John Grisham, one of my favorite authors, is on MSNBC’s Morning Joe site answering questions live right now…I’m hopping back and forth between blogging and viewing.

If you’re interested in being a part, click here and chat with John Grisham.  Take a look at the information about his newest book, “The Associate”.

Some interesting questions are being asked….I wonder if he will answer them all?

I found a nice selection of articles, guides and information to help if you are considering insurance for your home, or are looking for ways to care for your home to keep your rates reasonable.  They include:

• Do You Get It? Homeowners Insurance Simplified
• The History of Home Insurance
•  Flood Insurance Guide
• Hurricane Preparedness
• Practice Safe Swimming
• Working on the House This Summer?

and many more.

Many people aren’t aware that there are discounts available to them when they purchase home insurance and these articles, plus other helpful information you will find at homeinsurance.com, will be of great help to you as you consider what you are paying for a home you already own, or plan to buy.  Look at the drop-down menus along the top of the site for “articles”.

Best-selling and Pulitzer Prize wining author, John Updike, has died at the age of 75 after his battle with lung cancer. I smiled when reading that he was born in Reading, PA, wondering how much the name of the Town you are born in influences your profession.

His writing skills developed early in life and are attributed to his mother who encouraged him to express himself in writing because he had a speech difficulty and struggled with a skin condition called Psoriasis.

He was Harvard educated, and wrote for a time for The New Yorker. He wrote many novels, short stories, and more, and was a literary critic. He is best known for his Rabbit series, two of which won him Pulitzer Prizes…”Rabbit is Rich” and “Rabbit at Rest”. And for those who would rather view than read, and remember the movie “The Witches of Eastwick”, it was based on the book by Updike.

I don’t have details on his death, except that it was the end of a battle with lung cancer.
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Martha Stewart has become a household name because of her talent in the kitchen, with crafts, and her ability to create a warm atmosphere in the home.  Her magazine, “Martha Stewart Living” is beautiful, and full of the things that we have come to love about her.

You are probably wondering where the “flowers” come into the picture…well Martha has teamed up with a popular online florist to bring you her own line of floral arrangements, and they are beautiful.  Are you planning a special occasion in the home?  A special dinner, or maybe eating in for Valentine’s Day?  These flowers would make a nice centerpiece.  In the cold, winter months here in the Northeast, flowers are all the more welcome as they bring life, and the reminder that Spring will come again.

As if the flowers aren’t enough, let’s get back to the magazine….with each arrangement purchased, you receive a free 1 year subscription to “Martha Stewart Living” magazine…what an excellent gift idea…and Valentines Day is right around the corner! Click here for details about her arrangements and this offer, there are beautiful pictures for you to browse, and the prices are so good, especially when you consider the fact that the magazine itself is worth close to $15 a year.

A few days ago I received a beautiful cookbook, sent to me from one of my favorite States in the Northeast, Massachusetts. My dear grandparents lived there and we visited and vacationed in MA many, many times.  The cover of the book is warm and inviting, a family gathered together and enjoying each other, and good food outside in a beautiful New England setting.

The title of this yummy book is “Table Talk; Food, Family, Love” and it is written by Carol McManus, the proprietor of “Espresso Love” a cafe and gathering place in Edgartown, Massachusetts.  As a mother of 5 grown children, she knows a lot about bringing family together in a world where jobs and activities seem to be pulling families apart.

This cookbook is really a work or art, the photography is beautiful, the pictures of food are simply mouth-watering.  Other heart-warming pictures embrace the authors life in her New England island home in Martha’s Vineyard.  The look and feel of the book says “quality” from page to page, cover to cover.

The Cookbook contains 80 recipes, ideas for organizing simple meals, cooking with your children, and inspires the desire to come together as family to enjoy food, love, conversation, and story-telling.

This would make a wonderful gift for yourself, or someone you care about.

Click here to visit Carol McManus’ blog, and here for book purchase information.

Title: Table Talk; Food, Family, Love…a Cookbook
Author: Carol McManus
Publisher: Vineyard Stories
Copyright: 2008

A book entitled “Nice Average Guy” is written by a more-than-average guy named Ned Mansour. He’s a “more than average” guy because he donates the profit from his books to charities, I’ll tell you more about that at the end of this post.

The book is about a man living an every day life with his everyday wife, and widowed mother.  He is settled into an accounting position, until he is challenged to face up to what has the potential of being a mundane life, with the help of a therapist. He begins an introspective journey that leads him to face up to the basic fears that adults face, and to a life less mundane than he expected.

I suppose all of us have fears in common and different ways that we might deal with them. Things like what does the future hold? What will happen with my children? Things about relationships, our mortality, and more can be the beginning of a journey if we chose to approach these fears by looking inside..personally, I count on my faith and my God to make the way straight, but it will be interesting to see how our 43 year old accountant, Fitz, finds his way.

This is a story of redemption, lessons in self-worth, and meaningful relationships. Oh, and don’t worry, this isn’t all serious…it’s balanced with fun.  The profits from the sale of the book are donated to the TrinityKids Hospice Care, so when you buy this book, you’re not only receiving, but giving.

An author and friend who wrote a humorous parenting book will be partnering with Barb Desmaris, a parenting coach, to bring you a Teleseminar on Feb 2nd at 7 pm EST.

The seminar title is Parenting:  What We Know For Sure. There is no cost for this event, to register, go to this link at teleclasscatalog.com.

This is sure to be a fun and interesting event, so make your free reservation and mark your calendar!

How many of you authors that stop by to visit this site have written love stories? Please let us know in a comment! Have you read a good love story lately? Do tell!

February will be here soon…I hope…especially today when it is so bitterly cold in the Northeast and I want to hurry the months until Spring. But not so fast as to skip over that romantic date on the Calendar, Valentines Day. It’s a day that plays on the imagination of those who have not yet met “Mr. or Mrs. Right”, and brings back memories for those of us who have…and hopes of making new memories this year.

I have had the pleasure of indulging in reading some extremely romantic World War II letters written by a man to his wife while he was overseas. I picked them up at an auction about a year ago, and have just started to delve into them. I have over 100 letters left to read, he wrote a letter every few days over a period of almost 2 years, and all at least 2 pages long. I can’t help but think that these letters would make a wonderful book. The letters are a testament to the love and devotion this man had for his wife, and reading them is a lesson in romance itself.

As for my love story, well, that’s a story for another day, not quite as dramatic, but our marriage of 3 months shy of 30 years shows the commitment and love that my husband and I share for one another. As for Valentine’s gifts this year? Well, finances are challenging this year for us, and for many others, I’m sure, so gifts will be simple, yet nice. I’ll be looking online as usual, giving my husband ideas, and thinking of ideas for him. It helps inspire ideas to browse sites, like the Valentine’s section of redenvelope.com, for example…browse as much as your “heart” desires and do a little dreaming…and maybe take a lesson from my WWII gentleman, take some time to write a romantic letter to go with your gift…it will be treasured, I promise!