Category: Uncategorized

AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Apparently, June is audiobook month. Who knew!

If you’ve followed this blog much in the past year, by now you’ve learned I’m a huge proponent of audiobooks. I did a blog post about them a few months back, but to sum up, you can get them for no additional cost to you through your library (I never say free because you are already paying for them with your property taxes or rent), you can entertain yourself during frustrating drive and traffic time, and you can open yourself up to genres you would never have dreamed of wasting precious eyes to paper or screen time on.

So look what I found when I was supposed to be writing but was trolling the internet instead.

The Book Nympho is challenging us to listen to more books in 2014 than we listened to in 2013. She offers several different levels of participation from “newbie” to “binge listener.” Click on the icon or here for more info.

A few tips if you are just getting started:

As mentioned, you are paying for audiobooks already through your library system. (In Tennessee we have reads where you can download books through the Overdrive program.) There’s a little frustration in getting set up, but once you are there you have thousands of audiobooks at your fingertips. I’ve discovered so many new authors this way, and the best part is if you just can’t stand a book, you just delete it off your device and you had no out of pocket expense (other than your precious time of course). **One note — Overdrive works with iTunes, and with the latest iTunes upgrade, WMA version will no longer work with iTunes, so you need to select the MP3 version.

Audible.com has a base program that offers your first book free then $14.95 per month for one book a month. I’ve seen audiobooks cheaper than this, but more often they are over $20. One drawback with the library audiobooks is you usually have to get on a waiting list for a hot one, so if you aren’t the type that wants to wait, and you don’t mind paying, this may be a good option for you. Also, Audible has little hassle getting set up, and virtually no hassle once you are initially set up. One click ordering, baby!

One thing I’ve also been doing lately on certain titles is purchasing the Kindle version of book, then tacking on the professional narration for an additionally, often low price. For instance, for Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, I paid something like $5.99 for the Kindle book then $3.99 for the professional narration. (I don’t think that same deal is running, but just giving an example.) You can also flip back and forth between your Kindle and your audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.

Finally, I will leave you with a few great audiobook suggestions. These books are ones that I truly feel like my experience was enhanced by choosing to listen rather than read, due to stellar narration.

Women’s Fiction: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, narrated by Kathleen Wilhoite

Young Adult: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, narrated by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl

Suspense: Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, narrated by Billy Baldwin (and several others)

Chick Lit: I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella, narrated by Jayne Entwistle

Time Travel: Mariana by Susanna Kearsley, narrated by Carolyn Bonnyman

Humor: Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich, narrated by C.J. Critt

Classic: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, narrated by Sissy Spacek

Happy listening!

HERE’S TO YOU, DAD!

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

 

Here’s to the dads who make dinner.

Here’s to the dads who drop off, pick up, or do both.

Here’s to the stay-at-home dads.

Here’s to the dads who coach their kid’s soccer team when they really just wish they were kicking back on the sidelines.

Here’s to the dads who spend one weekend day at least half the year mowing and weed eating.

Here’s to the dads who sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door to protect their families.

Here’s to the dads who sleep in their kids’ beds when nightmares threaten.

Here’s to the daddy-daughter dancers.

Here’s to the dads who make the lunches and drop in an extra cookie.

Here’s to the dads who forgo golf for a day of back-to-school shopping.

Here’s to the dads who fill out mountains of school paperwork.

Here’s to the dads who pick up junk food on a snow day.

Here’s to the dads who work weekends.

Here’s to the dads who take out the dogs at midnight.

Here’s to the dads who do the grocery shopping.

Here’s to the dads who turn off Sports Center for SpongeBob.

Here’s to the dads who show their boys how to defend themselves in a politically correct time.

Here’s to the dads who help with homework.

Here’s to the dads who remember to give kisses all around when they get home.

Here’s to the dads who love their kids around the world and back.

And here’s to my kid’s dad, who does all of this and more. Thank you for being the most incredible dad I could have ever dreamed of for our lucky kid! We both love you to pieces!

WHOLE FOODS SHAMED

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Today I was shamed by the Whole Foods checkout clerk, and I spent the remainder of the day with my head held low, feeling like a complete failure as a human – like a hater of our planet who didn’t deserve to live. Allow me to explain.

I love the hot bar at Whole Foods. If I could eat one lunch every day of my life, and price and proximity were no issue, it would hands-down be a plate from the hot bar at Whole Foods. Not only does it offer an array of healthy foods such as steamed kale and broccoli, but the rabbit food actually has flavor. They offer ethnic foods I would never dream of preparing myself, or even ordering at a restaurant, but because it’s on the hot bar, I can sample to see if I like it. I can even get my kid to try all kinds of weird stuff because the whole hot bar idea is so compelling (and it doesn’t hurt that someone else prepared it).

So today, I happen to be downtown for an appointment and had run fresh out of boxes of frozen crap back at the office, so I drove a bit out of my way (though I tried to justify that it was SOMEwhat on my way back), fought traffic on the most notorious stretch in Nashville, wrestled with parking garage parking and made a beeline for the hot bar. I filled my plate with dill cod, vegan collard greens, garlic steamed kale, Moroccan chicken and some unpronounceable side dishes.

Now mind you, there are only two Whole Foods in town, and this one is the least desirable because it is located in the more swanky and congested part of town, and allows for two types of people – rich and pampered ladies who lunch and cool and earthy hippies. I am neither of these things, so I already feel self-conscious in the place. But again, the hot bar is so fabulous that I am willing to put up with just about anything to get to it. Also, this is the ONLY time I get vegetables outside of sugar snap peas on a crudité tray at my neighbor’s house.

Outside of the hot bar, there is only one other item I get at Whole Foods – their store brand of dark chocolate covered pretzels. Fresh market has them – not near as good and sometimes stale. Trader Joe’s has them – a decent backup in a pinch, but again, not the flavor I prefer. Dark chocolate pretzels have yet to make their way to Kroger, Publix or Walmart that I have been able to discover. But Goldilocks tried the Whole Foods pretzels and they were just right. I allow myself one luxury and it happens to be dark chocolate pretzels so don’t judge me, OK? Our normal groceries come from supermarkets like Walmart so I don’t want you to think we’re the rich hoity-toity types who do all our shopping in Whole Foods. Far from it. I’m not above looking for coupons and promo codes wherever I can find them. In fact, this site has proved to be a valuable resource for just that – https://www.raise.com/coupons/walmart. Discounts can make a big difference to your weekly spending and really help you stretch your budget.

So on my way to the register, I grabbed two bags of the dark chocolate pretzels. Now, I’m already in trouble with the hippy checkout clerk because I have forgotten my reusable bag, but she’s willing to part with one precious environmentally crushing brown bag. Then it dawned on me – that fabulous “hot” food was going to melt the pretzels at the bottoms of my elusive chocolate pretzel bags which I so rarely get because I don’t even do the grocery shopping in my family, much less am I ever in the near vicinity of a Whole Foods to obtain my beloved dark chocolate covered pretzels.

This is when I made the crucial error of asking for a separate bag for the pretzels.

I was given a look of complete disgust accompanied by an irritated sigh – hence, my shame.

I trudged back to my car, head hung low, drove back to the office, plopped down at my desk, consumed my lukewarm food, and finished it off with a handful of the pretzels I hadn’t had in months. I asked myself, “Was it really worth all that?”

Absolutely. Because I like what I like, and I’m even willing to be shamed for it.

GETTING MY GROOVE BACK

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Fantastic, frustrating, empowering, diminishing, a blast, depressing.

These are the things I feel on a weekly basis when writing.

I started writing a book last fall that I had to abandon for another manuscript (hopefully more to come on that soon). With the other ms complete, I dusted off the old one off and have been laboring at it for a couple of months. I don’t mean to make it sound cumbersome. My heroine in this story is my favorite heroine of mine to date. She’s goofy, self-deprecating, determined, and a complete train wreck. I adore her.

She’s the reason I keep plugging away at this story, because of all the stories I’ve written, I’ve had the most trouble with this one. But I can’t stow this girl away to never be heard from. So for the past month or so I have stared at the computer screen, sometimes only writing one paragraph over a two hour period of time, willing plot points to pop into my head.

And then I sat down with my husband for a brain-storming session one night. It was the push I needed. Slowly but surely, I got back on the horse and drove the story forward. Now, that horse is galloping full-speed ahead as I have written more words in this past week than I have in the past two months combined. This girl’s story will be told!

If the darn secondary character will quit trying to take over.

I’m telling you, this girl is bound and determined to take her friend’s story from her. I keep hushing this secondary character, promising she will have her turn in book two, but she’s damn persistent and stubborn as hell. I’m about to break out some duct tape on her. Can you believe she even made me write the first scene of her book the other night? And I’m not even finished with book one. I swear, this girl is going to have me up till two in the morning trying to get her story done. Can I please finish book one?

So if you are a writer, and you are stuck, HANG IN THERE. You will get over your hump, although it doesn’t feel like it now. And when you do, you might wish for the times when you had nothing to write about. At least you were getting a decent night’s sleep.

WHERE WERE YOU TEN YEARS AGO?

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

The other day I happened upon a stack of CD’s (remember those?) that I had compiled ten years ago of songs from our iTunes library. I had named them as “Deck Songs 2004 Volume One,” – eight volumes in total. As we sat outside, enjoying our first Friday night of the summer, my husband casually mentioned that the docking station we were listening to had a CD player…and it was on.

I grabbed those eight CD’s and didn’t look at the song titles. I wanted to be surprised by each one. I put in Volume One, and we were kicked off with Prince’s “1999.” Perfection!

I had infused such hits as Journey’s “Stone In Love” with ‘N Sync’s remake of “Just Got Paid” and Soundgarden’s “Pretty Noose” with Elvis Presley’s “Little Less Conversation,” which if you will remember, made a sort of comeback in the early 2000’s. The almost circus-like clatter of the very beginning Bruce Springsteen’s “Tunnel of Love” exited me into the smooth ride that is one of my favorite pop/rock songs. I jammed with a smile to my favorite remake ever – Soul Asylum’s version of “Sexual Healing” – and let Honeymoon Suite’s “Feel It Again” absorb into my skin like a drug.

The songs on these CD’s were both a representation of our musical tastes up until 2004 and a sign of the then current times. As Jet’s “Cold Hard Bitch” played we talked about the groups of the time that seemed to exit pop culture as soon as they came. When Maroon 5’s “Harder to Breathe” came on we discussed how we both expected the rest of their stuff to have the same grit, but how they turned out a little too pop for our taste. Funny how I had no problem head-bopping to Nick Lowe’s pop hit “Cruel to Be Kind.” 🙂

When The Outfield’s “Main Attraction” came on, I thought my husband was going to need a cigarette afterward, and he thought I’d need one after my favorite Def Leppard tune, “Photograph.” We talked about how jarring the intrusion of grunge was in the early nineties as it crushed eighties hair metal, and we debated who were the real innovators of the genre. He reminisced about the first time he saw the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and how he and his bandmates couldn’t figure out if they loved or hated it. And I recalled the moment in the summer of 1993, lying on a raft in the pool, when I heard the powerful, raw first line of “Dead and Bloated,” kicking off Stone Temple Pilot’s first album and just about knocking me off my float.

But the coolest part was enjoying these songs with the same guy I sat with ten years ago on our deck at our old house. I held the same black dog in my lap while the same brown dog sat across from me in her own chair just like she always did on that deck ten years ago. Except now we have a fifth Chambers family member who loves music just as much as his mom and dad does.

I can’t think of a better way to have kicked off the first official weekend of summer. 🙂

Happy Memorial Day weekend to you and yours!

DO YOU CARE ABOUT REVIEWS?

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Whether or not I choose to read or listen to a book has absolutely nothing to do with good reviews or the number of stars assigned to it. Not to say I don’t read reviews — I actually enjoy reading them…after I’ve read the book. I’m that weirdo that closes a book I adored and marches straight to Goodreads to search out the one star reviews.

I’m not sure why I do this. Sometimes it’s to see how someone else could have possibly found fault with the masterpiece I’ve just read or heard. Or maybe one or two things bothered me about the book, and I want to see if there’s anyone else out there in agreement — sort of like being a fly on a wall in an online book club discussion.

Some of the reviews crack me up. I guess I get off on watching people get all worked up — and boy, do they get worked up. I can envision arms flailing, faces turning beet red and steam shooting out of ears. Why? I never can understand why people are so bitter in reviews. It’s as if they are angry at the author for wasting their time and don’t realize that the author is an actual live person with feelings. Would these angry reviewers confront these authors at a party and say the same things? Probably some of them would. But I’m guessing many would not.

It’s all so subjective, and we’re all so different. I could not get into Silver Linings Playbook to save my life, but clearly the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences along with most of the rest of the movie-going population would disagree with me. But I’ll watch Death to Smoochy for the umpteenth time and love every minute of it.

I’ve always had difficulty writing an unfavorable review and especially do now that I write books myself. Even if I thought a book was the worst thing ever written, I’d never get online and scathe that book because now I know how much hard work goes into even the worst of books. It’s easier to feel okay about slamming a really popular book because you feel like that author has been well compensated and is SO totally out there for review. But billionaire or not, even those people bleed when they are cut.

So when I love a book, I give it five stars. If I don’t, I just shut up about it. I know people argue that I’m not contributing to the greater good, being honest so I can help others make buying decisions. But who’s to say my trash isn’t their treasure or vice versa? Because come on, name me one other person who loves Death to Smoochy.

MOTHERS AND OTHERS

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

On Mother’s Day a couple of years ago, I saw a Facebook post that reminded us to be mindful of those women who long to be mothers on this day. I’ll admit, I felt some shame at my own lack of empathy, especially since I once was one of those women who were told they would likely never be able to carry a baby to term. (My child came three days PAST his due date by the way.)

I will never forget when my husband and I moved to our first house. There was a community garage sale going on down the street, and several of the neighborhood ladies were lined up in chairs in the front yard of one house. I decided to walk down and introduce myself. All the ladies greeted me with smiles and welcomed me to the neighborhood. The first question was, “Do you have kids?” When I answered, “No,” I got a collective, “Oh,” which sounded similar to the air being let out of a balloon. The ladies lost interest in me at that point and began looking past me for a mother somewhere, presumably.

Then there was the time I was at a Bunco table and a mother was complaining about her four kids. She actually said, “I’m envious of these women who have trouble getting pregnant. I get pregnant at the drop of the hat and don’t even want these kids!” (Insert hysterical laughter…from only her.)

As I remained childless through the years, I found that others around me who started having their own children started drifting away. And I got it. I really did. Their lives were changing. There was not room for me anymore. But when you are in that place where you long for a child and you are trying your damndest to have one and are coming up short, it stings when those who have what you want shun you.

What’s worse is whether they realize it or not, people don’t just discriminate against you if you don’t have children. Now that I have a child, I find that I get the boot by some would-be friends because my kid is not the right age for their kid, or because I only have one child, lacking that second kid who can play with this particular parent’s other child who is older or younger, or a different gender than my kid. Trying to find a good match is akin to finding a flattering swimsuit. Which, by the way, can be done. My friend found the most flattering swimsuit that I’ve ever seen, and that was from a place called Hermoza, so I must make time to have a look at the apparel that they have on this site because I might finally be able to find a gorgeous swimsuit. And yes, I’m in desperate need of one!

So as much as I want to wish all of the hard-working mothers out there a fantastic Mother’s Day, my hope is that we can keep those in mind who long to be mothers and fathers, not just today, but all days. My other hope is that if I’ve ever been such an asshole as described above to any of my child-free friends, that you will give me a swift kick in my behind for it. I would deserve it!

 

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A SERIES?

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

I don’t know about you, but I sure love a series. I can’t tell you how often I’ve finished a book that I thought was just okay, but knowing it was part of a series, I still went looking for that next one. Then there is the delight of reading a book you don’t realize is part of a series, and then you find out there is a whole slew of books in that town or with that family or circle of friends, and your mind is set to ease knowing you don’t have to separate yourselves from these people just yet.

There is something so comforting about settling in with characters you are already familiar with. Even if the new hero and/or heroine have just been side characters in the first book you read, you feel like you know them a little — and if the author has done it right, you know just enough to make you want to know more.

I recently listened to the first book in Laura Kaye’s Hard Ink series, Hard as It Gets, and she gave us the slightest hint into this one character’s life that piqued my curiosity. As soon as I finished the book, I went directly to Goodreads to read the blurb about book two with fingers crossed. Sure enough, that character earned the position of heroine in the second book in the series, Hard as You Can. Well done, Ms. Kaye.

I’ve been listening to a couple of books from Lorelei James’s Blacktop Cowboys series, which by the way is an excellently written series about bull-riders, bull-fighters, farming cowboys and all kinds of other rough and tumble guys dreams are made of. This author gives us a closer look at the side characters, even taking a detour from the story at hand to allow a look into their own points of view at times.

But I’ll tell you a little secret. It’s not just the readers that love the series. Us writers become so close to our characters through the writing process that it’s sometimes difficult for us to let go. So I believe series are a win-win for everyone!

Finally, I can’t talk about series without introducing you to a few of my favorites. Lisa Kleypas’s Travis series inspired me to write a series of my own. The fourth book in that series comes out later this year. I’ll be screaming from the rooftops about that when it releases.

I became quite addicted to James Patterson’s Michael Bennett series last year. But who can resist a single father with ten kids?

When agents or editors ask me what authors my own books are similar to, I always mention Erin McCarthy’s Fast Track series. While I haven’t been clever enough to hone in on such a unique world as stock car racing, I feel like her characters have an authenticity that I hope I am achieving as well in my own writing. We also have similar heat levels in our writing. (You’ve been warned.)

And while we all love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, I would love her to take a break and write just one more in her Alex Barnaby series. Don’t read Metro Girl in public, unless you want to be stared at for laughing hysterically by yourself.

I’d LOVE to hear about your favorite series! I’m a book junkie and it doesn’t take much to convince me to read or listen to a good one. Let us all know about your favorite series here in the comments.

And as always, happy reading!

CHANGE IS GOOD…ish

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

So change is good, right? Right? *crickets*

This week I got a message from my website provider that they were doing away with both my website builder program and my blog program. Sorry ’bout your luck!

After a good bit of pouting followed by hiding under the dining room table staring down my computer like it was a loose cobra, I finally decided to figure this shiz out. So I got on the phone and hung up a half-hour later with a brand new online world waiting for my magic fingers and arthritic wrist to explore and make myself a new online home. It is always best to do your research first and see which website builder will be best for you to use – WordPress versus Wix? You’ll be able to decide once you’ve got all you need.

The result…I love it! No really, I do! I now have just one fabulous online home — melissachambers.com Here you will find my blog on the landing page nestled right along with my other website pages. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of. *sniff*

So here’s the sucky part. The one thing that did NOT come over with all my other blog and web stuff was my BLOG SUBSCRIBERS. 🙁 This puts me back in pouty mode.

So to all of you precious people who signed up for my blog previously, and to anyone else who would like to sign up (bless your heart!) may I ask that you please do that here? There’s a convenient little signup button thingy at the top right of this page, and all you need do is put in your email address. If you choose to sign up for this blog I will love you and hug you and kiss you and call you George. 🙂 I post only on Sunday mornings, and as always, I promise not to flood you with useless, humorless crap.

Thank you kindly, my sweet friends! And welcome to my new online home!

THE METABOLISM OF A ROMANCE HEROINE

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

It seems like in every romance novel I read lately, the heroine has this luscious body with curves in all (and only) the right places, a thin waist and a nonexistent belly pooch. These amazing bodied-ladies never exercise (possibly because they are too busy having sex) and eat like pigs. Many of these ladies indulge in ice cream, usually around midnight, and are almost always eventually joined by the hero in their pig-out sessions, who is, of course, enchanted by their woman’s ravenous appetite. These men are impressed — not turned off — by the fact that these ladies can eat a steak and potato at 8:00 at night and then a large pepperoni pizza after a long love-making session at 3:00 in the morning, and still manage to rival Gisele Bundchen in a bikini.

Some of these ladies will even make it a point to brag about their quick metabolisms. I get this is the author’s way of justifying this fantasy-exclusive, consequence-free behavior. But I pose this question — when was the last time you felt empathy and a kindred-spirit for a woman who could eat half a lasagna and still rock a string bikini?

Just a thought.