Blog Hop & Major Announcement

A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews

HELLO EVERYONE. Happy spring! 

• First, 

I am participating in the ten-day, Authors in Bloom Blog Hop taking place from April 7 through 16. If you visit and leave a comment on each participating blog, you will be eligible to win the grand prize, a Kindle or Nook (a $200 value) and a $25 gift card worth of ebooks. (Winner's choice which ereader and ebook retailer gift card.) A second prize of $25 ereader gift card will also be given, available to international residents. (Void where prohibited by law.) You must leave a comment with your email and whether you're located in the US or INTL. Winners will be announced on April 19th, on the hosts' blogs: Dianne Venetta's blog and Tiffany Schlarman's A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews blog. Scroll to the very bottom of the page to see the participating blogs. 

• Second, (drum roll please) 

I am officially announcing the release of GRACE IN THE GARDEN: THIRTY YEARS OF BLUNDERS AND BLISS. 

Amazon 

I am privileged to have a very nice blurb written by garden book author and all around super person, Ricki Grady. 

The gardening lexicon is crowded with books describing how to garden. In these 29 short chapters, Grace Peterson captures the essence of why we garden. A self-proclaimed graduate of the School of Hard Knocks, Grace never hesitates to entertain with stories drawn from her own missteps and catastrophes. However, she is also a certified Master Gardener, so make no mistake, she knows her stuff. 

Read this book and let Grace carry you on a river of words. You will explore tributaries where she will tease you with her wicked wit before surprising you with unexpected outcomes. In Grace's capable hands, gardening becomes an irresistible metaphor for life itself. Through it all, she will convince you that gardening is just plain fun. 

--Ricki Grady, author of BEBOP GARDEN: RIFFING AND JIVING IN THE PLANT KINGDOM

and blogger at "Sprig to Twig". 

Grace in the Garden will be available on Amazon. On April 16th, when the Authors in Bloom blog hop concludes, I will be giving away a copy of Grace in the Garden to one lucky commenter. Maybe it will be you.

BeBop Garden & Pinterest

Ricki Grady, author of the entertaining book, BEBOP GARDEN has informed me that Amazon is running a two-day promotion. Today and tomorrow, January 24 and 25, 2012, you can download BEBOP GARDEN for FREE!  Just click on the link. Also I recently discovered that you don't need an e-reader to download books. Amazon has a free app you can download onto your computer that works just like an e-reader! So, if you haven't read this awesome, book by a kindred northwest gardener, now's the time. 

On another note, one of the authors of the blog, Writer Unboxed wrote a delightful post on ways authors can use Pinterest for book publicity. Although my book isn't published, I've been "pinning" photos of some of the haunts of my younger years which are written about in my "book." If you click on the link and look at the Hawaii and Oregon boards you'll see some of them. This is a work in progress. I'll let you know when it's finished. (If it ever is. LOL) 

As always, 

BeBop Garden

My daughter knows how to play the piano. I mean, really knows her stuff. She took several [$$$] years of piano lessons, including music theory and recitals from a very talented teacher. Before that, hubby Steve and I noticed a lot of natural inborn talent. Where this mysterious adroitness hails from must go back several generations or perhaps it is a twist of combined DNA fate. Whatever the case, I admire this child-turned-adult who can sit down at the piano and dazzle me with her blithely fingers.

Music-making baffles me. Sometimes, when no one's around, I'll sit down at said piano, arch my fingers and attempt a series of harmonious notes. Abysmal. No talent.

Ricki Grady understands me. She admits to a similar fantasy. Hers involves lengthy be-bopping with a band of like-minded jazz musicians. Unfortunately, like me, her musical DNA isn't all that polished.

But in gardening I have found an improvisional medium better suited to my talents. Jazzy compositions are no longer beyond me; they just get worked out by startling plant juxtapositions, rhythmic color repetitions, harmonic arrangements of light and shadow. Bingo. BeBop Gardening!

Being a fellow Oregonian brought me to Ricki's blog a few years ago. Her engaging prose made me a faithful visitor. Reading her absorbing and delightful book has sealed the deal. This girl is a kindred spirit, folks! Chapters include subjects we can all relate to, such as Networking, Composting, Wildlife, Botanical Latin, Designing and Buying Things, etc. But this is not your run-of-the-mill how-to. Ricki isn't bossy. She dishes modest nuggets of advice with ample explanation, honed from years of experience. And when you combine her experience with her writer's heart, the results are stories to enjoy: the wanderings of garden cats, the peril of a goldfish, ladybugs crawling all over the inside of a refrigerator, a grandson dancing with a squirrel and so much more.

No Ricki isn't bossy. But she is rebellious, eschewing the advice-laden gurus when their practices don't suit her. Her chapter on garden record-keeping runs parallel to my own hits and misses. As you read, like me, you'll often feel the twinge of familiarity and camaraderie. Of the many, many pages I have underlined and starred, I love this:

The world is full of rules and guidelines for garden design if you care about such things. It never hurts to read up on any subject, just so you will know what rules you are breaking. 

Breaking rules is, after all, how most art happens. Anarchy in the garden is a harmless form of indulgence. As you go about your liberated way, trusting your instincts, your inner artist will begin to express itself, bringing you untold gratification. Just remember: there is no one "right way." The right way is your way.  

When you've finished the fall chorin' and you relegate yourself to inside tasks, might I suggest a little arm chair gardening with Ricki?

For more information, visit Ricki's blog or the publisher's website.

(Disclaimer: I am receiving much personal gratification but no monetary compensation for this post.)