I’m just curious…is it just my book, coming from a small press, that looks as if it was torn apart, taped back together, and tossed carelessly on a scanner in order to provide the cover images for the Search Inside the Book feature?

I was very excited to get this feature working and waited in excess of 10 weeks for it to go up, and then when it did, I was shocked into utter disbelief.

In the first place, why on earth are they scanning in pages of a book when they could easily ask for an electronic PDF document??? No wonder it is taking 10 weeks!

And why the tape? (To borrow from Seinfeld), where are they working–on some kind of flatbed truck that papers are flying all over the place?

After contacting the SIB department, they said they couldn’t rescan it because the first scan didn’t detract from the customer experience? It certainly detracted from my viewing experience!

So after all that, now I need to send a PDF! Lovely.

I bought this book (and the companion stuffed dog) for my niece for her tenth birthday, but was told by her mother that she’d not only seen the movie but had read and owned the book as well. I had planned to return the book to the store, but then started reading it in a few spare moments here and there. And now I’m hooked.

I just finished the part where India Opal asks her father to tell her ten things about her mother, and I really liked the idea of that. And although it would have been more interesting to have someone else size me up, no one else was available, so the task was left to me…

1. I’m now a self-proclaimed, self-published romance author, but once upon a time, I worked as a product engineer testing microcontrollers.

2. I love books–reading them, writing them, owning them, browsing through them–and a book’s cover is a major deciding factor for me.
3. I adore desserts but am generally too cheap to splurge on them in restaurants. At home, you can have an entire pan of brownies for $2.50.
4. Seinfeld was (and still is) comic genius. I still laugh uproariously at lines I’ve heard many, many times.
5. I have two little boys who make me laugh every day over the silliest, simplest things.
6. I love reproduction vintage stuff. I’m just a little squeamish knowing that a stranger has owned/touched/used/slept under something I own. I don’t like hotels much.
7. Every once in a while, I like a little splurge.
8. I abhor the smell of cigarettes and the selfish behavior of many smokers.
9. I think reality shows are ridiculous, and in general, I’d choose books over TV or movies.
10. Romance is irresistible. It’s silly that people swarm to romantic comedies at the theaters but then pretend romance novels don’t interest them. There is nothing wrong with liking romance novels! Repeat that as your mantra if you must.

And I’m off…

Well I’m gonna nix that Peterson idea since my computer glamour can be summed up as “casual barefoot”. I’m certainly not wearing anything worthy of a cosmopolitan anecdote. A blurb might go something like this…

Spotted with playdough polka-dots in neon pink, teal, and orange, finger-printed with strawberry stains from a juicy lunch, and streaked with sandy dirt from a scamper in the park, Alyssa’s white knit tank top remained stylish (just barely) and cool, newly accented with the color of her day.

Saw Madagascar today with the boys and Grandma (in-law). I think I liked it more than either of the boys did. I loved King Julien, and Ben Stiller is one of my favorites. I think he makes a great leading man for a romantic comedy. And we will most definitely be getting the soundtrack. I can see us doing alot of dancing to “Move-It”.