Here is my review of Summertime:

Summertime is a Cinderella story for the Gen-Xers who dreamed of marrying that certain “boy band” member. Lynn did a great job, balancing the dream with the reality of life. Dementia is not an easy thing to deal with. Add single parenting and a budding career and you’ve got stress beyond belief. This book made me think of my early teen years, a certain boy band, and my dream of being on the arm of a certain member of that band. I no longer have that dream, only because I have my own Prince Charming. Thanks Lynn for the walk down Memory Lane.

Nichole Osborn

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV

I love my husband. I don’t understand the man, but I do love him. I love the way he provides for our family, the way he cares about us, and takes care of us when we are sick. I love that he supports my writing career and that he takes his place as the spiritual head of our family seriously. I don’t understand why he gets cranky so easily and why when he is sick, he doesn’t want me to know it. I don’t understand why he thinks chasing a little dimpled ball around the grass, swinging at it with a metal stick is fun. And I really don’t understand why he sometimes makes it so difficult to love him!

 

Love is patient and kind. It is not rude, not proud, not selfish. But nowhere does God’s word say “love is easy” or “love is not difficult”. In fact, about the only thing in life more difficult than loving a man is understanding one! It’s enough to drive any woman insane.

 

Author Susie Davis, married to Will for over 20 years, understands this. In her book Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind, she takes a Biblical look at the differences in men and women. The message of this book? Keeping God first, understanding that we are different and then adapting ourselves to the differences—rather than forcing our husbands to adapt—are the keys to keeping sane and keeping the love alive.

 

My favorite part in this book was Chapter Eight, entitled “A Failure to Yield”. One of the most confusing (and often annoying) scripture passages for women is found in Ephesians chapter five. Verses 7 and 8 say “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord: (NIV). Ms. Davis explains that the word submit has negative connotations in today’s world, but this scripture is not saying women should do everything their husband’s demand. Doing that will make a wife into a doormat. No, rather she says “submit” means “yield”. We are to yield our hearts to Christ, and then yield them to our husbands. This is a way of working together, of making compromises for the sake of marital bliss and putting your husband’s needs above your own.

 

Through reading this book, I learned a lot about myself and how to become the woman God intends for me to to. I would highly recommend the book for any woman wanting to keep her mind intact while giving her heart to her husband.

My baby is 2 years old. OK, so technically, he is 1 year, 364 days old. Still, his second birthday party is this afternoon. We planned a cookout for him, with hot dogs and chips—his favorites. Invited his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents to celebrate with us.

 

And it looks like we are gonna be rained out. UGH! Michigan weather is so unpredictable.

 

I am more concerned, though, with who will come. For some reason, we don’t much of a response for our children’s birthday parties. My in laws will be here—the ones who are not in jail, anyway. No, I am not kidding. Laugh if you want. Half of my husband’s siblings have prison records. The ones who don’t enjoy spoiling our boys, so I know they are not likely to miss this party.

 

It’s my family that disappoints me at birthday time. I don’t care about the gifts. Heaven knows money is tight for us, and we sometimes don’t take more than a card to a niece or nephew’s birthday celebration. But we are still there to celebrate. That is what the party is about. Celebrating the life of the birthday child. Yes, my son sees my parents and even my sisters more often than he sees my husband’s siblings. But does that mean his special day should be overlooked?

Once again, I am happy to have author Jo Linsdell visiting Lynn’s Corner. I have had a great time getting to know Jo over the past few days. As a woman who has always dreamed about visiting Italy, learning about the country from a woman who lives there has been a lot of fun. I can’t wait to log into her site and enjoy PROMO DAY with Jo this morning!

Lynn McMonigal: Jo, you went to Rome for a 3-day visit in 2001. What made you decide to stay?

Jo Linsdell: I actually had my money stolen in Paris on the way here and so got myself a job as a receptionist in a hostel on my third day in Rome. I’d only thought I’d stay for a few weeks at that point. The idea was to get together a little bit of money so that I could carry on my travels around Europe.

Weeks passed by quickly and before I knew it I’d been here for 6 months. At that point I realised that Rome had become my home and got an office job writing for the dental industry and rented an appartment.

Lynn: How is daily life in Italy different that daily life in the UK?

Jo: It’s warmer for a start :) I don’t know if it’s the beautiful monuments everywhere you look or because there are more parks and green areas than in the UK, but sometimes I forget that Rome is a Capital city.

Italians also make more time in their days for relaxing. They work for a living but don’t have the same live for work attitude that there is in the UK.

Lynn: Do you live in an area where you interact with a lot of tourists?

Jo: I live in Cinecittà, which is where the film and TV studios are. It’s on the main metro line and so tourists often come here. It’s less than a 10 minute ride to the Centre so I can easily get to interact with tourists.

Lynn: What has been the response to your book?

Jo: Fantastic! I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had several great reviews published and have received quite a few emails from people interested in having a copy and knowing more about Italy.

I’ve also had lots of compliments on the cover design which I’m also proud of as I designed it myself. I took all the photo’s myself too. I had the help of a graphic design friend, Burt Crismore, to give it the professional finishing touches.

Lynn: Do you have family in the UK? Is this book something they will be likely to use when they come visit?

Jo: Yes my family are all in the UK. They have already used it when they came to visit and said it made things a lot easier. My mum managed to shop without speaking English and had a great time doing it. She was so proud of herself :)

 

Lynn: What is your favorite Italian food? Can you make it or do you have to go out to get it?

Jo: Unfortunately I’m Celiac and so have to adapt most Italian food. I don’t tend to eat out often but when I do I go to RomAntica as my husband works there and so I know I’m safe. I love cooking though so it’s not a problem.

Carbonara is one of my favourite dishes. There are lots of good Italian restaurants who do great fish dishes. They have a very good selection of hams and cheeses here too.

Lynn: Describe your favorite place in Italy.

Jo: Piazza di Spagna is my favourite place as it’s where I met my husband. In the evenings we would go there in large groups and play guitar and sing. It was big social point for young Italians and tourists. Everyone would just hang out, chatting and people watching. In the evenings it’s lite up, giving it a very romantic atmosphere.

Lynn: Do you speak any other languages? Would you be interested in writing a similar book for a different language?

Jo: Although I studied both French and German at school I can’t speak either.

It would be nice to turn it into a series of phrasebooks for all countries but I need to do a lot more studying before that can happen.

Lynn: Thank you, Jo!! Is there anything else you want people to know about you?

Jo: Thank you for having me. I’d just like to add that anyone who purchases a copy of Italian for Tourists Pocket Edition from Lulu.com on Saturday 9th May will get a free e-book of their choice from my collection by sending me proof of purchase to .

 

And don’t forget about PROMO DAY, happening all day long today, May 9, 2009. Stop by http://jolinsdell.tripod.com/promoday/ to learn more about promoting your writing on line!

Welcome to the second part of my interview with Jo Linsdell, author of Italian for Tourists: Pocket Edition. In addition to her book, Jo has been busy organizing PROMO DAY 2009. Set for Saturday, May 9, 2009, this is a day-long event for those in the writing industry. This sounds like a very interesting event. If you are a writer a reader or just curious, read on to learn more!

Lynn McMonigal: What can you tell me about PROMO DAY?

Jo Linsdell: PROMO DAY is a FREE online international event for people in the writing industry. A whole day dedicated to promoting, networking and learning.

Lynn: Where did the idea for PROMO DAY come from?

Jo: PROMO DAY came about because I was looking for opportunities to promote my books using the internet at little or no cost. After attending the Muse Online Writers Conference back in 2006, I searched the internet for similar events aimed at what to do after you’ve written the book and found none. I decided to fill the void and so PROMO DAY was born. PROMO DAY is a great opportunity to network with other members of the industry, take part in online workshops and promote and best of all it’s FREE

Lynn: Is this the first time you have done an event like this? Do you plan to do it again?

Jo: This is actually the third time I do PROMO DAY. This is the first time it has online workshops though so it’s a lot bigger this year than in the past editions.

It is a annual event taking place in May. People can sign up for the mailing list at http://jolinsdell.tripod.com/promoday to be kept up to date on information regarding this year’s and future events.

Lynn: Will you be leading all of the workshops?

Jo: No each workshop is presented by different experts from the industry. These guys really know their stuff! They each have great tips and advice to share and attendees will have the opportunity to ask them questions during the workshops.

Lynn: What sort of Workshops will be available?

Jo: Workshops taking place during PROMO DAY 2009:

Times are shown in Central European Time.

14:00 Lael Johnson – Blogging and Journaling

15:00 John Evans – The Age of Networking: Tips and Tricks to Survive in Today’s information Age

16:00 Karina Fabian – Marketing for Beginners

17:00 John Desjarlais – Finding an Agent

18:00 Carolyn Howard Johnson – Query Letters as Promotion: Let’s Make Them Picture Perfect!

19:00 Elysabeth Eldering- Hosting Authors on Virtual Book Tours

20:00 Joyce Anthony – Promoting with Twitter

21:00 Ron Berry – Character websites

22:00 Devon Ellington – Creating and maintaining a successful writer’s blog.

23:00 Carol Denbow – Technical Aspects

 

Lynn: Do participants need to preregister for the event?

Jo: No registration is necessary. Just turn up on the day and join in the fun!

Lynn: What sort of response have you had to this event?

Jo: This year’s response has been huge. I’m really quite blown away by it all. The media attention has been greater than I ever imagined it could be. Publishers have been telling all their authors to go, people have been promoting in their newsletters, websites and blogs. My google alert has gone crazy!

Lynn: Is there anything else you want people to know about you, PROMO DAY, or your books?

Jo: Everyone is welcome to take part in PROMO DAY. Avid readers, writers, authors, publishers, editors, graphic designers, virtual assistants etc… Anyone with an interest in books and writing, from anywhere in the world. I look forward to seeing you all there.

I’d just like to add that anyone who purchases a copy of Italian for Tourists Pocket Edition from Lulu.com on Saturday 9th May will get a free e-book of their choice from my collection by sending me proof of purchase to [email protected].