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Hello Sunday Saloners!  And how was your week?   The Mash family had a very exciting week!!

Real Life:  Friday the 13th turned out to be a very lucky day for my family.  If you follow my blog, you know that I have talked about my 2 fantastic and wonderful sons, who both live out of state because of their jobs.  Well, my husband and I can now officially say we have a daughter!!  My youngest son, Mark, proposed to his gf and she said YES!!!!!!  We have loved Jess from the minute we met her.  And over the past couple of years we have fallen in love with her more and more because she makes my son so happy.  They truly are the perfect couple.  Jess, I am publicly welcoming you into our family.  Thank you for loving Mark as you do.  And, I know, Mark has your heart.  I can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, see it in his smile.  Mark, thank you for giving us the daughter I always wanted!!

Congratulations Mark and Jess!!!!!

Don’t think the rest of my week can even come close.  My husband and I are elated!!

……of A Death In C Minor by Rebecca Yount

20 J. Connatser Easy entry for fans of this blog post

An email has been sent to the winner and they have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  Thank you to all that entered.

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I love doing tours with the ladies from WOW!   I have hosted and reviewed books by very talented women authors because of Robyn and Jodi.  And today is no exception.  Robyn is stopping by to introduce us to another amazing writer.  However, today is going to be packed with a lot of fun stuff.  So get comfortable and enjoy!!  I present Ms. Barbara Conelli!  Welcome!!

BARBARA CONELLI

Barbara Conelli is an internationally published bestselling author, seasoned travel writer specializing inItaly, and Chiquenist on the mission to bring Fantastic Fearless Feminine Fun into women’s lives. In her charming, delightful and humorous Chique Books filled with Italian passion, Barb invites women to exploreItalyfrom the comfort of their home with elegance, grace and style, encouraging them to live their own Dolce Vita no matter where they are in the world.

Barb learned to read and write at the age of four, and a year later, she wrote her first bestselling book that became a big hit in local kindergartens. She turned into an overnight success that lasted for twelve exciting hours. Since then, she has never separated from her writing endeavors. Barb writes even in her sleep and she can often be seen sitting on her bed atthree a.m.with a flashlight frantically processing her somnambulant ideas. A born nomad and adventurer, she’s been there, she’s done it, and she’s not afraid to write about it.

An entertaining storyteller, Barb has a unique ability to capture the magical atmosphere of the places she writes about. Through the pages of her books, Barb takes your hand and guides you through the irresistible beauty, captivating secrets, unrepeatable spell and fugitive moments ofItaly. She makes them come alive easily and spontaneously, and her writing is like a magic carpet that carries you toItalyand back in the blink of an eye. She introduces you to fascinating women who have created the face ofItaly, lifts the shroud of their mysteries, and reveals adorable places off the beaten track where the authentic Italian heart hasn’t stopped beating.

As a naturally curious person who loves traveling, meeting new people and discovering their life stories, Barbara founded Chique Show, an entertaining radio show for women and about women. On Chique Show, Barbara shares her Dolce Vita adventures and interviews inspiring women authors and experts who show listeners how to live their sweet life with gusto.

Barb lives betweenNew York and Milan, and as a real globetrotter, she’s always on the move, accompanied by her adorable and very spoiled beagle. To her, writing is like breathing, and she’s currently working on her new book.
Visit Barbara at her websites here and here. 

Barbara is running two (2) contests on her blog:

An Italian Phrase contest

Learn Italian (and win a prize!)
Every Tuesday & Thursday from now through August 23, 2012 Barbara will be posting a new Italian word (+ audio)

Visit Barbara’s blog (http://barbaraconelliblog.com/category/writers-life/find-the-phrase-contest/) every Tuesday & Thursday to see and hear a new Italian word. At the end of the tour put all the words together into a phrase and enter it at Barbara’s blog site (http://www.barbaraconelli.com/findthephrase.htm). One winner will be drawn from those with the correct phrase. Prize is a chique leather wallet!

Contest is open internationally. Words will be posted along with audio link. Winner will be announced Thursday, August 23, 2012.

Essay Contest
If I Lived in Italy I Would…

What would you do if you lived in Italy? Dream big and start writing!

Your essay should be as long as you need it to be to express yourself! Submit your essays at the Essay Contest page at Barbara’s blog (http://www.barbaraconelli.com/essaycontest.htm). One winner will be chosen to receive a Chique Kindle Sleeve!

Barbara will be hosting her own Q & A on her radio show; here are the links to pages where readers can submit their questions.

Questions on writing and publishing on July 20
http://www.barbaraconelli.com/writingandpublishing.htm

Questions about Italy and travel on August 17:
http://www.barbaraconelli.com/italyandtravel.htm

Then tune in to the Chique Show on July 20^th and August 17^th for the pre-recorded sessions. http://www.barbaraconelli.com/radio.htm

ABOUT THE BOOK

THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF AUTHOR, BARBARA CONELLI,
I HAVE ONE (1) TOTE BAG TO GIVE AWAY. OPEN TO ALL.

IN ADDITION, EVERY PERSON WHO LEAVES A
COMMENT ON THIS PAGE (YOU MUST LEAVE AN
EMAIL ADDRESS) WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR
A DOWNLOADABLE GIFTBAG CONSISTING OF:
Chique Virtual Tour: The Secret Gems of Italy Every Woman Must Know
1st five chapters of Chique Secrets of Dolce Vita
1st five chapters of Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore
Chique Blog Tour Special Gift (Only for the tour!): E-Book: The Most Romantic Chique Places to Fall in Love in (and with) Milan

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE CMash GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

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*LEAVE COMMENT: IF YOU HAD THE

CHANCE TO VISIT  ITALY,  WHERE AND

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?*

*INTERNATIONAL–OPEN TO ALL*
*NO P.O. BOXES*

**HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.

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Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore by Barbara Conelli
Published by: Flagrans Press
Publication Date: April 30, 2012
ISBN-10: 0982600437
ISBN-13: 978-0982600436
Pages: 158
Review Copy from: WOW
Edition: Kindle
My Rating: 3

Synopsis:
When we talk about “the city of love”, most of us immediately think of Paris, Venice, Rome or another famous metropolis whose romantic stories we know from movies and novels. But to Barbara Conelli, none of them are the real city of love. To the author, love doesn’t mean passionate gestures, big promises of eternal devotion, ardent embraces, torrid kisses, or stormy arguments followed by even stormier reconciliations.

To the author, love means something completely different and much simpler.
The smell of morning cappuccino and fresh pannetone at Pasticceria Marchesi. A
brisk stroll through the awakening city and sensual curves of gold shadows on the wet paving of Via della Spiga. Joyful shouts of bohemian artists and their graceful muses at Fornace Curti. A crispy panzerotto savored in the company of cantankerous pigeons on the piazzetta of San Fedele. Old furniture stores in narrow streets and adorable trinkets she can never resist. The tinkling of a tram from 1929 with uncomfortable wooden seats and a hundred-year-old conductor. Sublime flamingos and peevish peacocks in an emerald-green garden that has never been owned by anyone. Remote nooks and crannies whose secrets have been revealed only to her and the few ghosts with aristocratic hearts who appear in them from time to time. Visionary dreams, inextinguishable hopes, the desire to live, the courage to create, the strength to grow.

To the author, love means all this and much more. This and much more is
what she receives from the city that makes you fall in love a hundred times a day,
breaking your heart over and over again, only to make it beat faster five minutes
later. Milan. Barbara’s city of love. The city she has adored since the year dot
because it’s just like her: it has dozens of faces, it laughs and cries at the same time, it’s vain, unpredictable, and you never know what mood it wakes up with.

Join Barbara Conelli and submerge yourself in the secrets of this magical city
that has been breathing love for centuries. Love that is dignified, childish, creative, treacherous, passionate, painful, forgiving, crazy, insane, unbridled, endless, fleeting, unfaithful, platonic, carnal, hateful, desperate, volatile, conceited, and divine. The kind of love whose chalice you quickly drain, so that on the next corner, you can reach for another one, even more delicious and intoxicating.

My Thoughts and Opinion:
I just returned from Milan, Italy but without the usual traveling inconveniences of packing, unpacking, airport security and the anxiety due to a very long flight, which I admit, I’m not fond of.

Barbara Conelli takes the reader on vacation with her graphic and dynamic descriptions of Milan in a detailed picturesque narration. A quick read but full of a resplendent portrayal of the people and sites of Milan. It is quite evident of the author’s love for this city of amore. She takes the reader through the streets and presents the landscapes such as museums, the fashion district including Tiffany’s, restaurants which include a couple of recipes, the trams one mode of transportation, cafes, fine arts such as paintings, sculptures, and even ballet studios. And introduces the people behind these institutions. This would be a very handy travel guide, if you had plans on visiting, as she shares the non tourist sites. Or if you want to escape in your mind and the comfort of your home. If you haven’t traveled to Milan, you will want to after reading this book.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

(2012 Challenges: Eook, FreeReads, Where Are You, 52 in 52, Outdo Yourself, 100+)

http://btt2.wordpress.com

This week’s question:
A while ago, I interviewed my readers for a change, and my final question was, “What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask?” I got some great responses and will be picking out some of the questions from time to time to ask the rest of you. Like now.
SammyDee asks:
What book(s) have you read that you’re secretly ashamed to admit

My response:
The books that came instantly to mind aren’t necessarily that I’m ashamed to admit to, but more so embarrassed.  And there are 4 read, 1 waiting to be read.

I have openly admitted that I am computer challenged, which that is something that I’m ashamed of, just ask Gina from Hott Books.  I don’t know what I would do without her as she is my computer angel.  She puts up with me, and with much patience I might add, for all the questions I ask how to do certain things.  She was partially the force behind  the new look and the reason why and how I moved over to wordpress., which she did both.  Because I am always bothering her, I bought WordPress For Dummies as a reference guide and even then, I have trouble and end up going to her for help.  The other is a book she just sent me , Getting Geeky With Twitter, since I am still trying to navigate that site but haven’t had the time to open it up and read.

The other books that came to mind are 3 that I read and reviewed from a request last year.  As I said, I’m not ashamed but a bit embarrassed because of the reasons I accepted the review request.  They were children’s books.  I don’t read children’s books since it has been many years that I have had to read to my sons, seeing that they are 26 and 28, and my hinting for grandchildren has fallen on deaf ears.  So there aren’t any little ones around to share these books with.  However, if I read and reviewed them, I would also have the opportunity to host a giveaway, and seeing it was right around Christmas, I thought it would be a fun giveaway for those that follow my blog and did have little tykes in their lives.  And the final one was The Bedtime Book For Dogs, an adorable book for children that instead of being read to, they could read to their dogs.  That book I gave to my son and future dil, partially as a joke, because she would say all the time, even with my husband and I, that it was time for “bonding and quality time”.  And would say the same thing about their dog.  So I thought this would be the perfect book so that she could have her “bonding and quality time” with the dog.  Knowing the personality of this dog, the book has probably been digested, literally lol.

OK, your turn.  What books are you ashamed to say that you read?

Hi everyone!!  Do I have a treat for you!!  Nicole from Tribute Books is taking time out of her busy schedule to stop by and introduce us to today’s guest author.  And if I know my followers, I am sure a lot of you will be very interested in her book.  So please help me welcome Nicole and Kathy Leonard Czepiel.

Kathy Leonard Czepiel

Kathy Leonard Czepiel is the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and teaches writing at Quinnipiac University. Her short fiction has been published in numerous journals including Cimarron Review, Indiana Review, Calyx, Confrontation, and The Pinch. A native of New York State’s mid-Hudson Valley, she now lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.
You can visit Kathy at her website, Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, and Tribute Books Blog Tours.

GUEST POST

            Like many twentysomethings today, I moved back to my home town shortly after college graduation. I had spent my whole life in this little Hudson River Valley town, a farming community with two traffic lights and three schools. But when I began working as a reporter for the local weekly newspaper, I met people and learned things I had never known before. One was that the area had once been known as The Violet Capital of the World.  How could I have spent my entire childhood there and never heard this? Though I didn’t know it then, my first novel had been born with that question. However, it was fifteen years before I was ready to write it. Writing a novel is a big commitment, and I knew its subject would have to hold my interest for a long time. The violets were the perfect starting place.

I began my research for A Violet Season at a local history museum with a file of newspaper clippings and photocopied pages from old books, but eventually I had to leave the library and get out in the “field”—in my case, a greenhouse. It’s one thing to read about something; it’s quite another to experience it firsthand. Leaving the library marked a turning point in my research—the point at which I had to proclaim myself a writer and ask someone else to take my research seriously. That someone was a local farmer named Fred Battenfeld, who graciously showed me around his greenhouses one cold March day. Earlier generations of Battenfelds had been violet growers, and though the family switched to growing hybrid anemones and Christmas trees decades ago, Fred still grows one small bed of violets, the only one in the Northeast as far as I know. He showed me around his greenhouses, even down into the “stokehouse” or furnace room. He demonstrated how to pick and bunch the flowers. He answered all of my questions.

Most of my writing days are pretty dull. I sit at my desk, next to my study window which looks out on my neighbors’ houses, and I plug away at my desktop computer. Sometimes I get up to make a cup of coffee or switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. But research days are something else entirely—exciting not only because I’m away from my desk but because I never know what new information I’ll discover. On a trip to the New York Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I got the feel for the tenement apartment in my own novel and borrowed a few particular details, including the “short clothesline of socks hung over the stove.” Sometimes the “research” is closer to home—a neighborhood walk, for example, on which I was struck by a squirrel with “afternoon sunlight casting a halo at the edges of its tail.” I love getting lost in the written world at my desk, but perhaps my favorite writing days aren’t about writing at all. They’re about the real-world discovery of these little details that bring my story to life.

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ABOUT THE BOOK
A mother’s choices in a time of crisis threaten the one person she means to protect—her only daughter—and force her to make the boldest move of her life.

The violet industry is booming in 1898, and a Hudson Valley farm owned by the Fletcher family is turning a generous profit for its two oldest brothers. But Ida Fletcher, married to the black sheep youngest brother, has taken up wet nursing to help pay the bills, and her daughter, Alice, has left school to work. As they risk losing their share of the farm, the two women make increasingly great sacrifices for their family’s survival, sacrifices that will set them against one another in a lifelong struggle for honesty and forgiveness. Vivid and compelling, A Violet Season is the story of an unforgettable mother-daughter journey in a time when women were just waking to their own power and independence.
Book Details:
Price: $15.00 paperback, $9.99 ebook
Pages: 272
ISBN: 9781451655063
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release: July 10, 2012
Purchase links: Amazon, B&N, Simon & Schuster, iBookstore.

THANKS TO THE KINDNESS OF AUTHOR, KATHY LEONARD CZEPIEL,
I HAVE ONE (1) PB COPY TO GIVE AWAY. U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

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