughts on this book/stuffed friend set on the previous reading challenge post as linked above.

Thanks again Michelle for inviting me to participate in this reading challenge. I look forward to the many more events you will be hosting throughout the year. Also thank you to everyone for being so patient with me as I lapsed on updating or even existing on the internet these last couple of months. Slowly getting my groove back I swear. Now to just get rid of this dang upper respiratory infection...

Thursday, January 5, 2012

2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

I found myself another reading challenge! You know how much I love reading challenges. This particular challenge has some added bonuses. I absolutely love reading about witches and witchcraft. I have always enjoyed reading the different ways authors go when they approach the subject. There is, of course the scary witch, and then there is the Glinda the good witch style witch, and many more in between. But, the best part of this challenge is the fact that it is a year long challenge. If I find the time to read only one witchy story all year, that is perfectly okay. If I manage to read a dozen, that is great too. I have posted the rules below. Feel free to join us for this challenge. It's sure to be a lot of fun. Click the button below to find yourself on Melissa's blog to join: (Or click on the title of this blog post).





Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf



Challenge Rules:
  1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.  I will be posting a place to link up a sign-up post (below), reviews and a wrap-up post. (Note: You do not have to review the books to participate, but only those who link up reviews will be entered for the prize)
  2. Grab the reading challenge button (code & button below) and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate- you could track your progress and post reviews on  Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, etc.
  3. Any full length book that includes a witch as a main character or major witchcraft elements counts.  They may be fiction or non-fiction.  However, they should not be reference books which are not read cover to cover-I will leave this to your discretion.  
  4. Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
  5. Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
  6. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
  7. When you sign up in the linky put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge.
  8. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
  9. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
  10. Have some Witchy Good Fun !!!



A special thanks to Michelle over at The True Book Addict for posting this challenge, and to Melissa over at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf for hosting.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable new year's celebration. We spent ours here at home with the kids. We had punch and appetizers and watched the selection of performances on the local news channels. It was a quiet but enjoyable new year's celebration.


We also created a new Facebook fan page to ring in the new year. This new one gives my husband the credit for being co-owner of the books. I was never happy with the fact that my publisher didn't want to acknowledge that it was a family project. Check out the new fan page, Books by Tiffany A. & Clark L. Higgins. We love to hear feedback, and appreciate your support.

So, what do we have planned in the new year? 2012 is going to bring a couple of new books. We will be publishing I Love the Changing Seasons within the next couple of months. Closer to summertime, we will be publishing The Monster Beneath my Bed. From there, who knows what we will have in store for you. Check back often (here, Facebook, and www.weveseensanta.com) for the latest news and information!