There are always cool bookish online events this time of year. This one sounded fun to me, so I agreed to help promote it on my blog. Here are the deets:


Help Raise 1,000 books for charity and enter to win $200, signed books and swag!

We are excited to share about an ambitious blog tour—Fiction Frolic for All Hallow's Read—where ten authors from several genres are working hard to raise 1,000 books in three weeks for Books for America.

From October 1st to 19th, donate a new book (or books!) and earn extra bonus points in a huge giveaway that these authors are hosting.

Two winners will each receive the following PRIZES!

$100 Amazon G.C.
5 signed books from the authors hosting the event
A swag bag
Plus—in honor of All Hallow's read, gift a signed copy of one of our books to a friend!

With a total of $200, 12 signed books (including the gifted books) and major swag, what better way is there to raise books for charity and celebrate All Hallow's Read?

Each author participating is also donating signed copies of their books to Books for America, an awesome charity that is officially sponsoring their event and excited to be involved with All Hallow's Read. In 2011, Books for America donated more than $800,000 worth of books and materials to DC area schools, shelters and dozens of other educational programs and organizations.

The authors are blogging throughout the event at The Fiction Frolic Blog.

• 10/1-5 Read about how books shaped their love for reading and writing.
• 10/8-12 Read their scariest, funniest or craziest Halloween experiences, or learn about their favorite Halloween themed book or movie, or favorite work of "dark" literature.
• 10/15-19 Enjoy some flash fiction, short stories and novel excerpts.

So donate, share, and look for daily ways to enter to win. Donate to charity for bonus points!.

This event is sponsored by:
Eleanor T Beaty, author of the YA paranormal Veiled Mist
Brewin' author of the supernatural horror, The Dark Horde
Andy Gavin, author of the fantasy horror, The Darkening Dream
Laxmi Hariharan, author of the YA fantasy, The Destiny of Shaitan
Kimberly Kinrade, author of the YA paranormal thriller/romances, Forbidden Mind & Forbidden Fire
Richard Long, author of the supernatural thriller/horror, The Book of Paul
M.C. Mars, author of the mind-bending novel, Burner
Melissa McPhail, author of epic fantasy Cephrael's Hand
Sheryl Steines, author of She Wulf & Days of First Sun
Pavarti K Tyler., author of the Lit Fic Shadow on the Wall and the erotic horror Consumed by Love

Enter here:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you love to cook, you've no doubt visited Our Best Bites, an enormously popular recipe blog written by young LDS moms, Sara Wells and Kate Jones.  If you're a fan of the site, you probably know that the pair published their first cookbook, Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen, in 2011.  If you've experienced its fabulousness, then you've certainly been looking forward to the newest offering from the Wells/Jones team.  I certainly have.  I may have even let out a squeal of delight when it landed on my doorstep courtesy of the kind people at Deseret Book.

Like its predecessor, Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites is a beautiful, hardcover cookbook chock-full of scrumptious-looking recipes.  As indicated by its title, the book is divided into four sections:  Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.  Each section contains recipes appropriate for the given season as well as full-color photographs and helpful hints.  One of my favorite features from the last cookbook—the Rollover Ingredients list—is also present in this one.  Savoring the Seasons offers a new feature called Crafty in the Kitchen, which gives step-by-step instructions for creations like Peppermint Fudge Cupcake Jars, Thanksgiving Oreo Turkeys, and various Halloween party foods.  Just flipping through this gorgeous cookbook made my eyes pop and my stomach grumble—you better believe I'll be making tons of these fun recipes!

If you're looking for holiday gift ideas or a little something-something for a birthday girl or bride-to-be, look no further than Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites.  It's a lovely, gift-quality cookbook.  Retailing at around $17, the price may seem a little steep, but I really believe it's worth it.  I love both of my Our Best Bites cookbooks—they're beautiful, durable and packed with excellent, easy recipes that turn out wonderfully every single time.  No matter how many cookbooks you own, I guarantee you'll keep coming back to Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites and its sister, Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen.

(Readalikes:  Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen by Sara Wells and Kate Jones)

Grade:  A

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  G

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites from the generous folks at Deseret Book.  Thank you!




2 cups flour, spooned lightly into measuring cups and leveled with knife
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
1 cup coconut (toasted or untoasted)
1 cup roughly chopped, toasted macadamia nuts
1/2-2 tablespoons grated lime zest (1-2 limes)

1.  Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl; set aside.

2.  Combine butter and sugars with electric mixer until thoroughly blended.  Mix in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Add white chocolate chips, coconut, macadamia nuts, and lime zest and stir to distribute.

3.  Scoop cookie dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake until cookies are set around outer edges, yet centers are still soft and puffy and appear slightly underbaked, about 9-10 minutes.  (All ovens are different, so keep an eye on them!)  Cool cookies on cookie sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.

My thoughts on the recipe:  Um, yum!  All of us liked these.  My husband even pronounced them "really, really, really good."  And guess what?  Since I'm kind of an airhead, I didn't even make them right.  Somehow I ended up buying lemons instead of limes, so I used 3 teaspoons of lime juice instead of the fresh lime zest.  Didn't matter—the cookies were still delicious!  Unfortunately, macadamia nuts are not the cheapest or easiest nuts to buy, so this isn't a recipe I'll be making super often, but still, they're delish.

Since food photography is not my specialty, I decided to go with "cute kid eating food" instead.  The cute kid in question was way more interested in eating her cookie than in posing for her mother, so it took a few tries—






—but, we finally got this one, which is pretty darn adorable if I do say so myself: