Goodreads 2018 Challenge

Happy Saturday Book Nerds!

So I set my goal on Goodreads this year, considering how my reading track record has been going, pretty low.  Ok, extremely low.  I didn't even give myself a chance.  I really thought it was going to be difficult for me to find the time to read, but I have been doing really well so far.  So I have finished 3 books in 22 days and my goal for the entire year was set for 5.  That's right.....FIVE!  I have almost crushed that goal is less then a month.  Next time I need to give myself more credit.  Here is to surpassing my goal a few times over this year!

Me Time

This year, I have decided to bring back Me Time.  As a full time preschool teacher, mommy, and wife, I really have little time for myself.  So this year, I pledge to give myself, even if it is 5 mins a night, on those I'm too exhausted to function nights, to read for me.  I will leave reviews for each book that I read, but I won't be offering out specific time frames to finish anything.  However, if you are looking for a review with no deadline, I'm your girl.  So please feel free to hit me up!  I am definitely looking for new indie authors.  All my favorites have moved on to be signed and I am extremely excited for them and their exciting careers.  I want to get back into the book community.  Please keep me up dated on what is new, so I can get reacquainted to the exciting world of reading! 

Already Have Read for 2018...

Currently Reading for 2018...

I'm really excited to be getting back into something that I love to do!

Happy Sunday.....Have a wonderful day!

5 Years

Happy 5 years to Book Nerd 101.  I can't believe I started this journey 5 years ago.  I started reading about 6 months before I started my page and I love every second of reading.  I lost track of my passion as my life started to change.  I met my, now fiance, back in October of 2013 and our daughter was born in April of 2015.  So life was moving very fast for me and I didn't really give myself a chance to slow down and enjoy some me time.  I love where my life has brought me and I wouldn't change a single moment.  This year, I have decided that I am going to take some time each day and start getting back into reading.  I have been doing pretty good.  I'm starting slow but I hope that I can continue.  So here is to another 5 years! 

Happy New Year

I have currently gotten back to my 1st passion.....READING

I am looking for some book recommendations.  Please feel free to leave them here, on my Facebook page, or in an email.  I am willing to post book reviews in exchange for new releases.  Thanks everyone!  

Favorite Things....Hottie Edition

My Favorite Things…in Top Ten List Form

First I'm going to tell you my top 10 Hotties, though they really are just the 10, not in a specific order really.

        

Top Ten Hottie McHotterson's

     1.  Joe Manganiello—TOP hottie for me.  The body, the dark wavy hair, the hints of grey in his beard. Sexy, Sexy, Sexy!! If you don't know who is he…well what planet are you living on?? He's Alcide on True Blood and he's Big Dick Richie in Magic Mike & Magic Mike 2.

     2.  Jensen Ackles—Hottie McHoterson extraordinaire!!  Best known as swoon-worthy Dean Winchester on Supernatural.  Sexy, Sweet, Funny, Sarcastic, Brooding, Deep throaty voice that makes me…Ok…you get the point. 

     3.  Stephen Amell –Oliver Queen, the Arrow. He's not only incredibly sexy, but he also runs his Facebook page for fans and is an amazing kind person that makes him even hotter!

     4.   Robert Pattinson—No not as a sparkly vampire necessarily (Though I am Team Edward), but I could run my fingers through his hair ALL day long while he read the dictionary to me in that sexy accent.

      5.  Channing Tatum—Really? Is an explanation needed? If so, one word…Abs.  Or two words—Magic Mike

      6.   Ian Somerhalder—Damon Salvatore. Those beautiful eyes, that sexy smirk. That bad vampire persona. Yes Please!

      7.   Liam Hemsworth—Again, accent! LOVE a sexy accent! One reason I love him so much I think, is that he is what I picture as my Mitchell from my Parker Harris Series.

      8.   Ashton Collins—It's true, I picked one of my characters! Ashton is sweet, sexy, strong, romantic, and completely loyal. I found myself swooning over him many times while writing. 

       9.  Ron Weasley—Yep you heard me!!  I love me a ginger! Plus my husband looks like he could be Ron Weasley all grown up!  And again…yep you guessed it…accent.

      10.    Johnny Depp—A man who can look sexy even when he has razor sharp scissors for hands! 

Top Ten Favorite Movies

I'm a movie fanatic! I own over 2000 so picking a favorite is difficult, to put it mildly. Here are ten movies that I could watch over and over again and never get tired of them.

1.  Love Actually

2.  Goonies

3.  Lion King

4. Rent

5.  Pitch Perfect

6.  Madhouse

7. While You Were Sleeping

8.  The Breakfast Club

9.  Can't Buy My Love

10.  Shag

Favorite TV Shows (New and Old)

1. The Walking Dead
2. Supernatural
3. Arrow
4. Bones
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. Saved by the Bell
7. Friends
8. Once Upon A Time
9.  Doctor Who
10.  Angel

Favorite Books (Ones that I've read more than once)

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I've read this one the most)

2. The Awakening Series by Kelley Armstrong

3. Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

4. The Stand by Stephen King

5.  Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

6. The White Aura Series by Felicia Tatum

7. Ruby Blue Series by Julie Cassar

8. Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

9. The Talisman Series by Brenda Pandos

10. The Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper

Things I loved/miss from Childhood

1.  Jem and the Holograms (They're making a live action movie soon and I am super excited about it!)

2.  My Daisy Duke Big Wheel

3.  Riding bikes with my little sisters. (We used to make up fake drivers license and one of us would play the cop who would pull people over)

4. Saturday cartoons with my Mom (our favorite was the Smurfs)

5.  Being unafraid. (I have so many fears as an adult that I'd love to be that mostly fearless child that I was)

6. Roller skating. (I tried as an adult and it is NOT like riding a bike. In fact, I had to have a cervical fusion after I ruptured a disc in my neck trying to skate.)

7.  Lack of responsibility. (When you're a kid you want nothing more than to grow up and be on your own. Then when you get to be on your own the bills come in and you're wishing for home again!)

8.   Playing parachute in gym class. (That and the days we played hockey were my favorite!)

9. Playgrounds. (I can still play on playgrounds but it's not as much fun when you get on the slide and your feet are almost at the bottom already. Plus the fear sets in a bit on the swings and I don't go nearly as high as I can remember as a child)

10. The magic of things. (Not knowing how things work. Seeing a movie and wondering how they did that instead of complimenting the film for it's great visual effects)

Throwback Thursday

See what books Amy liked growing up

It's hard to pinpoint one favorite book I had as a child. I can remember series more than singular books. My ultimate favorite was The Babysitter's Club by Ann M Martin. I must have read every single book in this series at least three times. The girls in these books were like my besties back then. I related to them, I looked up to them, and I spent every weekend with them. In my teen years, I loved to babysit and always dreamed of creating my own club but never was able to do so. Occasionally I see these books in bookstores and I want to pick them up and see if I can still enjoy the stories but I'm afraid to in the event that it will ruin my memories of them.

The other books that stand out to me from my childhood are the ones that were called "Choose your own adventure." I'm not sure if these books are still around but they were designed so that you could read the book several times and have a new adventure each time. You'd get to a certain page and it would give you the choice of what direction you wanted the book to go. You chose what you wanted and the book directed you to what page to go to for your version of the story. I enjoyed reading these several times so I could choose a different ending each time.

These books may have been my favorites long before I began my writing career, but they still influenced me heavily.  In school, we were required to read certain books but the ones that meant the most to me were the ones I chose on my own such as the two series above.  Writing helps me relax and de-stress, but it also makes me happy to make others happy. There is nothing better than hearing from someone who loved one of your books. I have loyal readers who speak of these characters as though they were close friends. People who've never had a book stir those feelings in them wouldn't understand.  People with a true love of reading allow themselves to get lost in the written word. I want my writing to make people feel like that. I love hearing, "Ashton is my new book boyfriend" or "Cameron and I need to totally hang out", both of these are things readers have said to me after reading The Southern Devotion Series. 

Turn It Up Tuesday and Watch Out Wednesday

So since I'm being a terrible promoter lately, I decided to combine these two days together.  Yesterday, was our Back-to-School night where I got to meet my class and their parents before the first day of school on Monday!!  I can't believe the school year is about to begin.  So with all of the preparation for the start of the school year, I've been slacking with my posts and responding to emails and whatnot.  So I do need to apologize and I'm going to try harder to make sure everything gets posted on time!!! 

So since Amy is amazing, she already has everything prepared for the week so I can schedule the rest of the posts like I should have done as soon as she sent them to me, lol

So here is Turn It Up Tuesday.......

"Music is one of my best motivators for writing. Many times when my creative flow runs dry, I use music to inspire me. There have been several scenes in my books that were inspired by music lyrics.

My Playlist for The Southern Devotion Series:

I'll Stand by You by the Pretenders

Say Something by A Great Big World

Bring Me To Life by Evanescence

Here's to Us by Halestorm

Bartender by Lady Antebellum

Your Body is a Wonderland by John Mayer

Places I've Been by Taylor Hicks

She Will be Loved by Maroon 5

Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Franki Valli 

She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5

Watch Out Wednesday........

5 Things about The Southern Devotion Series that might surprise you:

   1. For the Love of Gracie has a lot of truth in it. Many of the stories Gracie tells about her past or her friends are stories of mine.   

   2. The Characters are all modeled after people I know. Many of them have been through the same experiences as the real people. My group of friends even have drinking parties called "Loozas," a tradition we've had for many years now.

   3.  Nashville: I chose Nashville as the setting because I grew up there. In FtLoG, I included many of my favorite spots in town; my favorite restaurant, museum, and my favorite park.

   4.  Each time I write one of the novels in this series, I add a scene that takes place somewhere I've recently been.  Curves in the Road had a scene from Dale Hollow Lake, which I wrote two months after a weekend trip with friends to stay in a cabin on that lake. In Complicated Relationships, the couples travel to Fall Creek Falls, which is where I spent the fourth of July a few months prior to the scene being written.

   5. The Book Covers have a theme. Each book cover represents a season. For the Love of Gracie: Fall, Curves in the Road: Summer, Complicated Relationships: Winter. When Book 4 releases it will be the final book of the series and it will have a Spring theme for the cover.

Don't Forget

Complicated Relationships will be on Sale for $.99 from August 21-28^th

Amazon

Blurb: 

Tristan Jacobs followed his best friend Mary Jane from Florida to Nashville only to have his heart broken when she married someone else. He's been a father to his younger sister Macy for the past five years now and has been putting his romantic life on hold. 
Now he's ready to find the girl of his dreams. An auburn-haired beauty walks into the bar one night and captures his attention. What he doesn't realize is that she has a connection to the woman who broke his heart. 
Tristan’s life is full of complicated relationships that could affect the one that means the most to him. Will he get his happily-ever-after? Or will the complications prove to be too difficult to overcome?

Don't forget to also check on the giveaway on Monday's post!!!  Really great items up for grabs!!!  Who doesn't love free stuff!!!