June 21, 2016
Interlude to Sentimental Me Book Spotlight
In this book spotlight, we have two books from author Michael Judkins: Interlude to Sentimental Me and Sentimental Me.
About Interlude to Sentimental Me: Volume Two
A collection of emotionally driven poetry that covers the story of pain, tribulations, happiness, self-esteem and self discovery through love and heartache. The Interlude will take readers on a journey of determination and imagery, which leads to the formation of short stories and performances.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Google Play, Smashwords, Kobo and Aois21market.
About Sentimental Me: Volume One
Sentimental Me – displays his ability to wrest good from bad, to display the courage to dig deep within himself to help others. Through an inspired melding of his unique voice and inspiring photographic images of nature, Michael provides the reader with a unique perspective of the human condition, inspiring others to follow their own creative paths without boundaries.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
Poetry Lyric Video
About the Author
Michael Barry Judkins was born in the Bronx, New York, along with his four brothers and sisters. Michael’s childhood memories, although bittersweet, provided a rich foundation for him to draw upon later in life as an accomplished author.
Delightful memories of trips to the zoo or picking apples with his mother contrast greatly to daily reminders of what any hard-working family must battle in building a life in an urban setting. Domestic violence. Drugs. Gangs. All play their part in shaping a person – whether for good or bad is often an individual’s choice.
After spending years immersed in typical, reactive adolescent behaviors like skipping school, smoking and drinking, Michael began experimenting with other alternatives to developing new relationships and helping resolve social issues. As he took these first, proactive steps to be part of the solution, and not the problem, the germ of the idea for his first book – Sentimental Me – was born.
Graduating from high school a year early, and after a foray into the music business, Michael completed a BS degree in Human Services and MS in Mental Health Counseling. A daydreamer for as long as he can remember, Michael’s inability to forge a relationship with his beloved father before he passed when Michael was only two years old still haunts him today. His mother’s cherished memories of his father’s spirit and honored Armed Forces service, while providing some solace, also serve to make Michael wonder what might have been, if only.
Today, with several poetry collections and short stories in the works, Michael’s first release – Sentimental Me – displays his ability to wrest good from bad, to display the courage to dig deep within himself to help others. Through an inspired melding of his unique voice and inspiring photographic images of nature, Michael provides the reader with a unique perspective of the human condition, inspiring others to follow their own creative paths without boundaries.
Michael now resides in Allentown, P.A., and welcomes all readers to feel free to contact him at judkins_michal@yahoo.com to discuss your reaction to his work, or learn more about upcoming releases. You can connect with him on his website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
June 20, 2016
Candidate for Murder Book Spotlight
In Candidate for Murder, it’s election time in Spencer, Maryland, and the race for mayor is not a pretty one. In recent years, the small resort town has become divided between the local year-round residents who have enjoyed their rural way of life and the city dwellers moving into their mansions, taking over the town council, and proceeding to turn Deep Creek Lake into a closed gate community—complete with a host of regulations for everything from speed limits to clothes lines.
About Candidate for Murder
When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees on the town residents, Police Chief David O’Callaghan decides to make a statement—by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s German shepherd, to run as mayor of Spencer!
What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight Gnarly becomes the front runner—at which point his political enemies take a page straight out of Politics 101. What do you do when you’re behind in a race? Dig up dirt on the front runner, of course.
Seemingly, someone is not content to rest with simply embarrassing the front runner by publicizing his dishonorable discharge from the United States Army, but to throw in a murder for good measure. With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang—including old friends from past cases—dive in to clear Gnarly’s name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!
About the Author
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries. The twelfth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series, Candidate for Murder will be released June 2016.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV. You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
Book Trailer
Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. I loved the book description and wanted to share it with you my readers!
June 13, 2016
5 Tips to Keep Potty Training Simple #PottyPartnership
When I was pregnant with my first son, all I wanted to be was the perfect Mother. I read plenty of parenting books, columns and advice. They were great, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t prepare me for my own child and their personality and learning type. Toddlers learn and process things differently. They are just like adults and it is so important to tailor potty training to their personality to be successful. There is no one shoe fits all when it comes to potty training. For us, we had one child who was resistant to change and one who couldn’t wait to become a “big kid”. Our learning curve with our first child was huge!
While the potty training years were hard and sometimes ended in tears in the beginning, as parents we have come a long way. I wish we had some of the same resources parents have now but I think we did a great job with what we had. Here are our key tips for successful potty training:
Make sure your child is ready to begin potty training. Potty training can be a scary time for toddlers (adults too!!), they want to make us proud but accidents happen and it is important for them to know that it is okay. The first step is making sure your child is really ready to potty train. Look for key signs, like: tugging at wet diapers, hiding to pee, interest in others use of the potty, waking up dry from naps or even telling you that they need to go. It is important to look for at least two or more signs, otherwise you may be starting potty training too early and it may make the experience difficult. Once you have figured out that they are ready, you need to figure out the next step: their personality.
Know your child’s personality and how they learn. This is the ultimate key to potty training success in my opinion. You can try every tip in the book but if you aren’t reaching your child the way they learn the best, then it will end in tears. Pull-Ups has developed five key personalities that tend to occur most often in toddlers: Puppy, Turtle, Squirrel, Owl and Bear Cub. When you visit the Potty Partnership website and answer key questions about your child, it will figure out which personality your child is and provide tailored tips to help both parent and child achieve success. Looking at the personalities I can easily tell I had (and still are in most things) a Turtle and a Bear Cub. For us it meant approaching potty training very differently for both of them to ensure they both felt supported, encouraged and ready.
Get the right tools! As adults, we wouldn’t learn a new skill without all the needed materials and the same is true with potty training. In our house, we ensured we had a potty that our child picked out themselves, flushable wipes (best invention ever hands down), special toddler soap, reward chart, the actual rewards (Hot Wheels car were very popular in our house) and the proper size of Pull-Ups training pants.
Connect with family, friends and community. Use the resources around you for help, never ever be afraid to ask for help. I wanted to belief potty training would be natural and easy, when it wasn’t I became frustrated which didn’t help my child. Talk to friends, family and online communities to see what helped them. You may find an angle that you wouldn’t have even thought of, that may just work perfectly for you and your child. Join online resources like the Potty Partnership to get advice geared to your child’s personality and gender, learn how to talk to your child about potty training (tone, voice) and learn how your child’s mind works.
Keep it simple and fun. Use terms that your child will understand and talk to them in a tone of voice that lets them know you are proud of them no matter what. Potty training will have ups and downs, this is okay. Your child won’t always learn overnight and they need to have that encouragement that they are doing well. Keep instructions simple and consistent – once you start don’t give up but instead keep at it and keep it fun.
I love this video from Pull-Ups, teaching a whole new way to potty train your toddler:
If you have a child or family member who is ready to start the potty training journey, Pull-Ups is giving you the chance to win your own Potty Partnership kit to help you on your own potty training journey. The kit includes:
- Pull-Ups Training Pants (size geared to the child’s age and gender)
- Big Kid Flushable Wipes
- Potty chair with detachable potty seat
- Potty Progress chart
- Potty Training Book
- Plush Toy Reward
- $25 Walmart gift card to purchase more Potty Training items from the shopping list
Enter via the Rafflecopter form below and good luck!
Disclosure: I received a Potty Partnership kit. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 13, 2016
Live Self-Sufficiently Book Spotlight
Learn how to live your life self-sufficiently with this new twelve step book!
About Live Self-Sufficiently
This is a twelve-step guide to living self-sufficiently with lessons on personal growth, self love, health and wellness, financial stability and healthy relationships.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Alibris.
About the Author
Tisha Marie Payton is a certified life and relationship coach. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. Her education is in human relations with an emphasis in art therapy. For over twelve years Ms. Payton provided service to her community as a Girl Scout, has competed in pageants, fitness and swimsuit modeling, and landed the cover of Playboy Magazine. Throughout her collegiate and modeling career, she found that many people live dependent upon others and aren’t truly living happily. She began a nonprofit organization called Building ME in Texas to build enlightened minds in youth and provide pertinent life skills to stop the cycle of dependency. This is a twelve-step guide to personal growth, self-love, health and wellness, financial stability, and healthy relationships.
You can connect with her on her website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Giveaway!
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour post, I received no compensation for this post. I loved the book’s description and wanted to share it with you my readers!
June 9, 2016
Celebrate Dad With A Meaningful Book Collection from Raincoast Books
Our Dad’s have been there every step of the way from pregnancy through childhood. From late night food deliveries to Mom when she had crazy cravings to driving colicky infants around the block to soothe them. Dads build our confidence up and love us in a way that only they can.
On Father’s Day we get to show them just how special they are (even if we should be celebrating this every day of the year!) but this one day allows us to push aside our crazy lives and focus on the special bond between Dad and child. Raincoast Books has selected their top books that focuses on this special relationship and helps celebrate Dads. Here they are:
Tell Me A Tattoo Story
A bestselling author-illustrator duo join forces to create a modern father-son love story in Tell Me A Tattoo Story. The father tells his little son the story behind each of his tattoos, and together they go on a beautiful journey through family history. There’s a tattoo from a favorite book his mother used to read him, one from something his father used to tell him, and one from the longest trip he ever took. And there is a little heart with numbers inside-which might be the best tattoo of them all. Tender pictures by New York Times bestselling illustrator Eliza Wheeler complement this lovely ode to all that’s indelible-ink and love.
When I saw this book, I knew this one was for us. My husband has several tattoos that our boys are just amazed with. Tattoos tell a deeper meaning for the person who carries them, they tell of love, achievement, family and loss. We love talking about tattoos and tracing our husband’s ones on his arms and back. He has one that represents his move to Canada and another for our eldest son. He has the design ready for our youngest one – he just needs to figure out where! I loved the simplicity, honesty and love that was shown in this book. It was a great read for all four of us to sit down and read together, while sparking a conversation about my husband’s tattoos. I love how this book takes into consideration the new norm by talking about tattoos – tattoos aren’t a bad thing or mean a bad person. More and more people have them now and they represent so much meaning behind them. It was a truly special book.
Monster & Son
In Monster & Son, romp along with parent and child yetis, werewolves, giant lizards, and more as they stir up some monster-sized fun! Readers big and small, young and old, wild and tame, will roar with laughter and take this book by the horns, teeth, and fur… discovering that monsters and humans aren’t so different-especially in the ways they love each other.
A truly lovely book about the relationship between son and Father. It suited my boys perfectly! It was darkly coloured, with scary monsters (with smiling faces), a great rhythm which made reading aloud so much easier and the perfect story line. We followed Father and son as they played games, joked and bonded until Dad tucked little one into bed. It showcases the love between Father and son perfectly regardless of being human or monster! This will make the perfect bed time story.
Commando Dad New Recruits
This essential guide to pregnancy offers everything the expecting father needs to know in the run-up to the birth, or deployment day.” Packaged like an army training manual and written in guy-friendly, no-nonsense military speak, it presents month-by-month overviews of the baby’s development, the lowdown on pregnancy symptoms, tips for supporting the mom-to-be, a guide to prenatal care, and what to expect during labor and beyond. With expert advice, easy-to-follow information, and commentary from other first-time fathers, it’s the go-to reference for the dad-to-be who wants to prepare himself-mentally, physically, and emotionally-for the arrival of his new recruit.”
Letters to My Dad
This book of twelve letters (ten prompted, two blank) makes it easy for children of many ages-from tween to adult-to show Dad how much they care. Once filled out, sealed, and postdated, the letters become handwritten time capsules to give to Dad for Father’s Day, holidays, or milestone birthdays. When he breaks open the seals in the future, he will find a priceless keepsake.
This is a beautiful series of books that will honestly be treasured forever. My boys filled out the Letters to My Mom and it made my heart melt!
Gator Dad
From seemingly mundane tasks such as grocery shopping to more active pursuits like a romp at the park and fort-building, a loving and playful father alligator shows his gator kids that the simplest pleasures done together can make for an incredibly fun day in Gator Dad.
Presented by New York Times bestselling author Brian Lies ( Bats at the Beach ), this heartwarming story demonstrates a series of very special ways children can connect with their fathers and should appeal to parents and little readers everywhere.
A Perfect Father’s Day
An engaging family portrait and a winning tribute to ‘Dad.'” – School Library Journal
Four-year-old Susie gives her dad her idea of the perfect Father’s Day: A fast food restaurant for lunch, feeding birds at the park, a ride on the carousel, the swings . . . they even top their day off with balloons! Eve Bunting’s tongue-in-cheek story is sure to resonate with the loving, exhausted parents of charming preschoolers. Susan Meddaugh contributes ample subtle humor to the reading experience in the details of her illustrations. This sweet treat of a book, in a new paper-over-board gift edition with foil cover accents, is the perfect story for dads and kids to share on a perfect Father’s Day.
Raincoast Books now wants you to win four of your choice of the above titles to give to the special Dad in your life. Enter now via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!
Disclosure: I received Monster & Son and Tell Me A Tattoo Story in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
