Living in New York
Life in New York City
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PARTNER PURSUIT BOOK BLOG TOUR
Partner Pursuit is going on an international book blog tour hosted by Rachel’s Random Resources.
Blog Tour Poster Partner Pursuit Book Blog Tour Reviews
All three sites today have reviews so feel free to check them out. I am so happy with these lovely reviews.
Romance by The Book summed it up as :
“Partner Pursuit is a vibrant, fun rom-com that will leave you feeling all those wonderful good feels.”
Here’s an excerpt from Beauty Addict blog:
Partner Pursuit is a fun and cute romantic story, with well-written and strong main characters. I love that Kathy Strobos has written so passionately about the real-life struggles we can all face of managing a work/life balance, and being career-focused but still wanting to be happy in a relationship. For me, Partner Pursuit really is a must-read.
Beauty Addict Blog.And another excerpt from the review by Tizi’s Book Review:
“But this story is so much more than just a romantic, swoon – worthy tale… It’s about the struggles women also have to endure at work. And the author manages to show us that life isn’t always fair and some men still think they are the stronger sex. But this isn’t written in a patronizing way, but it’s also not too subtle to go unnoticed.
The most important lesson however is that even when we think that we know what our main goal is, sometimes these goals can change direction.
And that sometimes it’s meeting the right person, and also losing them, will make you understand what truly matters in life. And that falling in love and having a wonderful relationship doesn’t mean that you cannot have your successful career.I loved reading this beautiful story about lovely people, I laughed several times, discovered a shared fear of water bugs (where is my own superhero Jake?) and I admired the courage our main characters showed when they did follow their hearts and instincts and didn’t just go with the flow.
A truly heart – warming story that left me a warm feeling inside I didn’t want to get rid of!”
And another review from the Book Review Crew:
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I love a good rom com book. This one is no exception. It’s absolutely adorable. Audrey is a strong female character who is focused on her career. She’s a big shot New York lawyer and is in the running for partner. She’s made it her life mission to her partner and won’t let anything come in her way… Unfortunately that means her love life generally suffers. That is until Jake moves in next door. They become friends and the rest is history. JUST KIDDING. Audrey is forced to make a lot of life decisions. Is she willing to give up partner? Can she have both? Is this total stranger worth giving up her dream job that she’s worked so hard for? This book is a roller coaster of emotions on what’s going to happen but it’s sooo cute and so good.
Kendra, Book Review CrewThanks so much to the reviewers for those insightful and warm reviews! Available to buy here. It will be discounted for Black Friday. For Barnes & Noble/Nook readers can use coupon BNPSAVE30PP to save 30% at checkout from 11/25/2021 to 11/28/2021 on Partner Pursuit.
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Cover Reveal: Is This for Real?
Is This for Real? cover It’s time for the Cover Reveal for my second book, Is This for Real? It’s fake dating and friends-to-lovers and dogs and dollhouse miniatures! My cover was again designed by Lucy of Cover Ever After.
Is This for Real? Cover and Blurb Reveal
Here’s the blurb:
An opposites attract, friends-to-lovers, slow burn, fake dating romantic comedy
Love is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. Usually me. I admit it, I’m a relationship-recluse. Ironic, given that I write romantic comedies. So, I’m on a sabbatical from dating.
Which is why fake dating my best friend Rory is foolproof. Rory suggested it because he needed a date for work functions. And I can use our experiences as fodder for my romcom novel.
Plus, my sister doesn’t know it’s not real and she is thrilled that I’m not walling myself off emotionally. Her words, not mine. But I do wish she would stop saying that she always suspected there was something more between me and Rory. She should realize that we’ve been friends forever so I’m immune to his appeal.
We would never work. Rory is such a romantic; he still believes in that perfect love similar to his parents’ marriage. My parents fought bitterly. So, we are better off as friends. I can’t risk losing our friendship, even if this might be my chance—before his ex-girlfriend wins him back.
Those flickers of attraction? Easily extinguished by cold water reality—like a two-mile hike in drenching rain over sand with wheelie luggage.
But our relationship is not sticking to the plot—or is it?
The e-book is available for pre-order (releasing January 11, 2022) and the paperback will be for sale in December 2021.
Blog Tour Interview with Julie of A Little Book Problem
Today, I’m also chatting with Julie of A Little Book Problem. Here’s one of my favorite questions, but check out her blog for the rest of the interview.
What is your favourite thing about being a member of the RNA? What do you think you have gained from membership?
I have gained so much. First, my favorite thing is the friendships I have made. I made so many friends when I was at the RNA Conference in Leeds. That was an amazing experience. Everybody was so friendly. I went not knowing anybody.
I met my now-critique partner Giulia Skye on the train to Leeds, and we immediately clicked as we discussed The Hating Game and the novels of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now we email each other weekly, and she is the one who encouraged me to indie-publish. But I’ve made a lot of friends at the RNA (also online via the Facebook groups). It is great being friends with other writers.
Second, I think the critiques in the NWS are invaluable.
Third, I also enjoy the camaraderie, friendships and mentoring in the Facebook groups.
Also, the RNA Conference, the online classes and the magazine articles are really helpful. I had a 1-to-1 consultation for my Partner Pursuit blurb at the RNA conference this past summer.
Let’s Talk
I hope you are all doing well. I just watched two fun romantic comedies LOVE HARD (Netflix) and THE LAST CONCEPTION (Amazon). Have you seen them? Any books or movies you’d recommend?
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Partner Pursuit’s Book Tour Continues
Partner Pursuit‘s virtual book tour continues.
On October 25, we will visit with All the Ups and Downs. She asked me what qualities I think make for the perfect significant other, so check out her blog for my answer.
For October 26, we will be talking with Sandra’s Book Club and Lisa’s Reading. We will also be hosted by The Faerie Review and Books a Plenty Book Reviews. Sandra’s Book Club will have a review of my book, and Lisa’s Reading will have an excerpt and an interview. She asked me if I ever write books with sad endings.
On October 27, we will hang out with Novel’s Alive with an author interview and a review. She gave me a choice of what question to answer and I chose: “What tips do you have for world-building and writing description?“
On October 28, I will be interviewed by Rogue’s Angels and The Avid Reader. They also have great interview questions, so check out their blogs for my author interviews and more excerpts.
On October 29, we will hang out with Harlie’s Books and Inside the Insanity. Both Harlies Books and Inside the Insanity also have author interviews.
For October 30, we will stop by Book Crazy for another author interview.
The tours will include excerpts and author interviews.
Here is the schedule for Goddess Fish Promotions, and here is the schedule for Silver Dagger Tours.
Halloween in NYC
A brownstone decorated for Halloween in NYC We have off on Halloween to go trick-or-treating! Hope you all have a fun Halloween! I just love when people decorate their brownstones in New York City for Halloween! These skeletons crack me up. I want to try to make our skeleton like the guy in the top row.
I spent part of Sunday helping out with my son’s school’s Halloween festival, volunteering at the obstacle course, so I spent about an hour yelling, “step on the o’s and x’s! Don’t let the hot green lava get you!”
Have a wonderful week! And I hope you enjoy Partner Pursuit‘s Book Tour as it continues virtually.
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PARTNER PURSUIT Releases Today
The e-book of Partner Pursuit releases today! It’s available on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play and Kobo. Here is a link.
You can also request your library to order it!
Partner Pursuit is going on 3 virtual book tours around the world! I am so happy to see how well it is being received internationally. So far, it has positive reviews from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, and South Africa.
The tours will include excerpts and author interviews.
Here is the schedule for Goddess Fish Promotions and here is a schedule for Silver Dagger Tours.
Everybody has such good titles for their blogs.
Book Tour Schedule for this Week
Today we are hanging out with Bowen’s Book Publicity, Literary Gold, Long and Short Reviews and A Pinch of Bookdust. Literary Gold interviewed me. She asked me what scenes I liked writing and what advice I have for a new writer, among other great questions. Long and Short Reviews asked me what lessons I learned from my heroine.
Tomorrow, on October 19, we are hanging out with Fabulous & Brunette and Lisa’s Everyday Reads. Fabulous and Brunette asked me how my book cover came about. I love my book cover by Cover Ever After, so that was really fun to talk about.
On Wednesday, October 20, we are hanging out with Read Your Writes Book Reviews, The Library of Erana and Literary Gold. I have an author interview with Read Your Writes Book Reviews.
On Thursday, October 21, we will be celebrating Partner Pursuit‘s release with Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews, Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed, and Insane Books. I have an author interview with Lisa Haselton.
On Friday October 22, we will be hanging out with Midnight Book Reader and Gina Rae Mitchell. Gina Rae Mitchell asked me to tell a story about anything entertaining related to the book or me.
We will have the weekend to recover. Lol.
Thank you for all your support as I celebrate that Partner Pursuit Releases Today
I am so excited to celebrate Partner Pursuit’s release today with you! Thank you all so much for your support. I am so happy about all the love my book baby has received.
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Partner Pursuit: Behind the Scenes
I’d love to share some behind the scenes photos of where I envisioned various scenes of Partner Pursuit taking place.
Here’s the corner where I envisioned Audrey and Jake’s cute-meet right outside the corner store.
A picture of the corner store where I envisioned Audrey bumping into Jake The Upper West Side also has many side streets filled with brownstones. They are a mix of single-family, two-family and multi-occupant houses. One floor could be an apartment or half a floor could be an apartment. Or you could have duplex apartment with a circular staircase like Audrey. They usually have about 5 floors. The parlor floor usually has eleven-foot ceilings so it can be the most desirable. I love the colorful colors of this row of brownstones on the Upper West Side.
And in another behind the scenes secret, this is the block where we did the photo shoot for my author picture.
Here’s a picture of Levain Bakery. I pictured them stopping by this Levain Bakery as they were bicycling to Riverside Park. It’s closed right now because of the pandemic because it’s an incredibly small space that gets really packed, but they opened up a more spacious Levain Bakery a few blocks north, so not to worry! And you may remember my previous post with a picture of the actual chocolate chip cookies. They weigh the cookie dough before they put in on the tray to make sure each is the right weight.
A picture of Levain Bakery Partner Pursuit: Behind the Scenes at Fairway
And here’s a picture of Fairway where Jake and Audrey go food shopping. Fairway has the most amazing selection of food.
Let’s Talk
How are you? Are there any other scenes from Partner Pursuit where you’d like to see my inspiration (if any?) Next time, I’ll do their bicycle date up the Hudson River.
Have a great weekend!
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PARTNER PURSUIT COVER REVEAL
I’m excited to reveal the cover for my debut novel PARTNER PURSUIT available in paperback on Amazon. The e-book will release on October 18, 2021 and is available for pre-order.
Partner Pursuit Cover by COVER EVER AFTER It was designed by COVER EVER AFTER in Australia. I love it! I asked her to add the little briefcase on the back of the bicycle because Audrey is a lawyer.
Here’s the blurb:
Workaholic lawyer Audrey Willems is not going to take any chances with her bid to become a partner at her New York law firm—especially with only six months until the decision.
Until she bumps into Jake—her new neighbor. Jake is a fun-loving music marketing executive who might just be The One.
He’s funny, caring, supportive—and able to kill water bugs in the bathroom.
But Jake will never date a woman married to her job. His father was a workaholic lawyer who never had time for family.
And she’s just got the case of a lifetime—the one she needs to win to make partner. Working 24/7 at the office may not even be enough hours to pull off a victory.
If only she had not met him now.
Audrey is determined to prove that she can juggle work and romance—even if managing court cases, candlelit dinners, and bike rides around Manhattan is a lot harder than it looks. She keeps canceling dates for yet another case crisis.
But when making partner is like a game of musical chairs and the last seat is a business-class alone, which partnership will she choose?
Let’s Talk: COVER REVEAL
I hope you are doing well. What do you think of my cover?
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5 Favorite Things About NYC
The Great Lawn in Central Park My novels are set in New York City so I’ve decided to periodically post about 5 favorite things about NYC.
The People
You have to like people to live in NYC. I love running into friends randomly while running errands or out and about. I can’t say it happens often, but it happens enough. And I also love funny interactions with strangers. I definitely missed these interactions when we were quarantining in our house. I found it interesting that research shows that people’s moods improve after positive conversations with strangers. One of my favorite pandemic stranger interactions was when I was on the line to vote in the US presidential election. The poll worker tried to set me up with the guy behind me in line. “Are you with her? If not, you need to keep your six feet of distance. Maybe you can take her out to dinner afterwards if you want to get closer.” He kept his six feet of distance. 🙂
I also like overhearing snippets of conversations. I recently overheard one woman say to another: “It was the underwear on the floor that was the final straw.”
Central Park
Central Park in the spring Central Park is amazing! There are so many areas to explore from the lawns to the wilder parts up north, from row boating on the Central Park lake to ice skating, from wandering around in the Ramble to exploring all the different playgrounds. And I shouldn’t forget the Central Park Zoo. And here’s a tip about how to figure out where you are in Central Park. The green posts show the street number, so below shows that you are on East 72nd Street.
Lamppost in Central Park Late Night Availability
I love that supermarkets, corner stores, and some restaurants stay open late (besides the bars and clubs). This is one of my favorite things about living in New York City.
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
I will probably mention Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip cookies in almost every book I write, they are that good. Yummy. When I live in other countries, I miss American chocolate chip cookies. I am so glad I had to buy Levain bakery cookies to photograph them for this blog post. 🙂
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Walking
I love being able to walk to wherever I want to go (or take public transportation). Before the pandemic, I walked around 5 miles a day on weekdays, between dropping the kids off at school, picking them up, and walking to and from work.
Let’s Talk
Because there’s so much I love about living in NYC, this is just my first blog post of 5 favorite things about NYC. Thanks to my friend and critique partner Giulia Skye for suggesting I post about this. Her novel Her Outback Driver is a RWA Vivian Contest finalist! She told me that she really enjoyed my descriptions of New York City in my books.
Have you visited New York? What are some of your favorite things about New York? If you’ve only seen New York in movies, what do you think of when you think of New York?
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Zoom Party Ideas
Our Christmas Tree My son just had his birthday party via zoom, so here are some zoom party ideas as we continue in quarantine. I’ve also had some adult zoom cocktail parties.
- play Mafia over zoom
- scavenger hunt
- Netflix watch party (no further explanation needed)
Mafia
Have you ever heard of the game Mafia? We used to play it late at night when we were staying over with a group of friends at a country house. Back when we did that.
Here are the instructions. I put the names of the guests on paper slips in one bowl and the various roles (mafia or murderer, villager, doctor, detective) in the other bowl. Then I matched every guest with a role and direct-messaged them via zoom. I was the narrator, but actually the boys all really wanted to be the narrator so they could create different scenarios of how people died. I thought the boys would probably prefer to play Among Us (which seems to be the online game equivalent), but not all the boys were allowed to play it, so I did it the zoom way. It worked. We added in other characters inspired by Among Us: the Angel (can tell the narrator one person to protect — if the murderer picks them to kill, they don’t die; the clown (pretends to be the murderer).
Scavenger Hunt
So this game was inspired by my son’s gym teacher. He has them do a scavenger hunt for household items, which makes the kids run around the house like mad.
I decided to add a riddle component. So I used some of these riddles for toothbrush and book (items they’d be sure to have around the house) and also came up with my own.
I am soft. This item is not a hat. I don’t go on your hand. I slip over your foot. What am I?
Answer: Sock
#
I roll, but I’m not a ball.
I’m paper, but you don’t write on me
What am I?
Answer: Toilet paper
#
You rest your head on me
Answer: Pillow
One child unfortunately couldn’t go into the bathroom because someone is his family was using it, which was tough, given that I gave riddles for toothbrush and toilet paper as items they’d be sure to have around the house. 🙁
Zoom Party Ideas Summary
Several parents emailed to thank me and say their children really enjoyed the party. I think the bar is low at the moment and I just occupied their children for two hours.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays whatever you celebrate! I hope you had a wonderful Hannukah and have a wonderful Christmas!
We are busy making Christmas cookies. My favorite Christmas cookie recipe is gingerbread people (reduced fat!) from the Joy of Cooking. I have yet to find a sugar cookie recipe I really love, so if you have one, please share!
The cookies are quickly disappearing. In other exciting news, my first MS Partner Pursuit was the winner of the Hudson County RWA 25-4-25 contest, and the first twenty pages of my second MS Is This for Real? just placed third in the RWA Windy City Four Seasons contest.
Let’s Talk
Do you have any good zoom party ideas? What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
Happy Holidays!
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Dollhouse Project for Kids
Wouldn’t you like to curl up and read here? You just need to be 1/12 size. If you are looking for a fun project to make with the kids while #stayingathome, building a dollhouse is a great project for ages 7 and up (or any age, depending on your kid). This Serendipity Shed is from the HBS/Miniatures site, but in the UK, there are many great online dollshouse stores as well, such as DollsHouse Emporium.
In New York City, parents volunteer to make an art project with their child’s class to sell at the school auction to benefit the public school. I volunteered to make this dollhouse library with my son’s third grade class. The class parents volunteered as well thankfully. And it sold!
Dollhouse Library from the Outside Making the Dollhouse Kit
What you will need:
- the dollhouse kit
- acrylic paint in your choice of colors
- wood glue
- door handles (if you decide you want to add those) (also from HBS/Miniatures)
- masking tape or painters tape
- sandpaper
- recommended glue to put in window panes
The kit comes with instructions. So first, read the instructions. Second, dry-fit the kit, so you know how it fits together before you glue it with wood glue. Then I recommend gluing together the walls and the floor. Then paint the partial structure and the various pieces (like the windows) in your chosen colors. For the class, we painted all the the pieces separately because I needed activities for around 25 kids. Then glue it together. And Voila! You have a little dollhouse.
Dollhouse Project for Kids
My son’s class made everything in this dollhouse except for the bookshelves. (And that metal lamp). I bought the back one at #HBS/Miniatures. And I made the side bookshelves with popsicle and stirrer sticks and carboard, and then painted it white. We xeroxed/reduced the covers of their chosen favorite books. As you can see, Harry Potter and 13stories are favorites. And they glued the books together (cut up magazines serve as the inside pages).
Dollhouse Library Project for Kids The kids painted the walls white and the windows blue. (I did have to sand the window openings because I forgot to tell them to paint lightly there, so that the window fit inside.) They made the couch using a cardboard tea box and covering it with cotton balls and fabric and and then gluing it with fabric glue. (No sewing required.) And they made the plants by painting twisty ties green and then putting those in air-dry clay (covered with tea for dirt). We used bottle caps as planters.
If you and/or your child really enjoy this project, it’s a whole new world. There are so many videos on Youtube to watch!
Let’s Talk
How are you doing? Hope you are all doing well and #stayingsafe! We are all fine. We have been inside for a month. I received back a developmental edit on Partner Pursuit, so I was busy this week revising my MS accordingly.
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Some Stay-at-Home NYC Mommy Tips
Bright and Cheery Yellow Flowers left outside our apartment door by my neighbor Here are some Stay-at-Home NYC Mommy Survival Tips. We’ve now been in our NYC apartment for 14 straight days, although we luckily have a small balcony for fresh air.
Overall, we’re lucky. We’re healthy and we just have to stay inside to help flatten the curve. I worry for the medical personnel, the postal workers, the grocery workers, the warehouse workers, the delivery workers and all the rest who are out there working as heroes.
List of Stay-At-Home NYC Mommy Survival Tips
- Exercise
- Keep a Schedule
- Art and Virtual Tours
- Food
- Reading/Watching Movies
- Crafting and Making Masks
- Keep Social
- Keep washing hands
If you have any suggestions, please share!
Exercise
Exercise is important for your immune system and your sanity. I haven’t done enough, but I will keep trying.
For Kids:
Create Your Own Obstacle Course: This has been the most successful exercise activity to date. My kids and I each take turns creating an obstacle course throughout the house and then we each follow each other doing it. We run around chairs, climb onto chairs, run around a table, crawl under a table, jump over stuffed animals etc. (Luckily, our neighbors are very nice and have not complained about the amount of extra noise as we jump around.)
It definitely gets the heart rate up and adds a little extra fun.
Step up onto the chair, then scoot over the table, then back down on the other side. Do jumping jacks. I think you get the idea 🙂 GoNoodle and PE with Joe Wicks: We’ve also been doing some dance videos from GoNoodle and P.E. with Joe Wicks.
For Moms/Dads:
I am trying out Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s trainer’s workout book. My friend gave it to me last year.
The RBG Workout by Bryant Johnson Another friend recommended this site for Yoga: Dharma Yoga New York Center.
Keep A Schedule
I think that it helps the kids to have a schedule. So we have our homeschooling schedule, and to that we’ve added Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems, Exercise and Duolingo (they are trying to learn Danish).
Art
I still highly recommend Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems. He’s very therapeutic to watch.
And he gives writing advice.
Here is my doodle from Episode 3.
This New York Times article also lists other authors/artists giving programs, so I am excited to try some of those.
Virtual Art Tours: I’m excited to go on some virtual art museum tours and other virtual tours.
Food
I made a shopping list of all our usual food so that when I find a delivery slot open, I can check the list and order from it, otherwise I keep forgetting items. I do spend a lot of time looking for open delivery slots.
A HUGE thanks to all the grocery workers and delivery people.
Bread: This is also a great recipe for whole wheat bread from Minimalist Baker. I can’t find yeast available anymore (and flour is also hard to find), but I have some packs left and maybe by the time I use them up, yeast will be back in stock.
Whole wheat bread rolls – yummy! Books/Movies
I am so grateful for all the books that I can escape into. I may actually make some progress on my #TBR pile. And I’m also watching movies at night, rather than always reading the news.
Crafting and Making Masks
I like to craft to keep up my spirits and so I’ve been doing some crafting, in between home schooling, reading and writing.
I found some patterns/tutorials for making masks, so I think I will try to do that too, although I am not very good at sewing and haven’t yet learned to use a sewing machine. It’s been on my bucket list, so I will check out some Youtube videos and learn to do it. I have a tiny kid sewing machine. It’s a Home EC project for the kids too! At the least, my family can wear my attempts, and hopefully, the shortage of PPE will be addressed. If I get good at making them, then I can send them to a hospital.
Keep Social
I am using this time to catch up with friends, so I hope you do too. Try to reach out to a friend every day or other day. My kids are doing zoom/facetime chats with their friends and that makes them happy.
Let’s Talk about Your Stay-At-Home Mommy Survival Tips
Do you have any tips for staying-at-home (with or without kids)? Any suggestions for laugh-out-loud romcom books?
Also, please keep washing your hands (and not touching your face). But it seems to transmit from when you touch someone or something with the virus and then you touch your face, so wash your hands before you touch your face. Which is so hard for me. As soon as I can’t touch my face, something on my face itches. Even writing this, I have an itch on my eyelid. And obviously practice social distancing and stay home as much as you can.
And if you’re not in an area that is yet in lockdown, I recommend stocking up on pantry staples (like flour, pasta etc.) and kids art supplies. You can get kids art supplies delivered, but you want to minimize people delivering (for their sake and yours).
Wishing you all the best!