BVS Reader's Blog

I’ve just added the first survey using Survey Gizmo…a new to me service. I would love to have everyone take this survey which asks a few questions about your thoughts and feelings about, and use of book trailers. There has long been discussion amongst authors and publishers as to whether readers really use book trailers in making decisions about which books to buy. Just in posting the book trailers I have posted here…I have seen that they do influence me…pretty much in the same way that a book blurb would.

In any case, I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings about book trailers. If everything goes well with the execution of the survey this week I will be putting up weekly surveys and sharing the results during the next week. The results will serve as a discussion topic…though they won’t be the only discussion topics we’ll have here. I would like for the blog to be a place of robust discussion about books and the things that relate to books.  

If you have topics you are curious about…that you’d like to see a survey for email me your suggestions at: LaurieSanders@blackvelvetseductions.com If I can I will create a survey around them.

This week’s survey is at: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/358252/Do-You-Find-Book-Trailers-Helpful

Just a reminder! Don’t forget about the Kindle Wi-Fi Giveaway. Someone who posts here WILL win. How soon that happens depends upon how many comments there are. Ideally I’d like to see the Kindle given away before Christmas …but I don’t really control when the giveaway happens. As you’ll remember, there is a spot hidden in the comment spreadsheet…just like there are spots for other prizes…paperbacks…bookmarks…bookbags…Amazon gift cards…Fictionwise gift cards…etc. The Kindle will be given away when someone lands on the lucky spot.

Tell your friends to come and play too because more people leaving more comments fill more spots faster.

Here is the post everyone has been waiting for…the weekly winner’s list.

This week’s winners are:

Saturdy Blog — Paperback, ebook, or short story of winner’s choice
jparr1746

Saturday Blog — Awarded to someone who posted this week and landed on a lucky colored square in the comment spreadsheet
TOPSAIL246 — Free Paperback From Laurie’s Stash — be sure to check out the post on available books…it includes the list of books as well as descriptions of a couple

Daily Ebook Winners — Drawn from readers newsletter subscribers
dunpoor2 — free ebook or short story download
bonniehoffmaster — free ebook or short story download
twistypale — free ebook or short story download
patman1770 — free ebook or short story download
natl81 — – free ebook or short story download
mann5339 — free ebook or short story download
dreamweaver_73us — – free ebook or short story download

$10 Amazon Gift Card — Drawn From Readers Newsletter Subscribers
readingitall2

Good Morning!

It seems like each week I post the winners to the contests, but I don’t often take the time to tell you about the books and stories that are available to win. Winners of ebooks and paperbacks can always choose from any of the books and short stories on our site…but I think periodically I will start highlighting one of the books or stories available from Black Velvet Seductions and a few of the books that are in my stash waiting for lucky winners to claim them.

So this week…I’m going to spotlight Fool Me Once By Jessica Joy. Fool Me Once is a romantic suspense–and was the first book ever published by Black Velvet Seductions. You will find it in the Amorous Adventures line which is the romantic suspense line here at Black Velvet Seductions.

When I was first considering Fool Me Once I knew I had a winner when I kept thinking about the book even after I had closed it and was on my way to a meeting.

The story is about Toni and Blair who were friends…or at least associates once. Toni was helping FBI agent Blair take down her lover bad guy Farrell Hagen. Unfortunately though, Toni betrayed Blair and the betrayal cost Blair the lives of two of his agents and nearly cost him his own life.

The pair reunite when Toni crashes (literally) back into his life. She crashes her Porsche near his driveway.

When she wakes in the hospital after the accident she has no memory of her past except for the strange disconnected images of a murder scene that haunts her dreams…and occasionally her waking moments.

Blair wants to get Toni’s lover and he thinks she has the knowledge to help him, or at least she will have the knowledge once she regains her memory. Wanting to keep Toni safe (and away from her lover) till she can give him the information he wants Blair convinces Toni that they were friends and that she had been planning to spend the holidays with him–a total fabrication. The tables are turned though when this Toni seems nothing like the Toni that Blair knew before the botched sting operation.

There are twists, turns, and surprises in this story. Fans of romantic suspense, Christmas stories, and heart tugging romance between wounded characters won’t be disappointed. Fool Me Once is a great choice for those lucky enough to win a free book or ebook.

For those winning books from my stash, I added a new book to the stash this week. It’s Katie’s Art of Seduction by N.J. Walters — published by Ellora’s Cave. Here’s a bit of the blurb.

Published by Ellora’s Cave — From the Cover: From the moment the woman’s portrait in the window of a coffee shop caught Cain Benjamin’s attention, he resolved to possess not only it, but her as well. Determined to find the mysterious beauty, he sets out to locate the artist. If he can find the artist, he’s sure he can find the woman in the picture. Katie Wallace’s schedule at Coffee Breaks allows her to earn a living and still have time to pursue her love of painting. When her boss and firend convinces her to display one of her self-portraits in the shop window, she is apprehensive, but eltated when it sells — until she meets the portrait owner.

Also available from my stash this week is Summer Breeze by one of my favorite authors — Catherine Anderson. Here’s a bit of the blurb from it.

Published by Signet — From the Cover: The year is 1889, and Rachel Hollister hasn’t set foot outside her house in five years. Ever since a savage attack left her family dead, she’s cordoned herself off from the outside world, afraid to let anyone into her home–or into her heart. But now trouble has appeared on her doorstep–and suddenly she has no choice but to let a handsome rancher invade her well-guarded existence…

And of course…the winner of a free book from my stash doesn’t have to choose one of these…they can choose from any of the 80 or so titles on my giveaway shelf. Here’s the list of available titles. (Yes, someone did win a pick from my stash this week. Don’t you hope it was you?)

74 Seaside Avenue — Debbie Macomber
8 Sandpiper Way — Debbie Macomber
A Hero’s Kiss — Diana Palmer
A Knight In Shining Armor — Jude Deveraux
A Lady Of The West — Linda Howard
A Reason To Believe — Maureen McKade
After Midnight — Diana Palmer
Again and Again — Susan Johnson
Alibi Man — Tami Hoag — Hardback
Back in Black — Lori Foster
Before Sunrise — Diana Palmer
Black Ice — Linda Hall
Brazen — Bobbi Smith
Caitlin’s Guardian Angel — Marie Ferrarella
Carrera’s Bride — Diana Palmer
Club de Sade — Claire Thompson
Colter’s Wife — Joan Johnston
Dangerous Lover — Lisa Marie Rice
Dark Deceiver — Pamela Palmer
Dark Horse — Tami Hoag — Hardback
Edge of Danger — Cherry Adair
Faith and Dreams — Joey W. Hill
Forever — Two Stories — Rules of the Game & The Heart’s Victory
Forever After — Catherine Anderson
Having The Cowboy’s Baby — Stella Bagwell
Heart of a Warrior — Johanna Lindsey
Heart of Ice — Diana Palmer
Heart’s Delight — Ruth Ryan Langan
House of Sand and Fog — Andre Dubus III
Justin’s Bride — Susan Mallery
Katie’s Art of Seduction – N.J. Walters
Keegan’s Lady — Catherine Anderson
Lord Of The Desert — Diana Palmer
Love With A Long Tall Texan — Diana Palmer
Lover’s Knot — Emile Richards
Marriage Most Scandalous — Johanna Lindsey
Master & Slave A Covert Love Story — JTNEWCOMBE
Montana Gold — Genell Dellin
Morning Light — Catherine Anderson
Mr. Perfect — Linda Howard
My Pet — JW McKenna
My Sunshine — Catherine Anderson
Night Game — Christine Feehan
Night Spell — Lucinda Betts
No Longer A Stranger — Joan Johnston
Panic Snap — Laura Reese
Paper Rose — Diana Palmer
Perfect — Judith McNaught
Power Exchange — MadeleineOH
Prior Bad Acts — Tami Hoag — Hardback
Raintree Sanctuary — Beverly Barton
Raintree: Inferno — Linda Howard
Second Chances — Sharon Sala
Sin Street — Selah March
Son Of The Morning — Linda Howard
Star Bright — Catherine Anderson
State Secrets — Linda Lael Miller
Strangers In The Night — Linda Howard
Sugar Daddy — Lisa Kleypas
Summer Breeze — Catherine Anderson
Sun Kissed — Catherine Anderson
Surrender — Vonna Harper
Sweet Enemy — Diana Palmer
The Brethren — John Grisham
The Bride’s Necklace — Kat Martin
The Cowboy Way — Candace Schuler
The Horse Whisperer — Nicholas Evans
The Love Slave — Bertrice Small
The Man From Stone Creek — Linda Lael Miller
The Texas Ranger — Diana Palmer
The Touch of Fire — Linda Howard
To Serve and Submit — Susan Wright
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell End Game — written by David Michaels
Too Hot To Handle — Elizabeth Lowell
Too Wicked To Wed — Cheryl Holt
Whispering Rock — Robyn Carr
Wicked — Tori Carrington
Wicked Nights — Nina Bangs
Wilde Thing — Janelle Denison

We’re enjoying marginally cooler temperatures here in Indianapolis. With night temperatures in the mid 50′s and 60′s the weather seems perfect to ease back into more fall fare. This casserole is a big favorite for fall and winter at my house.

Cabbage Roll Casserole – Or Cabbage Rolls Without The Work

3/4 package coleslaw mix (with the salads in the fruit and vegetable area at the supermarket–this is just chopped cabbage and carrots–no dressing)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup instant rice (like Minute Rice)
2 cans tomato sooup
1/2 can water
dash salt
dash pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown ground beef, onions, salt, and pepper together in large non-stick skillet treated with Pam or a similar non-stick product. Drain fat from pan. Add rice, tomato soup and water. Simmer over low heat stirring occasionally till heated through.

Meanwhile spray 13×9 baking dish with Pam or a similar product. Arrange 3/4 package of coleslaw mix in bottom of pan. Pour beef mixture over the top of coleslaw. Cover pan with aluminim foil. Bake for 1 hour at 350.

Delicious served with fresh lettuce salad and/or homemade bread or rolls.  

This is so easy to prepare that you can put it together in fifteen minutes and read for an hour while it is baking.

Here’s the Friday video post…which is a regular post on Fridays here on the blog. Videos will not always be book related…sometimes they are just interesting or funny videos that I’ve found during the week…or sometime in the past and wanted to share. Such is the case with this week’s video.

I saw this one several months ago and thought it amazing…even if the elephant is being coached.

Most of us, whether we work at home or we work outside the home have a variety of things that we want to accomplish on any given day. We have tasks that relate to our work lives if we work, tasks that relate to our families, tasks it’s necessary to do to live comfortably, tasks associated with volunteer commitments, and tasks associated with our hobbies.  

If you’re like me the number of tasks on the task list on any given day usually exceeds the amount of time in the day by a hefty margin. That used to really bother me, because I tended to feel like I needed to work till I reached the end of the task list, which never happened because I was always adding more to it.

I have always used my task list as kind of a catch spot for things that I don’t want to fall through the cracks. But recently I’ve been using it even more for this purpose, and I find that it works really well for me.

For example, if I am going through email and I find an email about a sale on banner ads at one of the review sites I will copy that email (electronically of course) to my task list and title the task check out banner ads and assign a date sometime in the future when I think I might have time to look at the banner ads. This has proved helpful because I don’t get scattered and unfocused and go off looking at the banner ads right then. Instead I move it to a task, set a date and I am able to stay focused on getting through the email which is always a huge task in itself. I have found that I really like using the task list in this way. However, as I add more tasks the list gets longer and longer and can sometimes close in and feel claustrophobic.

What I’ve trained myself to do over time is prioritize tasks on a daily basis. I go through my task list and pull in the things that are date sensitive, and a few of the things that are most important for that day and I set those tasks for that day. Then I go about merrily working through the tasks and checking things off. At the end of the day I will have at a minimum completed the highest priority tasks, and will have probably made a dent on lower priority ones. The next day, I go through the list of live tasks and I prioritize again, pulling in the time sensitive tasks, a few of those I am most eager to work on, and a few from lower down the list. That day I work through that list.

Working this way gives me a shorter list of important tasks to work on (and keeps me from forgetting important things.) It also makes me feel productive.  I always feel moral when I have completed the highest priority stuff and feel productive in the extreme when I am able to accomplish more than just the most important stuff on the list.  

There are days once in a while when the highest priority (tasks with a deadline–usually) aren’t done and I don’t get to stop working and quilt or read as early as I would like. But for the most part, using this approach allows me to get to the highest priority stuff, pick away at lower priority stuff, and still have time to read and quilt a little in the evening.

I think it’s important even from the standpoint of getting things done, to take some time for the fun stuff. I find that for me it is the times that I am not trying to slog through the tasks that my mind is most creative and I am most likely to discover new ways of doing things that work better for me.

What about you? What tips and tricks do you use for organizing and prioritizing the tasks in your life?

Just a quick introduction, my name is Richard Savage, I live in the UK.  I am an author and cover artist for BVS, I am the writer behind the story The Anniversary in the Crimson Z.  I also wrote The Key, Temporally Yours and  In the Driving Seat.  Laurie Sanders and I have just finished an illustrated kids book A Very special place to Poop which was a lot of fun.

 My current projects include my fifth story for BVS. It was to be called The Trainer, but we have been looking at the book and it seems to have a bit of a life of its own at present, so I hope it will suggest a title to me soon.  I hope it will be out at some point early next year.   I am also working on a non-fiction book, looking at the subject of beauty. There are about 40 contributors from all walks of life sharing their thoughts and experiences of what beauty means to them.  I am hoping the book Beauty in Every Form will be out some time later this year.

The Anniversary is a touching tale, a supernatural ménage à trois.  It is the story of a couple, Peter and Evelyn tragically separated yet bound by love, that even heaven and earth can’t separate.  James her second husband loves her enough to give her the space to see Peter if only once a year.

The idea for Temporally Yours came to me because I never have enough time.  None of us ever have too much time, do we?  The story is about a kinky couple that have found a way to live in the moment  and a way to make each second count.  And they do make EVERY SECOND COUNT.

 My third is a story In the Driving Seat is a domestic discipline story. Barbara thinks her husband doesn’t give her the attention she deserves, so she indulges her passion for shoes.  He thinks she spends too much on trivial things.  He loves her but is at his wit’s end.  Will a little domestic discipline restore harmony?

 I thought today I would share my recipe for Quick & Easy Spaghetti & Meatballs.

Here’s the recipe:

Author Richard Savage’s Quick & Easy Spaghetti & Meatballs

The key to the dish is the sauce.. 

1 can of diced tomatoes
crushed clove of garlic
finely chopped onion
1-2 Tablespoons tomato paste       
finely chopped basil
freshly ground black pepper

finely chop and sweat the onions in a dry pan for a minute or so.  Keep them moving so they don’t burn. You can use a drop of water, the idea is to soften them without using oil.  If you want to use oil use an extra virgin olive oil. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add garlic and basil.  Add tomato paste and black pepper. Stir well and let simmer.

Spaghetti fresh is great but dried is quick and easy. If you put it on now it will be ready when the rest of the dish is prepared.

Meatballs:

The quickest way is to mash up ground beef. Mix with a little fine chopped onion, a little garlic, and black pepper

Squeeze it tightly into balls. If you squeeze it real tight it wont need anything to bind it.  I cook in oven preheated to 400 for about 15 mins.  In the oven the fat drains out of the beef. 

 Put meat balls in the sauce and serve with cooked spaghetti. From start to finish this usually takes about 25 minutes.

It is time to announce the winners for the week of August 15-21.

Those who are regulars here know that we give away a lot of goodies here on the blog and through our free readers newsletter. I am changing the giveaways just a little bit…improving them…to give away more prizes.

Saturday Blog Drawing — free paperback, ebook, or short story is awarded to someone who has posted on the blog.

Also on the blog — a variety of prizes including Amazon gift cards, gently used paperbacks, cookbooks, bookmarks, book bags, are awarded to people whose names are entered on my nifty spreadsheet when they comment on the blog. I’ve just added a lot more prizes, including another $25 Amazon gift card to replace the one I am giving away today, several $10 Amazon gift cards, and several $10 Fictionwise giftcards, more used paperbacks, some bookmarks, bookbags, and aprons.

Free Ebooks Every Day — a free ebook is awarded to someone who is a subscriber of our free readers newsletter each day. This has previously not included Saturday since we have a paperback giveaway on Saturday but I am changing this effective today. I am giving away 7 Black Velvet Seductions ebooks per week to readers who are subscribed to our free readers newsletter.

Also through the newsletter — I have added a $10 Amazon gift card each week to the prizes awarded each week through the readers newsletter. This will be ongoing until I decide to change it.

So…here are the winners for this week:

cheri_141 — Free paperback, ebook, or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

kissinoak — $25 Amazon gift card

a_harieza93 — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

fsommers — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

vixen_anya — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

margolpn — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

scante60 — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

bookreader2k10 — Free ebook or short story from Black Velvet Seductions

laylow — $10 Amazon Gift Card

Congrats to all of the winners. To claim your prize visit http://www.blackvelvetseductions.com/Claim-A-Prize.html and follow the instructions there to claim your prize.

It’s Friday…time for interesting Videos.

I found this one which I’ve also shared on the Black Velvet Seductions Writers Blog as inspiration and perhaps a writing prompt for those authors who are interested in writing prompts.

I find the images haunting…and inspiring. Just watching the vision makes me think about who would have lived in these houses once…and what if their spirits were there…still “living” out their lives in a continuous loop…oblivious to the passage of time and the changes time has wrought. I think about what it would have smelled like on the porch, with flowers vining up the wall…and what it would have been like to live there…what the problems of that day…that life might have been. In just a few minutes my mind can be off on a merry game of what-if…turning out new ideas for books (never minding that I have enough ideas to keep me busy for my foreseeable life span.) Still, it is fun to look at the pictures, think what if….and let my mind run away with itself.

What thoughts and feelings does the video inspire in you?

And here, for fans of book trailers is one for Deep, Dark, & Delicious an erotic romance by Tina Donahue. It definitely makes me want to read the book.

Has anyone read this book? Anyone read anything by Tina Donahue?