DAUGHTER AM I HAS FINALLY BEEN PUBLISHED! LET’S PARTY!!

I’m sitting here trying to come up with something witty or at least interesting to mark this momentous occasion of having one more of my novels released into the world, but all I can think of to say is, “Hallelujah! Let’s Party!”  Please help yourself to some  champagne. I promise it’s the best pretend champagne money can’t buy. The fun, however, is real.

For those of you who like action games, here is: Book Invasion.

For those of you who like more cerebral games, here is: Memory by the Book.

For those of you who like card games, here is: Daughter Am I Solitaire.

For those of you who like jigsaw puzzles, you will love these! Click on a cover to work a puzzle. They are  in order of complexity from the easiest to the I-dare-you-to-solve-it.

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s not the end of the fun! There’s more!

Read the first chapter of Daughter Am I. Click here to find the chapter.

Giveaway! Download free samplers from Second Wind Publishing, which include the first chapters of all their published novels. The mystery sampler includes a chapter from Daughter Am I, More Deaths Than One, and A Spark of Heavenly Fire. Click here to find the free samplers. (If you have any problem, let me know and I will make sure you get the sampler of your choice.)

Read the first 30% of Daughter Am I free at Smashwords or buy in any ebook format, including Kindle. Click here to find Smashwords.

Click here to buy Daughter Am I from Second Wind Publishing, LLC. 

Click here to buy Daughter Am I from Amazon.

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More Deaths Than One Book Trailer, Fun, and Games

My week-long  ”HALLELUJAH! MY NOVELS HAVE FINALLY BEEN PUBLISHED! LET’S PARTY!” party continues with more fun and games.

More Deaths Than One Card Game: Solitaire

Word Seek Puzzle:

Jigsaw Puzzle:

You can find my newly published novels at Amazon:

More Deaths Than One

A Spark of Heavenly Fire

 

They are also available at a discount from Second Wind Publishing (payable through Pay Pal only):

More Deaths Than One

A Spark of Heavenly Fire

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A Spark of Heavenly Fire Puzzles, Games, Sudoku

My week-long  ”HALLELUJAH! MY NOVELS HAVE FINALLY BEEN PUBLISHED! LET’S PARTY!” party continues with more fun and games.

A Spark of Heavenly Fire Sudoku. You work these exactly as you do number Sudoku, but you use the letters from A Spark of Fire. (A, S, P, R, K, O, F, I, E)

                                                                                                 

 You can work the sudoku puzzles online:

First Sudoku                      
Second Sudoku
Third Sudoku
Fourth Sudoku

Click here for solutions:

 

 

 

 

Cryptogram:

To break the code, look for repeated letters. E, T, A, O, N, R, and I are the most often used letters. A single letter is usually A or I. OF, IS, and IT are common 2-letter words. Try THE or AND for a 3-letter group.

EBGUB CO CY GDGUV EUNG ZLKRY’O BGRUE R OXRUF LA BGRDGYHV ACUG, ZBCLB HCGO ILUKRYE CY EBG MULRI IRVHCMBE LA XULOXGUCEV, MNE ZBCLB FCYIHGO NX RYI MGRKO RYI MHRQGO CY EBG IRUF BLNU LA RIDGUOCEV. (ZROBCYMELY DUDCYM)

More Puzzles:

A Spark of Heavenly Fire Word Scramble

A Spark of Heavenly Fire Gems

A Spark of Heavenly Fire Solitaire 

Let’s have some fun
In a different guise.
Click on the cover
For a wonderful surprise.

You can find my newly published novels at Amazon:

More Deaths Than One

A Spark of Heavenly Fire

 

They are also available at a discount from Second Wind Publishing (payable through Pay Pal only):

More Deaths Than One

A Spark of Heavenly Fire

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Sports As Story

The one thing that separates humans from other animals is not our ability to communicate; most (perhaps all) creatures possess that ability to some degree. What separates us from animals is how we communicate: by words, by stories.

We all have stories to tell. At work, we tell colleagues, “You’ll never guess what happened to me last night.” At home, we tell our families, “You know what Sally did today? She . . .” Out with friends, we top each other’s jokes.

Stories. That’s what we’re about.

We love to hear other people’s stories, we love to tell stories, and we love to read stories, both real and imagined. “I don’t like stories,” you might say; “I like sports.” Ah, but sports is all about story. The hero, the villain, the conflict, the passion, the suspense, the unexpected or the hoped-for ending. We identify with the characters; we empathize with their plight; we feel as if we have a stake in the outcome of the game. All elements of story. No wonder so many sports movies have been made, so many sports novels have been written. The story of a game within the story of a character. Heady stuff.

Conflict keeps us reading a story, conflict keeps us watching a game. When a character or a player with whom we identify runs up against an obstacle, we want to find out how things will turn out. That conflict forces us to pay attention. When a book is too slow or too predictable, we will toss it aside. When a clear winner of a game is indicated, we will leave the ballpark or turn off the television. When a game is desultorily played, neither team giving that fabled one hundred and ten percent, we lose interest.

We might try to avoid conflict in our lives, but when in comes to story, we need conflict. We need characters, we need to care, we need the contrast and the conflict between the hero and the villain, and we like to see characters change. We love when underdogs win, when they pull out the best in themselves and change from loser to champion. Doesn’t matter whether we hear an anecdote, tell a joke, read a book, or watch sports. It’s all the same.

We are human. We are story.

The Slang Game

Well cut off my legs and call me shorty! That particular bit of slang came from the 1940s. Can you guess what decades the rest of these came from?

1. Heave, meaning to vomit
2. Bitch, meaning to gripe
3. Having the hots for someone
4. To finger someone
5. To come clean
6. Groovy
7. Sore, meaning angry
8. Babe, meaning an attractive female
9. Broad, meaning a woman
10. A scream, meaning something hilarious
11. Teenager
12. Dough, meaning money
13. Beef, meaning complaint
14. Baby, meaning one’s sweetheart
15. Bull, meaning bull crap
16. Joe, meaning coffee
17. John, meaning bathroom
18. Hip, meaning cool
19. Double-cross
20. Dick, meaning private detective
21. “What’s eating you?”

Okey-doke. Don’t get in a lather. I’m a hep-cat and won’t take a powder before I give you the poop. 1-3 are from the 1940s. 4-11 all date back to the 1930s. 12-17 are from the 1920s. 18 dates back to 1915. and 19-21 were used as early as 1900.

Now I have to go see a man about a dog.