CMash November 7, 2011 7 Comments

Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading

Today’s question:

Other than for school, do you read books to learn how to do something? What was/were the topic(s)?

My answer:

Hmm..I’m finding this question a bit tricky for me to answer. I may read a recipe from a cookbook but not read the entire book so does that count? Or I have read the small booklet that came with my new phone, and I mean small, to learn about all the gadgets, which btw, the booklet didn’t help. So am not sure if that counts. And I just received a book on Digital Photography, which I do plan to read because I love looking at all the pictures on everyone’s site and want to learn how to do it. But other than that, I guess my answer would be no.

November is being hosted by Holly from Wonders and Marvels

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now on tour.

According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

Author & WOW The Hachette Book Group

2012 Challenges

CMash November 5, 2011 Leave a Comment

The other day I had my kick off for the 2012 Challenges. I admitted that, yes, I am addicted to books and challenges. And while stalking the above site, I also realized I am addicted to the challenge buttons. I’m in trouble!!!!! The next 2 months are going to be hard. Especially since I put in such a bad year with reading and challenges. Yesterday, since I can’t physically do fall cleaning, I did fall blog cleaning, and removed the 2011 challenges that I didn’t even make a dent in on my Challenge Page and started my 2012 Challenge Page.

I don’t know if it’s hopeful thinking, just the excitement of seeing all the new challenges and different buttons, wanting to close this book of 2011 and starting a fresh and fun book for 2012, BUT, I’m ready. So from today on, every Saturday, I will be posting what challenges, I have added during the week.

And I am hoping that you tell me which ones you decided to participate in for 2 reasons. One so we can encourage each other and two, in case I missed out on any lol.

So besides my kick off, I am also adding:

Challenge–2012 “Bucket List” Book Reading Challenge

The 2012 “Bucket List” Reading Challenge is the challenge to sign up for if YOU have a list of books that you are dying to read but just haven’t gotten to them yet. The rules are simple for this challenge and I’ve also included a couple of sample “Bucket” Lists to provide a good starting point. NOTE: The link titled “Bucket List” Books is a list that I created and if you would like to add books to that list I encourage you to.

Rules:
1. Challenge starts on January 1, 2012 and goes until December 31, 2012.
2. You don’t need a blog to participate.
3. Create a “sign up” post and link to the linky below.
4. There are 4 levels to this challenge….
      a. The Mini Cooper level – 4 “bucket” list books
      b. The Mid-sized Sedan level – 8 “bucket” list books
      c. The Pick Up level – 12 “bucket” list books
      d. The Semi level – 13 or more “bucket” list books

NOTE: I am adding a stipulation to this challenge. If you originally decided to start small with the Mini Cooper level and decide to upgrade that is fine. But once you decide to go big you can NOT downgrade.

5. Each month a review link will be posted. Please feel free to link up your reviews where ever you happen to post them…your blog, goodreads,Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.
Sample “Bucket” Lists:

I am already up to 7 challenges!!! And there are approximately 5 or 6 that I participated in last year and have my fingers crossed that those bloggers will host those challenges again. So I sit waiting ~~patiently~~, ~~checking daily~~, oh….ok…a few times a day..to see if those challenges are posted yet. I told you I am excited to start 2012 for many reasons. And one of them is to restore my reading habits.

So now I ask you…have you started signing up? How many? Are there some you are waiting for? Are you getting excited for the new challenges to start? Would love to hear or am I the only challenge and badge addict?

2012 Challenges

CMash November 5, 2011 7 Comments

And I am hoping that you tell me which ones you decided to participate in for 2 reasons. One so we can encourage each other and two, in case I missed out on any lol.

So besides my kick off, I am also adding:

Challenge–2012 “Bucket List” Book Reading Challenge

Guest Author

Guest Author Kurt Kamm

CMash November 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

I’m sure by now, most of you know, I can’t pass up a good mystery. That’s why when Rebecca from The Cadence Group contacted me to read and review his book, I had such a difficult time saying that word all of us book addicts have saying, the word, NO. But reluctantly I had to because I am so far behind, but I offered instead to share this fantastic sounding book with all of you. So please help me welcome author Kurt Kamm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kurt Kamm has lived in Malibu CA for several years with his wife. He was previously a financial executive and semi-professional bicycle racer. He is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School.

He has used his experience in several devastating local wildfires and access to CalFire and Los Angeles County Fire Department to write mystery novels about the lives of firefighters and paramedics. His first novel was One Foot in the Black-A Wildland Firefighter’s Story, published in 2008. His second novel, Red Flag Warning – A Serial Arson Mystery, was published in May 2010. Red Flag Warning won three first place awards in mystery fiction.

Kurt has just completed his third novel, Code Blood, which features a rookie paramedic who is drawn into the underworld of Los Angeles after he loses his first accident victim.

He maintains an author/first responder website and blog at http://www.kurtkamm.com

GUEST POST

The Female Inmates at Los Angeles County Fire Camp 13

It is not uncommon for states or counties to maintain fire camps for low security male prisoners, where they are trained in firefighting skills. More unusual is a camp for female inmates. In writing my firefighter mystery novels, I have had the opportunity to visit many of the Los Angeles County Fire

facilities. One of the most interesting is Camp 13.

Camp 13 is up in the Malibu hills, near a private golf club (!), and is run jointly by Los Angeles County Correctional Department and Fire Department. The women in the camp are nonviolent offenders. Most are serving sentences of up to five years for drug related offences, burglaries, identity theft or welfare fraud.

Camp 13 is low security, with ordinary chain link fences. The Camp Superintendent told me he could remember only one instance of an inmate walking away from the camp. For the inmates it is a source of pride to be there, and no one wants to jeopardize the opportunity.

There are approximately 110 women at the camp. They are chosen when they have less than half their sentence left and are not considered a flight risk. Most have approximately two years left to serve, and 5 – 10 are paroled out of the camp every month.

Each day at Camp 13 counts for three days served against the sentence. The inmates come from the Chino Institute for Women, which houses 3,000 inmates. At Chino, the prisoners are paid $1.70 – $3.60 for their prison work. At Camp 13 the women earn an extra $1.00 per hour. As distinguished from male prisoners,

there are few racial issues and no gangs among the women inmates.

There is a waiting list of up to 40 inmates, and the opportunity to go to Camp 13 is highly coveted. The women receive training at Chino before coming to Camp 13.

The facility looks like a beat-up summer camp for kids. It consists of simple one-story buildings which house the inmates, corrections officers, and fire supervisors. There are the usual dining halls, laundries, and limited recreational areas.

The women are divided into fire crews of 14. Their job is to cut fire lines and clear brush. They are transported to fires in the same type of fire crew truck used by other wildland firefighters. In many cases they work side-by-side with the paid firefighters on the firelines, although they are kept away from the most dangerous situations.

Two women in each crew operate 21 inch chainsaws (they are the“sawyers”), and one woman helps the saw operators (the “bucker”). The remainder wield shovels, Mcleods (a hoe-rake device, pronounced “mc cloud”) and Pulaskis (a chopping device similar to an axe). On the firelines, as well as at the camp, the women wear distinctive orange jumpsuits, which identify them as prisoners.

I have been out in the field with these women. They are proud of their work and work hard at it. It can be exhausting. They are encouraged and complimented by the firefighters who supervise them. It may be the first time in their lives they are accomplishing something and are getting positive reinforcement.

While the work at Camp 13 clearly helps build the self-esteem of the inmates, it is unfortunate that two-thirds return to the prison system.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Winner of a 2011 Public Safety Writer’s

Association Award

Colt Lewis, a young Los Angeles County fire paramedic responds to a fatal accident. The victim dies in his arms. Her foot has been severed but is nowhere to be found. Who is the woman, and what happened to her foot?

During a weeklong search, Colt risks his career to find the victim’s identity and her missing foot. His search leads him to a dark and disturbing side of Los Angeles…an underworld of body part dealers and underground Goth clubs. He uncovers a tangled maze of drugs, needles, and rituals which can only lead to death—but whose death?

Emergency medicine, the science of stem cell research, and the unsettling world of blood fetishism and body parts makes for an edgy L.A. Noir thriller you won’t want to put down until the last page!

THANKS TO REBECCA AND THE AWESOME

PEOPLE FROM THE CADENCE GROUP,

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS THILLER TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU

TO THE 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.

Giveaway

GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "CODE BLOOD" BY KURT KAMM ENDED

CMash November 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

NOVEMBER 4th to NOVEMBER 18th, 2011

CODE BLOOD

by KURT KAMM

SYNOPSIS:

In his chilling and suspenseful third novel, Code Blood, Kurt Kamm takes the reader into the
connected lives of a fire paramedic, a Chinese research student with the rarest blood in the world,and the blood-obsessed killer who stalks her.
Colt Lewis, a young Los Angeles County fire paramedic responds to a fatal accident. The victim
dies in his arms. Her foot has been severed but is nowhere to be found. Who is the woman, and
what happened to her foot?
During a weeklong search, Colt risks his career to find the victim’s identity and her missing foot.
His search leads him to a dark and disturbing side of Los Angeles…an underworld of body part
dealers and underground Goth clubs. He uncovers a tangled maze of drugs, needles, and rituals
which can only lead to death—but whose death?
Emergency medicine, the science of stem cell research, and the unsettling world of blood
fetishism and body parts makes for an edgy L.A. Noir thriller you won’t want to put down until
the last page!

THANKS TO REBECCA AND THE AWESOME
PEOPLE AT THE CADENCE GROUP

I HAVE ONE ( 1 ) COPY OF THIS
THRILLER TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.

*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: AS IN THE SYNOPSIS,
WOULD YOU RISK YOUR CAREER AS COLT DOES?*

*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).
*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.
*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.
*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

*U.S. AND CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY*
*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.

*GIVEAWAY ENDS NOVEMBER 18th AT 6PM EST*

WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG AND NOTIFIED
VIA EMAIL AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN

DISCLAIMER / RULES

Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
the giveaway on behalf of the
above. 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.

I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Winners

And the winners are……….

CMash November 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

………..of SEE MIX DRINK by Brian D. Murphy

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3 37

Timestamp: 2011-11-04 12:42:40 UTC

Gigi Ann said…I like a pina coloda, but, now days I have to drink virgin pina colodas. 3

beth said…Godiva chocolate martini 37

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

Guest Author

Guest Author Kurt Kamm

CMash November 4, 2011 1 Comment

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kurt has just completed his third novel, Code Blood, which features a rookie paramedic who is drawn into the underworld of Los Angeles after he loses his first accident victim.

He maintains an author/first responder website and blog at http://www.kurtkamm.com

GUEST POST

The Female Inmates at Los Angeles County Fire Camp 13

facilities. One of the most interesting is Camp 13.

there are few racial issues and no gangs among the women inmates.

There is a waiting list of up to 40 inmates, and the opportunity to go to Camp 13 is highly coveted. The women receive training at Chino before coming to Camp 13.

While the work at Camp 13 clearly helps build the self-esteem of the inmates, it is unfortunate that two-thirds return to the prison system.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Winner of a 2011 Public Safety Writer’s

Association Award

THANKS TO REBECCA AND THE AWESOME

PEOPLE FROM THE CADENCE GROUP,

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS THILLER TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU

TO THE 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.

Giveaway

GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "CODE BLOOD" BY KURT KAMM ENDED

CMash November 4, 2011 54 Comments

NOVEMBER 4th to NOVEMBER 18th, 2011

CODE BLOOD

by KURT KAMM

SYNOPSIS:

THANKS TO REBECCA AND THE AWESOME
PEOPLE AT THE CADENCE GROUP

I HAVE ONE ( 1 ) COPY OF THIS
THRILLER TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.

*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: AS IN THE SYNOPSIS,
WOULD YOU RISK YOUR CAREER AS COLT DOES?*

*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*GIVEAWAY ENDS NOVEMBER 18th AT 6PM EST*

WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG AND NOTIFIED
VIA EMAIL AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN

DISCLAIMER / RULES

I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed