Book Review: Green Kitty

I was recently Approached by an author about doing a book review of her children' book, Green Kitty. I don't do book reviews on here very often, but after reading a bit about the book, I realized the book was about Alzheimer's disease and dementia, which I have a soft spot for since I lost my grandfather to it. So I decided to check out the story and give it a review here.

I have sort of mixed feelings about the book. It's basically a collection of animal stories told from the perspective of a family member who is suffering from dementia. I really liked the premise, the illustrations were lovely and some of the stories were hilarious. There were also places where the writing was really passive, though and it slowed down the pace of the book. It took me awhile to really be able to enjoy the story. I would have liked to have seen the stories be a bit more connected to each other. Each chapter was like its own short story. I did enjoy the ending (though I won't give anything away.)

So overall, I have to give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

If you are interested in learning more about it, here is the Green Kitty website.

Guest Post

Jennifer Jackson was nice enough to invite me to do a guest post over at her blog. Everything it & Tales. She's also giving away a digital copy of Nightfire to one winner. Check it out here!

Fallen

I've been busy finishing up my latest WIP, but I thought I'd post another poem on here for the time being. This is one of my older ones.

Fallen

I can still remember the snowflakes
that fell
the night
I fell
for you
landing in my eyelashes
while you kissed me
on your porch
saying goodbye.
The stars hung
so clearly
in the sky above us
so pure
sure to fall from the sky.

Happy New Year!

I'm just posting to wish everyone a happy New Year. I haven't posted much here lately, but I will try and do better with it next year! Do you have any New Years resolutions?

Blogging Tips

Today I thought I’d share a few tips for my blogger friends. I’ve been blogging for almost two years now and I’ve learned a lot since I first started. Here are a few tips I've picked up on!

1. Register your blog with google. If you blog long enough, eventually Google does this on its own. But if you are just starting out, it can help drive traffic your way more quickly. Here’s the link to submit. You can also submit to other search engines as well.
2. Give your blog a title that’s at the beginning of the alphabet. This pushes your blog to the top of everyone’s readers and gives you a little more visibility. You can also add *** in front of your title-this also pushes you to the top.
3. Title blog posts in the form of a question. When people search for something, they often type things in the form of a question-this will lead them directly to you.
4. Turn off captchas. Blogger sets them automatically. Turning them off will lead to more comments. My phone can’t read them, so I frequently find myself wanting to comment on blogs I’ve read and not being able to do so. No captchas=more comments.
5. Don’t forget to be yourself. If you come off too formal or spend a lot of time talking about things that don’t really interest you, people will be able to tell.

Do you have any good blogging tips? I'm always looking to learn something new!

I'm not dead! :)

Just wanted to write a quick post here so you don't think I fell off the face of the Earth. I've been busy working on my latest WIP and also trying to schedule a book signing (which is apparently harder than it sounds.) I've also been brainstorming for a NANO book. I've never attempted one, and am thinking about trying it out.

What's been going on in all your lifes?

A Bit of Photography

One of my hobbies is photography, so I thought I'd share a few recent shots on here. I may start doing this on a semi-regular basis. These are photos I took while house sitting at my friends farm. The place has a warm, country atmosphere that I think is pretty easy to see.