Monday, May 10, 2010

Mondays - Blue or Gold?

Do you view Monday as a good day to bring anew and accomplish goals for the coming week or is Monday a bad day when you have to get back to the grind of work leaving the carefree weekend behind?

For me, it’s a little of both. I try to use Monday as my day to really get organized for the week concerning things that I know have to be done. It usually doesn’t work, but at least I keep trying. One day, who knows, I might actually make it.

Today I’m going to do a little round-up of sorts. I have the Mother’s Day Romance Giveaway winners to announce and I also have three new audio books to offer as giveaways. I’ve signed up to do reviews on these audios, as well as two others. This will be my first audio reviews, not that they would be not much different than reviewing a book.

First up, the winners of the Mother’s Day Romance Giveaway. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Congratulations to these winners: Doreen R. of Canada, Amber D. of MI, and Kay from My Random Acts of Reading. They each won a package containing six titles from Romance Forever section of the Hachette Book Group. The titles include: MONTANA DESTINY by R.C. Ryan, RAVISHED BY A HIGHLANDER by Paula Quinn, STILL THE ONE by Robin Wells, DESIRE ME by Robyn DeHart, KNIGHT OF PASSION by Margaret Mallory, and TO SURRENDER TO A ROGUE by Cara Elliott.

Next, thanks to Anna and the folks at Hachette Audio, have three copies of each of the following audio books to giveaway. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only and no post office box addresses can be used, as pre Hachette’s requirements. The deadline to enter will be at 8 p.m. (EST) on Friday, May 28. To enter, just send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with “Win” and the book title in the subject line. Include your name and mailing address in the body of the e-mail. In case, you’re new to my giveaways, I don’t share or use the mailing addresses for anything other than submitting them to Hachette if you win.  

The audio books are all unabridged, cover several different genres, and include:

GOD NEVER BLINKS by Regina Brett (ISBN: 9781607881681) and read by the
author.

Already an internet phenomenon, these wise and insightful lessons by popular newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett will make you see the possibilities in your life in a whole new way.

When Regina Brett turned 50, she wrote a column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer and making peace with a difficult childhood. It became one of the most popular columns ever published in the newspaper, and since then the 50 lessons have been emailed to hundreds of thousands of people.

Brett now takes the 50 lessons and expounds on them in essays that are deeply personal. From "Don't take yourself too seriously-Nobody else does" to "Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift," these lessons will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through tough times--and haven't we all?

MEN AND DOGS by Katie Crouch (ISBN: 978160788134) and read by Gabra Zackman.

In April of 1985, Buzz Legare went fishing. The next day all that was found
was his boat and his waiting, faithful dog.

Twenty years later, his daughter Hannah still finds hope in believing, alone among her family, that he's still alive somewhere. She has a smart husband, a thriving business, a beautiful home in San Francisco-and a huge hole in her troubled heart. True to her trademark talent for self-sabotage, she finds herself one starry night climbing up the fire escape in a desperate (and drunken) attempt to win back her own husband--and failing disastrously.

Slightly worse for the wear, Hannah returns to Charleston to salve her wounds. There, old loves, unrepented crimes, and family legends are stirred up from the dust. Hannah's brother Palmer, the stoic with a secret of his own, cannot dissuade her from a manic search to uncover clues to the past, and they will both face shocking discoveries that lead them to reconcile their very different notions of loyalty and blind faith.

As she did so memorably in her bestselling debut, Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch has created another great voice--spiky, tender, and hilarious--in the screwball heroine Hannah Legare. Much like Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding, Hannah follows the misguided impulses of a heart that's in the right place.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL by David Baldacci (ISBN: 9781600249648) and read by Ron McLarty.


In South America a 96-year-old man of great wealth reads a book late one night and an hour later he lies dead in his bed, the secrets of his past starkly revealed. Six months later another mystery man lies dead at the bottom of his pool in a villa in Provence. This time, however, there's a witness at the scene: Shaw, the shadowy operative from The Whole Truth, who barely escapes with his life. Meanwhile, a half a world away, photojournalist Katie James is working on a story of international importance.

Okay, how’s your Monday going so far? Do you have a plan in place? If you’re a writer, do you ever have your characters worrying about what day it is or put any emphasis on the week in your writing?


26 comments:

  1. Monday's are simply there. Some times they are good and sometimes not. Lately I've developed a real dislike of Thursday, so Monday is not looking so bad lately.

    Thanks for the interesting blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mondays have their pros and cons here. I love having everyone around on weekends, but the cleanup comes on Monday. BUT, I do love that I usually find some quiet time just for my writing or reading, which is hard to do on weekends.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Being semi-retired and a full time writer Mondays are no different than any other day. Well, Sundays I am busy with church stuff a lot, but ...

    Love Baldacci - will have to check this book out.

    The Old Silly

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mason - It's funny; I'm often quite busy on Mondays, so Sundays are really my days to get organized, especially if the coming week will be a busy or unusual one. Mondays, I just "plunge in."

    Congratulations to the giveaway winners!! Thanks, as always, for being so willing to share books with us; I look forward to your terrific reviews on the audio books.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I always enjoy Mondays, getting back into the solid writing routine after the weekend. And I never begin a week without an itinerary of short term goals to meet and keep me on track. But I don't think I've ever brought this "Monday" idea into a story, how Mondays affect a character. An interesting idea to consider in the future ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cassandra, thanks for stopping by. There are weeks when my Fridays are the "bad" days.

    Charmaine, the cleanup can be tiring. I keep reminding myself what a good time we had so then it's not quite so much work.

    Marvin, Sundays are a good kind of busy. I'm looking forward to Baldacci's book too.

    Margot, plunging in sometimes is the best way for me to go. If I stop and think about it too much, then I've lost time and still have no direction.

    Joanne, for some reasons Mondays take a little time for me to "adjust" to. By the middle of day I'm okay, but the mornings I feel a little off. I can't think of a book right off that has a character worrying about Mondays either. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Retirement means all the days are the same--at least for the hubster. I've always worked at home, so one day is much like the other. It's remembering what the rest of the world is doing that's the challenge.

    As for my Monday -- I'm starting edits on my 2011 release. I would have started yesterday, but I didn't get them until about 9 PM, and I wanted to be fresh.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Monday is off to a late start, as our power went out around 2am and didn't come back on until after 7am.
    But I usually love Mondays. I'm at home with the whole day to get things done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like some good books! I'm particularly interested in "Men and Dogs."

    I don't focus too much on the days of the week in my writing, unless it's a book club day for a character or a busy restaurant day (like Saturday is.)

    Elizabeth
    Mystery Writing is Murder

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats to the winners!

    Mondays always feel like a bit of a new start. Everyone who isn't four-legged and furry is out of the house and I can write.

    That said, when I worked outside the house, I hated Mondays.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm a bit like you. I work everyday (write) so I don't really view the weekends like time off. In fact, if I go places on the weekend, it's actually like more work to me. I think Monday's a slow day.

    Some of those books look great.

    CD

    ReplyDelete
  12. When I worked on Broadway, Monday was my day off, so I loved them.

    Now that I write full-time, I enjoy Mondays, too. It's about getting things back in perspective and getting them done.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Terry, good luck on your 2011 release.

    Diane, glad your power is back on. That is a bad way to start any day. Enjoy the day.

    Elizabeth, I watched a short video of Men and Dogs and it was interesting. I should have included but I didn't want to run the post too long.

    VR, anything four-legged and furry rule no matter what day of the week it is. :) For me, being outside for the most part makes the day enjoyable.

    Clarissa, I know couples so take day trips on the weekend and they work harder at that than they do going to work.

    Devon, getting things in perspective does help. Sometimes if I can get one thing done, it makes the day go so much easier.

    ReplyDelete
  14. My Mondays are always busy, trying to catch up on the housework and laundry that accumulated and I ignored over the weekend. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like Mondays because I think of it as a new day for new adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks so much for the win!!

    I actually like Mondays and when I get to do what I think I should or what I've planned, my week seems to go better. I've been to yoga this morning and that is a good thing!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congrats to the winners!

    I actually like Mondays. It's like a fresh start and I love diving back in!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Janel, isn't funny how much does accumulate in just two days?

    Dru, that's a great way to look at Monday's. Very positive.

    Karen, I think when we work away from the house Mondays represents leaving and we like the safety of our homes.

    Kay, starting Monday off with yoga would be great. I've got to give yoga a try even in the middle of the week. It sounds relaxing.

    Talli, Mondays are a fresh start. I just have to work on that "diving back into" part.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Both for me, too. I always hate for the weekend to end, but I always start new projects on Mondays.

    Great giveaways!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I just said this morning that I wish I liked Mondays better. Today it is cold here and raining.

    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  21. I hopped over from Southern City Mysteries - she has some great things to say about you!

    Sadly, I view Monday as the end of the weekend. And I hate it. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Usually Mondays are good days. I get re-started on things I let slip on the weekends. This Monday was not a good Monday. I was traveling and my iPhone died on me (I forgot to charge it) and couldn't get Internet connection on the plane or in airports. So now I'm behind and must really buckle down tomorrow.

    Instead of being frustrated, I should have just let go and rolled on the waves.

    Helen
    Straight From Hel

    ReplyDelete
  23. I’m retired, so days of the week aren’t as important to me as they used to be.

    I enjoyed the book reviews – they all sound interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I don't mind Mondays (most days) because I do love my job. They just seem to come a lot faster than they used to!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Carol, Mondays can be both and sometimes at the same time. :)

    Teresa, my Monday was cold and rainy too. The old Carpenter's song "Rainy Days and Mondays" keep going through my head all day.

    Shannon, glad to have you stopping in. Michele was sweet in her comments today about my Saturday post. I enjoy her blog.

    Helen, if only I could let things go and roll with the waves. I usually make matters worse by obsessing about what went wrong.

    Jane, retirement does have some great benefits.

    Jemi, you are so right. Mondays seem to come twice as fast as they use to. Makes the months fly by too.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I LOVE Mondays now that I work alone at home--I used to HATE them.

    I LOVE audio books, but not sure about the evil one, that sounds too scary for an audio book--I do better with scary books on paper. I'm tempted though , , ,

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.