My Recent Comments

Do what Star0925 said about the link to make sure no typos..  Shelfari has had some bugs lately and reports that they are working on them.  IF you report the bugs about your shelf under the "Feedback" link on Shelfari, they answer very quickly. 

Lorie, glad the wrist wasn't broken but a sprain is not much better in terms of pain. Hope you get some good pain relief.  3M and other companies makes these awesome gel icepacks that we keep in the freezer.  I am a total klutz so I need to have them in always on hand (in quantitiy!) but they helped when I had those wrist problems last year.

I am reading a book in the Room 59 line, a Gold Eagle book.  When I go to blog it should I pick Worldwide as a general term instead of Worldwide Mystery or Rogue Angel. So far this book is sooo much fun.

 

I am eagerly awaiting the postman's delivery of the first two LI HIstoricals.

Yes, you are right about certain historical periods requiring certain denominations forhistorical authenticity. I am most excited aboutthe Medievals just because I sudied Medieval literature for a large part of my life.

Perhaps it is more accurate to say I am hoping for a certain variety in tone than a specific denomination. One of my favorite LI authors has a certain prayerful tone to her writing. Her writing is like a prayer because it has this meditative tone on scriptural passages. This resonates with me more than some other writing styles of some works I read in the 1980s in part because of the denomination in which I was raised (which is most likely different than the author's by the way). That might be why I am also looking forward to the Quaker series, even though I am not a Quaker either.  I am less likely to enjoy religious works that stress a dogmatic approach at the expense of the prayerful attitude. I do not know if I can describe it, but a book is much more meaningful to me if it allows enough space for me to bring my faith to the reading than one that preaches down to the reader.

It is true that that are certain beliefs that are accepted as Christian truths, like the those decided that are now in the Nicene Creed. However, I feel tolerance is important, especially in a forum, and to realize that even so, different denominations understand tenets of the Christian faith differently. Not everyone or every denomination interprets some things in exactly the same way. I think fiction can sometimes get to a place that inspires the imagination and intellect in a way that bridges the differences.

I suppose that is why the historical line really attracts me....it has the possibility of transporting the reader to a different time and context to see other women of faith in different times and perhaps make the ideas more relevant by disassociating them from a reader's current day context.

 

There is going to be a series about Quaker women that I am eagerly awaiting.

As a reader, I am hoping maybe the historical line will be able to maintain some kind of variety so that as a reader, I can see many types of Christian and historical faith. There are many Christian denominations. Although I am more in tune to my denomination than others, this is not to say mine is the only one that is true. I really do not like the kind of divisive dogmatism I see in the press and politics that tries to claim one person or denomination is more Christian than another. It is my hope that the historical line, by portraying women of faith in historical moments, will reach out to what is common and universal in Christianity rather than being tied to current day politics or fashions or a particular denomination. That is my hope for this line, anyhow, as a reader.

Hope your wrist is okay. Wrist injuries and typing are a painful combination!

If we mark the line of a Harlequin book, does this become a tag?  Or do I need to add it as a tag.  I would like to use the tags to serach for say all HR or MR blogs but the lines are not coming up on the "more" click for the tags.  Also, mine do not appear if I do find a tag and I wonder if it because I relied on the drop down line to make a tag for the line.

Do you think maybe Nocturne needs a thread for readers?  This one is called writing for Nocturne and then there is a Raintree thread.

I have no desire to write for Nocturne (or any fiction) but I love reading Nocturnes.  I think the thread title might discourage visitors whereas maybe if there was a reader-oriented title thread too maybe readers would feel more welcome?

 

I understand about there only being snippets on the main Challlenge blog and that seems right.  Still, it is very time consuming to be able to view a bloggers entire blogs and comment.  Every time I go to make a comment, I have to spend a lot of time going back to their blog for each entry and comment.  If another window opened up like last year, readers would be able to see the entire blog and comment without leaving it.  It would be nice for me as a reader to be able to the entirety of a bloggers posts when I go directly to a person's profile/blog and instead of having to click for more on each blog and click for commenting and then going back to see other posts and so on til I catch up with their blogs. Maybe even a button option on a person's blog for view all blogs in entirety to please everyone with a choice?  I am sure there are priorities but it would eventually make reading blogs easier and allow readers more time for reading instead of navigation and clicking.

 I know everyone is very busy, but I have not gotten a coupon code.  Is there going to be a coupon code for bloggers this year?

A must read, in my opinion is The Bug Funeral by Sarahv R. Shaber. Reincarnation mystery set in modern day and 1910 North Carolina.  Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett.  So many good other ones.  Anne White's An Affinity for Murder has a neat look into Georgia O'Keefe.  So far have enjoyed them all really.  Some are more cozy mysteries.  Linda Berry is good and fun.

Thanks for the oxygen numbers, esp. for the kids since that is mostly where I have encountered it in reading so far.

By the way, the MR line is currently being promoted BIG time with HR in an enclosure that came in my first Jan. subscription box arrival (MIra Suspense).

Most of the new community is fantastic and much nicer and easier to navigate and makes for more "community" feel. 

However, the main Challenge blog is like those dreaded teasers only multiplied and moving at warp speed.  Once the dust has settled, it would be really nice if there was something in between the main Challenge blog and the buddy system to see whole blogs which does not rely on the buddy system or a mere snippet from the Main challenge to draw people to new bloggers and Harlequin newcomers.  Half the fun of the 2007 Challenge was discovering new bloggers and new books and lines which get lost in Main Challenge blog merely due to the activity level and the teaser form.