Moving On

ENDLESS is out and doing well. It's so nice to hear that it's being well received! I really should send some copies out to reviewers, but I'm finding myself lazy. Oh well... I'll get to it, I'm sure like I'll get to my Homeschool room closet, or my own closet for that matter. I guess I'd rather Pin ideas about getting organized than actually doing the organizing.

I did do one productive thing last night! And that was giving my Blog a new look! There was nothing wrong with my old one, but I guess that part of the reason why I find it hard to write is because my life is three dimensional. Writing is just one aspect of my life, one that actually just takes bout two hours of my day! The rest of my time is filled with cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, working out, homesteading and (as of late) crocheting! So I thought that this new look would be more fitting to the many different aspects of my life.

So, I hope you enjoy my blog's new look, as I enjoy my current view from my computer: The turkeys, the new lambs and the sunlight that filters through the rafters of my back porch! What a beautiful sight!

Endless Release!

Today I'm celebrating the release of my latest book ENDLESS on my Facebook page SBNiccum 

Make a point to stop by and participate in all the giveaways! 

$25 Amazon giftcards will be given to those who change their profile picture to their favorite literary character and...

Are the Most LIKED costume

Funniest character costume (Most LOL's) on their page

Most Obscure costume (Can people guess who you are?)

If you invite your friends to the release party (and they tell me you sent them) YOU could win!

Share my book links and/or trailers on your wall (collect comments and/or likes to win)

So get dressed and go get those gift cards!

Endless Release Countdown

Are you ready to read Endless?

You know you are if you've read VEILED and LIVING SOUL.

If you haven't, it's not too late to read them now. If you have already, re-read them, so that you can refresh your mind.

Let me introduce you to the first two books:


VEILED

  


 LIVING SOUL

 



 ENDLESS

“Dying is easy—effortless—rather. Shedding your body is like coming into a room and hanging up your coat. You’re still you, nothing has changed, other than your coat is off and… well… it’s no longer on you. I know this because I’m dead. Yet I’ve found that death is not what we should fear. Who we are when we die, is perhaps what should concern us most about crossing over. For in death, all we have is what we really are.” –Tess Obsessed about finding Alex, her soul mate, and her father, Leo, Tess does the unthinkable and unwittingly traps herself in the dark side of the afterlife. And what she finds there is not what she came looking for. The longer she stays in the darkness the harder it will be to get out. Hoping that her love for Alex will keep her from slipping further into the darkness, she searches, and searches through this infernal place. But her nature is beginning to change—she’s becoming cynical, hardened, and apathetic—and she just got here. How has this darkness changed Alex? Can love exist in Hell?

Muse

People ask me all the time, where I get inspiration for my books. The short answer is, "everywhere!"
The long answer is :
I read a lot, and I do have to say that there have been a lot of books that have inspired me over the years. Starting with Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy". I grew up with that trilogy gracing the shelves of my home's library. And Gustave Dore's beautiful and intricate illustrations made me want to read it all the more. But I didn't dare read it until I was grown up. I think I was intimidated. I'm glad I waited. I maturity helped me appreciate that incredible work all the more.
The idea of a lost soul wading his way through an infernal Hell, and an angel--the love of his life--saving his soul all they way from Paradise. I loved the idea and I loved the books!
C.S. Lewis has also been a huge inspiration. As as child "The Chronicles of Narnia" transported me to...well... Narnia! As an adult, "The Screwtape Letters", with humor and sarcasm, made me think about what the enemy of our souls hopes to achieve.
There have also been other authors who in different ways have inspired me. Victor Hugo, Tomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and many, many more.
But I do have to say, that the scirptures have inspired me the me the most. Nothing sends my mind into a speculative spin like a good verse from Revelations! When I die, I would love to sit with him and chat. Isaiah too!
As you read my books you'll notice that I've spent quite a lot of time speculating about Cherubim, Seraphim, Legion, and the infamous "whore that sitteth upon many waters" Rev. 17:1
Ha, Ha! I laugh, but I don't mean any disrespect. I just read this and I think,"what did John The Revelator see? Who was she? What was she?"
For this reason I request an audience when I cross over. Hope the line isn't long.

And if you are wondering what I did with this verse, and how I incorporated it into my last book "Endless", you'll just have to wait until this coming December 2013!

Polling Station

Okay!
So after months and months of hibernation and ignoring my blog and my Facebook page and all things social, I'm finally coming out!

I've had a good reason, to hibernate. I've been writing the third and final installment of the Veiled Series!

ENDLESS is finally finished and revisions are under way. I'm guessing the book will be out sometime late summer. I want to give myself plenty of time to revise.

Between now and then, however, there are tons of other details that have to be looked at, and as is my custom, I like to ask readers for their input whenever possible.

The question at hand, is which Tag Line I should use on the beautiful cover that Jaimey Grant has created?

Here are the two choices:

Choice # 1:

"Death will not do us part."

or

Choice #2:

"Oh death, where is thy victory?"
(quote from the Bible that I use inside the book)

Please take a minute and leave me a comment with your vote. Thanks a bunch!

Lois Duncan: And You'll Know What I Did That Summer

It was my first summer in the United States, and of course, had no friends. I hardly spoke English at all, and felt trapped by the lack of public transportation that I was so used to having so readily at my disposal in Buenos Aires. There was, however, one bus. A free bus! It went from the Utah State Capitol building (two blocks away from my house), to the downtown Public Library. Only the weirdos took the bus in Utah (and me), but I was used to weirdos (there were plenty in Buenos Aires) and I was city savvy.

Fortunately, the Salt Lake City downtown library was huge and well stocked. I spent lots of time perusing through it's shelves and narrow rows. I think Lois Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer was on display. She had a new book out that year Don't Look Behind You, and all her previous works were on display. I picked up the copy of I Know What You Did Last Summer, because ... well, it was summer after all!

I had this big city girl habit of hanging out at coffee shops, so I took my freshly checked out copy around the corner to The Salt Lake Roasting Co., not that I drank coffee or anything, but its aroma reminded me of home, the city I had left behind, with friends, and a social life. Had I been in Buenos Aires with them, or them in Salt Lake with me, we'd be doing the same thing. Hanging out at a coffee shop, getting Submarinos (steamed milk with a bar of Swiss chocolate on the side, to dip) with a pastry. So that's exactly what I did, only, I was by myself. I tried to seem impervious to my loneliness, or at least, okay with it, or even, self imposed. But it was only a front, and the Roasting Co. did not offer Submarinos, only hot chocolate--a step down--but still good.

Needless to say, my hot chocolate got cold, and my pastry went untouched. That book hooked me from the first page. On my ride home, I hardly even noticed my fellow weirdo passengers on the free bus.  I walked home, nose in the book, trying not to trip on the uneven sidewalk. I got home and was happily transported to another world, effectively forgetting that I was lonely.

That book was the one that started a trend. A trend that not only changed my life, but made those hard years bearable. No. Enjoyable.

Thank you,  Lois Duncan, for writing.
 

• Love Song for Joyce (1957)
• Debutante Hill (1957)
• A Promise for Joyce (1958)
• The Littlest One in the Family (1959) - picture book
• The Middle Sister (1960)
• Silly Mother (1962) - picture book
• Game of Danger (1962)
• Giving Away Suzanne (1962) - picture book
• Season of the Two-Heart (1965)
• Point of Violence (1966)
• Ransom (1966)
• They Never Came Home (1968)
• Major Andre, Brave Enemy (1968)
• Peggy (1970) - historical novel
• Hotel for Dogs (1971)
• A Gift of Magic (1971)
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973)
• When the Bough Breaks (1974)
• Down a Dark Hall (1974)
• Summer of Fear (1976)
• Killing Mr. Griffin (1978)
• How to Write and Sell Your Personal Experiences (1979) - non-fiction
• Daughters of Eve (1979)
• Stranger with My Face (1981)
• Chapters: My Growth as a Writer (1982) - autobiography
• The Terrible Tales of Happy Days School (1983) - picture book
• From Spring to Spring (1983) - picture book
• The Third Eye (1984)
• Horses of Dreamland (1985) - picture book
• Locked in Time (1985)
• The Twisted Window (1987)
• Wonder Kid Meets the Evil Lunch Snatcher (1988) - children's chapter book
• Songs from Dreamland (1988) - picture book/musical CD (vocals by Duncan's daughter, Robin Arquette Burkin)
• The Birthday Moon (1989) - picture book
• Don't Look Behind You (1989)
• Who Killed My Daughter? (1992) - non-fiction
• The Circus Comes Home (1993) - picture book with photos by Duncan's father, Joseph Steinmetz
• Psychic Connections (1995) - non-fiction
• The Magic of Spider Woman (1996) - picture book
• Night Terrors (1996) - anthology (1996)
• Gallows Hill (1997)
• Trapped! (1998) - anthology
• The Longest Hair in the World (1999) - picture book
• I Walk at Night (2000) - picture book
• On the Edge (2000) - anthology
• Song of the Circus (2002) - picture book
• (Seasons of the Heart) (2007) - poetry
• News for Dogs (2009)- fiction- sequel to Hotel for Dogs
• (A Visit with Lois Duncan) DVD -- (2008)
• Movie for Dogs (2010)- fiction- sequel to News for Dogs

So What is Kefir Anyway?

Source: thescienceofeating.com via S.B. on Pinterest

As some of you know I'm quite obsessed with making food from scratch. It has little to do with my writing, though it helps inspire me and relax me, so I often find myself cooking something and writing in my head at the same time.

But that's not why I'm writing about Kefir today. I'm writing about Kefir because I love it,  use it every day, and because I keep getting inquiries from friends about what it is and how to use it.

For years now, I've been making my own yogurt. Heating up the milk, then letting it cool, then introducing the starter, then letting it sit. It took a whole day of babysitting. But I gladly did it because we go through lots of yogurt in my house.

I came across Kefir, one day that I was doing grocery shopping in a hurry, and was very hungry. I had heard of Kefir before, but didn't know exactly what it was until I saw the beautiful bottle of something that promised to be a pro-biotic drink and tasted of berries.

I drunk the $5 bottle in one gulp and thought that it tasted a whole lot like yogurt. So I went home and researched it. I found out that you can't make Kefir in the same way you make yogurt. You don't do it from another batch, you buy the grains.

Source: extremehealthradio.com via S.B. on Pinterest

They came in the mail, dehydrated and I had to bring them back to life by soaking them in milk. In about three days I was in business.

Why do I prefer it to yogurt? First of all, it's a lot easier. You don't have to heat anything up. You just add cold (not ultra-pasteurized) milk from the fridge, and you let it sit on your counter for 24hrs.

Source: tammysrecipes.com via S.B. on Pinterest

You then strain the grains (always using plastic or glass jars, Kefir does not like metal) and put them back to work with a fresh batch of milk.

The strained product (the Kefir drink) is now ready for consumption or to be stored in your fridge. We make smoothies with it right away.

I like to add a handful of frozen pineapple, one banana and a few drops of coconut extract. I blend and listo! No sugar needed if you ask me.

You can of course add any fruits or berries you like and you can add any sweetener you like.

Or you can just add some sugar and stir. It's good that way too! The flavor is a lot like yogurt, with a little bit of an effervescent tang.

Source: kefir.com.br via S.B. on Pinterest

A Little History:

The actual Kefir grains, originate from the Caucasus area (Russia, Georgia) area. They were known as the grains of long life. They were handed down from one generation to another, and were that region's secret to health and longevity. It's really no small wonder. While yogurt contains 6 to 7 live cultures of good bacteria, Kefir has 30! Now that's a good pro-biotic.

If you'd like to take part in my sporadic from scratch cooking adventures, feel free to join my Facebook The Immigrant Woman group.  It is a pun. ... Because, you know, I'm an immigrant ... .