Operation Smile & RentBack Team Up!

Today, I am excited to tell my readers about Operation Smile. It’s an amazing international medical charity that has been providing medical assistance throughout the world since 1982. I am featuring Operation Smile today because the work they do is remarkable and has provided over 200,000 FREE surgeries for children in over 60 countries with facial deformities. Incredible! I had no idea until recently, but every three minutes a child is born with a cleft. One in 10 of those children will die before their first birthday.

I’d love for you to take a moment and read more about Operation Smile here. 

And if you are a college student, did you realize you can contribute to this awesome charity by simply taking advantage of the services provided by CampusBookRentals.com?

Their new program, RentBack (www.RentBack.com), is a fantastic resource for students to rent their textbooks to other students. This allows you to make more money instead of just selling your textboks at the end of the semester for a low amount.

Some other perks for using RentBack:

• save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
• free shipping both ways
• students can highlight in the textbooks
• flexible renting periods
• they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

I wrote a BOOK!

For the past year I have been working on a secret writing project - a Young Adult book called Invoking Nonna. On December 20th, I picked up multiple boxes of my book from the printer. It's such an amazing feeling to see all my hard work in a print format. 

Here is more information:

• Title: Invoking Nonna
• Author: Sage Adderley
• Series: Triple Goddess Series (Book 1)
• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Sweet Candy Press; 1ST edition (December 20, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0989709825
• ISBN-13: 978-0989709828

Book Description

Maggie Sloan is a free-spirited teenager growing up in rural Georgia. Unlike her peers, Maggie is a witch and so is her mother. In addition to normal teenager rites of passage, she must learn about her family lineage and witchcraft. Her mother, Laura, keeps a tight lid on their family secrets - like the mysterious life and death of her grandmother who passed away before Maggie was born.

Practicing the craft will test solid friendships and introduce Maggie to new realms. While seeking the truth about herself and her family, Maggie is faced with danger from churchgoing classmates who will stop at nothing to make sure she is found out. Laura and Maggie strengthen their bond through witchcraft and work together to overcome their enemies. Are their magical gifts enough to keep them safe?

Invoking Nonna is the first book in the Triple Goddess series.

Invoking Nonna is available on Amazon & my Etsy shop! If you are interested in a YA magical story - I would love for you to check it out.

Blog Spotlight: CampusBookRentals.com

Many of my friends are college-goers and often talk about the steep prices of textbooks. A lot of these students are carrying a full-time course load, which means the price of textbooks alone is draining what little money they have. 

I was excited to find out about CampusBookRentals.com! Awhile back I posted about them, but now that school is back in session, I wanted to remind folks to check them out as an alternative to purchasing books.

Some obvious perks about renting books through them are:

• save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
• free shipping both ways
• can highlight in the textbooks
• flexible renting periods
• they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

Are you wondering how it works? Check out this video!

Below is some info about Operation Smile that's available on their website.

"Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity that heals children's smiles, forever changing their lives.

As an international charity for children, we measure ourselves by the joy we see on all of the faces we help. At Operation Smile, we're more than a charity. More than an NGO. We're a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery and related medical care for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate."

Read the details and how book rentals help here: Operation Smile

Finally, CampusBookRentals.com has a new program, RentBack (www.RentBack.com)

RentBack is a new initiative that allows students to rent the textbooks they own - to other students ... which is awesome because it makes you 2-4 times more money compared to what you'd make through buyback options! (selling your books back at the end of the semester) Isn't that fabulous?! What are you waiting for? http://www.campusbookrentals.com/

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Blog Tour Stop & Book Spotlight: The Underground Witch by Debbie Dee

The Underground Witch
(Book 2 of The Incenaga Trilogy)

By Debbie Dee

Purchase Link: Amazon

As the last of the Incenaga Witches, Emmeline has been tortured and forced to use her power to kill. But unlike the Incenagas before her, she has survived. With her freedom restored, she should feel safe, invincible even. After all, she has the protection of Prince Erick’s army and a power strong enough to obliterate any enemy. Yet Emmeline lives in fear for the next person who will try to control her, and no one can seem to find the tyrant threatening to claim her. 

Until it’s too late. 

With everything on the line, and the enemy at her throat, will Emmeline be able to use her power like never before? Even if it kills her? 

In The Underground Witch, the second novel of the Incenaga Trilogy, Debbie Dee delivers enough adventure, heartbreak, and suspense to captivate readers at every turn.

Author Info 

Debbie Dee recently moved to southern Idaho with her husband and three children where she is learning how to be a country girl in her favorite pair of blue heels. She adores fairy tales and happy endings, but secretly crushes on the bad guy now and then. 

As a dedicated musician who practices way too much, she never expected writing would sweep her off her feet until she jotted down a scene from a daydream, which turned into two scenes, which turned into a messy house and her first novel. Since then she hasn’t been able to let a day go by without writing. 

In addition to writing, she plays the piano, harp, violin, and gets in frequent fights with her cello. She loves to read and play board games - when she is winning. 

Follow Debbie Dee: Website - Facebook

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UPDATE #3 - 100 Things in 2013

8.  Go to Powell’s Books. 

Last month, I took a trip to Portland with Bradley and Powell's Books was a necessary stop for me. As soon as I walked through the door, I was overwhelmed. I had no idea that Powell's was insanely HUGE. It would take tons of trips for me to see the entire bookstore without zooming through. I did pick up a few books while I was there. 

42. Rework Guadalupe tattoo. 

While in Portland, I visited with one of my favorite tattooers, Alana, and had my Guadalupe tattoo reworked. It took three hours and was worth every minute. She is so gorgeous and I am no longer embarrassed to show her off.

43.  Go on a coffee date with a friend. 

This morning I met with a friend at a steampunk coffee shop in downtown Olympia called Sizizis. It was a magical little place that served delicious coffee.





76.  Spend the day with Bradley in Portland. 

As you can tell by the first two things above, I spent the day with Bradley in Portland. We drove around the city looking at cute houses, got coffee, went to bookstores, got tattooed, ate dinner with my friend Alex, and wrapped up our adventure with a trip to Voodoo Doughnut. 



94.  Compliment someone every day. 

Whether online or in person, I have been doing this!

99.  Eat at Bearded Lady Food Co. in Olympia.

After we attended the Peeps Awards Ceremony, we celebrated our wins at the Bearded Lady Food Co. I stuffed my face with espresso ice cream with cookies and a chocolate topping. Super good stuff! 

To view my list of 100 Things in 2013, go HERE.
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Campus Book Rentals - save money on textbooks!

Buying textbooks can definitely put a dent in your wallet. It's always a relief to find a way to reduce the amount of money needed for this necessary expenditure. I have great news for college students - you can rent your textbooks - it is a perfect alternative! 

Let me introduce you to Campus Book Rentals & some of their perks:

• Save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
• Free shipping both ways
• Can highlight in the textbooks
• Flexible renting periods
• Live customer support
• Largest selection in the nation
• 30-day risk-free returns
• They donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented
• Learn more at http://www.campusbookrentals.com/

How does it work?

Campus Book Rentals also has a new program called RentBack. It's a new initiative that allows students to rent the textbooks they own - to other students - which is awesome because it makes students 2-4x more money compared to what they'd make through buyback options! (selling books back at the end of the semester) 

Isn't that awesome?!

Ready to save money? Visit http://www.rentback.com to check out this easy process.

Peeps Diorama Contest 2013

Do you remember the Peeps Contest that I participated in last year? You can read about it here. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me tell you about all the fun! My local library hosts an annual contest called, Peep Into My Favorite Book! Basically, you make a diorama in a small box depicting a scene from your favorite book using Peeps (the marshmallow candies) as the characters. It is so cool to see how much creativity goes into each one.

This year I entered the adult category with a scene from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I didn't place in the contest, but I did receive an honorable mention.

I also entered the family category with my 8-year-old daughter. We did a scene from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and ended up winning first place!

                                                         

 My oldest daughter entered the teen category with a scene from Divergent by Veronica Roth and she also won first place!

Here are some of our favorite dioramas from the contest:

Book Release, Kindle Freebie, & Grand Giveaway

Today, I'm happy to spotlight author, Tara Chevrestt!

Love Request /Tara Chevrestt

     I’m pleased to share with you my latest release, Love Request. This one is special to me because it’s not only the first romance I penned, but it features a “hearing-impaired” heroine, like myself.

I say “hearing –impaired” because really, there’s nothing wrong with Ciara. She’s not damaged or in need of repair. She just can’t hear as well as others.

     As a reader, I grew tired of all the women in romance novels being perfect. In real life, many of us have disabilities—and they are disabilities others can’t see. And worse, they are disabilities others can’t understand, and a lot of times what people don’t understand becomes something they fear…and belittle.

     This is where the bullying comes in. You see, this is more than just a romance novel. Open its pages, hit that Kindle “next page” button, and find out for yourself. Learn. Be enlightened. Relate.

Want to sample it first? No problem. Available on Kindle and FREE for the next five days, is a humorous Valentine short story, Mating Instinct.

You’ll find the first chapter of Love Request at the end.

      Thank you, readers, for celebrating this special time with me. Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of you, I’m giving away a print copy of Love Request, a plush dog, a lipstick for that special date, and 5 pheromone-soaked chocolate incense sticks! WARNING: Be careful if dogs are in the vicinity.

Blurb:

     When Ciara Littleton finally joins Facebook to socialize without the limits her hearing impairment gives her, she looks up a childhood friend on a whim. In sending him that first message, she ignites the memories of a crush from twenty years ago. Can a simple friend request fix all that stands between them and maybe even lead to something more?

     Hunter's plate is full. A recent divorce, a pregnant sister, and now, he realizes he's in love with a woman who lives states away. Can he overcome the boundaries of Internet romance to make this desire turn into something real, or will adversity and distance be their undoing?

     This book was formerly titled A Facebook Affair and has been revised with a new ending.

Love Request has been named a LASR Best Book and is now up for vote on Best Book of 2012 Poll. You can cast a vote here. I’m so excited and so grateful!

Blurb for Mating Instinct:

     This is exactly what you need!

     It’s Valentine’s Day and when Ariel receives a package of incense in the mail from her Pagan friend and mentor, she isn’t sure what to make of the enclosed note. Sure, she has some issues, but who doesn’t?

     When the smoke releases its magic, Ariel gets an evening of surprise humor and romance, and it is indeed exactly what she needs.

Links:

Love Request on Amazon

Mating Instinct FREE

     Tara Chevrestt is a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, writer, and an editor. She is most passionate about planes, motorcycles, dogs, and above all, reading. That led to her love of writing. Between her writing and her editing, which allows her to be home with her little canine kids, she believes she has the greatest job in the world. She is very happily married.

     Her theme is Strong is Sexy. She shares a website with her naughty pen name: http://tarachevrestt.weebly.com/index.html and they have a Facebook page:   

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Chevrestt-Sonia-Hightower/218383211513877.

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Book Review & Giveaway: The Kaleidoscope Kids

The Kaleidoscope Kids
Written by: Terry P. O'Grady
Illustrated by: Rick Barrett

• Paperback: 26 pages
• Publisher: Kaleidoscope Kids (September 28, 2012) 

About This Book

This book was developed as way to help children to learn their colors, shapes, and numbers. The unique characters of this book were conceptualized as each having a shape, color, and number so that children can see these concepts together.

Each character is introduced with their shape, color, and number. There are also a number of objects on each page to practice counting. The hope is that this book will make learning these concepts fun, engaging, and easy for your child.

http://www.thekaleidoscopekids.com/

My Review

This whimsical children's book is a perfect addition to any preschooler's collection. I enjoy the fun wording that Terry chose to describe the creation of the vibrant Kaleidoscope Kids. There are ten Kaleidoscope Kids in all and each one is a specific shape, color, and number.

I think the characters are an enticing way to help teach children about colors, numbers, and shapes. I like that Terry combined an interesting story and educational elements for young children. My eight-year-old daughter, Bella, said The Kaleidoscope Kids book is a friendly and helpful book for little kids and I agree!

GIVEAWAY! Author, Terry P. O'Grady is offering my readers an opportunity to win a signed copy of The Kaleidoscope Kids. Enter to win below:

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GIVEAWAY: Paperback Sets by Michael Bradley

I am excited for the release of Michael Bradley's new book, Deadlines. It will be available on February 18, 2013. This will be the second book in the Brian Wilder series. 

You can read my review of the first book in the series, Black and White and Dead All Over here. I will be  posting a book review of Deadlines soon! In the meantime, Mr. Bradley is generously offering FIVE paperback sets of both books! Enter below - 

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Tour Stop & Book Review: The Second Daughter by J. Jeffrey

The Second Daughter
by J. Jeffrey

• Print Length: 275 pages
• Publisher: Top Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2013)
• Purchase Link: Amazon

Book Description

YOU try turning out all right after you overhear your mother wishing you hadn’t been born.

It had started out well. Umbrellas tangled. A storybook romance followed. A wonderful wedding. A beautiful, sweet first daughter. They were complete, a family, happy.

And then they went and had another daughter.

Her charming and witty fraud of a father Theodore starts disappearing, then worse, coming back. Her once allegedly sweet older sister Regina angrily resents her, and the sisters are at constant war. Her poor harried mother Helen is so busy what-iffing about the life she might have had that she overlooks the life she is actually having. Everyone blames younger daughter Debra for pretty much everything as the family slowly, then quickly, then one day explosively disintegrates. Along the way there are secrets and lies, heartbreaks and betrayals, plus the dramatic unexpected death of a central character at a pivotal moment. Debra, now a young woman, finds herself living awkwardly alone with her embittered mother when the phone rings—and her mother’s secret past suddenly crashes back into the present. Their life may be about to change forever; or rather, perhaps, revert back to what it should have been all along.

But not exactly because of that phone call, as it turns out.

Because of the remarkable second daughter. For what Debra Gale has is unyielding determination. What she has is an irrepressible capacity to love.

And now at last what she has is a chance.

The complex dynamics of a changing family. Mother, daughters, sisters, and the father who both divides and unifies them. That dramatic unexpected death, plus a fair amount of banana cream pie. Welcome to The Second Daughter: a funny but poignant, and ultimately unusual but beautiful love story.

My Review

Young couple, Helen and Theodore Gale are quite opposites, but maintain a magnetic attraction to each other. What one lacks in the relationship, the other one more than compensates for. After their first daughter, Regina, is born, everything seems to be falling into place for the Gales. That is until their second daughter, Debra, arrives. Life is turned upside down. The family encounters jealousy, death, and financial woes.

While growing up, Debra is aware that she is blamed for her family's misfortunes and treated differently than her sister. It isn’t until their father abandons the family for another woman, that Debra begins to build a strong connection with her mother.

I long for stories that carry me away and do not bring me back to reality until the last word is read. J. Jeffrey did just that with The Second Daughter. From the start, I was wrapped up in Helen and Theodore’s sweet and unusual romance. I followed along as Theodore was the doting father to Regina and loving husband to Helen. Then, Jeffrey spun the table rapidly when Debra came into the picture. The mood quickly changed, and I felt the emotional turmoil the family, mostly Helen, was dealing with. 

The Second Daughter gave me everything I want and need from a book. I connected to characters, I easily visualized them, and I felt for them. This story contains many ups and downs, but it reveals hope in the most bleak situations. Jeffrey shares the unique story between a mother and her two daughters, and the competitive relationship between the sisters.

Author Info

J. Jeffrey stands about six foot three and likes poetry. He has been known to climb the occasional mountain and tame the occasional lion. He sings opera as an amateur but is trained as a masseur, and he is extremely partial to his wife’s green tea perfume. He drinks too much coffee, and gets lost a lot. Two words: Florence, Italy. Pastry for breakfast, over the crossword puzzle, preferably after noon. Soup for lunch, preferably late afternoon, over another puzzle (the first having been solved). His favorite drink (after coffee) is red wine. He knows a word or two but will not play scrabble. Regrettably, he believes he might be happy if only you would think him as funny as he thinks he is. But most importantly, he is not to be trusted. He writes biographies full of lies, or are they novels full of truths? Such a fine line.

Contact Info

www.theseconddaughter.com

Twitter: @JJeffrey6589

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseconddaughternovel

Follow The Second Daughter Virtual Book Tour:

January 27th My Devotional Thoughts 
January 28th Bookworm Brandee 
January 30th Four A’s & a D.
February 1st  The Book Barn 
February 1st Storeybook Reviews 
February 3rd Le' Book Squirrel   
February 4th Every Free Chance Book Reviews 
February 6th Aspired Writer 
February 7th Read Your Writes Book Reviews