We are Experiencing Technical Difficulties......

My modem is shot....and I'm trying to get things up and running again. Lord...what did we do without email and the internet?? 2 days and I'm dying!!!

Later!

Truly Heartwarming Story, especially for Dog Owners

As an animal lover in general and a dog lover specifically, I have no idea why I waited so long to read Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan (304 pgs, William Morrow). Maybe because it's non-fiction, which is a genre I've written off for years as "boring". Or maybe because I have 2 of the "world's worst dogs" myself, and I didn't think I would find anything unusual about this book. But signing up for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge has given me a new perspective on this genre. I'm truly glad I read this one!

John and Jenny Grogan were newlyweds starting their new life together in Florida. Both wrote for local newspapers and everything was good. Then one day, John came home to find Jenny pouring through the classifieds looking for a dog. She had just killed her house plant, and was feeling down. She wanted to prove to both herself and John that she was capable of caring for someone other than herself, knowing that one day, they would want to have children. And what would be a great place to start, but with a dog??

Enter Marley: a little, yellow Labrador, that was fun and full of spunk. Named after the Reggae singer, Marley was anything but mellow. With a fear of thunderstorms and a knack for eating just about anything in sight, Marley brought more drama into their lives than they ever thought possible. All at once, they had this ball of energy and unpredictableness in their home!! After trying to train him themselves, the Grogans decided that Obedience School was the way to go. But Marley had other ideas.

"All the other dogs were sitting placidly beside their masters, at tidy ten-foot intervals, awaiting further instructions. Jenny was fighting valiantly to plant her feet and bring Marley to a halt, but he lumbered on unimpeded, tugging her across the parking lot in pursuit of hot-poodle butt-sniffing action. My wife looked amazingly like a water-skier being towed behind a powerboat. Everyone stared. Someone snickered. I covered my eyes. Marley wasn't one for formal introductions. He crashed into the poodle and immediately crammed his nose between her legs. I imagined it was the canine male's way of asking, "So, do you come here often?"'

Marley was indeed expelled from Obedience school! And that was just for starters. He made his own doggie-door by barrelling through the screen door. He ingested a gold necklace, paychecks, and many other Grogan family items. He destroyed more shoes than imaginable. But when it came to family, Marley was the best. After a horrible miscarriage, John and Jenny finally had their first child. They were a little leery of what Marley might think, but he handled it with style:

"As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, Marley came to accept Patrick as his new best friend. One night early on, as I was turning off the lights to go to bed, I couldn't find Marley anywhere. Finally I thought to look in the nursery, and there he was stretched out on the floor beside Patrick's crib, the two of them snoring away in stereophonic fraternal bliss. Marley, our wild crashing bronco was different around Patrick. He seemed to understand that this was a fragile, defenseless little human, and he moved gingerly whenever he was near him, licking his face and ears delicately. He was a gentle giant around Patrick, and he accepted his second-fiddle status with bonhomie and good-natured resignation."

Marley was never mean-spirited. But when a neighbor was attacked, and danger was in the air, Marley was there: "When I looked up, there he stood, ten feet from us, facing the street, in a determined bull-like crouch I had never seen before. It was a fighter's stance. His muscles bulged at the neck; his jaw was clinched; the fur behind his shoulder blades bristled. He was intensely focused on the street and appeared poised to lunge. I realized in that instant Jenny had been right. If the armed assailant returned, he would have to get past my dog first. I knew -- I absolutely knew without a doubt -- that Marley would fight him to the death before he would let him at us."

I absolutely loved this book! Having a 3 year old St. Bernard, I know all about pain-in-the-ass dogs! But I also know the love that a person can have for a pet, and just how loyal they can be. This love radiates from Grogan's book. It shows just how special this dog was.....a dog that many had written off as bad and untrainable. Through it all, Marley was there. He indeed was a member of the family. I laughed at his antics, and I had tears rolling down my cheeks at the end. If you have ever had a pet that was special to you, please read this book! 5/5

Also reviewed by:

Melody @ Melody's Reading Corner

I'm Still Raging!

They still have it! The concert was Friday night, and I'm still trying to recover! Utterly fantastic! I've been to see many, MANY concerts in my life. Small shows and huge stadium concerts and festivals. But the Rage Against the Machine concert had to rank right at the top! The scary thing is, I'm really feeling my age right about now. My ears are still ringing, I think I might possibly have whiplash, I have no voice at all (it's completely GONE), and I'm sore as hell.....but it was worth it.

The show was at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. We left about 1, to make sure we didn't have any problems. And it's a good thing too. Alpine Valley is possibly the worst place EVER for a concert. There is one road in and one road out. All well and good, except there were 30,000 others going to the show! We saw license plates from 10 different states! It was raining, and we got soaked and extremely muddy. You have to park in fields. Tons of people got stuck. Then you have to walk over the hills and far away. It was at least a mile hike each way....and that was just to the gates. At least we had pavilion seats, because the lawn seats were mud. I think I still have mud in my hair, my Doc's are trashed and beer was $8 a cup! But it was worth it! Our seats were in the 7th row! Queens of the Stone Age opened and they were great. But when Rage hit the stage, it was wild for almost 2 hours! You would believe it's been 7 years since they played together. Tom Morello is still a genius and Zach de la Rocha is still incredible.

So....I got my wish. I got to see the one band that I missed when they were around the first time. We got home at 5 am....tired, muddy, wet and sore. But I went to sleep with a smile on my face!

The world is my expense

The cost of my desire

Jesus blessed me with its future

And I protect it with fire

So raise your fists and march around

Don't dare take what you need

I'll jail and bury those committed

And smother the rest in greed

Crawl with me into tomorrow

Or i'll drag you to your grave

I'm deep inside your children

They'll betray you in my name

Hey!

Hey!

Sleep now in the fire

Booking Through Thursday - Indoctrination

Using a suggestion from Erin today:

When growing up did your family share your love of books? If so, did one person get you into reading? And, do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading? (Family trips to bookstore, reading the same book as a sibling or parent, etc.)

This is such a great question for a Booking Though Thursday topic! I would have to say that reading in my family was hit or miss. My biggest influence into the world of literature was my grandma. I grew up on a farm, and my grandparents lived about 1/2 mile down the road. I was over there ALL the time. Now my grandma loved her romance novels. She always had stacks of them on her bedside table. But she also loved mysteries and old gothic novels. Every Saturday, the two of us would go to town, and we would stop at the Little Professor Bookstore. This had to be one of my very favorite places!! And every Saturday she would buy me a new book to read during the week. Can you tell I was a Grandma's girl!?? She bought me the entire Nancy Drew series, as well as Trixie Belden. Later on, it was Stephen King, Dean Koontz, VC Andrews and John Saul. It was a Saturday tradition for MANY years!!

When I needed something to read, I would raid her shelves. She introduced me to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Georgette Heyer, and many others. She was definitely my biggest influence when it came to reading!

I can't ever remember my mom picking up a book. But my dad did. Of course, he was all about the westerns and the mercenary books. Not really my style, so I wasn't jumping to read those! When I was in Jr. High, I found Stephen King and the world of horror. And my dad would always read MY books!!

I have a little brother that is a lot younger than me. He is a big reader today, and I'd like to think that I had a little influence on that! I was 12 when he was born, and I would read to him when he was little. I left for college when he was only in 1st grade, but every time I was home, I had books with me. Today, we share similar taste for the strange, the eerie and the fantastic! We are always trading bags of books each time we get together.

The town I grew up in was so small, we didn't even have a library! When I got married, one of the first things I did was get a library card! I was so excited!! My husband (a non-reader) was truly amazed by this. I honestly don't think he's ever set foot there!! And now, all the librarians know me by name!

Happy Thursday!

I don't really think I'm ALL that Nice BUT......

my new-found friend, Jean Pierre, from Bombastic Bagman, says that I am!! He nominated me for the Nice Matters Award!! I have to say, I feel honored. For the past 8 months, my life has been filled with major ups and downs. From the highs of being more involved with my kids' lives to the lows of a horrible time at work, money issues, and now, an all-out job search, the one constant in my life has been my reading and my blog. I have met some of the nicest people that have been more than willing to lend advice, but most of all, much needed support! This says alot about this blogging community in general. I look forward to posting and reading all the different blogs that I haunt on a daily basis. I now how people that I consider "friends" world-wide! It may seem weird to some to have friends that you have never even met, but that's how I feel!! And I thank you all!

To pick out just a few, doesn't seem right. So if you are reading this, consider yourselves nominated. You are all the nicest people I have "met" in a very long time!

And if you haven't had the good fortune to meet JP, please check out his blog! He is a new blogger from Oxford, and has a great site! Great book and movie reviews from a man who knows his words!!

Later!

It's FINALLY here: RIP2!!!

Anyone who knows me will understand that Autumn is my very favorite time of the year!! I love the brisk feel of the weather, the changing of the leaves, but most importantly I love Halloween and the goblins and ghouls associated with it! Enter Carl's RIP II Challenge!! RIP stands for Readers Imbibing Peril, and is the Autumn Reading Challenge. Since I wasn't around the blogging world for challenge number one, I'm more than excited to join in on Challenge #2!

According to Carl, "R.I.P. II is a September 1st through October 31st celebration of all tales gothic, eerie, creepy, and dark. Tales that one reads in the dark of night, experiencing delicious shivers of terror and suspense at each creak of the floorboards or each gust of wind."

He has even outlined certain "perils" to sign up for:
Peril the First:
Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Second (Otherwise known as the Obese Book Peril):
As you may know, some books are scary not just because of their subject matter but because of their size. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke is 737 pages of small type, for example, and Gordon Dahlquist’s Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is 637 pages long with type so miniscule it makes Strange’s look like large print!
For this peril simply read two weighty tomes during the challenge period.

Peril the Third:
If you think you have it in you, this third choice of perils is the Scary Sandwich Peril…choose two large books like those described in Peril the Second and read a smaller qualifying tale in between.

Peril the Fourth (Otherwise known as Just a Bit of Peril):
Some of you wonderful readers, or would-be readers, may have a tendency to shy away from this genre, thinking it is just not your cup of poisoned tea. However, it wouldn’t be a challenge if I wasn’t challenging you.

This peril is for those of you who want to take a chance. Simply choose one book that you feel meets the criteria for Readers Imbibing Peril II and, well, imbibe it!

Additional Perils:
For those of you who have never done so, or want those who want to do so again, choose one or more of the following books to read after you have completed your other peril of choice:
1.Dracula by Bram Stoker
2. A collection of tales by Edgar Allan Poe
3. The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker
4. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

I realize my list is long! And since I suck at completing challenges, I don't think I will be able to finish all the books that I want to read. So what I'm going to do is enter Peril 1, with a couple of additions. Then list the last few books I would like to read, if I have the time, or later on in the year:

Peril 1:

• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
• The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
• Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson, book 1)
• Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Dresden Book 1)

Alternative and Additional books:

• Angel of Darkness (Key Book) by Charles de Lint
• Touch the Dark by Karen Chance (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)
• Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
• The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Terror by Dan Simmons
• Summer of Night Dan Simmons
• 13 Bullets by David Wellington
• The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe
• The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
• Lisey's Story by Stephen King
• Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire Book 1)

There you go. 20 books that I'm DYING to read!! Click on the links if you'd like to know more about each book. Join in with this challenge!! It's going to be fun!

In Honor of my Inner Goth Girl

And just in time for Carl's RIP challenge!! This is cool!! Siouxie has been one of my favorite rockers for years!!! Expecially back when my inner goth was much more outer goth!!

Your Score: Siouxsie Sioux!

Our test has determined that you possess
36% Hellbentness, 23% Sanguinity, and 62% Creeps!
Well done!

You are Siouxsie Sioux, lead singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees!

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British gothic rock band that encompassed the punk and new wave genres. She and the Banshees were not directly involved in the early goth scene as such, but had a massive influence on it in terms of both music and image. Siouxsie Sioux courted much controversy in the band's early days with her dress, often wearing 'bondage' clothes and fetish wear. Their music had been called "gothic" as far back as 1979, and their music formed the template for a lot of female-fronted goth bands in much the same way that Siouxsie's sense of style provided a fashion plate for many female goths. Between the two bands, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Bauhaus pretty much rocked early gothic style into being.

Link: The what Proto-Goth Icon are you? Test written by anastasia_x on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

What's it REALLY like to be a 13-year old Boy?

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (294 pgs, Random House) answers that very question. I choose this book to read as a part of the NY Times Notable Challenge, and I'm certainly glad I did!

Black Swan Green is the name of the small village in Worcestershire where 13-year-old Jason Taylor lives. It's a sleepy little village minus the swans. The year is 1982, and Jason is trying to navigate his way through a maze of difficulties: bullies at school, trying to blend in, overcoming a stammer that could label him forever, parents at war with each other, an older sister that calls him "The Thing", a war in the Falklands, and gypsies that have taken up residence is the village. Can life really be so difficult at 13? You bet it can!

Eliot Bolivar is a poet that submits his writing to the local parish magazine. He is talented and writes eloquently. And he is actually Jason Taylor, our 13-year-old antagonist. But really, could a kid hold up his head in school if he admits to being a POET? I think not!

This book is chocked full of insight. It is exactly one year in the life of Jason Taylor. Mitchell's writing is so fantastic, you can actually see through the eyes of this boy. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand some of the British phrasing and terms, but that didn't stop any enjoyment I felt reading this book. When Jason was called on to read aloud in class, I actually could FEEL his fear in the pit of MY stomach. Trying to navigate through school without being seen, not popular enough to be part of the in-crowd, and not detested enough to be one of the lepers, Jason tries hard to fit in. And he has to fit in in a way that lets him live with himself.

One of my favorite passages in the book comes right at the end: "The world's a Headmaster who works on your faults. I don't mean in a mystical or a Jesus way. More how you'll keep tripping over a hidden step, over and over, till you finally understand: Watch out for that step! Everything that's wrong with us, if we're too selfish or too Yessir, Nosir, Three bags full sir or too anything, that's a hidden step. Either you suffer the consequences of not noticing your fault forever, or , one day, you DO notice it, and fix it. Joke is, once you get it into your brain about THAT hidden step and think, Hey, life isn't such a shithouse after all again, then BUMP! Down you go, a whole new flight of hidden steps. There are always more.

The entire book is filled with this type of writing and insight. The characters are all well-rounded, simple yet complex. This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. And it will make you exceedingly glad that you never have to go through that horrible time in life again. I would recommend it whole-heartedly! 4.5/5

Who Doesn't Love Zombies???

OK....well maybe I don't LOVE Zombies, but I love the genre!! Starting with the cheesy Romero movies, all the way to the new "Dawn of the Dead" and "28 Days Later", I have a passion for them. But I have to say, I haven't read a lot of Zombie books. Enter Monster Island by David Wellington (288 pgs, Thunder's Mouth Press). This is the first in a trilogy of Zombie books that Wellington originally published online.

Some time in the very near future, the Epidemic hits our planet. What is this epidemic? We never find out: but it causes the dead to rise again. Dekalb used to be a weapons inspector for the UN working in Africa. After the Epidemic took his wife, Dekalb and his daughter were captured by a band of female rebels in Somalia, led by Mama Halima. Normally, a man wouldn't have a chance with this group of females. But Dekalb has special knowledge that the Somalians need: he can lead them to the UN hospitals. Mama Halima needs AIDS medication. After a lengthy search through many of the countries in the area, no meds are found. All the hospitals have been raided. There is only one place Dekalb can think of that will have the much needed medical supplies: The UN Headquarters in New York City. With his daughter being held as collateral, Dekalb and a band of teenage school girl rebels set out on a ship and sail halfway around the world to find the drugs.

Now we meet Gary, a man who used to be a doctor in the city. Gary decided the old philosophy "if you can't beat them, join them" was the only way to make it. With his medical training, Gary felt that the reason the Zombies were so slow and stupid is because of a lack of oxygen to their brain when they dead and before the reanimated. So Gary hooked himself up to machines to keep everything flowing through the death process. When Gary "awakened", he was still able to think logically and move better than the rest of the zombies. The only real difference is the hunger that is unquenchable.

This book was fun!! The best part of the novel to me was the change in Dekalb. He had to rewire his way of thinking: from a peace keeper to a survivor. It was really hard for him to pick up a weapon against others, even if they were already dead. But when it came down to it, Dekalb became the hero that he needed to be to save his daughter. Wellington tells a great story and doesn't go too over the top. The suspense level was high from page one all the way till the last page. Although, I must say, he left us hanging, BIG TIME, by the end. So I guess this means I'm going to have to read Zombie Nation now!! 4/5

Booking Through Thursday - Monogomy

One book at a time? Or more than one? If more, are they different types/genres? Or similar?
(We’re talking recreational reading, here—books for work or school don’t really count since they’re not optional.)


A lot has changed the last few years. Until recently, I was strictly a one book woman. I focused on one book at a time until I joined some of the Yahoo book groups. Then I started reading more books at once. It really isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. But I don't usually cross genres when reading. Right now, I'm reading a YA book, a coming-of-age book, a vampire book and 2 non-fiction books.


That being said, if I get really engrossed in a book, I will generally put all the others aside until it's finished. There are just books that are meant to be read immediately! Sometimes, I just can't wait!

Apparently I am Thoughtful!!

My wonderful friend Bonnie, who hosts many fantastic blogs, nominated me for a "Thoughtful Blogger Award". This was from her Words from a Wordsmith page. Please check it out. Fabulous reading!

I don't know if I'm really all that thoughtful, but I like to think that I am!! Truthfully, I just sit down and the words pour out. I like to write reviews of the books I've read, and I try to post lots of literary related stuff. Other than that, you will all have to suffer with some of my personal things as well! I'm supposed to nominate 5 more "Thoughtful" Bloggers. Truth be told, ALL the blogs I read are thoughtful! I missed reading everyone's thoughts when I was on vacation. But I will throw out 5 blogs that I do read daily.

• Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty - Some of the best book reviews around.
• Chris from Book-A-Rama - Chris and I started blogging about the same time, and her book reviews and literary posts are wonderful!
• Chris from Stuff as Dreams are Made on - Chris not only has great book reviews, he also details so much of his life in New Orleans. A great person with a great heart and a great blog!
• Kelly from Kailana's Written World - Kelly is a reading machine! So many great book reviews! She is actually the one who talked me into the blogging world and I'm so glad she did!
• Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot - Nymeth has probably added more books to my TBR than anyone with her fabulous reviews on books I'm generally not familiar with.

GREAT Blogs! Check them out if you want to add to those TBR's!! Thanks again, Bonnie!

Later

We're Back!!!

And in need of a vacation from our vacation!!! What a trip!! Was it ever HOT!! I wouldn't recommend Florida in August to anyone......but the kids had a great time!! We met some friends there, so there were 8 of us all together. It's really hard trying to make 8 people happy at the same time, but we did OK. We flew in on Saturday, and checked into our hotel.

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort on the grounds. It's big, colorful, and totally cheesy (in a good way!) It was a lot of fun. We stayed in the "60's" which was full of Peace Signs and the "Hippy-Dippy" Pool with Flower Showers! (which was perfect after a long hot day at the parks!) It's one of the budget hotels, but it was well-worth the money. There were 3 pools, a food court, game room and loads of pop culture everywhere.

The first day we went to Epcot and ran the kids right into the ground! It's hard trying to see everything in one day. The lines were long, and the sun was horrible. But we did most of the rides we wanted and saw most of the sites we wanted to see.

We went to the "Princess Breakfast" at the Royal Banquet Hall at the Akershus in Norway (Epcot). The girls loved it, although the food left a little to be desired. I'm all for trying new things, but some of the Norwegian food wasn't really kid friendly!! But we got to see Belle, Aerial (that's the girls with her), Mulan, Snow White and Aurora. Sadly, Cinderella was a no-show, and we had to track her down at the Magic Kingdom, since she is Ana's favorite princess EVER! Chad was rather unimpressed with the Princesses though. What can I say? Boys!! After Epcot, we did go to the Magic Kingdom and rode all the favorites: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, the Pooh Bear ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventure and of course, Pirates of the Caribbean!! They have added some Jack Sparrow to the ride!! We saw the Electric Light Parade and the Wishes fireworks show.


The Animal Kingdom was fun too. The Kilimajaro Safari was wonderful and we saw so many of the animals. They have a new roller coaster called Expedition Everest which was a lot of fun....and had a huge Yeti!! The boy's loved it!! (our friends have a son Chad's age, so he had someone to pal around with too!) The Tree of Life is just amazing, and so is the 3-D show called "It's Tough to be a Bug!". We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which is always a treat. The brought out a "lava" cake for Chad and Belle's birthday and sang to them. They were too embarrassed for words!! Gotta love that.

MGM is probably my favorite, just because I love movies so much. I had to take the girls to the High School Musical Pep Rally. They are hooked on that show. It was a lot of singing and dancing and just plain fun! Here are the girls trying on some princess hats! The boys went to the Indiana Jones Stunt show and loved it, although Mike had a hard time getting the bullwhip away from Chad. Although it was cool, figured he'd use it on his sisters! The Tower of Terror is awesome!! It's a Twilight Zone theme, and it's entails getting into an elevator and having it drop! They also have the Rock and Roller Coaster which goes from 0 to 60 in something like 3 seconds!! It's in the dark just like Space Mountain, but there are lots of neon signs and Aerosmith songs playing.....loudly! Ana freaked out after the Tower of Terror, and wouldn't even go on some of the other rides!! She usually loves stuff like that too. But she had her fun. We saw the Fantasmic show which is absolutely incredible. Don't miss it if you ever go!! There is also the Great Movie Ride and lots of memorabilia from all the old MGM movies, like Dorothy's ruby Red slippers! Again, there is almost too much to see in a day. I think we ended up at MGM 3 times during the week.

We finished up our final day with a Pooh Bear Breakfast at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. It was just Ana and I, since Pooh Bear is our favorite. She was so excited to see Eeyore!! This is probably my favorite picture from the whole vacation! We also saw Pooh himself, Piglet and Tigger. The the kids got flags and got to join a parade! The food was wonderful!! Way better than the princess breakfast! They had a puffed French Toast that was to die for! Yummy!! Finally we took all the kids to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. I got the cutest Tinkerbell purse, Ana got a Minnie Mouse doll and a Princess Wallet, Belle got a Lady doll and a High School Musical necklace, and Chad got some sort of light and string contraption and a Pirates of the Caribbean sword and shirt. Fun was had by everyone.

Our flight was delayed coming home, but everyone was glad to get back. The doggies missed us terribly, not to mention the grandparents (who live down the street from us). It really is good to be home. Hope to catch up with everyone soon!

Later!

Walt Disney World.....Here we Come!

If I have been absent a lot this week, it's mainly because I've been trying to get ready for vacation. We are leaving for Florida tomorrow morning. It's a horrible time for us, and we really can't afford it....but this will probably be the last big family vacation for awhile. So it looks like we are going to do it up right!

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again (OK...I do KNOW when we'll be back, I just had that song in my head!) Have a great week without me, and I will catch up on the 12th!

Later!

Letters!! We've Got Letters! Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

Have you ever written an author a fan letter?

I can honestly say I've never written a "fan" letter to anyone, even authors!! Now, I DID email a couple of authors.

Did you get an answer?

Yes, I did!! When my bookclub was reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, we started questioning some of the circumstances. Why did the author write this...and why did she decide to do that. So....I emailed her and asked!! She was kind enough to reply the same day! We emailed a couple of times. Nice lady!

I also emailed John Shors when our bookclub was discussing Beneath a Marble Sky. He was also kind enough to answer all of our questions.

Colleen Gleason is an author that I have just recently become acquainted with via the web. I read her blog alot: For all the World to See. Another super person! READ her Gardella Vampire Chronicles, if you want to have some fun!

Did it spark a conversation? A meeting?

The only author I have met personally was Laurell K. Hamilton at a book signing in Springfield. I hope to do more of those when I can!

(And, sure, I suppose that e-mails DO count . . . but I’d say no to something like a message board on which the author happens to participate.)