BOOK UPDATE: "Paradise Down" is now available!

WOOT! It's finally here - my new novella, Paradise Down, for the Lei Crime Kindle Worlds is available on Amazon. I hope everyone will give this little mystery a read and leave a review. Hey, it's only $1.99.

Aloha Nicholás!  But will this be a hello or a goodbye?

When Lucia Santerez returns home to Hawaii to help her brother Nicholás with his new dive shop, she learns Nicholás has disappeared--and someone doesn't want him found. 

Enlisting the aid of hunky vacationing firefighter, Jared Stevens, gets them the wrong kind of attention. They discover what lies under the water off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kaua`i could make you rich or get you killed.

For readers of the Lei Crime series, this story occurs shortly after Fire Beach.

Now I get back to work on Almost a Touch, book three in my Klondike mysteries!

Ciao for now!

Kindle Fire HD - Kids Edition!!

Wow! What a great idea for Christmas gifts for kids!

All-new Fire HD tablet just for kids—with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, Kid-Proof Case, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee—up to $95 in savings

Built for even the toughest kids—Enjoy the peace of mind with an unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if they break it, we'll replace it for free. No questions asked!

PS. Lots of great choices for us adults, too, including a Kindle Fire for $99! Prefer an e-ink reader? Check out the wide variety of Kindle Readers.

Thinking about buying a Kindle Reader or Fire?

If you've ever considered buying a Kindle Reader or Kindle Fire but were worried about paying the full price in one payment, now might be the time to re-consider. Amazon has started a payment plan that removes some of the pain. Of course, this could be the perfect time to upgrade as well!

The plan is simple - Make your first payment of 20% at checkout. Pay the remaining balance in four equal monthly installments.

• No interest
• No finance charges
• No hidden fees
• No credit check or application required

One caveat: This offer is limited to one Kindle e-reader or Kindle Fire tablet per customer.

So what do you need to do? Simple!

First step - pick your Kindle by reading the specs for each.

• Basic Kindle Reader
• Kindle Paperlight
• Kindle Fire (multiple models)

Final step - go to THIS PAGE to start the purchase process. Of course if you already know which model you want, go directly to THIS PAGE to start the purchase process. Enjoy!

And of course, if you need some books on your new Kindle, I hope you will consider some of mine as well as friends Nick Russell, Brandon Hale, Russell Blake, as well as your current favorite authors!

Kindles and Books and Reading, OH MY!

Give me a day off the motorcycle and I find all kinds of new things going on in the world.

First, my fellow RVing author, Nick Russell, has just come out with a new book, Dog's Run, and it's getting rave reviews. Check it out...I just bought it!

And while I was on the Amazon.com site, I discovered they have announced the new Kindle Fire tablets. Oh my! Here is what they had to say (straight from their website).

These are powerhouse tablets. We added the latest graphics engine, doubled the memory, and tripled the processing power with the most advanced 2.2 GHz quad-core processor. Our HDX displays bring together exceptional pixel density (up to 339 ppi), perfect 100% sRGB color accuracy, improved brightness, and dynamic image contrast. You also get up to 11 hours of battery life—17 hours when you're reading.

Even the largest new Kindle Fire—the 8.9"—is startlingly light. We re-imagined our design from scratch, with a new magnesium unibody and molded glass-nylon alloy. At just 13.2 ounces, it's 34% lighter than the previous generation.

Kindle Fire HDX is packed with hundreds of updates, including new email, calendar, and productivity apps, X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, and—in addition to streaming—you can now download Prime Instant Videos and watch them offline.

Kindle Fire HDX also introduces the revolutionary new "Mayday" button. With a single tap, an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever works best. Mayday is available 24x7, 365 days a year, and it's free.

Mayday is one of those things that really has to be seen—
check out our upcoming TV commercials.

In addition to all the above, we're taking another step forward in our mission to make it possible for anyone to afford a Kindle Fire. The all-new Kindle Fire HD has the same display quality and processing speed of last year's high-end models and comes in at the breakthrough price point of only $139.

Wow! I'm impressed, especially with the upgraded basic Kindle HD for $139. I paid much more for mine a year ago. Hmmm, time for an upgrade? ;)

My first EVER children's book is available on Amazon!

My first ever children's book is now available on Amazon. It's a rhyming picture book, What Do I Count, and is suitable up to age five. Good bedtime or anytime reading, teaches numbers. Great as a gift to/from parents and grandparents! {Please share the link with your family and friends.}

Kara Jaynes did an amazing job on the illustrations, making my silly words come to life. Thank you, Kara.

Hoping to have a paperback print copy with additional teaching pages available soon.

NOTE: All profits go the the charity Hearts of Gold Foundation to benefit needy families and children in Cuenca, Ecuador (our home for the next five years).

No, we're not missing, I've just been remiss!

Really, I am sorry. I've been remiss in updating our blog. It's been a little hectic here in Tennessee, first we had to prep for our trip to Chattanooga. If you remember, we had a tire blow-out before we went to Ecuador. We left the rig for repairs and came back to nothing being done. Our wonderful agent, Chris Yust, facilitated the parts being sent to Camping World in Chattanooga.

So last Sunday we headed in that direction but not without a last minute change in plans. Sadie was going to stay with our neighbor but a coyote attack on one of their dogs took all their attention and they had to decline. So on Sunday Sadie and I headed to Cookeville in the pickup where she spent the week in doggy camp. Stu headed directly to Camping World and we got there within 15 minutes of each other, even after I made a grocery stop.

Monday morning they brought our rig in and by that night the body work was DONE. The company in Maryland told us they'd need it a week. Yeah, right. Tuesday they tackled the two warranty issues - a leaking ice maker and a non-heating dryer. By Wednesday night both repairs were authorized by our extended warranty company, parts ordered, arrived and installed. WOOT! We can't say enough about the professionalism of the folks there - support staff, service staff and even sales.

Of course, like everyone else, we couldn't resist looking at rigs. With our impending move to Ecuador for five years, we were thinking about downsizing in advance. We did find a nice Winnebago that we really liked but we couldn't come to an agreement. The salesman worked up numbers we could live with but his superiors didn't want to take the truck in trade. Know anyone looking for a nice toy hauler setup? Send 'em our way!

We took time while we were in Chattanooga to catch a couple of movies - same day, double header. The first was Despicable Me 2 which was great. The second was Pacific Rim. It was fantastic. Someone had mentioned that it was better than Transformers and we both agreed.

Stu has spent his spare time last week and since our return, working on odds and ends around the rig. Those little nagging chores and fix-it items that seem to accumulate. Me? I'm busy writing...about half way through the first draft of "Barely a Spark". Ten more days, 3000 words a day to make it by the end of the month. Can I do it? Sure hope so...then 3 weeks to tackle the second draft, edits and proofreading so I can get it published before we leave on Route 66 around the first of September.

Two side items of interest. The first is the sale of certified, refurbished Kindles and Kindle Fires (both sizes) at Amazon. They all come with a one year warranty.  Plus, you can still pick up a Kindle Touch with twice to storage space of the Kindle Paperwhite.

See your choices and check the prices HERE. {Good article to help your make your choice: 3G and WiFi and Kindles}

The second is for all those who have purchased my ebooks. Now I can autograph them for you, well, sort of. You can learn more HERE.

Busy - or not?

We've been busy since Stu got home...honest. It hasn't all been naps, watching recorded TV shows,movie and dinner with friends. No, there's been laundry, house cleaning, unpacking/repacking the motorcycle all interspersed with naps. Today is the first day in what seems like two weeks without rain. It has rained every day since Stu got home.

In case you were wondering, he still hasn't pulled his photos off the camera so they can be uploaded. But soon...honest! This will be another busy week for us. I'm heading to McDonald's daily to work on "Barely a Spark" and Stu has to get us ready to move the rig to Chattanooga next Sunday. Here's hoping the repairs get done in the week they projected! Thursday we'll be meeting some motorcycle friends from TX as they rush through on their way to a gathering in WV. First Cracker Barrel visit in months!

Here's some news for anyone with a Kindle, Kindle Fire or Kindle app (phone/tablet/laptop).

Automatic Book Update
Opt in for automatic book updates to receive new versions of your books when we have confirmed that improvements were made. In order to retain your notes, highlights, bookmarks and furthest reading locations, ensure that all your Kindle devices and reading apps have the "Annotation Back Up" setting turned on.

So how do you turn this on? Easy-peasy. CLICK HERE and then click the Learn More link in the yellow box at the top. You'll be take to a page where you can turn this new option ON. No more coming back and figuring out what books have updates. Now they will be automatically sent to your Kindle.

Kindle Fire $20 off for Father's Day

Today's Amazon pages show a discount of $20 off any Kindle Fire HD tablet through June 8, 2013 when using a special promotional code.

The Promo Code DADSFIRE, used at checkout, will get you the $20 off any of these HD models.

Although it mentions that this discount with code is good through June 8, they add "Offer good while supplies last," which is wording commonly seen in any of these time-limited offers.

That means:

• The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $179 for this time period, when using the promo code.
• The 32 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $209 (the 32 GB one is my recommendation, due to the large size of multimedia files.
• The models with 'Special Offers' shown on the opening lock screen are always priced $15 lower than the ones without the special offers.

Price cut on Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Tablet

Just wanted to pass this along for anyone that might be interested. Amazon has lowered the price on their Kindle Fire HD 8.9" Tablet. We have the smaller Kindle Fires and love them.

$50/$30 off Kindle Fire Coupon Code

Here’s a new Kindle Fire coupon for some great discounts -

1. Kindle Fire Coupon is FIRELOVE. You have to enter it at checkout. The final page, where you have to press ‘Confirm’ to send order, has a spot on the right to enter this Kindle Fire Coupon.
2. $30 off on the $299 Kindle Fire HD 16 GB  That makes its price $269.
3. $50 off on the $499 Kindle Fire HD LTE  That makes its price $449.
4. Coupon can only be used once per customer.
5. Valid only in the US.
6. Valid only till February 8th.

Terms and Conditions
• The promotion is valid for a limited time only. Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel it at any time.
• If you do not purchase the qualifying item when the promotion is in effect, the promotional code will not apply.
• The promotion is limited to one per customer.
• U.S. customers only
• The promotion applies only to Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G LTE Wireless devices sold and shipped by Amazon Digital Services. It does not apply to the same products sold by other sellers.
• If you return items purchased using a promotion code, we will subtract the value of the promotion code from your return credit.
• Promotion codes may not be combined with other offers.
• Does not apply to orders placed with 1-Click.
• Offer good while supplies last.
• Void where prohibited.
• If you violate any of the Terms and Conditions, the promotion will be invalid, and the promotional code discount will not apply. 

Enjoy - I love my Kindle Fire HD.

Amazon Deal on Kindle Touch

You can't buy a new Kindle Touch but for a limited time, you can get a great buy on a refurbished one. I love mine and we just bought one for Stu ($129).

Yes, we could have bought the new Kindle Paperwhite ($119) with Wi-Fi only, or the Kindle Paperwhite ($179) with 3G, but when weighing the advantage of storing up to 3000 books, 3G in addition to Wi-Fi against having to use a light to read at night, the Kindle Touch won out. Having the 3G access has been really great and keeping the special offers hasn't been intrusive. In fact some folks have found some good deals.

Anyway, check it out: Kindle Touch Refurbished 3G/Wi-Fi with one year warranty for only $119.

Cyber Monday: Kindle Fire Deal (non HD)

From Amazon.com:

Cyber Monday Savings
Today only, Kindle Fire is available for only $129 ($30 off). Enter promotional code FIREDEAL at checkout.

Offer valid from 12:01AM PST through 11:59PM PST on 11/26/12, or while supplies last. $30 discount valid on Kindle Fire with Special Offers or Kindle Fire without Special Offers sold and shipped by Amazon. Limit one discount per customer. Offer not valid with 1-Click ordering. If you return items purchased using a promo code, we will subtract the value of the discount from your return credit. Promo codes may not be combined with other offers. Amazon reserves the right to cancel the promotion at any time. Void where prohibited.   

"Don't Say It's Over" - but it is

The final Gypsy Journal rally is over and done, most rigs have left with a few hangers on through the weekend. We are staying till Monday morning when we will move up to Elkhart Campground in Elkhart, IN. We need to get some electrical work done by the folks who manufacture our replacement power switch (Stu can comment if he wants to clarify...I just know the original one started to melt and they replaced it with one that has different wires and he can't get it to work 100%) as well as seeing Mor-Ryde on the 24th for a look-see at our suspension issue.

The rally was wonderful and we feel truly blessed to have been here. We saw a lot of long-time friends, met up with some only-met-online friends and some never-met-anywhere-but-we-read-your-blog friends. Great times and we're sad to see everyone go. Some are going to the RV show in Hershey PA, some are headed to the Escapade in Sedalia MO, others are also traveling to get repairs and the rest are headed home or just traveling. We'll all continue following Nick and Terry via their blog and newspaper...if you don't, we recommend you do. ;-)

I hope to finish my mystery novel this month so blogging will continue to be sporadic. I had a lot of complaints questions about Sadie's blog and will try to let her post once a week so her friends can get their puppy fix. ;-)

Oh, the lastest Amazon Kindles and Kindle Fires were announced yesterday. I ordered the new Kindle Fire HD and will get it around the 19th-20th of this month. I'll review it after I get it.

Kindle Fire, a non-technical review

My Kindle Fire: I like it.

Oh, you wanted more? Okay, I like it a lot!

Really, it does what it's supposed to and a few things that it shouldn't.

Pros:

• Small
• Great images
• Intuitive
• As fast as any other WiFi PC I've used.
• I can read all the Amazon books that Donna has downloaded since we share her Amazon Kindle account. (I can but I probably won't.)
• Lots of Apps, most are useless but there a bunch of them. Maybe not as many as Apple, but just as useless.
• 8 hours of battery
• I can view a bunch of movies and TV series depending on the WiFi speed.

Cons:

• WiFi only
• Browser is flaky/flukey sometimes
• Screen is very sensitive
• Carousel is always there. Wish I could turn it off and on.
• Volume is a pain to adjust (hidden, need a mechanical one on the side)

That's it in a nutshell. If you want to know more of the technical stuff, Google for reviews. There's a bunch of them out there. Most of them are kinda like all those apps out there...useless. (for me anyway)

For $199 it's a good tablet. Just don't think it's iPad, you'll pay way more than that.

Still rolling,
Stu and Donna

Almost moving time!

The days have flown by, filled with chores, errands, lunches with friends, more chores, more errands...LOL! Yup, pretty much like living in a house and being retired.

Stu finally managed to finish the last of the damage to the wires and cables...he had to create his own cables. I can now run the microwave and the coffeemaker at the same time. The propane line is fixed and leak-free.

Of course, you fix something and you just KNOW something is going to break. While running our A/C unit heat pump, I suddenly smelled something strange. Well, long story short, we think one of the capacitors broke....again. We've replaced them in two of the three A/C units and the symptom was the same. Strange smell and then it doesn't heat or cool. We'll get that fixed when we get to Florida. Thank goodness for our propane furnace. Sadie prefers that anyway, she loves to lay over one of the heat vents when it's running.

When I mentioned looking into Zenni Optical in an earlier blog, someone mentioned a special at Sears. So I went online looking for the coupon. Sure enough, $199 for no-line glasses!! I checked out locations and found out the the Sears in Cookeville had an optical center. So we headed off, haircut first, then Sears for glasses. I've been wearing a similar style for quite a few years and wanted something a little more current. After several tries, we settled on these...they'll be sent to the Sears store in Brookville, FL and should be there next week.



Our other exciting news is Stu trading in his 2009 Tri-Glide for a 2012 Tri-Glide. We picked it up on Friday and after finishing the electrical work on the rig, Stu spent the rest of the weekend putting on new accessories. He's not done yet...one of the items doesn't fit this model. We'll exchange it tomorrow when we pick up the last couple of items that were ordered.

Here is the photo from Harley-Davidson...

Here is the photo at pickup on Friday...


We'll take one in the sun once we get to Florida. The colors are so classy and the red really pops. So far it's my favorite color out of all three Big Red trikes. Oh, be sure to visit Sadie's blog...she has a picture of her HELPING Stu. LOL!

Today Stu will finish up on the bike, clean up the garage and if there is a break in the rain, load up both motorcycles (his needs to be repositioned...and it has to be out in order to load mine). Then load the BRAT Rack and BRAT2 on the back, finishing up the biggest outside chores. We'll also take a big load of stuff (already in the truck) over to our storage unit.

Tomorrow will be a Cookeville day....Sam's Club & Wal-Mart for groceries, Petco for some Sadie stuff, Harley to pick up/exchange parts for the new bike, Kohl's so I can look for some sheets (and use my $30 worth of Kohl's cash that I got when I bought a Keurig B60 coffeemaker during Black Friday dealings), and finally a movie...no idea what one.

Oh, last item....Stu got his Kindle Fire and I got my Kindle Touch. He is really enjoying the Fire, the only thing he dislikes is the lack of customization to the home page. At least he hasn't found a way to change it. There is a carousel that lists all the books in your Amazon archive and all your apps, a bookshelf that shows the most recently visited items and at the bottom of the page is the most used item...a favorites bookshelf. He enjoys playing Angry Birds as well as Free Cell and a few other card games.

My Kindle Touch definitely took some getting used to. Over the last year+ I have "bought" over 800 books, most of them FREE at the time of purchase. On my old Kindle, I had only unread books downloaded and as I bought books, they automatically downloaded. That meant my archived books were books I had already read. Then along comes the new Kindle and I have to re-download my entire archive, move them into categories (collections folders) one by one and archive back the ones I've already read. Cumbersome to say the least, but using collections folders is the ONLY way to cleanly organize a large number of books. I haven't found a "go to page" when displaying books any other way. So, all in all, we are both pleased with our Kindles and are on the downhill side of the learning curve.

Wednesday we hope to be on the road by 9 am...a bit of a chore for us, but we hope to stop in Atlanta and have lunch with my youngest daughter. The weather has been mostly rainy the last few days...with highs dipping into the 40's tomorrow. Definitely time to move south...

Probably won't blog till Friday or Saturday...from Bee's RV Resort in Clermont, FL, where we will be till the end of February. We were there last year and really liked the place. Stu will be leaving on Sunday to spend three nights over in the Deland area, taking a scuba certification class. He let his expire a while back and has been regretting it every time we go on a cruise or visit Cabo/Cancun. Florida has a lot of companies that offer the certification classes and he found one he liked.

Okay, off to work on today's chores....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Amazon's Sunshine Deals for Kindle

Have fun shopping for your Kindle (or Kindle application - store up the free and low cost books now, even without a Kindle). I know I did.....LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

For Kindle Owners or soon-to-be's

Some good news for Kindle owners or prospective owners....

SEATTLE, Apr 20, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

(NASDAQ: AMZN)-- Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.

"We're excited that millions of Kindle customers will be able to borrow Kindle books from their local libraries," said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. "Customers tell us they love Kindle for its Pearl e-ink display that is easy to read even in bright sunlight, up to a month of battery life, and Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps."

Read the full article....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Perfect Kindle App...for me...maybe for you!

The one feature that I had hoped to find on my Kindle was a note taking one. I found out that I could take notes but they had to be linked to a book. I guess I could have created a fake PDF and linked to that but opted not to bother.

Recently I found a brand new app, Notepad, that does exactly what I want! Best part is that it costs only 99 cents. WHOO-HOO!!

Here are some notes from the Kindle Review Blog:

Things the Kindle Notepad App is Not


It’s not a Word Processor – there’s no spell check and no copy/paste.

It’s not Free – We’ve priced it at $1 to ensure as many Kindle owners can get it as possible. However, it’s not free since it wasn’t free to make.

It’s not an ebook reader – You won’t be able to open up really big text files. It’s a notepad and it’s meant for notes and not for writing books or reading books.

It’s not magic.

It doesn’t put form over function. Example 1: Between making the typing really fast and making the fonts anti-aliased, we chose the former. Example 2: Between making the app fast and responsive and adding animations and elaborate backgrounds, we chose the former.

There are currently 17 reviews, all 5 star. I should add mine, would also be 5 start. I love the fact that I can be out and about, reading my Kindle and when something strikes, I can add a note. Later I can just review my notes or transfer them to my laptop.

Kindle Notepad Video

Anyway, just wanted to pass this along to all my Kindle fiends...errr, friends. LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

NOTE: Duplicating this on my Hopping Through Life blog...if you read it here, you won't need to read it there.

Cooking and Free eBooks

We already talked about Kindles and finding free ebooks to read. Today I was reading some forums and found a link to some great cooking eBooks in PDF format. That got me to thinking...and searching.

Yup, lots of great FREE recipes books out there and since they are in PDF format, you don't need an eReader to read them. Here are some I found to get you started...

• Recipe4Living's best recipe collections
• Getfreeebooks.com
• Cooking-With-Us.com
• Free Cooking Software and eBooks
• Free Recipes eBooks
• Witguides.com Free Ebooks Library
  

I found several recipe books of interest to us so guess I'll be doing more cooking. LOL!

For those of you still using Adobe Reader, I recommend trying Foxit Reader. It's free and a much smaller program than Adobe Reader (which has gotten really bloated in size over the years). I use it exclusively and removed Adobe Reader from my computer.

PLEASE be sure to read this review that gives some good tips on installation...more and more freeware is following this standard. Oh, and unfortunately this only works for Windows computers...sorry!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Moved from TN to SC

We spent most of the morning getting the rig ready to roll. There was a fair amount of de-oozing to do, including loading the motorcycles. We finally hit the road shortly before noon. We knew we had a long day ahead of us but the weather was perfect!

I snapped a few shots out the windshield but none do justice to how nice the day way. Most of the color is gone but we did see a few trees with bright leaves. The prettiest part of the day was the sun glistening over the tops of the trees as it closer to setting.

Sadie, once again, was a trooper. Note the crossed paws...she does this a lot when she's relaxed. LOL!

It never fails...when we sit more than a week, SOMETHING will be forgotten when you roll...no pun intended...LOL!

We arrived in Campobello around 7pm and found the parking lot at Blue Ridge Log Cabins. We got parked and started setting up for the night. Oh oh, the inverter decided to not work. We researched the error code and found a restart procedure that is supposed to clear it. The downside is that everything...EVERYTHING...has to be turned off for 30 minutes. Well, it was late, dark and cold...we fired up the generator and Stu will try the restart in the morning.

You can see a few more photos here: Jamestown TN to Campobello SC

On a sidenote, here is one more game for your Kindle: EA Sudoku - $3.99  

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu