It’s The Cozy Times Chronicle!

Today I have Lisa A. Kelley and her Cozy Times Chronicle. We will find out a little about life as a book reviewer. Lisa is on my blog and I am on hers with Fuchsia’s Cozy Times Chronicle. Make sure you read both of ours to find out the lengths we go to  read books.

cozy-time

Editor: Lisa A, Kelley     Staff Reporter: Lisa A. Kelley     Staff Photographer: Lisa A. Kelley

 

feetThe Glamorous Life of a Cozy Mystery Reviewer/Blogger

I get out of bed at the crack of 7:00, sometime 8:00, okay . . . sometimes’s 9:00 AM. I go through my morning grooming routine, which takes a solid five minutes, unless I’m in a  hurry. I change into my work clothes, a fresh nightgown and my not always so fresh slippers a.k.a my scuff scuffs. It’s on to the kitchen to prepare a healthy breakfast of Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies and my drink of choice for the day. Today it is Hawaiian Punch.

Armed with my nourishing meal, I head to my office, also known as my living room recliner. I  power up my laptop, and check my schedule. I am now in my blogger/reviewer/social media networking zone. My job (volunteer work really) . . . I read, blog, review, blog, Facebook, blog, Tweet, blog, and repeat.  Seven days a week, with the exception of holidays and sick days, I am plugged in.

Of course I do get out of the house. Sometimes I work in my mobile office, as I was doing when writing this article. My mobile office, a 2004 Chevy Malibu named “The Reverend”, is spacious, and offers a wonderful view of wherever I may be parked at the time, waiting for a sibling while they are at an appointment.

And there you have my glamorous reviewer/blogger life.

You know what? I love every single second of it!


Brick and Mortar Forever!

band-nThere is nothing like a real life, walk in the front door, pay at the register bookstore. I adore them! I could spend every day in one. The only thing holding me back is, my town, Dover, DE, capitol of the first state doesn’t have any bookstores. They’ve all closed down. And they were very small, without big selections. Over half of the stock of one of them was used books. (I’ll spare you my germ phobia.)

My sister(s) and I will day trips to our favorite Barnes & Noble, which is a hour and a half away from us, in another state. We do have one a bit closer in state, but it’s part of a huge mall, and the parking is a nightmare! (I digress). When I walk into “my” Barnes & Noble, I feel my worries and stress just fall away. My sister(s) and I stake out our favorite table at the café, and prepare to spend a day in paradise. It’s nothing for us to get there when the doors open, and stay until 2 or 3:00 in the afternoon. (One day I’m expecting them to start charging us rent.) Settled at my table, a stack of books and magazines surrounding me, and a cold root beer sitting before me, I am whole. I am at peace. I am home. 

I enjoy surfing though Amazon, and Barnes & Noble online, but nothing can compare to the feeling, the smell, the sight of a real bookstore. Forever may they stand!


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Pets in Cozy Mysteries

emmyI love the wonderful pets that are featured in cozy mysteries. The adorable cats and dogs (mostly) have such big personalities. Some even have sleuthing talents just like their owners.

While a lot of cozy pets are completely fictional, many are based on real life pets of the authors. Some are even based on, and named after reader’s pets!

I would love to have my Emma Belle a.k.a. Emmy show up in a cozy. However, there are a couple of issues. While Emmy is a little ole love bug, all she does is sleep. And when she’s awake, well, she has the most disinterested, bored look on her face. Think Garfield the cat’s expression on a dog’s face, and there you have my girl. Every scene with Emmy in a book would read something like, Emmy was asleep as usual or Emma looked at me  in that bored way.

No, my fur baby just doesn’t seem to be cozy mystery material. That being said, I couldn’t love her more if I tried.

You can find Lisa at:

Blog 

Twitter

Facebook

LK & MB Cozy Mystery Review Group

And in honor of guesting on Lisa’s Blog, Today January 25, all my books on Kindle are .99. One day only. To find them click this link. Julie Seedorf, Amazon Author Page

Thank you Lisa for being here.

 

Thoughts Of An Insomniac

By Julie Seedorf
Published 9:35 am Monday, July 25, 2016

Julie Seedorf’s column appears in the Tribune every Monday.

julie 2015 profile picWhen you follow one weaving van and there is no cell phone in sight, you suspect they may have been dabbling in something. When a second weaving van immediately takes up where the first one left off, you wonder if you are being led astray. But then you remember the saying, three strikes and you’re out, and you decide to call the police before that happens. Those three strikes could mean a life.

Spending time with kids and teenagers keeps your joints limber, your mind open, your face from cracking because it exercised with smiles, and…it gives you a good excuse to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon.

Women my age dye their hair to keep the gray from peeking out. Little did we know, the gray we are trying to hide, is the new it color. Thank you, Kelly Osbourne, and all the young women who are dying their hair gray, because they admire our undyed look. Who knew at our age we would have the it look naturally. Think of the confusion for those supermarket and restaurant workers when it is senior citizens day. The gray hair usually gives it away. Maybe that is it; those young people are trying to get our discount.

Pink hair and orange hair and green hair are stylish these days too. I love my granddaughter’s green hair. She wasn’t impressed when I told her I was going pink. I decided if the younger generation can dye their hair gray, I can steal their hair color and dye mine pink.

I haven’t had my hair cut since last October. It is my old age, try growing it long, attempt. The last haircut must have been a good one because it hasn’t made me want to take a scissors to my hair on the spur of the moment. I am finding long hair much easier to take care of than short hair. The last time I had long hair, in the dark ages, it had to be rolled up on rollers. Remember sleeping on rollers and scaring your husband? My goal is to grow it out so I can get it cut. Yes, one length, so I can plop it on top of my head and go. I am a plop and go girl in my old age. Although I already am a plop girl, just ask my couch.

Grandchildren don’t know that Spam can almost taste like ham. There are times little white lies are called for, such as telling your grandchildren the sandwich they are eating is ham, and then when they are finished eating and liked the sandwich, you announce it is really Spam — the same sandwich they wouldn’t eat last time because they were sure they wouldn’t like it. We Grandma’s are tricky.

It is amazing, you think you know the people who have been lifelong friends, and after all these years you find there is part of them that hates and are intolerant of others, and you never knew. As another friend said, quoting Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy, when discovering this, “Who are those guys?”

We can take a lesson from our dogs and cats. The first thing they do when they wake up is the yoga move the downward dog, to stretch their body. A routine stretch takes seconds, yet we wait to do that which is good for us, only when we are frozen in place. Why is it self-care is last on our list of to-dos? Perhaps that is why experts say pets reduce our stress. They already know the secret to self-care.

Reading signs must be harder these days. The slow-moving vehicles keep to the right– sign needs to be clearer. I feel they should put one of those flashing signs below the hill stating the speed and a large sign in large print with these words added to the flashing vehicle sign, “If it says 50 or slower — move over, this means you or we will push you up the hill.” There must be latent road rage in my heart because I want to yell that every time I have to pass in the slow lane, the slow person that is, in the fast lane.

I am going to turn off the news of the election until it is almost over. I can’t make a decision based on what I am hearing and seeing on television and the news. The only thing happening is I am getting desensitized to hate mongering and name calling. I don’t blink an eye at it anymore. Maybe that is what is supposed to happen. They are trying to make Minnesota Nice go away and make us into Minnesota Slice. Maybe I am already there. I am going to slice that news cable.

I am writing this at 4 a.m. Checking my Facebook feed I see I have good company at 4 a.m., my neighbor is awake too. Maybe we should have coffee. Or I could have virtual coffee with my many other online friends that are sleepless in cyberspace.

I leave you with a few quotes to give you pause for thought throughout the week, taken from my appointment book, “Words To Live By from Primitives by Kathy.”

“If life gives you lemons, a simple operation can give you melons.”

“Some people dance in the rain, others just get wet.”

“Children are great imitators so give them something great to imitate.”

 

Granny’s Out and About and She’s Giving You A Shout!

Granny_AIt’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I just felt like saying that. I loved Sesame Street as a kid and still do as an adult. Today’s sunshine after a few day’s of rain makes me Sesame Street giddy. I have been neglecting my blog lately because I have been out having fun. I will be posting some fun things in the next few weeks. But I am back and it’s time to get to work.

I started my new series. I think is going to be called the Brilliant Minnesota Series. Don’t panic, for those of you that are Fuchsia Minnesota Series and Granny fans, that series will continue also. There will be a connection also between Brilliant and Fuchsia.

The past couple of weeks Granny Skewers A Scoundrel was made into an audiobook that I hope will be released soon. Granny Hooks A Crook is already out in audiobook and can be found on  Amazon and Audible and ITunes. Granny Hooks A Crook Audiobook

This is a fun week as I have had the privilege of guesting on four blogs. Some are guest posts and others are interviews and one I was the spotlight author. I will list the links with this blog. Keep watching for upcoming posts. They won’t always be about me and maybe I will surprise you with some interesting contests. Have a beautiful day and let Granny take you away into being fun and frivolous, so be revelous. In know that’s not a word but if Granny can make up words, so can I.

Shelley’s Book Case
Griperang’s Book Marks
Omni Mystery News- Interview
LisaK’s Book Blog – Author Spotlight

 

Some of these were yesterday so you might have to scroll down to find the interviews. You won’t find just me on these blogs but also lots of good authors. Enjoy