Category Archives: Connecting through books

Blog Tour Visit #13: Dad of Divas

August 20, 2011 by Mara Purl

My father—affectionately known as Pere, thanks to the French part of our heritage—is the happy dad of two daughters. And, with both of us being in the entertainment biz one way or another, one might even say he’s the father of two Divas, though both my sister and I try to keep our drama on the stage, rather than anywhere else.

When did Pere find out he was a dad of divas? Was it when, at age three, I insisted on performing a show each evening on the hearth? (I thought it was a stage.) Was it when I came home, at age twelve, with the lead in “Cinderella in Flower land?”… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #11: A Traveler’s Library

August 19, 2011 by Mara Purl

Imagine a magical portal, a room of polished wood and gleaming windows, each of which frames an exotic view: Florence to the right, Kyoto the left, Kenya over your shoulder, the northern lights arcing upward to the ceiling.

Such were the images conjured by the very name “A Traveler’s Library.” And the beautiful website doesn’t disappoint. There are plenty of websites for researching and booking trips. But this is a site to cause dreams, then help fulfill them.

Vera Marie Badertscher founded her beautiful website in January 2009. Why? “I love to read and I love to travel,” she explained.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #10: Learn 2 Balance

August 17, 2011 by Mara Purl

We all need and want the good things in life: health, abundance, home, family, friends, career. Some of us have these things most of the time. Most of us have these things some of the time. The trick is to balance the whole thing.

Lori Hanson comes with a set of gleaming scales in her hands to help people find their balance. Her foundation is nutrition, which is where her sense of balance begins. But it now also extends to a more inclusive sense of all life’s complexities.

And this is where Lori and I connect. We met a few years ago while both of us were booth guests at Book Expo and she’s an irresistibly bright sunflower in full bloom.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #9: Entertainment Examiner

August 16, 2011 by Mara Purl

A lot is offered these days in the way of entertainment: a plethora of films, television shows, podcasts and, of course, books. How are we to wade our way through the ocean of offerings to discover something really good?

Mike Parker answers this question on a daily basis for his 7 million followers as Entertainment Editor for Entertainment Examiner. I’m his blog guest today, so that means I made the cut. Whew! An honor! It turns out he liked When Hummers Dream. Timely, too, because we found out today my new e-book has just slipped into the best-seller ranks for Amazon free e-books.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #4: Flip Flops & FABS

August 8, 2011 by Mara Purl

One of the most appealing blog sites I’ve seen is one created by Kathy Holmes, www.FlipFlopsAndFabs.blogspot.com. Maybe it’s the big hat. Or perhaps it’s the big blue umbrella facing the ocean. I wanted to go there, and knew right away Kathy would be a kindred spirit.

Sure enough, we’re both California Babes, though Kathy now calls Las Vegas home. (You can take the woman out of California, but you can’t take the California out of the woman.) We share a big love for many regions of California, and take with us wherever we go a sense of what I call the “edge-thinking” that makes us independent and creative.… Read more

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A Hummer Hovers Near Your E-Reader

August 6, 2011 by Mara Purl

Hummingbirds are pure magic. Part helicopter, part jewel, they fly across thousands of miles from their winter homes to become an integral part of our summer. Their trilling songs and aerial ballets are a spice as sweet as the nectar they sip.

As far as I’m concerned, E-Readers are pure magic too. Now, instead of attempting to lug four books per flight, I carry one slim volume which inexplicably contains scores of titles, with no meaningful limit to how many volumes I can download.

Magic converges with magic for me today, as my first E-Book flies off the pages. When Hummers Dream is a short story that immediately precedes book one of my novel series, What the Heart Knows.… Read more

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Launching the Blog Tour Boat

August 1, 2011 by Mara Purl

For authors, a book tour comes with the territory when a new book is released. Authors often fly from city to city in an exhausting tour-de-force, appearing on local talk shows, speaking to reporters, signing their new book at bookstores, and maybe visiting a few book clubs along the way. Traditional tours like this aren’t done as often as they used to be, what with budget constraints and new methods of marketing. Still—unless we’re also speakers—we authors don’t get out much! So we won’t be denied our fun. I’m looking forward to the wonderful in-person tour stops I’ll be doing next fall.… Read more

Posted in Acting, Authors on Talk Shows, Bellekeep Books, Blog Tours, Books, careers, Collaboration with other writers, Connecting through books, Creativity, Current Event, history, Innovative marketing, Innovative marketing, Love of Books, Mara Purl, Mara Purl using new marketing methods for Books, Marketing, Milford Haven, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, musician-singer-songwriter, new methods of marketing books, News reporting, Publishing, relationships, Romantic fiction, screenwriting and acting, Small Presses, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, Virtual Book Tours, Virtual Book Tours, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Love Coastal Flights

June 28, 2011 by Mara Purl
Seeing a coastline from the air suggests a metaphor of seeing the border between head and heart, logic and emotion.
Posted in air travel, Books, California, careers, Coastal regions, Connecting through books, Creativity, Fictitious town of Milford-Haven, flow of life, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, Journaling, Logical Thinking, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, of lives through books, Opening up to New Worlds, Pat Methany, Personal Essays, Power of the universe, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, relationships, Romantic fiction, Small Town Fiction, Songwriters, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Father Love

June 20, 2011 by Mara Purl
Men who wear their hearts on their sleeves are stronger than they may appear.
Posted in Acting, Associated Press, Audio Drama, Books, careers, Connecting through books, Creativity, current events, Heart, inspiring through fiction novels, Integrating lifes purpose through art, Japan, Journalism, Love, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Men wearing hearts on sleeves, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, musician-singer-songwriter, of lives through books, Personal Essays, Publishing, relationships, screenwriting and acting, self-growth, Small Town Fiction, Soap Opera Fiction, synchronicity, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment