Star Trek and books: A Valentine’s Blog Hop

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blog-hop-tag-3001Well, it’s that time of year again: the stores are full of chocolates, red and pink decorations abound, and if you’re not careful, Cupid might get you with his trusty bow and arrow.  That’s right, Valentine’s Day approacheth!  Joleene Naylor, one of the wonderful members of the Ink Slingers League, is hosting a little blog hop celebrating the loveliest of holidays and the loveliest of pastimes, reading!  Here, then, be my entry for the I ♥ Books Blog Hop! 🙂

Valentine’s Day is not the only special February day in the Kauffman house.  February 10 is a pretty special day, too.  February 10 is the anniversary of my first date with Seymour an unbelievable five years ago.  And February 16 is his birthday, so that’s another special day.  I can hear you all now: What the heck does your first date have to do with Star Trek and Valentine’s Day, let alone books?  Well, if you know us, or if you’ve been reading my rambling scribblings here for long enough, you’ll know that it was Star Trek that brought Seymour and me together (among other things, like small-town curiosity (okay, fine, small-town nosiness)).

On our first date at the local pizza joint, we ran into my kindergarten teacher, who stopped to chat.

Lately…

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Lately I’ve been working.  A lot.  I’ve been working a lot at work (Ooh, hello, tax season!).  I’ve been working a lot at home, too (the laundry never. ends.), both on house-type stuff and writing-type stuff.  I have my work cut out for me on the last chapter I wrote; the last third of it needs some serious help.  But that will have to wait.

I’ve also been having some fun.  With what, you ask?  Well, I’ve been messing about on Pinterest quite a lot lately.  You can find boards depicting Lokana, the surrounding area, and the people who live there.  You can also find a few laughs, if you’re so inclined, and maybe a little writerly inspiration.

I’ve also rekindled my photography habit.  Or rather, my photo-editing habit.   Behold, the fruits of my labor. . .behind the cut!

The Rose and other tidbits

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rose

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Photo credit: alice_ling)

The rose she has gone back to Nature
Her petals on the grass by her mother tree lay
But memories of her blooming in the sunshine
With me till my own end will stay.

“The Rose,” by Francis Duggan

I hopped on the Alliance thread this morning and found the above waiting for me with a belated birthday wish from the Dreamcatcher.  It’s a lovely little poem; you can follow the link to read the rest of it.  A quick Google search revealed that Mr. Duggan is quite prolific and that a lot of his work is available online.  The site I linked to above had nearly 500 pages of his work alone, possibly more.

So what’s new?  I’ve been rubbish at posting since the new year struck.  I’ve been struggling to get into a routine – any routine – this year and I’ve had some other things weighing me down as well.  Hopefully I’ll have all that unpleasantness resolved soon and I can start making progress on the rest of my goals for the year.

Speaking of goals for the year, I’ve passed 40k on my sequel.

Books I want to read this year

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I have an extensive list of books that I would like to read and it seems that my list grows longer every day.  But since I’m keeping track of which books I’ve read through the course of the year, perhaps if I keep track of which books I’d like to read, I might stand a chance of reading a few more of those desired titles.

So, without further ado, here are some of the books I’d like to read this year:

Run away!

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I saw this on Title to Come the other day and laughed hysterically because Monty Python is hilarious and The Holy Grail is one of my favorite movies.  Also?  I’m pretty sure it fits me.

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

 

And now, without further ado, a review!

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That’s right, a real, live book review!  It’s been so long since I’ve reviewed a book that I feel like I’m back in high school.  Okay, maybe college.  Actually, that might very well be the last time I gave a proper book review like I’m fixing to give right here.

Yeah, I said “fixing to.”  It happens.

Anyway, my book club met Saturday night and I was unable to make it to the meeting – again – so I decided that, since I couldn’t share my thoughts on the wonderful book we read with my book club ladies, I’d share them all with you! The book we read for January was Defending Jacob by William Landay and, while it was not a book I’d have normally read, I really enjoyed it.

The book follows Assistant District Attorney Andrew Barber as he investigates the murder of a local teenager, one of his son Jacob’s classmates.  When Jacob is later arrested and charged with the crime, Andy’s life falls apart.  As the investigation proceeds, he struggles to hold together his marriage and realizes how little he actually knows his son.  It’s part crime novel, part lit fic, and entirely enjoyable. To find out more, just click here!

I’m inspiring – Part II

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Hi there, folks!  How’s it going?  I hope you’re all keeping warm.  Iowa is currently back in the deep freeze after a lovely thaw.  I have to admit, that week of 40-degree days was lovely.  I really do live in the wrong state when it comes to winter.

But that’s not what I meant to write about tonight.  In the space of a couple hours earlier today, I was nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award twice!  I was nominated for this award back in August and if you’d like to see what I had to say then, you can find the post here.  I’ve spent the last hour or so trying to decide if I should do it again, but since two people were nice enough to nominate me, I decided, what the heck?  Why not?

VeryInspiringBlogAwardSo, without further ado, many thanks to the lovely Tricia Drammeh and Maegan Provan, who were kind enough to nominate me.  Tricia is a wonderful writer and it is a privilege to know her – if you’re not already following her, you should be!  And Maegan is a new follower here, one I’m sure I will enjoy getting to know.  Thank you for the love, ladies!

And now, without further ado,

Just a quick note

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Hiya! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve been keeping plenty busy the last week or so and, for the next few days at least, it looks to remain the same. Big things going at the day job have been keeping me tied up from nine to five-ish and my book club’s selection of the month has been keeping me spellbound after hours, in addition to the usual craziness.

So, to sum up: I’m sorry for being so absent! But I plan to share many book thoughts soon (I’ve been collecting them as I read – God, it feels good to be reading age-appropriate material again!). But until then, sweet dreams!

(c) 2013. All rights reserved.