I am pleased to announce that IHP will be taking part in The Chapman Files International Blog Tour! Author Tara Taylor Quinn is on a three month international blog tour to celebrate the release of her new series, The Chapman Files, and to raise awareness for Strengthen Our Sisters, a community-based shelter program serving homeless/battered women and children. The tour takes place from August 20th – December 4th and has made/will make the following stops:

August 20th – Harlequin Superromance Group Author Blog

August 24th – MIRA Author Blog

August 26th – Novelist’s Inc.

August 27th – Super Authors

August 30th – Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My!

September 1st – Storybroads

September 2nd – Chapter’s Books

September 6th – Super Authors

…. and more!

Kelly Chapman from The Chapman Files, and Tara Taylor Quinn will be giving out free books at many stops along the tour. Each month they’ll be giving out clues to an item that is that month’s featured Chapman File. Anyone who guesses the item will be entered in a drawing to receive that item.

There will also be other specialty prizes:
- For the one who comments on the most blogs
- For the one who submits the most entertaining comment
- For the one who comments the earliest in the day
- For the one who brings the most friends (remember to say who brought you!)
- For referring Tara to a blog spot for the tour

The tour will end on December 4th with a launch party/charity event in Pheonix, Arizona to celebrate the release of the 4th book in the series, The Fourth Victim and to raise money for Strengthen Our Sisters. The tour prize winners will be announced and 200 autographed books will be given away. The event will be broadcast live online by Harlequin and MIRA Books so everyone can join the party!

Click here for additional info on the tour and an updated list of tour dates.

The Chapman Files:
The First Wife – 9780373716562 – September 2010
The Second Lie – 9780778328384 – October 2010
The Third Secret – 9780778328346 – November 2010
The Fourth Victim – 9780778328353 – December 2010

While waiting (very impatiently) for my Kindle 3 to arrive in the mail, I’ve made a few screensavers.

[3] Miscellaneous
[1] Anne of Green Gables (miniseries)
[3] Alice in Wonderland (book)
[3] Misha Collins
[2] Jensen Ackles

Click the thumbnails to enlarge them (they are hosted on Photobucket). I’ll be making more soon, so if you have a request, feel free to comment.

You’re reading an excerpt from a book online. Maybe it’s something someone recommended to you, maybe it’s something you stumbled upon while looking for something else. Either way, you’re reading and everything about it is just perfect. Realistic dialogue? Check. Smooth writing? Check. Action that draws you in and leaves you wanting more? Check. Your mouse is hovering over the “Buy” button before you even finish reading. You think to yourself “This is going to the top of my TBR pile”.

And then there it is: that last sentence that is so off, so jarring that you cry out in disappointment and frustration! Your excerpt experience has been ruined! What if there are more blundering sentences like that, ones that take you right out of the story and throw you on your butt on the sidewalk? Your hand trembles. Now you are afraid. Very afraid.

You think, maybe it’s just because the excerpt’s cut-off point is in an odd place? Maybe the rest of the book won’t be like that. But do you really want to take that chance?

What about you? Would you chance it or give it a pass?

This is my favorite photo of my neices, Diana-Kay and Melissa. It was taken about three years ago at a small beach near their home. I love it because their personalities show so well in it. Diana-Kay is the oldest; she’s outgoing, talkative, a show-off and a drama queen. Her younger sister, Melissa, is shy, quiet, sweet, unassuming, and tends to put others before herself. They make being a doting aunt so much fun!

© Christina Bethea – Polaroid Spectra – Expired Film

For the past few weeks I’ve been meeting my sister and her mother-in-law at our local Books-a-Million cafe for a small crochet/knitting circle. At the moment, we’re making preemie hats. It’s very relaxing – there’s gossip & coffee and a good time is usually had by all.

The problem comes in when I leave the cafe in order to browse the shelves to see if something catches my eye. Well, a lot of things have been catching my eye, but I’m just not buying – at least, not from the store. Every time I see an interesting book, I think to myself “I think I’ll just get the ebook when I get home”, or “The ebook is cheaper even though this is from the bargain bin”, even “I have the first two books of this series in ebook so I should just wait and get the rest of them that way as well”.

Sigh.

It’s gotten to where I carry a notepad with me and write down titles and authors in order to check the ebook prices online. God knows how much worse this is going to get once my Kindle 3 comes in!

Should I just rename the blog I Heart eBooks? LOL. I don’t suppose I’m really complaining so much as noticing a big change in my book buying habits. Convenience, instant buying, and the lack of heavy lifting are really influencing the way I shop. The “live” bookstores are making more money off me in coffee & bagels than books nowadays.