Your Opinion Wanted!

Readers!
A group of authors has come together to create a survey to help us
better serve you. We want to know where you buy your books, what format you
prefer, what you like to see in a cover, how important reviews are to you
and other critical questions!
The survey should only take 10-15 minutes to
complete and is available until June 30 at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYQ7J8K.

Thanks in advance for taking the
survey! It will help serve you better!

Giveaway!

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Bound to the Warrior
     

     

          by Barbara Phinney
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends July 05, 2013.
         

         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   

      Enter to win

I have to share....

I just checked my current ranking for All For A Good Cause, my romantic comedy, and was stunned and excited at the same time.

Check it out here

 Here is the Amazon ranking:

File Size: 475 KB

Print Length: 172 pages

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Language: English

ASIN: B00847SMVU

Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray: Not Enabled

Lending: Not Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,264 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #34 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Humor
• #36 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Humor
• #41 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Comedy 

Bravo One, this is Bravo two...

My daughter, my husband and I went shopping in the States this past long weekend.
Now, as a Canadian, this in itself is hardly newsworthy.
But having your retired soldier husband tell you, "We're taking the walkie-talkies. I don't want to lose you." Well, that is a bit of news. He doesn't want to lose me.
Isn't that sweet? He doesn't want to lose me.
But, girlfriend, read between the lines. He wants to bug me. To check to see if I have left the lingerie section yet. To see if I'm reading to move to the next store.
Hey, hubby, this is Kohl's and they're having a sale! I AM NOT ready to leave yet!
Undeterred, because after all, he was a soldier for 25 years. He's dealt with difficult situations before. "Barbara, you are Bravo One and I am Bravo Two. Normal radio procedures will be in effect."
"What about radio silence?"
"No radio silence. As soon as we get into the store, we'll do a radio check, okay?"
"Whatever."
So, my daughter is in the change room. I'm inspecting the nearby tank tops. My walkie talkie goes off. A short stream of static and the nice young man waiting on his wife, also in the change room, has his interest piqued.
I smiled at him. "That's my hubby doing a radio check."
On the radio: "Tango One, this is Tango Two. Request your location. Over."
That's not right! I shake my head and speak to the man. "I am supposed to be Bravo One. I shouldn't answer this. Besides, where was the radio check?"
The young man smiled.
"Tango One, come in, over!"
I continue to inspect the tank tops. "I'm Bravo One," I toss over my shoulder to the man. "I can't answer that. And it's going to drive him crazy."
"Tango One! Where are you?"
The young man is laughing hard. Since I have to live with this old soldier, I relent and key the mike. "I thought I was Bravo One?"
"So I forgot. Where are you?"
"Weren't we supposed to do a radio check first?
"Where are you?!!??"
I smile knowingly, like Kevin Spacey does in House of Cards. Then I relent. "Change rooms, center of the store. Bravo One out."

Oh, my hubs showed up shortly after. And yes, I listened to yet another lecture on proper radio procedures. 
You know, there is a lesson in all of this.
Husband found me, Walkie-talkies worked, and  something we don't always consider.
Radio Silence is so underrated.

The price for a bit of extra safety?

Having recently traveled, and noting that for some reason, this blog is one of my more popular ones, I decided to regurgitate it.
And this is something you may have noticed yourself. The airline we're booked on offers a pre-booking of our seats, to, as they put it, save time.
(Like that's going to get the plane off the ground any sooner. We all know you're only saving the time to wait in the lounge and watch someone in front of you text his life away)
But, I can always look at what is offered.
It turns out that if we want to choose our seats, we will be charged anywhere from $15 to $25, depending on where you want to sit. It seems that right by the emergency exit is the most expensive. (I'd think seats near the toilet would be more desirable, but that's my menopause coming out)
Now, you may argue that it's the leg room they're really offering, but I want to counter that. Not every plane has that extra leg room by the emergency exit.
I say it's because of the perceived notion that you'll be safer near the exit, and be able to get out sooner should the plane crash. Except....
as a friend of mine pointed out, you'll also be trampled to death by others, if you in any way hesitate.
I told my husband, who, like I said before, likes inexpensive vacations, said to me, 'Forget it. I don't care where I sit.'
But it got me thinking. Are the airlines are cashing in on people's paranoia. People want that extra bit of peace of mind, and sitting by an emergency exit may provide that for them. 
And while I know the airlines try their best to put you with your traveling companions, it doesn't always happen.
Are they sometimes separating you so as to encourage you to rebook your seats, and thus pay that extra fee? Me? I don't buy that notion that you need to pay extra to sit by your loved one. Where the heck is your loved one going whilst flying in a plane? And frankly, having raised two kids, I would only be too happy to put my little darlings next to some stranger, especially if that person refuses my request to change seats.
Sure, mister, sit by my kid. Like his mother, he snores when he falls asleep, which is at the drop of a hat. Oh, and by the way, he may drool a little at the same time. Like his mother.
But what burns me is the fact that airlines, who already charge for anything more than a cup of tea, are just trying to get more money out of us. They're basically saying, 'You want to think you'll be safer by that emergency exit? You'll have to pay for it.'
What's next? 'Oh, ma'am, you want a life jacket? That'll be an extra $50. The ones that come with the plane only inflate halfway.'
Oh, yeah, Airline?  I watched the safety video. I can inflate my own, thank you very much.

Plan for a summer of fun!

Great news! Okay, allow me to back up a little. You know that when summer comes, we always stock up on condiments, napkins, cold drinks and a stack of some great meat for the barbeque?

Well, think of this as stock up for your mind. And your ereader, too! No one wants to be stuck in on the computer on a nice day searching for a book to read. You want to be outside in the chaise, or hammock, or poolside, having already picked out your summer books.

This is your opportunity. 
And wait!  Does your mother have an ereader? Grab those books for her. Save them onto a cute little flashdrive and pop it into the card you plan to give her.






   All right, segue over and done with, here's my idea. 

Book Lovers' Buffet

Why not load up with books? Grab some for your mother, daughter, sister for that special day in May, and save some for yourself, whilst lounging around this summer?

Each book is only 99 cents, and we have loads of your fave categories. Mystery, historical, inspirational, paranormal, sci-fi, contemporary, we have them all.

But only for three days! I know everyone says, 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true.' But I wouldn't lie to you, folks. (okay I may lie about my weight, but that's it!) This is only 3 days long, and it's going on right now.