Category Archives: Travel

Blog Tour Visit #21: Unsinkable Western History

I like to think of myself as unsinkable. That’s probably a good thing, given my affinity for water. An ocean-lover at age three along the Connecticut coast, I became a competitive swimmer at my school in Tokyo (where I grew up), and always knew I’d live along the California coast someday. It sure came in handy to think of myself as “unsinkable” when I crewed on a Greenpeace voyage to save whales. And I’d say it’s been an even more useful quality during the heaving storms of a career in the entertainment business.

We can’t think of the word “unsinkable” without thinking of Margaret “Molly” Brown.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #18: Essential Garden

Most of the year I spend a fair amount of time on airplanes. I come well-equipped with a set of Bose headphones to tune out the noise of the world and enter a writer-world where I can hear what my characters are saying today. I adore these special times: views out the window to surpass those from the castles of Europe; precious hours when phones can’t ring; and someone even brings me cold water and hot coffee.

So now you know the secret of my introspective side, the side that gets a pretty big volume of writing done day by day.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #15: Girlfriend Books

There’s nothing in the world like Girlfriends. I’m talking about Girlfriend with a capital “G”, the fond appellation that signifies the way one woman feels about another woman she trusts, respects, and loves.

Women’s Fiction, which is what I write, exists in the Girlfriend Zone. Why? Because it sparks conversations, reminds us of our escapades, engenders the kind of reflection that inspires growth and encourages self-esteem. So my new novel What the Heart Knows and my conviction that as I write my books I’m having a conversation with women friends, made me a perfect match for the wonderful GirlfriendBooks.com blog.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #12: All Things Fulfilling

Fulfillment is bringing your gifts to the world.
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Blog Tour Visit #11: A Traveler’s Library

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 #6: Lady Killers

What’s a nice lady like me doing on a blog visit to the site called The Lady Killers? Especially since the sub-title of the blog is “An unsuitable blog for women”? Well, the answer is I just couldn’t resist an invitation from the Top Mystery Blog 2010 Award Winner.

With 200 hits a day, 1,400 a week, 4,800 a month, 57, 600 per year, it’s obvious how they got their high Google ranking. How did they achieve such success? Well, maybe because their blog is a sophisticated blend of posts offered by fourteen mystery writers who take turns either creating their own offerings, or inviting guests to do so.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #4: Flip Flops & FABS

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

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

Posted in Author Mara Purl on Blog Tour, Bellekeep Books, Bellekeep Books by Mara Purl, Blog tour of author Mara Purl, Blog Tours, Book covers by artist Mary Helsaple, book covers painted by artists, Books, Business, Cambria, Connecting through books, Creativity, Current Event, current events, E-Books, e-books by Mara Purl, Escapism through romance novels, Fictitious town of Milford-Haven, flow of life, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, inspiring through fiction novels, Integrating lifes purpose through art, Intuition, Love, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Mara Purl, Mara Purl, Mara Purl Romance novels, Mara Purl using new marketing methods for Books, Marketing, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, mission and core purpose in life, new methods of marketing books, Novel series, Novels for Romance Junkies, Of Baby Boomer Women, of lives through books, Painting, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, Romance novel readers, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romance Novels for romance junkies, Romantic fiction, romantic novel storylines, self-growth, Small Presses, Small Town Fiction, Transformation, transformation through AHA moments, Travel, Uncategorized, Using watercolor images for book covers, Virtual Book Tours, Virtual Book Tours, What the Heart Knows, When Hummers Dream by Mara Purl, When Hummers Dream e-book, Women and Romance Novels, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Launching the Blog Tour Boat

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 the Space Shuttle

Memoire of Shuttle Columbia's first landing in the Mojave.
Posted in Associated Press, Books, careers, Current Event, current events, history, Journaling, Journalism, Mara Purl, Milford Haven, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, News reporting, Personal Essays, Power of Universe, Publishing, Science, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments