With Easter being tomorrow (as well as being April Fool's Day), it's only 6 weeks until Mother's Day. If you're like me, I always find it difficult coming up with new ideas for gifts, especially for my grandmother, who seems to already have everything.

Awhile back, I was approached by Canvas Press (www.canvaspress.com/) about possibly reviewing one of their canvas prints. Always thinking ahead, I excitedly jumped at the opportunity, as I thought having an old family photo printed on a canvas would make the perfect gift for my grandmother for Mother's Day this year.

Now, my only problem was trying to find the right photo to use. After asking my mother's advice, I picked out an old photo that was taken in the in the early 1940s. The photo features my grandma (as a baby) being held by either her uncle or cousin (I don't remember his name.), beside him is a cousin, and sitting down below is my grandmother's older sister and brother. I had scanned the photo about ten years ago and saved it to a flash drive, so I uploaded the file to the Canvas Press website.

Unboxing the canvas print.

Shortly after placing my order, the Canvas Press's customer support sent me a message stating that the jpg I had sent couldn't be used because it had low resolution. So I had to hunt down the original photo that was in my mother's possession. And it wasn't an easy task to accomplish, as the album the photo was in got misplaced, so my mother and me had to turn a room upside down to find it. We eventually found it; the photo album had fell behind an old trunk.

Anyhow, I scanned the photo, saved it as jpg in high resolution and sent it to Canvas Press. The photo has faded a bit, but luckily they were able to use the jpg.

There are many different sizes and canvas styles to choose from, but for this review, the canvas size is 20"x16". There are also different matte types to choose from, which I picked out the "museum matte" style. The depth of the prints available are .75", 1.5", and 2". For this canvas, I got the 1.5" depth. There are three different border types: mirror wrap, image wrap, and color wrap. A color wrap wouldn't look quite right for this print and because of the size of the original photo, the image wrap wouldn't look right either. So, I went with the mirror wrap. Also, there are different mounting options, and I went a sawtooth hanger.

I don't recall how long the shipping took, but the canvas print was delivered to house fairly quickly.

How many book clubs do you belong to? If you do belong to an in-person book club, do you have meetings in the day or evening? Do you meet at someone's house or meet at a local restaurant or coffee house?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer:

As I am writing this (Jan. 10th), I'm not currently participating in any sort of book club.

To be completely honest, I thought weddings were more popular in the summer or fall months, but after reading several articles about weddings, I learned that the wedding season really begins in the spring. 

I'm always searching for new and exciting content creation or even content marketing tips for this blog (besides from book reviews), and for some reason or another, I ended up “googling” book themed weddings. If you have been following this blog lately, then you would know I have considered giving online dating a chance; so I have no idea why I wanted to learn more about weddings since I'm still single. Maybe I got tried of searching for dating sites that would appeal to me. I'm single, so I'm sure there are plenty of sites out there for me to choose from. Also, I don't have any kids, so I don't know how to approach online dating when you're a single parent.

Anyway enough of my rambling! Let's get back on topic!

I did some brainstorming and came up with idea for this post, titled, "Dream Weddings for Book Lovers," which features five wedding themes based on books. And no, I'm not turning this into a wedding blog, but I thought it would make a fun post for all my readers.

HBO's Game of Thrones is one of the most poplar series currently on television, but for those of you who don't know, the series is based on the still unfinished "A Song of Fire and Ice" book series by George R. Martin. The television series and books have millions fan, so naturally there have many Game of Thrones themed weddings. Do a quick internet search for "Game of Thrones weddings" and you'll find many ideas for invitations, costumes, cakes, decorations, etc..

Believe it or not, some people even travel overseas to rent a castle for their weddings. To me, this is a great idea, but I can't imagine how much it would cost to rent an actual castle.

While a Games of Thrones wedding would probably appeal to both women and men, a Jane Austen themed wedding would probably appeal mostly to female fans of her novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Mansfield Park). However, a Victorian themed wedding might appeal to some men, too. (Including me, as I do like the novel Pride and Prejudice!).

From Pride and Prejudice-style invitations to Victorian-style wedding cakes, there are countless decorations you can create for a Jane Austen wedding. Then, of course, there's the wedding dress for the bride, which can be made from reproduction materials from the Victorian era.

Now available on Amazon, BN, Kobo, and iTunes from Inkspell Publishing is the paranormal romance Never Fear the Reaper by Ashley Pagano






The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk about her her newest book, Never Fear the Reaper.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve literally always had a wild, rampant imagination so the challenge was just putting it on paper.

What was your first book/story published?

An article about graphic design in my college’s newspaper.

What inspired you to write Never Fear the Reaper?

The idea behind the series was always one I tossed around in my head, a lot. I thought it was such a unique concept because you never hear about such weapons and such superpowers so I thought it would spark interest in readers. I modeled Ryder, the story’s protagonist, against my own personality mixed with the woman I strive to be.

What character in Never Fear the Reaper is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Definitely Ryder. She has my sassiness, independence, and my strong will.

What is your favorite part in Never Fear the Reaper?

When Ryder tells Chase her back-story, that she’s died once before, encountered the Grim Reaper and seen all his terrifying details, and stolen pieces of his deadly Scythe in order to escape death. When you meet Mister Grim, from her perspective, it’s one you’ve never heard before or can barely fathom.

What was the hardest part to write?

I always knew which climactic scenes I wanted to tie into the story so the most challenging part, as it is for most writers, was getting from one to the next. Linking them together while keeping the nail biting, edge-of-your-seat feeling up.

What would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?

When meeting with friends, do your discussions usually turn to books?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer:

Sadly, not very often!

As you probably guess by the title of this post, I'm in my 30s, and if you have followed my blog for awhile, then you would know that I'm also single; which once again explains the title of the post. Plus, if you have been reading my blog for the past few months, then you would know I've been interested in trying out online dating.

At one point in time, I thought online dating was more or less of a sign of desperation, but that's no longer my attitude towards the subject. I know several people who have found their 'perfect' match on dating sites, which gives me a bit of hope that I can find my own soulmate, if such a woman even exists for me.

I've visited enough dating sites to know that many of them are geared toward the twenty-something crowd, who are mostly likely looking for a short-term or hookup relationships. Obviously, I'm no longer in that age bracket and I'm not looking for a fling. While I have nothing against dating a younger woman, I don't believe I would have anything in common with her.

Besides from niche dating websites (I'll get to that later!), my only option is websites aimed for older singles, such as Older-Dating.com. However, there's a slight problems with these sites, as the majority of them are aimed at the 50+ club, which is way out of my age range. While I have nothing against dating an older woman, I would like to have children one day, so finding someone closer to my age would be more suitable for my life goals.

There aren't too many dating sites that are exclusively for singles in their 30s, so I would probably have better luck finding someone on a 'free' dating website, such as Plenty of Fish or OkCupid, or on the popular dating app Zoosk. However, I've tried these websites in the past with absolutely no luck. The women on there are either looking for hookup or a sugar daddy. I had a profile on Plenty of Fish a few years ago, back when it was 100% free, and I kept receiving messages from women with one question, - “How much money do you make?” Having that question for a first message/contact is a major red flag for me.

Avon Inspire; 288 pages; $12.99; Blog Tour; Buy Link

April 1st will mark my 9th year of blogging. During those 9 years I've been part of many book blogging programs. Sadly both, Blogging For Books and LitFuse Publicity Group announced this month that they will be closing. This does sadden me, as I have reviewed many great books from them.

Anyway, today marks my final book review that I received from Litfuse. It's titled, "His Risk" by Shelley Shepard Gray, which is book four in The Amish Of Hart County series.

If you follow my blog, then you would know that I'm a big of fan of Shelley Shepeard Gray's writings, so, naturally, I signed up to review her newest book from Avon Inspire.

The novel centers around Calvin Fisher, a young man who had left the Amish community when he was a teenager, but now as an adult, he's returns home to Hart County because his brother is ill.  To make a long story short, he befriends an Amish woman named Alice and sparks fly between the two.

Is there a happily ever after ending for the two?

Well, you need to read the novel for yourself to find out, but I will say that Calvin is hiding a little bitty secret. Cough ... he's a DEA agent. And his appearance in Hart County brings some criminal activity to the community that puts Alice in harms way.