Friday, February 28, 2014

Cook'n Recipe Organizer

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to review the Cook'n Recipe Organizer!  How exciting?  I downloaded it right away and added a few of their cookbooks.  There is a long list of recipe books that you can choose from.  It is amazing.  I uploaded a recipe and it was very easy.  There was one glitch that I found, it may just be user error...at times it took a long time to open.  BUT, it was very easy to use once I got it open. 

They say:
Cook'n  Recipe Organizer v.11
Cook'n is the #1 Best-Selling Recipe Organizer and is the ultimate kitchen companion.

Cook'n is the Only Recipe Software that lets you:
      - Easily Enter your Personal Recipes
  • - Get Ideas for What to Make for Dinner
    - See a Visual Menu Planner
    - Auto-Generate Shopping Lists
    - Capture Recipes From Favorite Websites
    - Calculate Nutrition of Your Recipes
    - Capture & Sync Pinterest Recipes - Demo
    - Scan Printed Recipes - Demo
    - Discover New Recipes w/Live Feed - Demo
    - Print Themed Recipes - Demo
    - Use Snip-It to Capture Blog Recipes - Demo
    - Import recipes from Word - Demo
    - Share Recipes with Social Media - Demo
    - and much more!

Use Cook'n to Organize all your recipes. Cook'n is the perfect solution to organize your personal recipes. When you have entered your personal recipes into Cook'n you can:
  • - Create a family Cookbook
    - Share your recipes easily
    - Create menus and meal plans
    - Enhance the recipe by adding photos and stories
    - Get the nutritional facts for your recipes
    - and much more!
Enjoy the all new Visual Menu Planner. With the Visual Menu Planner you can create custom menus and meal plans.  Research shows that those who use and effective menu planner are more likely to:
  • - Save time by making less trips and by staying organized on what's for dinner
    - Save money by eating-out less because they are prepared to make delicious home-cooked meals.
    - Eat healthier by planning healthy menus and meal plans. And avoiding convenient foods rather than nutritional foods.
    - Save gas by making less trips to the store and on fast-food pickups.
Analyze Recipe Nutrition using Cook'n. Stop guessing what nutrients are in the foods you are eating. Use Cook'n to help you stay organized in your dieting! Analyze the nutritional elements of recipes and menus (even the ones you add!) Cook'n makes it simple to calculate the nutrients your body is receiving. After typing in a recipe or importing one from the internet, simply click a button for the information you need. Save you a ton of time by analyzing nutrition in seconds!
Save Time and Money with the Cook'n Shopping List Generator.  Cook'n also calculates the approximate cost of your shopping list. Cook'n automatically combines the food on your menus and makes a grocery shopping list. It even converts tablespoons of tomato paste to 8 oz. cans! Cook'n organizes your shopping list by aisle to save you time at the store.With the Grocery Shopping Assistant you can:
  • - Organizes grocery shopping list items by aisle
    - Compiles your family's grocery shopping list automatically
    - Calculates your grocery cost
    - Converts to package sizes (ie; tablespoon tomato paste to 8 oz. cans)
Organize your Pinterest Recipes in Cook'n. Cook'n will Automatically import all of your Pinterest recipes with one click and synchronize the two so any new recipes that you Pin will automatically appear in Cook'n! It's not magic... but it's pretty close to it!
Once your Pinterest recipes are in Cook'n you can:
  • - Create Menu & Meal Plans
    - Share them with Friends
    - Generate a Shopping List
    - Sync them to your Phone
    - Analyze nutritional values
    - and much more!
Scan your printed recipes or Shoot a Photo of them.  With the new Scan-It feature, it's easy to get all of your printed recipes into Cook'n without having to type any of them!  Importing recipes you clipped from magazines and newspapers is easy... just scan them! Or, take a picture with your mobile phone. Use the Scan-it feature to translate scanned recipes to text and use the Snip-It tool to copy & paste the text into Cook'n with just a few clicks!
Capturing Recipes from blogs and other unformatted websites is easy with the new Snip-It Tool.
Most of the time, you can capture internet recipes with just one click. However, this doesn't work with web pages that are not formatted properly (like the recipes posted on many blogs). Enter Cook'n Version 11.
When Cook'n Version 11 detects web pages that are not marked up properly, it will automatically split the screen and display the Snip-It toolbar in the middle. Simply highlight the recipe directions and click the Directions button. Highlight the recipe ingredients and click the Ingredients button. With the new Snip-It Tool capturing recipes from your favorite blogs is a snap!

Let the World's Best Recipes Come to You!  Looking for recipe inspiration? Rather than browsing allrecipes.com, foodnetwork.com and other recipe websites, just launch Cook'n! As soon as a new recipe is posted on the web, it will appear in the Cook'n Live Recipe Feed. Customize your recipe feed and follow your favorite websites easily. Click the recipe to see more or simply drag & drop it to save it in your personal cookbook.

Print your recipes on beautiful themed 3x5, 4x6 and full page printouts. The themes in Cook'n are great! And, they're getting better all the time! Now, with Cook'n 11, your printed recipes can look just as fantastic as they do on the computer! In Cook'n 11, the print preview window is embedded inside Cook'n. And, the new printing tool is capable of printing themed recipes in all formats (3x5, 4x6, and full page). Add pizzazz to your recipes and share them in style with Cook'n 11!
Cook'n makes sharing your favorite recipes a snap! Post your favorite recipes on Facebook or pin your recipes on Pinterest with just one click! Print a family cookbook and give a gift that everyone will treasure or simply e-mail a recipe to a friend. Tweet your recipes, embed your recipes in your web pages, and link to them. Sharing your favorite recipes with Cook'n has never been so fun!
Share your recipes on:
  • - Pinterest
    - Facebook
    - Twitter
    - Google+
    - Email
    - Text
    - Printed Cards
    - PDFs
    - Blogs
    - Websites
Sync to the Cook'n Cloud.  The Cook'n Cloud provides an off-site backup of your valuable recipe collection to keep your recipes safe and to protect against viruses, computer system failures, hard disk corruptions, and data-loss. The Cook'n Cloud also makes it easier than ever to synchronize recipes between all of your Cook'n apps. For example, recipes entered into Cook'n on your PC will automatically appear on your iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and other PC's.

Now, enter the giveaway by "liking" their Facebook page and following their Pinterest page.  Please leave a comment with your email address and which action you did.  One entry per comment, two entries {both optional} available per entrant.  Winner will be drawn using Random.org.

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Gospel for the Damned~Book Tour

http://fireandicebooktours.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/speculative-book-tour-giveaway-gospel-for-the-damned-by-gordon-gravley-tour-dates-21714-31714/


Virtual Book Tour Dates:2/17/14 - 3/17/14
Genres: Speculative/Dystopian/Literary 




Blurb:


Set against the backdrop of a city under quarantine, Gospel for the Damned is an episodic and introspective novel that follows young journalist Aaron Garrett on his three day assignment within sequestered San Francisco. His assignment: Interview The Elliots, family of the missing minister suspected of releasing the deadly Omega virus.
What he finds is a fractured community and a myriad of ways of facing hopelessness: clinging to normalcy in banal routines; thrill seeking in dangerous truth-or-dare games; mercy killing and federally sanctioned euthanasia; embracing sorrow through macabre celebrations; and searching for God where faith has been abandoned.
Together with The Elliot Family, Aaron embarks on a mission to save someone, anyone, from a doomed existence.
This is Gordon Gravley’s first literary work, and its philosophical leanings may very well provoke questions of your own about the world we live in, and the future we face. 

Excerpt:

It was an opportunity that would make my career or crumble it, and I’d like to say it came to me by way of my diligence and journalistic talent. But truthfully, I was given the assignment for the simple reason that I was the only one on staff at the Sound who tested as resistant to the Omega virus; it was my luck to be in the 2 percent of the nation immune to a disease that, to date, had wiped out a third of the West Coast’s population. 

Buy Links:




About Gordon Gravley:


After decades of self-doubt and errant life choices, Gordon Gravley finally came to write this, his first novel, and is now diligently working on his next two. He and his wife currently reside in the Northwestern United States.

Connect with the Author:


Guest Post:

My First Book

I finished writing Gospel for the Damned, my first book - about a journalist who spends three days within the quarantined city of San Francisco - a little over three years ago. I had developed it from a short story I wrote in 1994, almost thirty years before.

The short story, A Little Reality Never Killed Anyone, is about a group of teens in some kind of dystopian world who play dangerous truth-or-dare games to conquer their fear of living day-to-day. It's not very good. I'm not just saying this to be humble or self-deprecating, it's really not good. (One magazine that rejected my submission wrote - and I'm paraphrasing, only slightly - "We're not interested in your story. We only publish good writing.") But, it was one of the first and few short stories I ever wrote, and I will always cherish it as one of the many, necessary steps I took in becoming a novelist.

So, why thirty years to write my first novel?

Several reasons:

First, I didn't know what the hell I was doing. A story of a few pages length is one thing. A book of 200-plus pages, with real character development, detailed settings, and a cohesive story arc is a whole other realm of organization and creativity. I must have written a dozen or more outlines, trying to figure out how to connect all the different elements that were swirling around in my imagination.

Also, I had a number of strong characters with very distinct experiences. So I wrote three or four first drafts, each from the perspective of the various characters (written in first person). Yet, none of the early drafts worked because I couldn't coherently tell the story of all the characters from the point-of-view of only one of them. I also tried approaching it as a collection of stories connected by a common thread, like Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, or Hemingway's Nick Adams stories. But that merely complicated what had already become a daunting task.

How about writing from the omniscient or detached viewpoint? I thought to myself. I wrote one such draft that just didn't sound right; the story called for a more intimate narration than that. 

In 2004, I took a course in the writing of research papers. (I had a vague plan of getting a degree in the field of linguistics.) I wrote two pretty good papers, if I do say so myself, both of which had an unintended journalistic voice to them. And there was the answer to my dilemma: write my novel from the point-of-view of a journalist, from the outside, looking in. It was quite astounding how everything fell into place with that realization.

The second reason (or excuse, depending on how you look at such things) was the single greatest challenge that I think every writer faces - Life. It can sure get in the way. Working to pay the bills and a difficult first marriage, to name two things. But, and this would be my first piece of advice to any aspiring author, it's amazing how much you can produce with only one hour a day dedicated to writing and only writing. That's all. An hour a day. 

Lastly, the greatest deterrent to the completion of my first book was, simply, fear of failure. I'd spent (or wasted, depending on how you look at such things) so much of my life chasing rainbows (like a linguistics degree) that when it came to doing the one thing I felt I had a certain amount of skill in and true passion for - writing - I became incapacitated with the fear of it not working out, of failing, and then where would I be?

Well, it did work out, because I realized the only way I would fail is if I didn't try.

Gordon Gravley

Giveaway:

One lucky winner will win a signed print copy of Gospel for the Damned. The giveaway will run the length of the tour, USA only please!




Goodreads Book Giveaway

Gospel for the Damned by Gordon Gravley

Gospel for the Damned

by Gordon Gravley

Giveaway ends March 17, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win


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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Twitter Hop 2.46

Dawn’s Disaster

Welcome to Twitter Hop 2.46!
The only "rule" here is to follow as many people on the hop as possible!  I'd love it if you would grab a button and put it on your sidebar or "where hop/party" page.  Alright, let's get this party started!

Your Hosts:
Dawn~from Dawn's Disaster
Natasha~from Serenity You
Cathy~from A Peek Into My Paradise

Your Co-Hosts this month:
Shane from Whispering Sweet Nothings
MammaNene from Serger Pepper

Don't forget to share and Tweet about this link up!



We would love to have you as a Co-Host!  Great special for March and April co-hosts, please email me: dawnsdisaster {at} gmail {dot} com to get the special price.

Join our mailing list to receive email reminders about our hop!



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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Take the GungHo Challange

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
GungHo is a new energy supplement that also boosts your focus.  I had not heard of them, before I took the GungHo Challenge.  It's quite simple, really:
1.  Avoid energy drinks/shots or soda for 3 days
2.  When you are tired, take a GungHo packet
3.  Notice a small boost of energy & focus with no jitters or crash

Honestly, number 1 was hard for me.  With my love for Diet Coke, it was hard to avoid, especially with the headaches I still get when I don't get my allotted caffeine.  But...reviewing called, so I did it!

I was surprised that GungHo did boost my energy when I was low.  I felt a pep in my step about 20 minutes after I drank the first liquid packet.  What I really enjoyed was the energy without a huge slump {crash} three hours later.  A fade was noticed, but it wasn't like falling off a cliff into the abyss of non-energy.

Now, it's your turn to try out GungHo.  Giveaway will have two winners, each will receive three trial packets of GungHo.  The only mandatory entry it to leave a comment below.


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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Soulphisticated Ladies Season 1~Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.


Do you have a best friend?  Do you expect that your best friend(s) will stand up for you in your hour of most need?  Well, so do the ladies in Soulphisticated Ladies Season 1.

When I first saw the chance to review this book, I thought it was a movie.  Even thought I was incorrect in the format, it was a good choice to review.  The 4 episodes are each embracing and really capture your attention and emotions.  Everyone out there can relate to at least one of the main characters.  The author, Jaha Knight, is so descriptive, it was almost like they jumped off the pages and wanted to be my friends.  Their lives entwine in all of their love affairs, lies and careers.  The book was a very good read.  I would recommend it to all of my friends.

Buy from Amazon.

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, February 24, 2014

The Fallen~Book Blast




No one keeps secrets from her...



The Fallen
by Lee French and Erik Kort

Publication Date: January 26, 2014
Series: The Greatest Sin #1
Genre: Fantasy


For hundreds of years, the Blaukenev clan has wandered across Tilzam, from one end to the other and back. Each wagon carries history, love, laughter, pain, sorrow, and secrets. Their greatest secret of all may be Chavali, the clan Seer.

Spirits 
claim 
use 
save 
damn her. 

With her gift/curse, nothing surprises her anymore, no one keeps secrets from her. She, on the other hand, has more than enough secrets to keep. Secrets of her own, secrets of her clan, secrets of the world, secrets she even keeps from herself.

There are always people who want secrets. 
Some will do anything to get what they want. 

The Fallen is the foundation of the story of The Greatest Sin, of a world adrift from its God that desperately wants Her back. Chavali's comfortable, predictable life will be ripped apart and burnt to ashes as she's forced into the middle of that struggle. Change, she hates it passionately. It hates her right back.




About Lee French and Erik Kort

Lee French lives in Worcester, MA with two kids, two mice, two bicycles, and too much stuff. She is an avid gamer and active member of the Myth-Weavers online RPG community, where she is known for her fondness for Angry Ninja Squirrels of Doom. In addition to spending much time there, she also trains year-round for the one-week of glorious madness that is RAGBRAI, has a nice flower garden with absolutely no lawn gnomes, and tries in vain every year to grow vegetables that don't get devoured by neighborhood wildlife.

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Pinterest



Erik Kort abides in the glorious Pacific Northwest, otherwise known as Mirkwood-Without-The-Giant-Spiders. Though the spiders often grow too numerous for his comfort. He is defended from all eight-legged threats by his brave and overly tolerant wife, and is mocked by his obligatory writer's cat. When not writing, Erik comforts the elderly, guides youths through vast wildernesses, and smuggles more books into his library of increasingly alarming size.




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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Turning Home~Book Blast

ReleasedayTurninghomePageflex Persona [document: PRS0000446_00070] Turning Home (A Small Town Novel) by Stephanie Nelson When Brooke Kingsley finally captures the interest of her four-year crush—Dylan Crawford—her world turns upside down. Feeling alive for the first time, Brooke decides to spend her last three days of summer with Dylan and discovers there’s more to him than the rumors being whispered all over town. The problem is, Brooke’s father doesn’t want his daughter anywhere near the blue-collar bad boy. As Brooke leaves for college, she’ll realize that some boys aren’t easy to forget. Dylan Crawford has hated the Roseville Snobs his entire life, but one particular Snob has captured his eye—Brooke Kingsley. He knows he should stay away from her, but willpower has never been his strong suit. Soon Brooke is all he can think about. When she leaves for school, Dylan tries to move on with other girls, but the memory of Brooke taunts him. There’s an undeniable pull to the very girl he’s been warned to stay away from. When tragedy strikes the Kingsley household, secrets are uncovered. Brooke and Dylan must decide if what they feel for each other is strong enough to conquer their families’ dark past. This is a NA (new adult) book and intended for readers 18+ Purchase on Amazon

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Hockey Fever from Mabel's Labels


As the games begin to wind down, the excitement is still building up! That's why Mabel's Labels is getting into the spirit and celebrating the hockey finals by offering 25% off Hockey Personalized Sticky Labels with code HOCKEY25! This deal is only available from Thursday, February 20th until Sunday, February 23rd @ 11:59pm EST. Happy Shopping!


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FTC Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Black Rose, Wilted~Book Tour

http://fireandicebooktours.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/poetry-book-tour-black-rose-wilted-by-frederick-jones-tour-dates-21214-22614/

Virtual Book Tour Dates: 2/12/14 – 2/26/14
Genre: Poetry
Promotion: Black Rose, Wilted will be $2.99 during the tour!

Blurb:



The Great Gothic Poet brings you writings from my very heart and soul. From my service for our awesome country to relationships gone good and wrong. These literary workings are for more than just one Genre but for ALL! Please enjoy.

Excerpt:
911
maybe exhoneration is warranted;
maybe, it is not!
My only job is to have the nations foes rot
The deeds of evil of which they perform
Surely, death is earned to them.
Killing the innocent for a “statement” our enemies do So eloquently!
Call to 911 thousands strew
Can we recall 9/11
See the irony here?
But still, I am merely doing my duty
A hero I am not
Only a selfless servant to our great nation
Heroes are the brethren who have gave all
So that I have the liberty to write about the sensations of which I feel the calling
The thank you is warming
They calm the storm that brews so heavily within
So I say to you, America
THANK YOU

Buy Links:




About Frederick Jones:


Born on April 6th 1970 in Ft Carson, Colorado and raised in a military Family, I have had numerous experiences that stretch across the globe. I currently live in Augusta GA where my Family settled in after my Fathers retirement from the Army. I too, am a Soldier. I have served 2 combat tours. One during Operation Desert Storm. The other from 2004-2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I currently am serving in the Military with the primary function of training our Soldiers for deployment. Divorced twice, I have 3 wonderful children (Fred Jones IV, Serenity, and Kaitlyn) who are my everything! My children are and ALWAYS will be my priority. Raised in a very close Family and I am so glad. My parents; Lydia J Jones is a Brilliant teacher, and, my Father who is retired Military have made me who I am today.
My first book “Black Rose- A Book of Poems and Short Stories” was published September 29, 2010. Shortly after that in 2011 “Black Rose” was featured in the 2011 New York State Book Exhibit. Later in the year the Signed Industrial Metal music group Sonik Foundry sponsored my literary works on their 2011 Redemption tour of the southeast.
September 2012 I was presented a unique opportunity and given the job of Sci-Fi Author for Digital Lust Magazine in New York City, NY and am still writing Sci-Fi stories for them.
In 2013, The European Music Group Anything But Monday met with me and was presented a copy of “Black Rose”.
My second book “Black Rose, Wilted was published December 19 2013 and stay tuned as I have many more stories and poems soon to be published.

Connect with the Author:

 
Guest Post:

My Journey down the writing path

From the early age of 14 I was inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. I just could not put the books I acquired with his works down. What I found most interesting was the pure mysticism of his stories and the heart and passion that I felt in every word I read. I could understand fully, just by reading his poetry, exactly how he felt about his one true love, Anabelle. It was as though she was right there before my eyes. A perfect picture painted with words. It was at this moment that I was strongly inspired myself to write and write I did. Then, I had confidence issues and never felt anything I wrote was worthy of recognition. But one of my professors years later insisted I let him review some of my short stories. This was while attending Georgia Military College. The short story "Melancholy" which I included in my first book "Black Rose" in 2010 was this very story I showed him. He absolutely loved it and insisted I continue to write. He also published this short story in the College monthly newsletter as well.

For the first time in a long while with years of rejection I realized I can do whatever I will myself to do and can mold my very own success!
 I only needed to put my mind to it and set realistic goals for myself as well as exclude all the negative energies around me. And here I am today with my second poetry book and in addition to this selected to be Sci-Fi Author for a magazine in New York City.

So with that being said I say to you, readers and fans. Dreams do come true! If you will it and keep that drive toward your goal or dream it may not happen right away, but it will happen. therefore pursue and embrace your wishes and dreams.

The Great Gothic Poet
Frederick Jones



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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Secret to Happiness~Children's Book Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.


Author: Suzy Liebermann
Publisher: Happy Language Kids, LLC
Length: 32 Pages

Ms. Middle and I read this book together.  The story was fantastic.  I loved that it engaged her and had a great explanation of empathy.  Hugo the Happy Starfish was a great character.  He started out sad and wanted to be happy.  First, I was excited that no one just GAVE Hugo happiness.  He had to search for it.  On his search, he met Manta.  I was nervous when Manta came into the picture, because I thought Manta would just give the happiness away.  Instead, Manta gave really good ideas to Hugo that the kids can follow as well.  In the end, the thing that made me most happy about the book was that Ms. Middle wanted to go out and help people.  She wanted to make sure her sisters were happy and asked to help set the table {because it would make Daddy happy}.  Let's hope that lasts!

"I liked Hugo.  He was fun and happy.  I didn't like when he was sad, but he got happy.  Then, he made the seahorse happy.  I liked making the seahorse happy.  My thumbs go up!"
~Ms. Middle, age 4

Is English not your first language?  Don't worry, this book is also available in 6 other languages {7 total} through amazon eBooks!

{This program is particularly aligned with the aims and values she upheld as a teacher of cultural art and foreign language at a prestigious International Baccalaureate World School.
For more info on the products and the author your can go to www.MyStarfish.org}


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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