Author: macjam47

I am an avid reader who loves to share my thoughts about the books I read. Other activities I enjoy are doing things with my grandchildren, baking and cooking, gardening, Pilates, and deep water exercise.

Mary Cool, editor-in-chief of the Ducts Magazine talks about publishing

Published on by macjam477 Comments
Damyanti Biswas of the blog daily(w)rite interviews Mary Cool of Ducts Magazine in this post. If you are a reader or a writer, please read and check out both websites.

Here on Daily (w)rite, as part of the guest post series, it is my pleasure today to welcome Mary Cool, editor-in-chief of the Ducts Magazine. What drives Ducts magazine? What are your plans for its future?Well, it just so happens we’re in the middle of an exciting time for Ducts. We just

Source: Mary Cool, editor-in-chief of the Ducts Magazine talks about publishing

EDITING 101: 47 – Dangling Modifiers…

Published on by macjam4713 Comments

Do you get tripped-up by dangling modifiers? Here is an informative and fun post on dangling modifiers by Susan Uttendorfsky.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy ofAdirondack Editing

Dangling Modifiers

In a previous article, we discussed dangling participles(EDITING 101:24). Today we’re going to discuss dangling modifiers.

If you remember, “dangling” is another word for “misplaced.” A modifier is a noun or an adjective that amends or explains, adding description to another noun. So a dangling modifier is simply a word modifying a noun that is in the wrong place, thereby making the sentence ambiguous or confusing, and sometimes downright funny.

Incorrect: The woman walked the dog in purple suede cowboy boots.

Correct: The woman in purple suede cowboy boots walked the dog.

Incorrect: We saw several monkeys on vacation in Mexico.

Correct: While on vacation in Mexico, we saw several monkeys.

Incorrect: We saw several…

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Take control – A beginner’s guide to spam and how to spot it …

Published on by macjam472 Comments

An excellent guide to recognizing and controlling spam on your blog by Sue Vincent.

Sue Vincent's avatarSue Vincent's Daily Echo

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There is a debate about whether or not you should manually moderate all comments before allowing them to appear on you blog. I personally do not moderate every comment. I do moderate every first comment from a reader and it is usually fairly easy to spot who is genuine and who is a spammer.

Spammers should not be allowed on your blog if you can possibly prevent it. They will, if you are not keeping an eye on the ball, fill your post comments with their advertisements for everything from Russian brides to sex aids, training shoes to financial scams.

Should  a spammer get through the many barriers WordPress has put in their way, a vigilant blogger will soon spot their comments and consign them to the spam folder with a single click. Once sent to spam, Askimet generally gets the message pretty quickly and all future comments from that…

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How Much Do You Know About Irony? | Nicholas C. Rossis

Published on by macjam473 Comments

An informative and useful post on irony from the blog of Nicholas Rossis.  When you hop over to check this out, wander around his blog and read some of his other fantastic posts.

 

You may remember some of Reedsy’s awesome creations such as Writing Dynamic Characters and Third Person Limited vs Omniscient PoV. Well, Ricardo Fayet and his team have done it again with a l…

Source: How Much Do You Know About Irony? | Nicholas C. Rossis

The Case of the Sad Mischievous Ghost

Published on by macjam4718 Comments
Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series Book 5

By Janice Spina

 

Book Blurb

Twins Davey and Derek Donato are enlisted by two new characters, Abby and her cousin Holly, to assist them in finding and capturing the spooky beings that haunt their house.

When the boys visit Abby’s house they discover that this old Victorian holds many secrets and shocking revelations.

Davey and Derek soon find that they need the assistance of their Great Aunt Gigi to handle these mischievous phantoms.

My Review

Once again, Davey and Derek are off on an adventure to solve a mystery.  These two young detectives are on the trail of ghosts that are living in their friend Abby’s house.  Abby and her cousin Holly are school mates of Davey and Derek and have more interest in them than just finding the ghosts.  When they visit Abby’s home, a large old Victorian house, they discover the house holds secrets even Abby’s parents didn’t know about.  Of course, once again, they enlist their Great Aunt Gigi to help them.

This was once again another delightful middle-grade book in the Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series.  Davey and Derek and their friends are delightful children who are respectful and considerate of others, but who don’t hesitate to do a bit of sleuthing under the nose of Abby’s parents.

As with the other books in this series, The Case of the Sad Mischievous Ghost is well written and meets the author’s criteria for instilling the love of reading in children.

I highly recommend The Case of the Sad Mischievous Ghost to all middle graders and to their parents.  This would be a wonderful book to share, with parents taking a turn reading aloud.

About the Author

Janice Spina is an award-winning author with nine children’s books, Louey the Lazy Elephant, Ricky the Rambunctious Raccoon, Jerry the Crabby Crayfish (won Pinnacle Book Achievement Award), Lamby the Lonely Lamb (won the Silver Medal from MOM’S Choice Awards), and Jesse the Precocious Polar Bear, Broose the Moose on the Loose and Sebastian Meets Marvin the Monkey, Colby the Courageous Cat, and Jeffrey the Jittery Giraffe. Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series (Book 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) is a middle-grade/preteen series. Book 1, The Case of the Missing Cell Phone won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and an Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite Awards. Book 2, The Case of the Mysterious Black Cat, won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and Book 3, The Case of the Magical Ivory Elephant, also won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award.

Janice has published two novels under J. E. Spina, Hunting Mariah, a thriller/mystery and her paranormal/mystery/romance novel, How Far Is Heaven, and a short story collection, An Angel Among Us, all available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She is working on two children’s books, book 2 of Hunting Mariah and a mystery series for YA girls will be written in 2018 along with a YA fantasy series. Her husband is her illustrator and cover creator.

She has written over a hundred poems and two other novels. The two novels need editing before publishing. Janice says, “There is always another story swimming around in my head. If I don’t write them down they are lost forever.”

Her logo is JEMSBOOKS for all ages on which is her motto:
“Reading Gives You Wings To Fly! Soar with Jemsbooks!'”

Janice’s and John’s joint goal is: To encourage children to read and to instill this love of reading in them to carry them through life and thus giving them ‘wings to fly!’

She loves to hear from readers and appreciates reviews. She says, “It’s like Christmas each time I receive a review!”

Author Biography taken from Goodreads.

Author Links

Website – Jemsbooks

Blog – Jemsbooks (on WordPress)

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Book Spotlight – THE HEART TO KILL

Published on by macjam4721 Comments

by Dorothy M. Place

Synopsis

Sarah, a student at Northwestern University Law School, returns to her apartment after a trying day to find two telephone messages. The first informs her that she has not been chosen for a coveted summer internship, a position for which her father had arranged an interview. The second is from her mother, with the news that Sarah’s best friend in high school, JoBeth Ruland has murdered her own son and daughter. To mislead her father about her failure to be chosen as a recipient of the internship, Sarah decides to secure a position on JoBeth’s defense team. Against her father’s vehement protest, she leaves Evanston, Illinois at the end of the term and returns to Eight Mile Junction, South Carolina, a small town in the Appalachian foothills, determined to convince him that the experience will contribute to her future.

To make the best of the situation, Sarah sets out to become a vital member of the defense team and to regain favor with her father. But she is not well-prepared for the shock of leaving her sheltered academic life and working in a community rife with chauvinism, malice, and betrayal. Her struggle is met with the benevolent amusement of the senior law partner, John-Two who, despite her objection, insists on calling her “Little Lady.” The criminal trial expert on the team, Al, a tense, disciplined young attorney, resents the intrusion of what he believes to be a know-nothing law student, and treats Sarah as if she is incompetent. The folks of Eight Mile Junction close ranks in the face of Sarah’s inquiries, hiding the town’s complicity in JoBeth’s degradation from the eyes of “outsiders” by finding her guilty before the trial begins. And finally, her father, on whose judgment Sarah has relied her entire life, rejects her efforts to placate his ill-humored response to her decision that summer.

In the end, Sarah discovers the underlying issues that precipitated her friend’s murderous act. Through interviews with JoBeth, her mother, her former lover, and her work associates, her ex-husband’s mistress as well as the testimony given during the trial, the horrifying events that shaped JoBeth’s life are revealed, helping Sarah understand how a person can be driven to extremes that defy ordinary reasoning. Sarah and her friend, it is the betrayal by those they love and believe in that changes their lives forever. Ultimately, it means disgrace and imprisonment for JoBeth. But for Sarah, who decides against returning to law school, it is the beginning of a life in which she, not her father, manages her future.

Meet the Author

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Dorothy M. Place now lives and writes in Davis, California. A principle investigator of a research group at Sacramento State College, she began creative writing, first as a hobby then as a second career, ten years ago. Since 2005, ten of her short stories have been published in literary journals and magazines, two of which were selected for prizes. At present, she is putting together her first collection of short stories, Living on the Edge, and working on her second novel, The Search for Yetta

Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Links to Purchase

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

From the Author

THE HEART TO KILL is a novel about love, murder, and small-town politics. Sarah, a second-year law student, returns home to serve on the team defending her high school girlfriend who has murdered her two children. The story is an immersive dive into the human psyche, peeling back layers of deceit and shame until the unvarnished and terrifying truth is revealed. Titan Book Awards gave this novel a gold, the San Francisco Book Review gave it five stars, and Train of Thoughts book reviews named Sarah one of the five best heroines of 2016. To read about the book, learn how it came to be written, and to take a virtual tour of Eight Mile Junction, the town in which the story takes place, please visit the author’s website www.dorothymplace.com. To order the book from Texas A&M Press and take advantage of the 30% discount they are offering, click on this link: www.tamupress.com/Basket/ShoppingCart.aspx.  The discount code is 3B.

 

Unlock the Hidden Meanings – #Technology #Humor

Published on by macjam476 Comments

My lovely friend, Morgan, over at Booknvolume got my day off to a good start with her post about what IT says and what IT really means. I hope you enjoy it, and while you are ready, take a look around her blog and enjoy her poetry and snippets from her books in her Dark Fey Trilogy.

Morgan's avatarBooknVolume

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Because we all need a laugh now and again, I simply had to share this snippet that I stumbled across in an old email 🙂 I hope you enjoy it as much as I did 🙂

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Takeaway: Before joining the help desk elite, unseasoned techs must master the hidden meaning of phrases used during a support call.  There are a number of key phrases that are used on a regular basis at help desks around the world. They sound harmless enough but often have hidden meanings, understood only by those who have been initiated into the black art of the help desk. In this listing of common phrases and their true meanings, I’m sure you’ll see some that you’ve heard before and some that you might have even used yourself.

What IT says vs. What IT means:


“To tell you the truth/To be honest…”
Meaning: “I am…

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Wonderful Trip to Sicily!

Published on by macjam4716 Comments

Enjoy reading about author Janice Spina and her illustrator husband John as they tour Sicily. Travel with them through their fabulous photos of food, friends, and amazing points of interest.

jjspina's avatarJEMSBOOKS

Beautiful Sicily!

Countryside

Buon Giorno! Buon Sera! Buona Notte!

Well, I am finally home and back to blogging, email, writing and all the rest of the stuff that I do daily. I enjoyed the time away and the welcome break to get recharged and energized. I was not, however, able to post a Father’s Day note during this time. For this, I apologize. I hope all fathers out there had a relaxing day.

I had been away on vacation from June 10th – June 19th traveling all over Sicily with Collette Tours.

Map of Sicily.jpg

We had an excellent Tour Manager, Cristina, who shared the beauty and culture of this wonderful island with us. Cristina was calm, competent, and helpful and she spoke in a melodious tone that made us feel right at home. Thank you, Cristina! She kept us all together and everything running smoothly. The group was a small one – only twelve. Once we got acclimated…

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