About Author Michelle Pickett:

Michelle has been an avid reader since she was a young child. She began writing for personal enjoyment in college, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with her degree in accounting. After deciding that sitting in a cubicle all day was a form of cruel and unusual punishment, she decided to do what she loved —  share her passion for reading and writing with others.

She wrote her debut novel Concilium in 2010 and it was released July of 2012 by MuseItUp Publishing.  The sequel, Concilium: The Departure will also be published by MuseItUp Publishing with a scheduled release date of November 2012.

Her debut young adult novel, PODs, will be published by Spencer Hill Press and is scheduled for release in paperback June 4th, 2013.  Milayna, a young adult paranormal romance, will be released through Spencer Hill Press March 2014.

Michelle was born and raised in Michigan.  She now resides in a small community outside of Houston, Texas with her incredibly supportive husband, four wonderful children, a 125-pound lap dog, a very grumpy cockatiel and a cat that thinks it’s the queen.

Michelle writes adult and young adult Sci/Fi and urban fantasy romance.

About a week or so ago, we asked readers for their tailgating questions and tips:

Here’s the wonderful video from Frito-Lay with the tailgating questions and answers from the chefs specifically for Strange Daze Indeed.

Also, here you can find more recipes and recipe videos.


The winner of the Ultimate Tailgating Prize Pack from Frito Lay chosen by Random.org is Carl Mizell. Congrats Carl!

Since the tender age of eight, music served as Samantha Becker’s source of solace against her father’s tyranny and her mother’s alcoholism. Now at eighteen, her only dream is to study classical guitar at Juilliard. But when her father’s careless actions lead to an “accident,” which threatens her ability toplay the guitar, Sam becomes despondent. Losing all confidence in her future, Sam hides behind the emotional barriers that have protected her for years.

Links:
Website: http://www.tmsouders.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmsouders
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5044358.T_M_Souders

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tiasouders

Book Blast Giveaway:

$50 Amazon Gift Code

Ends 9/27/12

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com
Gift Code. 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
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otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID
WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Do you have the dream to own your own house? Owning a home is an exciting process but it’s one that can start out pretty stressful. Finding the financing for the home can be a hard process. On top of that you also need to worry about the money you will invest into the home to make it look nicer and to be your style. Some people love to buy and flip homes where others do not. If you think you can get a better deal buying a home that needs some work, you should look at the types of loans that are available. An Oregon FHA streamline loan might be a smart decision for you as it allows you to have money to repair the home and make it look nice and new.

Where do you begin on an older home? That is a good question as everyone has a different priority. Determine what you can and cannot live with in the existing home. Some people find that the kitchen must be redone no matter what. This is going to be an expensive investment and one you need to carefully consider when it comes to buying a dump and fixing it up. You might be able to repair all of the problems with the rest of the home for the same price as a new kitchen. Consider using the existing cabinets and refinishing them as this will be able to give the kitchen a new look.

 Flooring is something that you need to focus on. You need to look at the costs of various flooring options. Laminate flooring, tile, and carpeting are the most popular options. Some companies like The Home Depot and Lowe’s will give you a credit card with 0% interest for 6-12 months if you do want to use this method to buy the flooring materials you need.

 Renovating a home is a long process. Give yourself plenty of time to work on the home before you move into it. This will allow you to be able to actually have the home fixed up and livable before you are trying to paint and to work around your living situation. Renovate with the right type of contractors as well. Having the right people to work with will be able to save you money. Some people may even work out a trade deal with you depending upon what type of work you do and can offer to them.

 Just remember that this is a process and it is an expensive investment! If you are not prepared to work on the home and deal with all of the repairs and initial investment, buying an older home and fixing it up may not be in your best interest.

I’ve been to Las Vegas a few times. I enjoyed it very much – the shows, the food, the way it’s daytime all the time in the casinos. I found it interesting that they had slot machines everywhere – in the bathrooms, in the gas stations, in every convenience store!

And, now, I can play the slots from the convenience of my home and without losing money, on Gamesville.

I’ve been enjoying Reel Cash Critters, a fun slot machine game where you can win cash prizes, GVs (Gamesville currency) and exclusive Gold mini-games!
It’s really a lot of fun and very relaxing. Sometimes, I really want a break where you don’t have to think too hard and can unwind from the cares of the day. This is just perfect for that.

It has a very cute chipmunk host, brightly colored fruits and animals, and regular slot machine sounds.

Reel Cash Critters has recently started having Team Battles as well, where you can compete with other players for GVs and real cash prizes. You’ll be on the Skunks or the Raccoons and each battle lasts only 30 seconds so you have to spin the reels as fast as you can! The team battles are free and cost no GV’s. This is for registered Gamesville members only which brings me to another point. If you’d like to sign up for a Gold Membership you can play without any ads, commercials or banners and get double the jackpot on other games! The Gold Membership is $24.95 per year.

 Gamesville has lots of other free games that are enjoyable like Frantic Fish and Super Chef as well as many Solitaire Games, Word Games and Three-Eyed Bingo.

What’s cool is that you can play in between work, when you’re on a boring phone call, or any time of day or night.

If you’d like to sign up for a free account, just click this link for a special bonus and Gamesville will give you 10,000 GV’s to start with. You can earn more through other games.

Take a break and have some fun!

Connect

Gamesville on Twitter
Gamesville on Facebook

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received a Gamesville Gold Membership and compensation for my time investment and work on this campaign.

A friend of mine has started a new site, Blocks & Socks. It is brand new and right now you can find very cute handmade dresses for girls, cool vehicle t-shirts for boys and personalized childrens books for the holidays and other occasions. He also has some cute costumes, baby, toddler and children’s clothes, and blocks and socks of course!

Shopping here supports American family businesses and he will have more items as time goes on.

I love the Organic Baby and Toddler Clothing which is hand sewn by two sisters who offer the softest organic cotton and original artwork.  So cute and so good for your little ones! 

Check them out for the holidays!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hpnotiq for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love discovering new websites and recently was introduced to Primp & Prep which is an exclusive online site on  Hypnotiq !

. It’s a fun and exciting one stop hub where women can go to find beauty, fashion, style tips, gossip, music and more before they hit the town for girls’ night out. There are also some cool tips about guys – what to do, what not to do.

It’s so much fun to check out the style, fashion and beauty tips, to watch some videos and see what the celebs are up to.

The site also has a very cool Pandora music player to get you in the mood with dance songs and fabulous artists to get you moving like Adele!

You can even customize your photos to fit the scene and then share them. I love the  Hpnotiq  Harmonie Ecards which I’ve been sharing with my girlfriends. They’re just perfect!

I also love the recipes for Hpnotiq Hurricane or Harmonie Cosmo. The Harmonie Mojito also looks delicious. You can submit your own recipes as well.

The boutique section has blinking rings, really cute lip glosses and I love the boy shorts and t-shirts.  I’ve put in my order!

I always love getting ready with my girlfriends for a night out and now with Primp & Prep, we can find beauty tips, share makeup, and see what’s hot while we listen to the hottest tunes before we go out. Hair down, music up!

Life is too short not to have fun!

One thing that is certain is that college costs have risen considerably since when I went to school and that they continue to escalate. The GradSave program and challenge is a way to prepare.

How the Challenge Works

Join GradSave.

Open your GradSave college savings registry and start saving.

Share your Gradsave $1,000 Challenge on Facebook and email to friends and family. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to use the power of Facebook to grow your college savings.

Contribute yourself and invite family and friends to also contribute. Relatives and grandparents are great to suggest tuition contributions – they love it.

Funds are stored in an insured and safe FDIC account until you link your GradSave account to your college savings plan, then you grow the plan tax free in a 529 or other state plan. In the meantime, it’s just time to share your profile and start saving!

Meanwhile, GradSave is giving away $1,000 to the first 10 people who reach the GradSave $1,000 Challenge. 

Best of luck!