With the holiday season upon us, many of us will be taking Road Trips to visit family and friends. I can remember many classic road trips whether with family to visit grandparents or college road trips with my best buds to various music festivals. Ah, good times!

Some tips to make road trips more enjoyable:

Always have good tunes! Bring your most loved cds or burn your own with your favorites. It makes the time fly as you sing along. Or buy that cd you always wanted to before you go!

Whether you are traveling with kids or without, always bring snacks. Very important! People are going to get hungry and it won’t always be convenient to stop or even possible, so make sure you have plenty to munch on. Trail mix is great as well as dried fruit, and if you have salty snacks, always have water or something to drink on hand as well. Water will also prevent dehydration. It’s great to bring along a cooler.

Which leads me to… Plan your trip ahead so that there are rest stops and you’re not just lost on some stretch of road.

If you have kids, think about bringing car games or making a list of ones like finding things outside the window in alphabetical order or Twenty Questions, I Spy or tell a story where everyone takes part. You can leave off just as it’s getting interesting so the next person has to come up with something exciting.

If you have a dvd player, bring some favorite movies or tv series for those in the back seat.

Bring pillows and blankets so everyone can stay comfy.

Make sure you have maps or a good GPS and that cell phones are charged.

And, above all else, have fun!

Make this a road trip where the journey is just as enjoyable as the destination!



Happy Holidays! 

Do you have any fond roadtrip memories? Any tips to make roadtripping more enjoyable? 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored campaign with Social Chorus as part of the Kia Social Club. Regardless, all opinions are 100% my own.

Poseidon and the Sea of Fury 

A young Poseidon must triumph over aquatic terrors in this Heroes in Training adventure. The merciless Cronus and his Titan buddies are in hot pursuit of Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon, who plan to travel across the treacherous boiling sea in order to save a fellow Olympian. They have a boat, but they also have a problem: Poseidon can’t swim and is terrified of the water (well, really of the creatures that lurk in its depths). The group faces danger after danger as they battle singing sirens, a fishy and ferocious Titan named Oceanus, and people-eating monsters sent by Cronus himself. Can Poseidon overcome his fears and help his fellow heroes escape Cronus and his cronies?

Heroes in Training by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams
Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams deliver fun, adventures, and a few surprises as ten-year-old Olympians go on a journey of a lifetime to discover their true identities and defeat their Titan enemies.

Praise for Heroes in Training
“Readers will gobble this down and look for more, make no mythtake.”
~ Kirkus

“This is a fun read, casting Zeus in the role of relatable kid, and there is a nice balance between his primary goal of survival and his sense of destiny and adventure. . . Share this title, and likely more to come, with those still too young for Percy Jackson’s adventures.”
~ School Library Journal

The Series

#1 Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom
#2 Poseidon and the Sea of Fury
#3 Hades and the Helm of Darkness
#4 Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire

Aladdin Paperbacks (ages 6-9)
http://series.simonandschuster.com/Heroes-in-training

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom (Book 1)

After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series! The terrible Titans–merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans–have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe….
   
     Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up.

     Zeus gets his wish–and a lot more than he bargained for–when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, he grabs the first thing he sees–an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and sets off on a quest to rescue his youthful fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus. Armed with his trusty thunderbolt (named Bolt, of course), Zeus is on an adventure of a lifetime–and a journey to fulfill his destiny as King of the Gods.

Hades and the Helm of Darkness (Book 3 coming April 2013)

The Heroes in Training are entering the Underworld—if Hades can conquer his canine fears, that is.

The Underworld usually isn’t really meant to be a fun place—but tell that to Hades! He loves the dark and the stinky smell of sulfur. However, there is one thing that Hades is not a fan of: dogs. And when Zeus and his fellow Olympians encounter Cerberus—a snarling, three-headed dog—Hades must conquer his fears and tame the hound so everyone can continue into the Underworld and deposit their Titan prisoner, Oceanus, back where he belongs!

But with magical water that causes forgetfulness, hot beds of lava, and another epic battle with two more Titans standing in their way, will Zeus and his heroes make it out of the Underworld with everyone intact?

Author Suzanne Williams

Suzanne Williams is the award-winning author of nearly 40 books for children, from picture books and easy readers to chapter books and middle grade fiction series. A former elementary school librarian, she lives near Seattle. Her picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) won the New Mexico children’s choice award in 2000 and was on several other state award lists. She is co-author (with Joan Holub) of the popular Goddess Girls series(for ages 8 – 12) and Heroes in Training (ages 6 – 11). Other series include Fairy Blossoms and Princess Power.

Author Joan Holub

I graduated from college in Texas with a fine arts degree, and then freelanced as an art director at a graphic design firm for eight years. I dreamed of working in children’s books, so I moved to New York City and became associate art director in Scholastic trade books, where I designed books for children and worked with editors and illustrators. It was a great job.

I illustrated my first published children’s book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. I began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990s. In 1996, I sold my first two manuscripts — Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap). Yippee!

Now I write full time and have written and/or illustrated over 130 children’s books. Creating books that entertain, inform, and interest children (and me) is a fabulous job that I truly love.

Book Blast Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 12/9/12

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Lately, I’ve been watching re-runs of Friends! I had forgotten how much fun that show is. The writing, acting, emotion and humor – all top notch! It’s so much fun to sit back and enjoy from Season One and see how the characters and relationships developed and changed. And, now, Warner Bros. Pictures has made that easy with their November 13 release of Friends: The Complete Series Blue-Ray Box Set!

What an awesome gift for the Holiday Season!

Also, check out the 30 Days of Friends: Trivia Challenge Blog App and Video Player here.

Relive all your favorite Friends moments in these fun mash-up clips and come back to see new ones unlocked weekly.

As part of the celebration, one of my readers will win Friends: The Complete Series Blu-ray Box Set (a $279.99 value)

Just enter via Rafflecopter below!  Best of luck and “I’ll be there for you…” !

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Disclosure: This giveaway is made possible by Warner Bros. however all thoughts, opinions are my own.

Crossroads by Mary Ting:

Claudia Emerson has a good friend who shares the same first name and last name. That friend unfortunately dies in a tragic accident during homecoming dance. Claudia is distraught at the loss of her friend, but is even more disturbed by her dreams, which seem to take her to another place called Crossroads. Unknown to her, Crossroads is like a second heaven, a place between heaven and earth. It is where the souls of humans in comas or near death experiences may wander.

There, Claudia meets Michael, a nephilim, a half angel, half human, whom she often meets in her dreams. It turns out that this isn’t her first visit to Crossroads, which is an enigma for no human can ever travel there until Claudia. Now the fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special and it is up to Michael and the other nephilims to protect her.

Can Michael fight his growing feelings for Claudia and protect her as a guardian angel should? The answer awaits you! Follow the exciting path to Crossroads!

Author Mary Ting:
Mary Ting resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing Crossroads was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother. It was inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl.

Book Blast Giveaway:

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 12/6/12
*You need not enter your twitter name for each entry. Simply enter it for the first person you follow and leave the others blank.

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Wisteria by Bisi Leyton:

Author Bisi Leyton:

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Grad Save is a wonderful way to give the gift of education. Starting early is a great way to ensure that there will be funds when your children are college-aged.

And, now, GradSave.com is happy to celebrate our country’s real heroes – our teachers. My Mom was a teacher, so I know how true that really is.  Grad Save would like to offer you, the teachers, $200 in free Grad Save College Savings gift cards to use in your classroom and reward your students for excellent scholarship or hard work and improvement.

Jumpstart their college savings program with GradSave. Fast, convenient, and a gift that lasts forever. Just check out the Teachers Appreciation Tribute Sign up page here.

The Grad Save $10,000 Scholarship Sweepstakes is also open to anyone here.

iPad Mini Giveaway Event

Please take a moment and visit our sponsors: Coupon Pro and Penny Auctions Canada!

The iPad Mini has a gorgeous display, powerful A5 chip, FaceTime HD camera, iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording, ultrafast wireless, and over 275,000 apps that are ready to download from the App Store. The iPad mini is an iPad in every way, shape, and slightly smaller form. Great for on the go with the same Apple power punch!

One lucky reader will receive a iPad Mini {white}!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from yours. Strange Daze Indeed is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. 

Imperfectly Beautiful by Diony George

At 1:30 am, in NYC, Regan Wright is ripped out of a sound sleep with a jolt. Her heart thuds heavily in her ears and her face feels flushed. Straining to hear anything out of the ordinary, she fumbles and turns on the bedside lamp, but nothing seems out of place. Suddenly her stomach starts to twist in knots – it’s her identical twin, Rebecca. Something is definitely terribly wrong…

Though they are twins, Rebecca and Regan couldn’t be more different.

Independent and outspoken, Regan has chosen a high-profile career as a fashion designer in New York. Despite her hard-earned success, Regan has become disillusioned by the glamour and the glitz. She’s tired of coming home to a lonely penthouse apartment  being welcomed only by her cat. She’s all but given up on ever finding “Mr. Right.”

Meanwhile, steady and reliable, Rebecca has chosen to be a wife and stay-at-home mom. From the very first moment she met James Conrad she was captivated by him—tall and muscular with eyes as blue as a cloudless sky. Married to him and with four children later, Rebecca’s life is not what she expected. Her marriage has somehow lost its shine and her once sweet babies have become challenging and often unappreciative children.

As both Rebecca and Regan must discover, a higher power has the answers to what matters most, but when a serial killer strikes nearby, and his victims seem eerily similar to the twins, will it be too late?

Author Diony George

Book Blast Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 11/29/12
*You need not enter your twitter name for each entry. Simply enter it for the first person you follow and leave the others blank.

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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