Tuesday, December 18, 2007

From Author Jim Michael Hansen

The Ja'Velle Nodja Thrillers are Coming!

Big news.Ja'Velle Nodja is a hypnotically beautiful Paris detective with a rough edge, a free spirit and a rather remarkable tattoo. She'll be introducted to Laws readers in Ancient Laws (2009), when Bryson Coventry gets entangled with her after getting pulled to Paris in pursuit of a killer.

Ja'Velle will then branch out into her own Edge series set in Europe, starting with Hot Edge. For all you Bryson Coventry lovers out there, don't panic. He will continue to appear in brand spanking new Laws adventures twice a year, just like he has since 2006. He's not going to leave town unless the coffee runs out.

News Release From Harlequin Romance

For Immediate Release


DailyLit and Harlequin to Deliver Romance Novels
Via Email Installments
Leading Series Romance Publisher Offers Frontlist and Backlist Titles in Digital Serialization Format

Mamaroneck, New York –– DailyLit (www.dailylit.com), a service that allows users to read entire books via email and RSS installments announced today its initial deal with Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, to deliver in its digital serialization format 100 of Harlequin’s backlist as well as 20 frontlist titles each month on an on-going basis.

His For The Taking, Beauty and The Billionaire and Expecting His Love Child are just a few of the titles that will be added over the next few months. Most titles will be priced under $5.00 and will be delivered in daily email installments, with more on demand, at the click of a mouse.

“We are delighted to be working with DailyLit”, said Donna Hayes, Publisher and CEO of Harlequin. “DailyLit allows us to bring our compelling editorial to readers in a convenient new way. This partnership means that the Harlequin experience will be available as emails on demand to readers with computers or handheld devices anytime, anywhere.”

“We’re thrilled to offer romance readers a large selection of Harlequin titles, including brand new frontlist titles on a monthly basis,” said Susan Danziger, Publisher and co-founder of DailyLit. “Romance novels are a great escape from day-to-day life, and via

DailyLit, they can be read in any spare moment, from when you’re waiting to pick up
your kids from school to when you want to take a break from work.”


ABOUT HARLEQUIN
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, with titles issued worldwide in 26 languages and sold in 109 international markets. The company produces 120 titles monthly and publishes more than 1,300 authors from around the world. Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin’s Web site is located at www.eHarlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 18 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information please visit www.eHarlequin.com or press.eHarlequin.com.

ABOUT DAILYLIT
DailyLit (www.dailylit.com), a service that allows users to read entire books via email and/or RSS feeds, currently features over 500 classic and contemporary works offered for free and on a Pay-Per-Read basis. The books are sent in individual installments on the day and time selected by each reader (e.g., every weekday at 6:30 AM) and can be read in less than 5 minutes; additional installments are available to be read on demand. Co-founded by a team of publishing professionals and technology experts, DailyLit is headquartered in Mamaroneck, New York.

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Friday, December 07, 2007

Real vs. Fake: The Christmas Tree Debate

Three years ago, I got sick of trekking through snow to find a Christmas tree (I've always been a stickler for cutting our own to get the freshest tree possible). Given the fact that we are usually in and out throughout the holiday season, I just no longer saw the point in having a real tree taking up space in a small home. My children are older now, a 'tween and a teen, and they didn't seem at all interested in decorating a tree anymore. For this reason, my daughter and I went out and found a smaller fiber optic tree that is already decorated, looks pretty real, and takes up much less space than a real tree. The only downfall is that you lose the scent of pine, but I can buy candles for that purpose.

Then I came across a test in the local paper titled "How Green Are You?" Apparently, owning a fake tree is a sin to those preaching going green. They claim it is best to cut a tree every year. I still don't understand that mentality. Yes at some point, this fake tree will probably due out and need replacing, but by that time that happens, they may have come up with a way to recycle the nylon/plastic fibers that make up the tree. I've seen experiments that show a plant reacts to pain, and I find it equally heartless to cut a tree down before it has had a chance to fully grow up and live its natural life cycle.

I recycle everything I can and a recent change in practices here have made it possible for me to recycle every form of plastic found. So owning a fake tree, in my opinion, really doesn't make me a horrible, non-green person. Better yet, I'd love to see what the reporter who came up with the quiz drives. I'm going to bet that it isn't as efficient as my cars that get over 30mpg.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Holiday Rush & A Warning

One of my goals was to keep this blog updated more frequently, but between the holiday preparation, chauffeur duties for my daughter, my freelance writing, and life in general, I've fallen behind yet again. Something, however, happened yesterday that made me want to get online and warn any potential readers before they head out on their battery shopping quests for Christmas toys and electronics.

I was talking to my brother yesterday when he suddenly vanished. This was weird for him, but I waited it out. Turns out he'd heard a loud pop from his living room and went to see what had happened. His universal remote was lying there with the battery cover off and one of his batteries had exploded. Seems unusual and very scary, so he went online to do a check of Logitech Universal Remotes to see if there is a product recall. While he did that, I decided to do a check of this Duracell battery and the results were quite surprising.

http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/analysis/2196695/strange-case-exploding-aaa-cell

http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2007/06/22/exploding-9v-duracell-alkaline-battery.html

http://ask.metafilter.com/50042/9v-battery-explosion

I don't know why his battery exploded or why others are having the same experience, but I do know that I'll be avoiding Duracell batteries in the future!