Book Review: “Pinterest For Dummies” by Kelby Carr and Giveaway

Pinterest has, seemingly overnight, become the hottest new social media website. I have been an avid pinner for the past several months and I absolutely love it. I can, and have on many occasions, spent several hours on Pinterest, and whenever I introduce the website to someone, I always warn them of its amazing ability to lure you in and keep you entertained until you realize that there was something you were supposed to be doing. It’s hard to believe that Pinterest was initially launched in 2010, only because it is just now becoming so popular, but it just goes to show you that in the internet world. it may take years for what you are doing to catch on, but it could very well have the ability to catch on in a big, …

#PhotoaDayMay: What You’re Reading

I am currently reading the novel Sister by Rosamund Lupton, for the second time. I got this novel on a whim for my Nook, pictured above, after seeing it appear on Oprah’s Summer Reading List last year and reading some absolutely glowing reviews of it. It is a thrilling and intense read; I was actually surprised with how much I really enjoyed it because I didn’t expect it to be as good and as captivating as it is. Even though I obviously know how it ends, since I have already read it once before, I am enjoying it just as much the second time around, which is pretty impressive in itself.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

#PhotoaDayMay: Someone That Inspires You

My love and passion for writing, and the reason why I ever became interested in flexing my own writing muscles, is rooted in poetry. This style of writing has always appealed to me, since as far back in my life as I can remember. In poetry, there are no rules; you break lines when you want to and you use punctuation when and if it feels right. No one can tell you that you wrote a poem the wrong way because there’s no such thing as the “right way.” When poetry became most important in my life, to the point where it was very much my lifeboat as I was kind of mentally spinning out of control, I wasn’t one for following rules. You can easily see how this …

The Joy of Books [Video]

Books have always been extraordinary and magical to me. When I start reading a new book, I see it as an invitation to experience someone else’s life while letting any stress in my life fade away, even for just a little while. We are allowed into the heads of characters in books; we have the opportunity to learn what makes them tick and what their weaknesses are. We get to see life through their eyes and then take the wisdom they leave us with and apply it to our own realities. It’s really astounding.

Sean Ohlenkamp’s absolutely remarkable video The Joy of Books shows just how magical books can be, in a more physical sense, by crafting some amazing stop motion animation and seamless editing.

Book Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of “All About Vee” by C. Leigh Purtill [Closed]

I first read All About Vee by C. Leigh Purtill back in 2008. It arrived just before the beginning of summer and I picked it up expecting a light, girly read I would breeze through in just a few, short days, and then promptly forget most of the details within right after writing the review. My first impression of this book, the brightly-colored cover and teenagers holding hands with huge smiles plastered on their faces, pointed to precisely this series of events. When you have read and reviewed as many young adult books as I have over the years, you learn that you can indeed judge most books by their covers and know what to expect from them. The key word here is ‘most.’ But this particular book turned out to be so …

“Who does that fat girl think she is?”

This post originally appeared on C. Leigh Purtill’s personal blog. Republished with permission.

That’s the strange comment I’ve read on some reviews of my novel, All About Vee. Perhaps not quite as harsh but certainly I’ve read comments that express that sentiment.

Why? I always wonder. Why would a reader be upset that my mc, Veronica May, a plus-size actress struggling in Hollywood, has confidence in herself? Plenty of other characters in other books know they are good at something, whether it’s acting or painting or sports. So what’s the difference between them and Veronica?

Her size.

There’s an attitude among a lot of people that overweight women shouldn’t be happy with themselves. They should want to look thinner. They should not like who they are. They should feel inferior to …