Celebrate the Small Things — The Creative Blogger Award!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it hereCelebrateSmallThings_Badge

A few weeks ago, Wallcat over at My Inner Geek nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award! Thanks so much, Wallcat!

CreativeBloggerAward_06122015

The rules for accepting the award are:

  1. Thank and post the link of the person who nominated you.
  2. Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers.
  3. Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify them.
  4. Pass on the rules.

Since I’ve already shared a great many facts about myself, which can be read HERE, I thought I might share instead 5 things on my bucket list.

  1. A ride in a hot air balloon.
  2. To go ziplining! I don’t care where.
  3. To see the Redwood trees in California.
  4. To see my book made into a movie.
  5. To visit the ruins of an ancient civilization like Machu Picchu or the pyramids of Egypt.

My nominations (in alphabetical order):

Atherton’s Magic Vapour — Anyone who loves a good mystery would love Melanie’s serialized A to Z murder mystery. She even used theatrical makeup and included photos of herself dressed up as each of the characters.

Bemuzin’ — Many of Sammy D.’s humorous posts include intricate tangles and designs that are just lovely.

Constantine — Cathrina writes YA/NA suspense and is about to publish some short fiction as well.

Doorway Between Worlds — Sue Archer’s creative take on grammar and spelling issues is not only useful, but hilarious.

Down the Rabbit Hole — Celine Jean Jean’s nostalgic and sometimes fictionalized childhood stories made for some fun and amusing A to Z reads.

Eclectic Alli — I’ve enjoyed reading Alli’s serialized Taliana stories on her blog.

Elizabeth Mueller — Not only is Elizabeth a great writer, she’s also a fantastic artist. My daughter and I both loved her A to Z original My Little Pony drawings.

Hungry Enough To Eat Six — Nancy Mock has very creative culinary talents and makes the best desserts.

Kristin Smith — Kristin is a YA writer and busy mom, who also loves interior design and party planning.

Marilyn Parel — Marilyn is a producer and writer of short stories with a twist.

Often Clueless, Always Shoeless —Olivia Berrier recently began a serialized story on her blog called “The World That Forgot How to Dance” that I find intriguing.

Sara C. Snider — Sara wrote beautiful flash fiction stories using tree names for prompts for A to Z this year.

Story Treasury — Sonia writes fascinating fiction and book reviews, among other things.

Tyrean Martinson — Tyrean is another awesome writer who is amazingly organized.

Write with Fey — Author Chrys Fey’s blog overflows with great tips for writers.

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

I can’t believe another week has flown by. Today, I’m celebrating:

  1. Final editing and proofreading work on Book 2 has begun! Yay!
  2. I attended a seminar on cyber security for small businesses. That was an eye opener.
  3. One of the libraries we go to will be giving away free books this weekend! We are so there.
  4. National Donut Day! This year I celebrated with a maple crème filled sugar donut. Absolutely delicious! (The Boston Crème wasn’t bad, either.)  🙂

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

Summer weather is definitely here, even if the calendar says it’s still spring. Whichever it is, I’m just happy it’s warm and not snowing. Celebrations for this week:

  1. My daughter was presented with a certificate for being chosen Student of the Month for May!
  2. My Mom’s birthday get-together is this weekend!
  3. School is almost out! I think I’m as ready for it to be done as my kids are.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

Wow, this month is flying right by! I can’t believe we’re halfway through it already. This week I’m celebrating:

  1. Another Indie bookstore, The Flying Pig in Shelburne, VT, agreed to carry my book! Whoo, hoo!
  2. My two flowering crabapple trees have blossomed, and my yard smells heavenly.
  3. A trip to IHOP to celebrate surviving the A to Z Challenge. Love those apple-cinnamon pancakes!

 

WhiteFloweringCrabTree_May2015

 

RedFloweringCrabTree_May2015

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge Reflection

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

This week, I’m celebrating the wonderful warm weather! (Finally!) It has been sunny and 70s-80s all week. I’ve been raking like mad to get all the leaves off my lawn before the grass gets too tall. I can’t believe how fast it’s growing. The trees are leafing out, and two of my flowering shrubs are in full bloom. It’s so nice!

 

 

My overgrown forsythia bush.

My overgrown forsythia bush.

 

My I-think-it's-some-kind-of-rhododendron shrub.

My I-think-it’s-some-kind-of-rhododendron shrub.

 

A-to-Z Reflection [2015] - Lg

I’m also still celebrating surviving the A to Z Challenge! This was my second year with it, and it definitely was more of a challenge this time around (sorry, no pun intended), because I didn’t get many posts written in advance and ended up writing most of them on the day they were to be posted, which didn’t leave me much time for visiting other blogs. The general crazy busyness of life didn’t help, either.

In spite of that, I enjoyed the Challenge and look forward to catching up with all the amazing A to Zs that I missed. So many interesting themes! Not only am I entertained, but I learn a lot, too. Thank you to all the co-hosts and their teams for monitoring and visiting everyone during this huge undertaking! What an awesome job!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 9: Indiana Jones

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

This week, my son has been home sick with a bad cold for three days, but he’s finally feeling better, so I’m celebrating that and the fact that it looks like spring may finally be getting here. The temps are reaching into the 40s and 50s, and the snow is almost gone. Yay!

 

And now for today’s A to Z — A2Z-BADGE-0002015-LifeisGood-230_zps660c38a0

I is for — Indiana Jones

When I first saw the ad trailer for the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, I didn’t really catch what it was about, but thought it looked like it might be a good action movie. I went to see it, not expecting anything special, and got wowed. The adventure, the stunts, the humor, the snakes — I was hooked right from the first scene. In fact, I liked the movie so much I went back and saw it again the next day.

Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, is such a cool character. He gets to travel the world to seek out priceless antiquities and live the adventures that people like me dream about. He survives by his ingenuity, his daring, and his bullwhip. He’s not one of those perfect characters who always wins, either. He’s had his share of heartbreak and defeat. He keeps going, though, with dogged determination, saving the treasures of the world for posterity.

My favorite quote from the movie is when Sallah asks Indy how he’s going to get the Ark back from the Germans. Indy utters his classic, well-thought-out line: “I don’t know. I’m making it up as I go.”

I’ve never been able to decide which movie I like better — Raiders or The Last Crusade. Sean Connery is excellent as Indy’s father, and their exchanges make the movie. I didn’t care for Temple of Doom. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was better and marked the return of the awesome Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. Now, there’s another favorite character…

 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

 

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 3: Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

This week I’m celebrating getting my book into a local independent book store! I’ve always wanted to see my book on an actual brick-and-mortar store shelf. I’m really excited about it!

And now for today’s A to Z — A2Z-BADGE-0002015-LifeisGood-230_zps660c38a0

C is for — Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau from Blake Edward’s Pink Panther films.

Jacques Clouseau is a police inspector in the French Surete. Dimwitted, bumbling, and hilariously inept, he, nevertheless, and usually completely by accident, manages to solve the case. At least, most of the time.

Anyone who has ever watched any of the Pink Panther movies starring Peter Sellers knows he is a slapstick comedic genius. The first time I watched the movies, I laughed myself to tears. The silliness of his clumsy antics and his over-the-top disguises still bring fits of giggles. And his warped French accent is priceless. How he did all that with a straight face, I’ll never know.

The movie series with Sellers includes The Pink Panther (1963), A Shot in the Dark (1964), Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). Other Pink Panther movies were made with other actors, both before and after Sellers’ death in 1980, but in my book, Sellers owned the character, and none of the others even comes close to equaling his portrayal.

Here’s a brief example of Sellers’ inspired lunacy from The Pink Panther Strikes Again:

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

C_JacquesClouseau_PinkPantherMovies

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things! And Blog Tour! With Tyrean Martinson and Juneta Key!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

Today, I’m celebrating that my new fantasy adventure novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, is now available in print! Click here for details.

I’m also celebrating the wrap-up of my two-week-long blog tour with Tyrean Martinson and Juneta Key! Hop on over to Tyrean’s and see what Bilbo Baggins and I have in common, and to Juneta’s to learn more about my characters and their stories in a book-related interview.

Here’s a huge THANK YOU!!! to everyone who hosted me on their blogs and to all who visited along the way! I truly appreciate it!!

Blog Tour Stops:

3/5:      Eclectic Alli & Jo @ My Inner Geek          Reviews

3/6       Doreen McGettigan & Unicorn Bell          Interviews

3/9       Caffe Maggieato                                            Behind the Scenes

3/10     Marie Andreas                                               Reason #57 Why I Chose To Self-Publish

3/11     Elizabeth Hein                                                Lessons Learned

3/12     Sue Archer                                                      Conversation Corner

3/14     Diane Burton                                                  Saturday Sampler

3/16     Loni Townsend                                               Typos: Say What??

3/17     Kari Jo Spear                                                   The Magic of Names

3/18     Kristin Smith                                                   My Writing Space

3/20    Juneta Key                                                       Book-related Interview

3/20    Tyrean Martinson                                          What Bilbo Baggins and I Have in Common

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

*****

 9781942015000-Perfect-lady-thy-name-is-trouble_EbookCover

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

 

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

It’s been a busy blogging week for me, and I’m still trying to get caught up. This week I’m celebrating:

  1. Holding the print copy of my book in my hand!!! I approved the print proof, so my book should be available in print format shortly.
  2. Having fun with my blog tour! The tour continues tomorrow with Diane Burton’s Saturday Sampler.
  3. Spending this morning at the school library, helping them set up for the Scholastic Book Fair that starts on Monday. My kids LOVE the Book Fair. It has become a tradition for the kids to pick out some books as a reward for their stellar report cards.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things — My First Novel Has Arrived!!

EDIT: Thank you to everyone! I’ve discovered some formatting issues with the e-book, and I’m working to resolve them. I’ll visit and reply to everyone as soon as I get this ironed out.

 

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

It’s here!!!!

This week I’m celebrating a very BIG thing — my first novel is being released today!

Whoo, hoo!! I’m so excited! To think that after all these years, my book is finally in print. Well, sort of. It’s currently available in e-book form, but will be out in print form very soon, if all goes well. The color issues have been fixed, and the print cover file is being processed. All my fingers and toes are crossed that it goes through this time.

Either way, I’m going to celebrate!!!

9781942015000-Perfect-lady-thy-name-is-trouble_EbookCover

 

Trouble is Tara Triannon’s middle name. As swords for hire, Tara and her sister Laraina thrive on the danger. But a surprise invasion throws them into chaos… and trouble on a whole new level. Pursued by the Butcher, a terrifying assassin more wolf than man, Tara and Laraina must get a prince marked for death and a young, inept sorceress to safety. There’s only one problem – eluding the Butcher has never been done. Aided by a secretive soldier of fortune, they flee the relentless hunter.

Gifted with magic and cursed by nightmares that are all too real, Tara must stop an army led by a madman and fend off an evil Being caught in a centuries-old trap who seeks to control her magic and escape through her dreams – all while keeping one step ahead of the Butcher.

 

Available at:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Name-Trouble-Lori-MacLaughlin-ebook/dp/B00TT8NERU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425178824&sr=1-1&keywords=lady+thy+name+is+trouble

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lady-thy-name-is-trouble-lori-l-maclaughlin/1121255932?ean=9781942015017

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/lady-thy-name-is-trouble

 

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.