Naughty and Nice #Christmas Blog Hop

Win!!

The Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HDX 7".   Plus books to go on the winner's new Kindle.

There will also be daily prize giveaways as well as prizes at each stop.

Winners need to be in the US or Canada for prizes that need to be shipped.

All the rules and how the hop will work is listed on the Safari Heat site.  Follow the link below.

Safari Heat "Naughty or Nice" Blog Hop

There are four ways you can earn extra entries into the grand prize giveaway:  You will get an entry for completing each of these things--leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook or Twitter.  When you leave a comment, you need to leave the following info.  Here is an example:

Name: Karen Rose Smith

E-mail: Karen@karenrosesmith.com  (** Very important -- You must leave your email address to be eligible to win a prize.)

Comment: Great post

Twitter: Followed

Blog: Followed

Are you a reader or author: Author

Country you live in: United States

Karen's Twitter page

Karen's Facebook page

You are NOT required to do any of these, but if you do them all, you will get four entries.

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Are you dreaming of a white Christmas?

"White Christmas" are words that take us to a reverent place, stirring up carols and memories we might forget the rest of the year.  Snow frosting tree limbs calls up childhood memories when I wished for snow on Christmas Eve.  Why?  Because that pristine white conveyed the message that something awesome was about to happen.  Family lived close and snow simply meant putting chains on the tires to get where we wanted to go.  Snow meant that maybe after dinner on Christmas Day my cousins and I could build a snowman.

Moving forward a bit, I wished for a little snow on Christmas Eve but not much because my parents wouldn't be able to drive to our house to watch our son open his presents or listen to him chatter about Santa eating the cookies he left out for St. Nick.  White Christmas evokes recollections of Christmas concerts, carol sings and midnight Mass, watching the last scene in the movie when the generals' men stand to acknowledge him, when the romances end the way they were meant to.

Wishing you all a white Christmas and the memories that make it special.

Please share your "White Christmas" memories and have a wonderful holiday.

In addition to the prizes listed above, I will be giving away a $15 Amazon gift card and a set of note cards.  I will draw the winner from the comments on my blog.

To keep hopping follow the link below.  A list of all the daily prizes can be found there.

Safari Heat "Naughty or Nice" Blog Hop

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

How to Make #Rose Sachets for #Christmas by Karen Rose Smith

If you're a rose gardener, or even if you just enjoy having a rose from the grocery store florist in your house several times a year, there's a way to enjoy roses all year long.  In past years, I collected rose petals from my garden each summer, dried them, and then made sachets in the fall to give away for Christmas.  Roses are a wonderful flower and many varieties keep their scent without any additional enhancement.  Sachets kept in a drawer with clothes keep their scent from six months to a year.

I'm particularly fond of the scent from Chrysler Imperial which also has a beautiful bud and bloom.  This year I knew I'd be short on time as far as drying rose petals.  I decided to save roses a little differently.  The roses were so plentiful this year, I could snip off buds without detracting from the beauty of the blooming blossoms.  I brought them inside, put them on an airy shelf or simply in a dish and waited until they were completely dry.  Then I kept them in a box so they would hold their scent.  Last week I sorted them and created sachets for the little girls (small sachet bags) and women (the larger bags) on my list!  Hopefully they can enjoy some of the joy I get from my roses throughout the year.

 

 ©2013 Karen Rose Smith

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 Search For Love, Boxed Set 1 on Amazon

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IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

#Recipe for Nana's #Minestrone from STAGED TO DEATH by Karen Rose Smith

What are some of my best memories with my mom and my grandmother?  Baking bread, watching pizza dough rise, rolling biscotti.  I still have my mom's recipe boxes and turn to them often.  My sleuth Caprice De Luca in STAGED TO DEATH comes from a large Italian family who likes to cook.  Writing these mysteries returns me to my childhood in many ways...to family dinners with aunts, uncles and cousins...to those wonderful aromas wafting through the house...to the conversation, laughter and even arguments around the table.  In the winter months, the aroma riding the air was grated garlic, tomatoes, broth simmering, and bay leaf steaming.

Soup and home-made baked bread went together so well!  To give my readers a preview of one of the recipes in STAGED TO DEATH, here is a soup recipe I developed through the years that is taken from the book.  I called it Nana's Minestrone--named for my Nana Rosalie and for Caprice's Nana Celia.

 Enjoy!

Nana's Minestrone Soup

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup medium pasta shells
1 cup onion (medium) chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated
1 teaspoon salt (Salt to taste, depending on the type of broth you use.)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
A pinch to 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice (14-16 oz. each)
1 cup tomato juice
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart beef stock (If using your own, make sure it's full-bodied. You can add bouillon cubes to make it richer.)
1/2-1 lb. fresh endive or escarole, snipped or cut into 1/2 inch pieces (leafy green part only)
1 can Great Northern beans (drained)
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup shredded carrots (I buy them this way.)
1 cup shredded cabbage (I buy cabbage already shredded or slaw mixture)
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
1 bay leaf
Romano cheese to sprinkle on top

Brown ground beef on medium in olive oil in 8 quart soup pot.  When browned (no pink remaining), add chopped onion, grated garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper.  Stir for a minute to mix flavors.  Add tomato juice, tomatoes, salt and stir.  Add beef stock and chicken broth, then bring to a boil.  Stir in Northern beans, celery, carrots, zucchini, cabbage and green beans.  (If using frozen green beans, bring soup to a boil again before adding endive.)  Add endive last.

Bring soup to a boil again, add bay leaf, then simmer covered on low for 30 minutes.  Bring to a boil again, remove bay leaf, add pasta, stir once more and cook until pasta is the way you like it, usually 10-12 minutes, without lid.  Stir a few times while pasta is cooking.  Sprinkle each serving with Romano cheese and serve with crusty bread.  Makes 12-15 servings.

Read Karen's new mystery. Her sleuth Caprice De Luca loves to cook and is an animal lover too!

STAGED TO DEATH on Amazon

STAGED TO DEATH on Barnes and Noble

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

Adaptation is the Greatest #Gift, A #Wolf Can Teach Humans by Karen Rose Smith

Life provides us with lots of obstacles to overcome.  Sometimes I need a reminder about how to handle them. A wolf reminded me that adaptation is the greatest gift of all.

After watching the packs of wolves at Speedwell Forge Wolf Sanctuary, seeing them interact and learning their stories, I did have a favorite. I adopted Thor.  Maybe it was Thor's story I related to.  He has cataracts and can probably only see shadows.  Thor has a mate named Lucky and together they form a pack of two.  They are a close pair.  Although Thor can't see well, he can hold his own in every situation.  He knows every inch of the territory he shares with Lucky...where they roam.

When I was fifty years old, I learned I had the cataracts of a seventy-year-old.  Doctors didn't know what caused them. Because of other complications I didn't have surgery for about four years.  Colors had changed.  My world grew very cloudy and narrow.  However, my other senses became more acute.  I compensated by memorizing my environment as best as I could.  This is Thor's world.

I finally had surgery and near-vision implants. But the technology just isn't there in veterinary medicine to enable cataract surgery.  Not only that, but there is high toll on an animal who is captured, anesthetized, and operated on.

On my private tour at Speedwell Forge, I spent lots of time observing and photographing Thor because I was fascinated with him.  He looks peaceful, serene even, in tune with his surroundings and with Lucky.  Those were just my impressions.

Speedwell Forge's Adopt A Wolf program is explained here at their website. ADOPT A WOLF link  When visitors to the sanctuary adopt a wolf, that helps pay for his or her care. And by the way...you can give an adopted wolf as a Christmas present!

I'll soon have my adoption packet for Thor.  With it will come a photo by wildlife photographer Chuck Rineer that I'm going to frame and hand in my office.  There is a good reason for that.  By seeing Thor's photograph, I will remember to be a survivor...to adapt...to learn to make obstacles just part of life's journey.

Read Karen's new mystery. Her sleuth Caprice De Luca is an animal lover too!
STAGED TO DEATH on Amazon

STAGED TO DEATH on Barnes and Noble

 ©2013 Karen Rose Smith

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

#Contest to #win #AUDIOBOOKS from Ten Authors

I'm banding together with nine other authors to promote the campaign--Don't Text And Drive...Listen To An Audiobook!  To get the word out, we have developed a contest for readers to win an audiobook.

Where else do you have the chance to win an audiobook from one of ten bestselling authors! Just look at this list.

Judith Arnold
L.L.Bartlett
Evelyn David
Donna Fasano
Libby Fischer Hellmann

Stacy Juba
Patricia McLinn
Kelly McClymer
Kathryn Shay
Karen Rose Smith

To enter, go to The Incredible Indie Authors Audio Page on Facebook.  Like the page, then click on the tab in the upper right with the earphones--under the banner .  You can enter the giveaway there and also learn about ways to earn more chances to win.

To watch our YouTube Video for the Don't Text And Drive...Listen to an Audiobook! campaign, click on the link.

YouTubeVideo

Good luck!!!


©2013 Karen Rose Smith

HER SISTER Paperback on Amazon

HER SISTER Kindle Edition on Amazon

HER SISTER Audiobook on Amazon

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

How I Branched Out Into #Mystery by Karen Rose Smith

 

Today is RELEASE DAY!!! 

And here is how it happened.

For the past few years, I thought about stepping out of the romance genre.  After all, publishing is changing drastically and, just as in finances, I believe the secret to success--if there is one--is diversification.  On the other hand, I've been branded as a romance author for the past twenty years with over eighty books published traditionally, and what publisher would take a chance that my readers would cross over?

With the decline in brick and mortar bookstores and therefore print sales, I took advantage of the indie publishing craze to start a series with backlist titles that I'd regained the rights to.  Thank goodness.  Because those books started me on a new road to promotion for those indie titles, both backlist and original.  I liked publishing "between" genres with those originals. Fortunately I had some success with indie books, hitting the top twenty on Amazon's Romance and Contemporary Romance bestseller lists in both paid and free sales.  The first year I progressed into serious promotion on Twitter by hiring a social media consultant for a few months.  I redid covers.  I learned what looked good in a thumbnail and what didn't.  I watched my indie numbers when I tried something new.  I continued to build my Facebook following.

Throughout the past ten years, I listened to thrillers and suspense, once in a while a cozy mystery.  The problem with branching out had always been a matter of writing time and timing.  In 2011, the perfect opportunity presented itself.  I was between contracts and I happened to be meeting with my agent face to face for brunch at a conference.  He told me an editor had asked about me writing a cozy mystery.  At first I thought that was completely out of my court.  But we had a two hour discussion that day and an idea was born.  That evening my husband and I discussed the possibility and came up with names for the large Italian family I wanted to build in the novel.  The next day on the drive home, I wrote up a synopsis.  Monday morning my agent, Evan Marshall, submitted it to John Scognamiglio at Kensington.  He liked it and wanted to see a more detailed outline.  I put that together and then wrote the first two chapters, delineated the continuing characters, and provided blurbs for two more books.  My agent submitted it.  Next John asked for a package--bio, book list, social media, website, and I included lists I'd made recently.  Within six weeks, I had a three-book cozy mystery contract for the Caprice De Luca home-stager series.  This was the fastest anything in publishing had ever moved for me.  It seemed meant to be.

My first mystery, STAGED TO DEATH, is released today.  The second mystery, DEADLY DECOR, has just done through the copyedit process.  I'm working on the third.  I've written more romances, both traditionally published and indie, in between.  I like the mix.  I like the challenge.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to try something new...and branch out.

On Sale December 3

STAGED TO DEATH on Amazon

STAGED TO DEATH on Barnes and Noble

Facebook Page--Launch Event Dec. 3 from 6-9 p.m. EST

 ©2013 Karen Rose Smith

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

Tuesday evening: #Facebook Launch Party for STAGED TO DEATH by Karen Rose Smith

I'm having a Facebook Launch Party for my first cozy in my Caprice De Luca home staging mystery series, STAGED TO DEATH! The event will be held on my Facebook Author page from 6-9 p.m. EST on Tuesday evening, December 3, 2013.  There will be giveaways and other prizes--Beatles magnets (Caprice is a retro gal), quirky spatulas (she likes to cook), as well as an ebook every fifteen minutes.

KAREN'S FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE 

I'm so excited about the launch of this series.  Reviews have been flowing in.

"Prolific series author Smith shows her romance chops with her debut cozy mystery set in small-town Pennsylvania...the ensemble cast is charming." Library Journal

"A cozy blend of murder and romance. A fun read--with recipes." Laura Levine, Mystery Author

"Karen Rose Smith has always been able to create compelling characters who seem like folks in your neighborhood, and STAGED TO DEATH is a clever example of her capable talent." Amelia Richard, cataromance.com

"Karen Rose Smith has written a tight little murder mystery with plenty of engaging subplots. Her expertise as a successful romance writer becomes evident in the tension created between Caprice and her love interests." New York Journal of Books

Come join me to celebrate on my Facebook Author page on December 3 from 6-9 p.m. EST. We'll chat, celebrate and have a great time.  "Like" the page and you can chat along with us.  See you there!

Karen's Facebook Author Page 

On Sale December 3

Pre-order STAGED TO DEATH on Amazon

Pre-order STAGED TO DEATH on Barnes and Noble

Facebook Page--Launch Event Dec. 3 from 6-9 p.m. EST

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine