"All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape."
--Author Christopher Benson

WE HAVE MOVED!!!! PLEASE COME TO THE NEW ESCAPE WITH DOLLYCAS INTO A NEW BOOK!!!!!

YOU WILL LOVE THE NEW BLOG!!!

Monday, February 28, 2011

It's Monday!! What Are You Reading?



This great meme is hosted by Sheila at

It's a great way to start the week and
find out what other bloggers are reading.
My To-Be-Read pile has grown to an
unbelievable number thanks to this meme.

FINISHED

A Deadly Cliche (A Books by the Bay Mystery)
A Deadly Cliche
by Ellery Adams
Second book in this wonderful series!!
Release Date:  TOMORROW!!!!

Fruit of All Evil (A Farmers' Market Mystery)
Fruit OF ALL EVIL
Second book in this fantastic series!
Paige Shelton will be here March 2nd 
Guest Posting with a giveaway!!!
Release Date: TOMORROW!!!!

Motherhood is Murder (A Maternal Instincts Mystery)
Motherhood is MURDER
by Diana Orgain

CURRENTLY READING

Formula for Murder (A Maternal Instincts Mystery)
Formula for MURDER
by Diana Orgain
Third book in yet another great series!!
Release Date: TOMORROW!!!!

ON DECK
Dead Reckoning (Pinnacle True Crime)
DEAD RECKONING
By Caitlin Rother
This is a non-fiction true crime novel
and a chunkster at 474 pages.
Her virtual tour stops here at
Dollycas's Thoughts
March 10.

Toys
TOYS
By James Patterson & Neil McMahon
(ARC) FOR REVIEW
Release Date: March 14, 2011

Last day to enter the February Giveaways.
The links to the entry posts are in the left sidebar.

Check out the post below for a fun new Meme!!




HAPPY READING EVERYONE!!!
Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

MONDAY'S MUSIC MOVES ME!!!!

Photobucket

This is just my fourth week of the fun new meme sponsored by Xmas DollyLorie from The Shewbridges of CelebrationCallie at Jamerican Spice and Larry from Cakeblast.  Everyone has made me feel so welcome. This meme is so much fun and so easy!!!  Just go to one of the links above for the details and enjoy the music.

This week we end the month long celebration of love songs and 
TODAY IS FIND A NEW NEIGHBOR DAY & LEAVE A LOVING COMMENT FOR THE LAST MONDAY IN FEBRUARY! Whoever finds the most new neighbors will have our number one spot next week.  Yes, I said No. 1, and our Spotlight Dancers will be No.'s 2 & 3!  WOO HOO!  All you have to do (& play nice)  and go back to Xmas Dolly & tell her how many did you find & you're following.  


The 80's just has the best love songs!!




This is such a great way to kick off the week!!


Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Deadly Cliché by Ellery Adams

Cover Illustration
by Kimberly Schamber
Cover Design
by Rita Frangie
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
A Division of Penguin Publishing
A Books By The Bay Mystery
2nd Book in the Series
RELEASE DATE:  MARCH 1, 2011

We are back in Oyster Bay, North Carolina with Olivia and The Bayside Book Writers.  The quiet seaside town has seen a rash of burglaries of late and as Olivia and her wonderful dog Haviland, have discovered a body while on their morning walk along the beach.  Add to that there's a tropical storm headed straight for Oyster Bay and you have the beginning of a great  Books By The Bay Mystery.

Are all the crimes connected? The Bayside Book Writers are busy deciphering the clues left by the thieves. At one scene a stick of butter in left  out on the counter with a knife through it.  Another is a deck of cards with a queen missing. Yet at another, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths.  It doesn't take Olivia long to realize each clue represents a cliché.

Now they just need to figure out who is leaving the clues and why and follow the clues to find the killer.

There is also an old mystery solved in the pages of this book, one that has plagued Olivia for years.  Will she find the answers she has been looking for? Will she be able to forgive others and move on with her life?

The author of this series is truly talented because these books are not just one story, but several stories tied together in the pages of each book.  Not only does she have to write the main mystery for us to enjoy, she also must write all the stories that the Bayside Book Writers are writing, that they get together to critique each week.  She has to write all this is such a way that we immerse ourselves in each and every story while following the clues to solve the actual Oyster Bay crimes.  While I am sure this is a difficult process, by the time these books reach our hot little hands, it seems effortless, and we fall right in to all of them and escape into the pages of each book. 


This book also picks up where the last one leaves off as the friendships of the characters continue naturally and Olivia continues to help those in need. One thing I love about the books by Ellery Adams is that she can write a well multifaceted books that are so more than wonderful mysteries, they are relate-able stories of the lives of the people of Oyster Bay.  We, the readers, are taken to the seaside town and become part of their stories.  Her way with words, her vivid descriptions, the character's conversations, make us feel right at home as we take a mini vacation to this beautiful seaside town.  I can't wait to set off on the next trip when the next book in this series hits the shelves.  Thank you Ellery for a great "escape" into another wonderful book.


Be sure to visit Ellery's web page to find out more about her and her books. She is also holding a fabulous giveaway right now.


Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Obsidion, a division of Penguin Publishing.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”


Friday, February 25, 2011

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY!!!!!



Welcome to

Feel GooFriday!!!

Erika had found that a lot of her bloggy friends reading posts about being positive, so she thought she might try her very own meme. She just wanted everyone to feel good and have some happy thoughts as you begin the weekend.  Go over to her blog for the details.

First I have to set the record straight, tee hee, last week I won an award that required 




as a condition of my acceptance of this adorable award, I have to share five things about myself.

In those five things, four must be partially fictitious, or enhanced realities (read - kinda true, but kinda not), and then one full factoid. 

1. My children are all named after famous people.
2. I won a Beauty Pageant.
3. I am an only child.
4.I used to walk 2-3 miles everyday and lost almost 80 pounds in one year.
5.I married my swim coach.

Well here are the answers:
1. My children are all named after famous people.
Sometimes it comes down to how you define famous.

Kristopher Scot - was named after Kris Kristofferson (love the movie A Star Is Born) and his middle name is the same as his dad's who is pretty famous in this house.  We went with a more traditional spelling of his first name.

Katherine Louise - was named after my maternal grandmother who was quite famous in her day in her hometown for her wonderful sewing talent and running a restaurant.  Plus I loved Katharine Heburn. Her middle name comes from her Aunt who is quite famous in our family.

Elizabeth Wendy - was named for both her grandmothers, but my mother Elizabeth was named after the Queen, and Jeff's mother Wendy, well who can forget Wendy in Peter Pan.

Jaymeson Boness - was named after both his grandfather's who were named James, but we went with the unconventional spelling like Bartels & Jaymes wine coolers.  His middle name is my maiden name, so he is truly named after both his grandfathers.

2. I won a Beauty Pageant.
I was 2nd runner-up in the Miss Columbus, Wisconsin pageant in 1979.  
3. I am an only child.
My sister is about 13 years older than me and my brother about 11 years older than me. So I was almost raised as an only child. They both used to tell me I was adopted, but my mother always said "if you were adopted I would have sent you back a long time ago."  Guess I was not an easy child to raise so late in her life. lol.
4.I used to walk 2-3 miles everyday and lost almost 80 pounds in one year.
This is the true one!!! In 1999/2000, I really got into walking, Jeff and I would walk with another couple religiously every evening or sometimes early in the morning.  The morning of my accident in 2001, I weighed myself and was less than 1/2 pound away from my goal of losing 80 pounds.  What a difference a day makes, being unable to walk anything more than very short distances, I have gained it all back and probably more.  I never look at the numbers on the scale anymore.
5.I married my swim coach.
Imagine my surprise, when finding an old scrapbook one day and finding a card stating I had passed Beginning Swimming and Jeff's name was signed on the back.  He is 4 years older than me and a much better swimmer than I ever was.

What made me Feel Goothis week!!!

Well this is a total Mom moment.  I love all my children equally, but when the youngest starts doing on the things for the last time it is so hard.  Those of you with young children, take my advice, take lots of pictures, treasure each moment, they grow into adults in the blink of an eye.

Last week, it was the last parent night for basketball.  This week it was the last Senior night for basketball and Jayme even made the county newspaper.  
Fall River’s Jayme Caswell
goes for the block on this shot by
Abundant Life’s Jordan Rockwell (30).

From the Daily Citizen:
FALL RIVER – Dexter Oelke and Jayme Caswell are Fall River’s lone seniors. The two used the night set aside in their honor to spark the Pirates to a 73-46 rout of Madison Abundant Life in Southern Trailways action on Tuesday.
Oelke, a 5-foot-11 guard who last week surpassed the 1,000-point plateau, poured in a game-high 22 points. Caswell, a 6-5 center, scored only one-point but pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and was a presence in the lane all night.
This was just one proud mom moment. It bought tears to my eyes as he was presented with this plaque.  My youngest daughter leaned over and said "save the tears for graduation."  Oh my, the flood gates will surely open then.
I am proud of each of my children, they have each excelled in different ways and all have promising futures.  It just when it's the last one, it's different.  
When I had my accident the older three children were all scared by the tubes, wires and machines hooked to me while lying in that hospital bed.  They were afraid to even touch me.  Not Jayme, he was about 8 years old, he crawled right into that bed with me, moved my arm so that it was around him and snuggled right up next to me and whispered, "Don't worry Mom, you are going to be o.k." and he stayed right there for the whole entire visit.  I don't remember much about those days, I think God helps us forget the pain and the bad days.  But He made sure those moments were not only ingrained in my brain but written in my heart.
In the past ten years my children and many others have added more special moments there too.  I just have the problem of thinking at each great event how grateful I am to still be here to share these moments so the tears generally flow.  Let's see Kaden starts school in about 18 months, then the proud Grandma school moments start. I can hardly wait!

That's what makes me Feel Good, 
I can't wait to read about what made you
Feel Good this week!! 



Thursday, February 24, 2011

ENQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW - WEEK 26

No, I am not a new Tabloid Reporter, but this is a feature so 
that we can all get to know each other better.  

This feature will be open from Thursday at 12:01 A.M. and close on Monday at 11:59 P.M. to allow those that want to participate over the weekend the opportunity to do so when they have more time.  So you may want to check back on Tuesday or check the previous week's link on Thursday to view everyone's answers.

Links to all previous can be found by clicking the Enquiring Minds Want To Know page in the right sidebar for those who missed a week or two and want to catch up on everyone's answers.  To do that please link up using the actual post link  instead of the link to your entire blog so people can find your "Enquiring" posts easier. 

If you are just joining this feature 
WELCOME!!!!! 
We all become friends/followers but most of us will never meet in person, this feature is to help us all get to know each other better.

Each Thursday I will post 3 questions for you to answer 
that you can copy and post on your blog with your answers. 
You don’t have to be a blogger to participate either. I will be using a Linky List for the blogs to use to participate and follow each other around to get to know each other, but if you are not a blogger just answer the questions in the comment section following the post on your favorite blog. Please feel free to click on the links and visit other blogs too.  

This way we not only get to know other bloggers, 
we get to know our followers too.
I am really excited about this meme 
and hope many more people will join the fun!!!!!

Are you interested?

WEEK 26 QUESTIONS

1. Do you wear perfume, body spray, etc.  If yes what are you favorite scents/brands?

2. How many pillows are on your bed?

3. If you could be any character in a fairy tail, who would you be?

Now be sure to copy and paste the information and your answers into your blog, then come back to link up, so we can come to your blog and read your answers.

I hope you will come back to this meme every week and tell your friends so we can all get to know each other better and get the answers to all the questions 
Enquiring Minds Want To Know.

MY ANSWERS:
1. Do you wear perfume, body spray, etc.  If yes what are you favorite scents/brands?
I don't wear perfume often but my favorite is Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds.  If I use body spray my favorites scents are plumeria or cucumber melon.
2. How many pillows are on your bed?
There are 4 pillows on my bed and two bolsters.


3. If you could be any character in a fairy tail, who would you be?
I would love to be Thumbelina, being tiny and finding and falling in love with a tiny little prince sounds like fun.  I love happy endings.


Now it's your turn! 
Let's get to know YOU!!
This Enquiring Mind Wants To Know!




To make this post load faster I have removed all but the last two weeks links. All Enquiring Minds post can be found by clicking the Enquiring Minds Want to Know page in the right sidebar.