Rosepoint Publishing

Dishing the Dirt on Reviews

This is the age of instant. We want it now. Whether food, internet, or books, it must move–quickly! I’m older. I can wait. I can give Burger King up to 5 minutes. I can give a book several chapters. I’m usually pretty careful regarding the book I choose to begin next–sometimes looking up Amazon reviews to see if the little descriptive blurb really tells the story. I’ve written before regarding Amazon Reviews. You generally want to read the good and the bad reviews. Somewhere therein lies the truth.

Having read a great book, I really enjoy creating a lively and honest review. Unfortunately, I’ve read a few lately that have not been so inspiring as depressing. The last I began was “The Hostage,” Book Four of the Sarah Roberts Thrillers by Jonas Saul. Having read one of his previous books, “The Warning,” Book Two, I noted the foul language, but apparently enjoyed the plot enough to award five stars. This time I couldn’t get past Chapter 3 with the description of a scene by the perp that turned my stomach. Yes, I know–it’s a thriller/horror novel. (I don’t like Freddy either.) Not usually one to abandon a book–I freed The Hostage. (Yuck) Continue reading “Dishing the Dirt on Reviews”

Freaky Friday Features

Goodyear–Where Did the Name Come From?

Goodyear, a smaller suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan area with a population of approximately 65,000 is coming into summer with a cooler than average spring. Normally experiencing the highest average July temperatures of any U.S. metropolitan area, our days in the 70’s are coming to an end. We don’t experience too many cloudy or rainy days. Obviously, it must be time to leave.

Continue reading “Freaky Friday Features”

Another Reisig Winner

“Down the Road to Key West” is another Reisig winner! Those rascally Caribbean adventurers Kansas Stamps and Will Bell go in hot pursuit of the legendary lost treasure of Pancho Villa. It’s no secret that Villa loved his gold and was a vigorous Robin Hood/political activist. In this fifth book of the wildly successful Key West series, Michael Reisig sends his popular but reluctant protagonists to Villa stomping grounds after a visit from that old Rastaman, Rufus, as they follow an antiquities specialist in possession of an authentic Villa cipher with his knowledgeable and beautiful daughter, Max. Of course Maxine is that wonderful combination of smart, pretty, strong, and independent. Continue reading “Another Reisig Winner”

Freaky Friday Features

Wacky But True Sayings

Seems the last few months have brought an onslaught of emails bearing those witty little sayings that we are all subjected to on a fairly consistent basis through the internet. Many are fairly common and have been seen more than once. Every now and then, there is a new one that resonates. Woefully behind in my posts, I hoped for this week’s Freaky Friday Feature, I’d include several along with some equally witty quotes. judge-a-book Continue reading “Freaky Friday Features”

My Life As A Nomad

Maybe I was a Gypsy in a previous life. Or, perhaps the lifestyle created when a child is still the one that resonates into adulthood–and if so–as usual, I can blame my mother. We led a rather nomadic life when I was a girl, sometimes attending three schools in one year. Those years were fairly confined to California and Oregon. (I can’t say anything about Oregon schools, but California schools definitely took a dive.)

So it was after hubby and I sold our home in Idaho back in 2013 that we took off in the RV. Our destination then was the east coast as we dreamed of tasting the lobsters in Maine north to running down the Keys in Florida to the south. As many of you will remember from my previous posts, we made it as far as Indiana where our son lives before the RV and the Tracker both threw up their radiators and surrendered. goodyear

I mentioned in my last post that we weren’t getting any younger and probably needed to locate near either our son or daughter. Plans have changed from one day to another and continue to evolve. Hubby is looking for work and it is hoped he may be successful shortly. Leaving Goodyear AZ will be bittersweet as was leaving the Yuma Foothills. Of course, the attraction of both locations is the winter living. Summers in either city are pretty brutal and you wouldn’t want to be there then. But winter? Beautiful! Continue reading “My Life As A Nomad”

Freaky Friday Features

How to Prolong Your Life and Save Another

So are you a dog person or a cat person? I’m more the dog person. Having a canine companion can be a joy and, yes, I’m aware a feline companion can also give you joy. However, even in our larger cities where walking or running space is at a premium, dogs are quickly taking the favored pet choice. A canine is a quickly adaptable animal, loyal, and easily anthropomorphized. Perhaps the difference between owning or being owned.

These fur kids are generally undemanding (except perhaps for the feline variety). They require very little–really. They are the only animal that can look you in the eye and discern your mood AND then act to relieve or elevate it. Below is my mood elevating animal. Yes, that one–but also the one in white! Just look at that face! Ahh….

20150606_175438 They can reduce your blood pressure just by stroking the little beasts. If the animal shelter shared with you, it’s a win-win. You’ve saved a life and the endorphins generated will go a long way with your own. ©2016 Virginia Williams Resource Box

Freaky Friday Features

I’m a list person.

And a scheduler.

Sometimes I keep a list within a list (i.e., grocery list on my daily list). Perhaps the list and the schedule go hand in hand. I keep a list to remember what I’m supposed to do that day. Ergo, the schedule. That creates the time frame for the list. Before I retired, it was a great deal more detailed. I won’t say the list was down to the minute–more like the quarter hour. Things are a little more relaxed now, though I still run through the mental list in the morning so I can set the pace for the day.

I suspect it is easier to keep that modus operandi if you are single. Living with a spouse or partner involves their schedules or lack thereof. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t have one. He is now retired–again–and doesn’t feel any urgency in keeping any kind of plan–daily or weekly. So it is when he came home last week and turned our world upside down that I find the first casualty in my previously ordered world is now my writing schedule; blog posts and copywriting.

We are now on an extended fact-finding trip searching for possible employment and housing opportunities associated with the locations of our son and daughter. (Heaven knows we are not getting any younger.) I hope that the earth will slow the spinning a bit for me in the near future, but for now, this is my contribution for the Freaky Friday Feature. 2016 ©Virginia Williams Resource Box

Friday is Fun Day

Freaky Friday Features

Probably like myself, you tend to slack back on Friday–it’s the end of the week. You may have dress down day; finish those nagging projects that took all week. Did you finish your chapter, edit your book, or create the outline of a new one? Now you can sit back, ruminate on the work week and look for a little relaxation. This is the time to wind down. The weekend will likely present non-stop activity, and too soon, Monday starts the whole thing over again. It’s happy-hour time. Friday is Fun Day!

Artists who do amazing caricatures just blow me away with their renditions of our well-known personalities. It’s not just a matter of capturing the one outstanding feature that defines the person–it’s the ability to capture the character behind the face. It is the very essence of the celebrity–like a book cover that describes the book–words become unnecessary. From writers to musicians, politicians to television personalities, there is no one safe from the pins and brushes of those prolific artists. These caricatures amuse, stimulate, and conjure stories and ideas.

I just love this particular caricature of Stephen King, but there are a number of interpretations of him out there. Also posted on my “Outrageous Pins” board is Agatha Cristie, Donald Trump, and Barbara Walters. Check them out. Then sit back and relax. 2016 ©Virginia Williams Resource Box