Thursday, January 31, 2013

NuShape 30 Day Challenge & Giveaway

On my quest for a better me in 2013, I have teamed up NuShape (NuSirt Sciences) for a review and giveaway. I will be trying out a 30 days supply of their weight management dietary supplement, containing Vitamin B6 and L-leucine, starting today for the next 30 days. During this time I will be exercising daily and staying on a healthy diet.

I'm excited about starting this challenge. I'll be taking the tablets twice a day  and it is suppose to help increase the amount of fat I will burn off during exercising. Fifteen minutes of exercise is suppose to equal sixty minutes of fat burning, which can make you drop one pant size in a month. The supplement can help your lean muscles to use fat as energy without any unwanted side-effects.

Giveaway Details:

Review - Internet Dating 101

Internet Dating 101: It's Complicated... But It Doesn't Have To Be!
By Laura Schreffler
Publisher: New Chapter Press
Pub. Date: December 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1937559007
ASIN: B00A6J9JIE
Pages: 376
Buy Link: Amazon.com

Review: 

If you are single, then (whether you want to admit it or not) you've probably have looked into online dating. Being single myself, I have read a few online relationship books and I've found myself browsing through a few dating sites. New Chapter Press has recently released a new guide book for those lonely hearts that have tired or have thought about online dating. The book is titled Internet Dating 101 and is written by Laura Schreffler, the creator of LoveTrekker.com.

Like similar books on online dating, the author lists the best to the worst dating sites, some are free and others have monthly fees. What I like about this book is that there are real stories from men and women who have tried these sites. Some are comical, a few are sweet, and others are a little creepy. There is a full section on Facebook, which is the first I have seen in an online dating book, about the dos and don'ts of what to post on your page, and how to successfully meet your soul mate. There is also a section that covers Twitter, Foursquare, Myspace, and CupidRadar. Of course a person is not going to always meet nice people on social networks and dating sites as there are people that will want to use you. The author gives great advice, or more like warnings, about how to spot a player, cheater, criminal, etc.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Guest Post with author Sands Hetherington


Night Buddies is the result of a bedtime collaboration my son John and I had many years ago.  I was his single parent and had read to him every night since he could walk, maybe for longer than that.  It was an essential for us and went on for fourteen years.  One night when John was six and I was done reading and John wanted more, I may have suggest he invent a lights-out companion to go off to sleep with.  Or maybe I didn’t and he undertook the matter on his own hook.  In any case, the next thing I knew, there was Crosley the crocodile, complete with goofy name and bright-red color.  I was duly charmed, and John and I started throwing Crosley ideas around and making up episodes.  This went on for a year or more and Crosley developed into an important family member.  Even after John tired of the game, Crosley would pop up in conversations.  He refused to fade away.

Maybe it was a couple of years after John invented him that I got the idea of giving Crosley some proper print.  The thing was right there: not ready-made but at least a neat premise.  John would be in it, of course, and the two of them would have themselves an adventure.  The trick was to figure out why on earth Crosley was red.  You couldn’t just plop a red crocodile down as one of the main actors without some explanation.  Then it occurred to me: Crosley was red because he was allergic to water!  Well, sort of.  If he got water on him he broke out doing the Black Bottom dance and couldn’t stop for hours.  Unless he took his antidote pills. These stopped the Black Bottom well enough but turned him red at the same time!  It was one of those side-effects you can get from Black Bottom pills.

The rest fell into place fairly easily.  Crosley started as a lights-out buddy for a kid named John who wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet, so why not make him a member of Night Buddies Amalgamated whose charter is to rescue kids from lying  in bed awake and take them out on adventures.  He shows up in John’s room on the night of our stories.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

TV Store Online T-Shirt Review & Giveaway!

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog would know that I'm a fan of cartoons, movies, and television shows from the 80s and early 90s. I guess you can say that I was more than excited to work with TV Store Online, who provided a free T-shirt in exchange for my honest review.

TV Store Online carries many T-shirts from old and new television series. I was surprised to find that they had many tees, sweatshirts, and other products from my favorite series, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Saved by the Bell, Married with Children, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and The Big Bang Theory, as well as my favorite childhood cartoons, such as TMNT, Alvin and the Chipmunks, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Looney Tunes, The Smurfs, Thundercats, and Voltron. The store also carries many tees from movies, such as Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Iron Man, Resident Evil, Stargate, and many others, and from music, comics and games.

Steps For Video Conversion Made Easy

There are many different video file formats, and each format is useful for something. MP4 videos work with the iPhone, WMV videos work best on Windows computers and DivX is often used when ripping a DVD. Since there are so many different file formats, it’s very common for users to have a movie that isn’t the right format for their needs. There are many different ways to convert a movie file from one format to another. You will need a video converting program for this to work. There are many free versions online, and most computers have software with some basic conversion tools.

Find Software 
Most computers come with a basic video editor that can convert videos. While the conversion process is usually limited, the editor might have the exact features that you need. If you have an Apple computer, then try using iMovie. If you have a Windows computer, then try using Windows MovieMaker.

If neither of these programs have the format that you need, then you will need to look online for video converting software. It’s best to search for the format you need. For example, if you want to turn an AVI file into an MP4, then go to your favorite search engine and search, “convert AVI to MP4.” You should find a listing for a good program near the top of the search engine.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Guest Post & Top Ten List with author Cynthia Woolf




Thank you for having me as your guest today. I’ll be giving away a copy of my new book, CAPITAL BRIDE, to one lucky commenter and a $5 Starbucks card to another so be sure and leave me a comment.

I’ve been very lucky in my publishing journey. I was laid off June 17, 2011. Though I continue to look for a “regular” job, I knew that this was my opportunity to fulfill my dream of writing and I grabbed on with both hands. Let me back up a bit.

I was in the hospital in April 2011, recovering from a severe anxiety attack. You see, I thought I’d had a heart attack. But it was just anxiety, brought on by my current job and soon to be lack of job. I found out in April that I was being laid off in two months. Though I was unhappy in my job by this point, I was even more scared not to have one. Hence the reasons for impending anxiety attack.

After the attack I’m in the hospital and can’t rest. I have insomnia and all the tests…I simply couldn’t calm down, so I asked my husband to bring me a pad and pen. That night I finished my second book, Centauri Dawn (CD) It had been languishing in my mind for years so I knew where it was going and I couldn’t get it down fast enough once I started writing. It was the first one I would publish even though the western Tame A Wild Heart was already finished. I decided it needed more polishing than CD so CD got published first.

After I got out of the hospital, I was talking to my friend Michele Callahan, and she told me I could publish it myself and told me how. That was the beginning and I haven’t looked back since. I also haven’t had another bought of anxiety and my blood pressure is great. I think that self publishing agrees with me.  I’ve now got out 10 books and novellas. All except the first two written in the last eighteen months.

Monday Morning Madness #3: The Puzzles of Life


After having the flu bug, the cold and a nasty sore throat, I actually started to feel pretty good, that is until my wisdom tooth (which started to come in about two years ago) decided to mess with my weekend by giving me an unwanted toothache.

I don't go to a barber or hairdresser as I don't have much hair to cut, so I shave my hair myself, which is exactly what I was doing on Friday, that is until my cordless razor quit before I was finished. I plugged in the cord to the outlet to charge it, but the razor was done for. I carefully finished shaving with a disposable razor. So, I was forced to buy an electric clipper instead of another cordless razor, because it was cheaper.