Friday, October 23, 2015

Love Around the Corner by Samna Ghani (Mobile Mistletoe Series)






★★★★★   from Carol Ann Kauffman on October 12, 2015 

Magical Mistletoe Headband

Serena owns a bookstore that's struggling to stay afloat. She also is wearing a mistletoe headband that's supposedly has magic powers. Enter a handsome, intelligent man who reads. This is a sweet tale of wish fulfillment, bravery, and finding love.

Buy Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Around-Corner-Mobile-Mistletoe-ebook/dp/B0169NF4YI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445293962&sr=1-1&keywords=Samna+Ghani



Thursday, October 22, 2015

Giraffes of Technology: The Making of the Twenty-First-Century Leader




From Kirkus Reviews:

A CEO-turned-professor’s debut business book advocates a leadership style for the social media age. Many business books have been centered on animal motifs, from cats to dogs to sharks, chameleons and penguins. Arguably, the metaphor is overdone, but readers may want to make room for one more in the menagerie, as Glover’s giraffe allegory holds up well. 
Unlike many business-book peers who hire ghostwriters, Glover openly shares authorship with Curry, whose writing credits range from documentary projects to short fiction. It’s fitting, as Glover’s message is all about increasing transparency, flattening hierarchies and replacing top-down management with true dialogue in order to achieve shared goals. Glover rose from humble beginnings—his great-grandmother was a slave, his father a school janitor. Nurtured by parents and church members who emphasized education, hard work, humility and patience, he overcame racism and tradition to become CEO of an Atlanta PricewaterhouseCoopers subsidiary in 2000, and he later started his own consulting company, Rede, Inc. Glover explores, in six chapters, how technology and changing cultural norms have come to favor leadership traits reminiscent of the giraffe, a nonpredatory herbivore and gentle giant known for farsightedness. A giraffe also rises up after dramatically falling at birth, skillfully avoids lions while constantly moving forward to feed, and peacefully interacts with diverse herds. 
A serious business book with a light touch, a clear message, and much wisdom.


Here's the link to buy our book on Amazon: 
http://www.amazon.com/Giraffes-Technology-Making-Twenty-First-Century-Leader/dp/1499320922

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

LK Hunsaker's Thoughts and Sketches, Gates and Gardens


Dear Gentle Readers,

I met the lovely and talented L.K. Hunsaker at the Second Annual Shenango Valley Mall Booksigning sponsored by Leana's Books & More in Hermitage, PA.

This is her latest publication. Thoughts and Sketches, Gates and Gardens is a journal. It's a coloring book. It also has writing prompts for those days you want to write, but can't think of a thing you want to write about.

It is a simple volume, but one that fulfills many needs, all in one place. I picked up a copy for my own use. Here is the buy link, in case you want one, too.

http://www.lkhunsaker.com/thoughtsandsketches.htm   

Gift yourself with the present of a good day. Make it happen. It can be as easy as a change in perspective.
See it as a good day. Don't allow the drama others like to create suck the joy out of your day.

Hugs,
Carol  

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The Fabulous Artwork of Reina Cottier



"My art has reached a whole new level for me lately, there seem to be more layers, more energetically to each piece. While I have less time to paint, (my colouring book and childrens book being published has been keeping me super busy), what I am painting is feeling a lot more satisfying than previously. 

I have revisited my cosmic connections and integrated them with my love for cultural themes and nature/creatures."  
                                                                - Reina Cottier































The artist describes her work and the level of energy and inspiration in her pieces in her own words. You can't look at her work and not be moved by it's beauty and energy, by it's soothing, ethereal elegance.That she loves the New Zealand culture and nature is apparent in her work.






















I was hooked the first time I saw her work. It was a dolphin in shades of blues and greens. It was graceful and elegant. It had movement and joy. I have a copy of it on my desk from her 2015 calendar. It makes me happy. It keeps me grounded. 


                                                                     

Above are links to follow the 
fabulous Reina Cottier. 









“Inspiration is all around me, I literally breathe it in on a daily basis. I live in Tairua, a beautiful seaside town, on the Coromandel Peninsula. I am constantly inspired by the majestic mountains to the west and the wild surf beach to the east. I am heavily influenced by our magical mystical universe, and all its wonderment and secrets. I find enormous inspiration in different cultures and tribal life, Pacifica, Indonesian, Indian, Oriental, American Indian and so on, My art has a real ‘cross fusion’ of tribal/cultural feel to it. Bits of this, and a hint of that, blended with a mysticism and ‘other worldly’ feel at times. “My art has developed and evolved immensely, at first it was totally experimental both in expression and technically, now it is certainly still very experimental, (I love being in the moment, no planning and just seeing what evolves on the canvas), but I have developed a certain style that seems to appear, whether consciously or not.”       
                                                           - Reina Cottier

Monday, October 19, 2015

Leana's Books & More Booksigning.




The Shenango Valley Mall Booksigning Event sponsored by Leana's Books & More was a terrific day! We had a nice crowd, met some wonderful people, and signed some books. Leana and her husband Vince did an outstanding job of organizing the event, complete with story times and face-painting, balloons, the works! A great time was had by all.





This is me photobombing my husband. Oh, this man has the patience of a saint. He helped to lug it all in. He helped me lug it all out. He kept me calm and hydrated.











This is me with the lovely and 
talented L.K. Hunsaker, who was
 my "table buddy." I must thank
Leana of Leana's Books & More
for teaming me up with this
sweet and delightful soul. We
had a blast. A review of L.K.'s 
"Thoughts and Sketches, Gates 
and Gardens" will appear later 
in the week. 




And here I am with the wonderful and amazing Burt Cole, humor columnist with the Tribune Chronicle as well as assistant metro editor at the Chronicle in Warren, Ohio. His delightfully funny and touching award-winning humor column, “Burt’s Eye View,” has appeared weekly in the Tribune Chronicle for 19 years.

Burt has written a series of children's books about chickens and farm life pranks, called "Bash."