Extra, Extra! Hear All About It!

With Jaime Wright-Sundsmo's permission, below are the details of Baby Chloe Joann's arrival.

Hi all!

The long awaited day came Tue am at 3:06. Chloe JoAnne is here! Our amazing little gal arrived 3 weeks early with a healthy birth weight of 7 lbs 3 oz but with underdeveloped lungs.

She is currenty being incubated with nasal c-pap oxygen at the NIC-U. While she's not in danger its hard leaving her there at night and difficult for me being there without being able to lay down to recoup myself. (Though may I extol the amazingness of the epidural?!?!?!)

That's the news!! Thnx to all for your prayers the last 9 and would appreciate a few more as we cross the hurdle of getting our Chloe home sometime in the next week or two!

Congratulations, Jaime and Hubby! Let's keep Baby Chloe in prayer, so she can join her Mama and Daddy at home.

Guest Posting at Eternity Cafe

I'm guest posting today at Susan Panzica's Eternity Cafe blog. Hope you'll pop over there and check it out.

Write Now - Contest

Normally, I would post this information in my Friday Round-Up, but my week got turned upside down. :) My friend, Karen Lange, over at Write Now, starts a contest today for Kim Vogel Sawyer's book, "Field of Grace." It will run until October 22, 2009. For details, pop over to her blog and enter.

The Future of Publishing

With all the moans and groans about the economy and the future of publishing, I thought we needed a bit of hope. Every time I see a picture like this, I smile. I'm honorary auntie to this Sweet Baby Girl. Thanks to her mom for allowing me to post her pictures.

Lest you think this is unusual, Sweet Baby Girl's mom has at least three pictures of her "reading." Having just turned one, "reading" books is listed as one of her favorite activities. Mom put up the cutest video recently of her looking through a book and signing the word, "book." It reminded me of a fellow-blogger's post on Baby Sign.

Just remember, when Jane Austen penned her classics, none of us were around.

ANOTHER HOUSEKEEPING POST

I'm not ignoring your comments, friends. Once again, technical difficulties need my attention. Blogger embedded a new comment form. Unfortunately, everyone is able to comment except me. It will not publish my comments, and declares there's an error on the page. Be assured, I read and enjoy each of your comments.

If anyone has any insight what's causing this glitch, I'd be grateful for your help.

Little Nuances - Lee Warren

Lee Warren, over at Little Nuances blog, posted some advice for newbie bloggers. He has some nuggets I think you'll appreciate.

http://littlenuances.blogspot.com/2008/09/blogging-advice-for-newbies.html

He recently celebrated his third "blogoversary." Congratulations, Lee.

How Do I Choose Books? Let Me Count The Ways

Ah books. The romance bloomed in childhood and continues to this day. Many authors and marketing people suffer angst over encouraging people to buy books. As a writer and passionate reader, here's how I make my personal book-buying decisions:

Genre - I'll try new genres, but a strong story is essential. Same-old, same-old with a different setting and characters becomes a cure for insomnia.

Lately, I've experienced some genre surprises. Edgy fiction makes me think. I don't always agree with the ideas, but at least it keeps me engaged. A foray into Christian chick lit provided laughs, while still carrying a serious undertone.

Author - Have I ever heard of this person? What kind of reviews are out there? Have any of my friends read this book?

I once heard someone say the difference between a woman sports fan and a man sports fan is she wants to know about the athlete's life, while the guy is primarily concerned about the athlete's performance. As a woman, I need to connect with the author, as well as the book. It's one of the reasons I read blogs almost as voraciously as I read books.

My list - Since my funds rarely keep pace with my reading appetite, I've started a Wish List on Amazon. The stress of remembering titles and authors drawing my attention became overwhelming.

Speaking of Amazon, I do shop there. Another happy place is my local Christian bookstore, especially when they send out flyers with coupons. Hurray for coupons! This weekend, they have a 25% off coupon on regular and sale-priced merchandise, making them competitive with Amazon and my other favorite, Christianbook.com.

While I suppose a lot of people read the back-cover copy, I'm not one of them. If I turn a book over, it's to check the price. My research is done via computer and word of mouth. When I go into a store, 99.9% of the time I know exactly what I want. However, seeing something I want on sale with the added spice of a coupon often causes me to switch gears (and usually spend more than I'd planned).

With all the books out there, how do you decide what to purchase?

Link Problem

Laina informed me a link from the Friday Round-Up is not working. I checked out the problem, and found a way to get around it. If you go to www.delmarvawriters.com and check on links (left side of home page), you'll come to a page with a link for Writing Snippets. Clicking on that link will bring you to Eva's poem and writings from others in the group.

When I originally clicked on the link in Eva's email, it worked perfectly. For some unknown reason, it won't work from Blogger. I apologize for any inconvenience.