You’ll be moved to tears, in a good way…

If you consider your four legged friends as part of your family, you will love the heart warming, gut wrenching tale, Buckley’s Story.

I’m not normally, as an adult, inspired to buy stories about pets. I’m not sure why as my love of reading was fostered early on by my incessant need to read and re-read Kavik the Wolf Dog during my school years. But, after having met Ingrid at a local Metal concert, we’d bonded while running the merchandise table for each of our respective bands. Amazing as it was, we’re both writers, practice holistic health care, love cats, and do crazy things in our evening hours like support our musicians.

The universe puts people in your path for express reasons. You just have to pay attention to those opportunities and recognize them.

It took me awhile, but I finally managed to purchase a copy of Ingrid’s book. I gravitate to romance as we all know, so it was just taking me awhile to curl up and learn about all that is and was Buckley.

I’m so very glad I did. Ingrid’s telling of Buckley’s Story reminded me of the ups and downs with all my feline family members, from Cleo & Kitty Cat, to our current brood of Bastein, Bella and Bijoux. (And yes, for some reason with the current family I’m on a “B” kick. If we ever get pregnant again and end up with a daughter, her name will likely be Briana at this point…yes, the teasing can commence.) Our family has been hit hard in the last few years, having lost Sage to her epilepsy medicine (I was down for days) to Gabriel’s sudden and unexpected departure due to Liver Cancer. They are my children, just as Ingrid illustrates so well in her book.

I have to say, I was in tears at the end for the sheer strength of the story and the rightness of it all. It brought home all the emotions I felt with my own creatures, but at the same time, the healing process is a wonderful relief. I also enjoyed the subtle way Ingrid wove in the medical information, giving us hints of things to keep an eye on with our own family members and ways to approach some of those heart thumping issues when we’re in the midst of a medical crisis and they can’t tell us what’s wrong.

They are our companions, our sounding boards, our comfort and our heat. While the story will move you to tears, this is a must read for ANYONE who has four legged family members. You will look up at the end more knowledgeable, more tolerant, and more aware.

People Buy from PEOPLE not ads (Books included)

People buy from people.

Let me illustrate. Because I find this true in ALL avenues and business ventures in my life.

Last week, I was out with some medical/fitness business partners. We were in DC attending a great presentation by Biznow with some amazing speakers (Sheila Johnson and Stasia Kelly – yes we can discuss the name similarities at will too – it freaked me out for a few and she was trying to meet me just as I wanted to meet her) and walking long distances to the presentation and the subsequent meeting after wards. I have NEVER been on the Metro so much in one day.

After we left our meting, Corry commented on some shoes she just ordered, how comfy they were, how great they looked with long pants, how she was waiting for hers to show up. (I tried dropping in picture, but they have it set so you can’t, and I’m too tired to go make a picture of it…just follow the link if you want to see the shoes.) We were tired of walking in stylish shoes and boots and griping about how much walking we were doing. Now, she doesn’t get a revenue from commenting how much she likes the shoes, and for the record, neither do I. And at that point, I could have cared less. My feet freaking HURT. I came home…looked them up, and then ordered a pair. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE COMPANY.I bought those shoes completely on her recommendation. She’d tried on a pair a friend had and loved them.

How does this relate to writing you ask?

Second reference, Deb (go check out her site, she’s got GREAT Subliminal Monday posts, really) offered up a great review about hush, hush – a great YA novel by Becca Fitzpatrick. Do I know the author? No. Do I trust my friend’s judgment? Hell, yes. I went out and picked up a HARD BOUND copy and read the entire book that NIGHT. (I blame my recent addiction to reading YA novels on my Twitter writing pals. You know who you are. And, yes, some of these books are linked to my Amazon Associates account, then again, some aren’t.)

What else have I bought/picked up on referral?

1. Broken by Shiloh Walker – because she was tweeting about it so much and getting great (and well deserved) reviews.
2. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous by Cat Marsters – because I know her AND I loved her first book, Almost Human (that’s the one that started us talking and wow, I’d like to think I can call us friends now).
3. Heat Wave by Richard Castle – yes, Castle is a fiction character, but how can you not go buy a book with Nathan Fillion on the back cover Please, even the guys are reading it.

I’m trying to think, I know there were a lot of others. I know I bought Candace Havens, Take Me if You Dare, recently. And, several James Patterson books.

So, what have you bought on referral lately? I’m finding I’m doing a LOT of purchasing purely on referral, from Twitter, FaceBook and networking.

PS – of course I am dying to get my hands on an iPad, purely for the hype, so yes, ads do work too

Thoughts.com – A Social Conversation Site

I do a great deal of writing, other than just the fiction writing. I’m sure no one is surprised by that. With all my reading online on how to be a better writer and find ways to have my writing help pay for some of my business expenses, I wandered over to ReviewMe, a site that pays bloggers to review sites, products, whatnot. Now, we’re not talking lots of money here, but maybe enough to offset the expensive of your website, or something. It’s is nice because it links you up with other websites and products in your area of interest. I’ve been reading and learning more and more about social media and thought, hmm, time to start checking out other sites online and seeing what they’re all about.

First assignment? Check out Thoughts.com (http://www.thoughts.com/). Website, social media, blog site…sure, right up my alley.

Thoughts appears to be a very active social conversation site with over 200,000 users. (I love the unique name of the site.) Thoughts goal is different than other social media sites…they’re trying to drive conversations and facilitate discussion rather than just building a network of friends. Built like many of the other, more well known and popular social media sites, they have a selection of easy-to-use widgets that give you complete control over how you interact with the community. Good, we all rely a lot on widgets.

Another interesting twist to their community, absolutely no selling or promoting outside businesses, blog sites, affiliate links, or money making schemes. While I’m sure that helps keep the spam at bay, I find that it’s a detractor as most social media sites are built to help us connect through the things we do. Many people have their own blogs and sites elsewhere. Writers, artists, musicians and more might not find a comfortable home here because even in their personal interactions, they might be letting you know about upcoming books, work, gigs…and those are some great ways to keep us all connected.

Right now? The user community is talking about things from Anorexia to Writing (one of my favorite topics after all). Thoughts feeds in News as well, helping to promote discussion. And, if things get too slow, it looks like a Thoughts.com team member is there to help the community push the discussions along, reminding users that the community grows with the more comments you leave. And, it sounds as though the development team is working on a notification system for the new Thoughts.

Over all? Beautiful site. It’s well crafted and looks like the user community is adapting to the space as well. It reminds me of Ning, but more caring and giving. I like the idea of focusing on conversations and interactions. Will I be using the site? Unfortunately no…if I can’t post up to my regular blog(s) then adding in another social media site defeats the purpose for all my writing and work. They’ve built a great community and most of it word of mouth! Good job, and a space to get your feet wet if you’re new to social media. Definitely go check it out and see if it would work for you or your family! I can see the draw – it’s robust.

What do you think? Yes? No?