Stephanie Life of Determination

First Christmas Card Have you ever wondered when Christmas Cards started?  It all started when Sir Cole and J.C. Horsely got together and sketched out a  triptych showing a family at a table celebrating the holiday flanked by images of people helping the poor.  At the top of each was the salutation, "To______" allowing Cole to personalize his response which included the generic greeting "A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You." The first Christmas card originated in the United States in 1875 from Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant who had a print shop near Boston. The modern Christmas card industry, according to Smithsonian Magazine, began in 1915, when a Kansas City-based fledgling postcard printing company started by Joyce Hall, later to be joined by his brothers Rollie and William, published its first-holiday card. During late 1910s J.C Hall put "hallmark" used by goldsmiths as a marking quality. In 1928, the company began marketing its bra

FANTASTIC NEWS BOOK NERDS!!  We an awesome PROMOTIONAL BLAST   for Alexandrea Weis and Lucas Astor's  DEATH BY THE RIVER  running from now until 11:59 PM (PST) on the last day of the blast. KINDLE FORCE - A PROMOTIONAL BLAST CREATED BY JEANBOOKNERD A special promotional price  ($2.99) for DEATH BY THE RIVER  E-book will be set for the duration of the event. Make sure you get your copy now!   SYNOPSIS Some truths are better kept secret. Some secrets are better off dead. Along the banks of the Bogue Falaya River, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy of oaks, blocked from prying eyes, the teens of St. Benedict High gather here on Fridays. The rest of the week belongs to school and family—but weekends belong to the river. And the river belongs to Beau Devereaux. The only child of a powerful family, Beau can do no wrong. Handsome. Charming. Intelligent. The star quarterback of the football team. The “prince” of St. Benedict is the ultimate catch. He

Praise for  BENEATH THE LIGHTHOUSE “Beneath the Lighthouse grabs you by the nether regions from the word go. Then it squeezes. Hard. With a nailed glove … A truly scary ghost story … a powerful ‘coming of age’ drama … a young man growing into adulthood against a backdrop of despair and quite shocking abuse … unpredictable and ever building. Blood and bone revenge, retribution and salvation. The strength of friendship, the power of love. You feel the dread and the underlying fear … not your typical tale. And what a tale it is.” ― EM Faustus BOOK REVIEW I found Beneath the Lighthouse to be suspenseful. It moves slower then I would like. Lynch had good character arcs and great description of all the locations. The major thing that bugged me was the language. There is a lot of swearing in the book. Lynch used Freck instead of the f-word. For me, if you are going to swear than swear. Would I recommend this book? Yes and no. I will start out with the reason why I said

                       SYNOPSIS Before Sam Baron broke Odin's curse on the witches to become the first son born to a witch and the hero of the Legends of Orkney series, his mother was a young witchling growing up in the Tarkana Witch Academy. In this first book of the prequel series, the Witches of Orkney, nine-year-old Abigail Tarkana is determined to grow up to be the greatest witch of all, even greater than her evil ancestor Catriona. Unfortunately, she is about to fail Spectacular Spells class because her witch magic hasn't come in yet. Even worse, her nemesis, Endera, is making life miserable by trying to get her kicked out. When her new friend Hugo's life is put in danger by a stampeding sneevil, a desperate Abigail manages to call up her magic―only to find out it's unlike any other witchling's at the Tarkana Witch Academy! As mysteries deepen around her magic and just who her true parents are, Abigail becomes trapped in a race against time to undo