Music Monday - "Let's Go (Pony)" by The Routers (1962)

I am certain that I never heard this tune until I chanced upon it playing SongPop recently.   It is so fun and catchy I had to share it with you!

"Let's Go (Pony") was a 1962 hit by The Routers.  This group started playing together in 1961.   Their style was instrumental surf rock.  "Let's Go" made it to #19 on the Billboard chart.   I can just imagine Gidget and her friends dancing - or surfing - to this fun song.  It features clapping and sounds a bit like a pep rally.  Who doesn't need a pep rally on a Monday morning?

Have you ever heard of this song before?  (I will be so impressed if you have!)   I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Guest Post and Giveaway - Bread of the Dead by Ann Myers

Bread of the Dead (Santa Fe Cafe Mystery #1)
Release Date: September 29, 2015 by William Morrow
368 pages

About the Book: 
The Day of the Dead is approaching in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and cook Rita Lafitte is busy decorating sugar skulls, taste-testing pan de muerto (bread of the dead), and refashioning her post-divorce life. She loves her job at Tres Amigas Cafe and feels like she’s found a good home for herself and her teenage daughter…until her kindly landlord is found dead next door, seemingly from suicide.Although Rita discovers evidence of murder, the police aren’t convinced, especially one of the lead detectives who’s also Rita’s ex-husband. To uncover the truth behind her friend’s death, Rita teams up with her octogenarian boss Flori, the town’s most celebrated snoop. Soon, their investigation encompasses other crimes, including break-ins and the murder of their number-one suspect. Rita won’t feel safe until the killer is caught. But when she unearths a long-buried secret, will she become the next victim?

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N 

 

Guest Post - Favorite Books from Childhood

Hi, Trish. I’m so happy to be here and that you asked me this question! I’m an only child and grew up in the country with no neighbors in sight, so I read a LOT. Favorites are hard to pick. I loved classics like Pippi Longstocking, The Wind in the Willows, and Little House on the Prairie. I also liked Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor books and The Tomten (by the author of Pippi, Astrid Lindgren, with such sweet illustrations). Then there’s The Grapes of Wrath, which I normally wouldn’t call a childhood favorite, except it makes me think of my grandmother. She and I once listened to the entire unabridged audio version while putting together a giant puzzle. What a choice for light summer fun!  

 

But the book I’d most love to read again, you won’t know, unless we’re related and don’t realize it. My talented, artistic mother wrote and illustrated books for me when I was little. The best was The Incredibly Worthless Journey. Fabulous title, right? The main characters were our Scottie dog and guinea pig, who set off to catch a Thanksgiving turkey for their poor, elderly owners. Adventures ensued, and the dog and pig eventually managed to snag a bird, only to discover that their owners had already gotten one. Tragically, the sole copy was lost in a house fire. Years later my mom tried to recreate the book. However—more hurdles—my parents had become vegetarians and couldn’t reconcile the whole tricking-and-eating-the-nice-turkey storyline. My mom (now on a different diet) says she might finish it someday. I hope so. More generations should enjoy a tale of good old-fashioned futility. And there’s a guinea pig!

About the Author: 
Ann Myers, her husband, and extra-large housecat live in Colorado but, like Rita, feel most at home in Santa Fe.

Website | Facebook

 

GIVEAWAY:

Three (3) copies of Bread of the Dead by Ann Myers (US)

Ends Oct. 28
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Weekend Window Shopping at Birdhouse Books

Hi all, and happy weekend!

I'm running a 20% off storewide sale this weekend at eBay:   Birdhouse Books.  I recently redesigned my store, and wanted to have a sale in celebration.

I just added lots of great boutique style Halloween cards to my shop.  You'll find some fun cards newly listed.

Jack O' Lanterns:

Ghost and haunted house:

Witch hats:

A monster at the door:

Eek!  (all about trick or treat candy)

A tuxedo black cat and Jack O' Lantern:

An orange spider:

Nostalgic Halloween images against a background that looks like a child's Halloween story:

A little boy with a Jack O' Lantern pumpkin:

A haunted house - fun card:

Hope you found some goodies here, and hope you'll stop by my store this weekend - Birdhouse Books on eBay.  Have a great weekend!

Guest Post and Giveaway: Knock On Wood by Linda O. Johnston

(A Superstition Mystery)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Midnight Ink (October 8, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0738745527

Synopsis:
Rory Chasen, now the manager of the Lucky Dog Boutique in Destiny, California, is delighted when her closest friend Gemma Grayfield, a librarian, comes for a visit. But Gemma arrives early and seems upset. It turns out she has broken up with her boyfriend, Frank Shorester. Gemma is soon hired to manage the Broken Mirror Bookstore. Frank follows her to Destiny, where Gemma is also wooed by two local men. Rory may be a little jealous—until one of those men, Deputy Mayor Bevin Dermot, turns up dead. Bevin is known for knocking on wood for everything, but despite Destiny being all about superstitions that did not save his life.

Rory tries to help Gemma clear herself of being a murder suspect, even counting on her lucky black and white dog Pluckie to help. But is Gemma guilty of murder—or of just having a run of bad luck?

Guest Post by Linda O. Johnston
 

Hi, everyone.  

I'm here to tell you that you're going to love my latest superstition mystery... knock on wood.  That means I'm knocking on wood that you enjoy KNOCK ON WOOD!

KNOCK ON WOOD is the second in my Superstition Mystery series for Midnight Ink.  It's about Rory Chasen, a superstition agnostic who first came to Destiny, California, to learn if superstitions are real after her fiancé walked under a ladder--and was killed shortly thereafter.  Rory stayed in Destiny after her lucky black-and-white dog Pluckie found an ill older lady in the back room of her store, the Lucky Dog Boutique.  Now, Rory runs that boutique.

In KNOCK ON WOOD, Rory's best friend Gemma comes for a visit and winds up staying to manage the Broken Mirror Bookstore--and run from her newly ex boyfriend.  She starts flirting with others in town, and when one of them, Lou Landorf, the town's Public Affairs Director, is found dead... well, you can guess who the main suspect is.

Are the superstition mysteries all about superstitions?  Well,  I do describe a lot of them, but I also leave it to Rory, and the readers, to determine if they're real.

Oh, did the knocking stop?  I can't always continue to knock on wood--especially since doing so apparently didn't solve all the problems in Lou Landorf's life...

But my fingers are crossed now that you do enjoy KNOCK ON WOOD!     

About This Author

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year.   Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 38 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, and Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne.  She additionally writes the Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink.

Her latest cozy mystery series, the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries also from Midnight Ink, started off in May with BITE THE BISCUIT and KNOCK ON WOOD comes out October 8.

Author Links:
Webpage:  www.LindaOJohnston.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOJohnston
Purchase Links:
Amazon B&N

Giveaway 
Win a print copy of Knock on Wood.
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Dear Abby - Vintage Dachshund Advertisements

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a good week!  My Momma has been busy with work this week and I have been busy helping her.  I am a great helper.

I wanted to share a few vintage dachshund ads with you today.  I have a few ads here from magazines, and also have digital ads as well -- I can't resist a vintage dachshund image.   (In truth, I love vintage dog ads in general!)

Dairy Queen - can you spot the dachshund?   (I hope he gets an ice cream cone!)

 Gaines Biscuits -- now this is great ad!  It involves dog treats.

 Pard dog food.  That dachshund is glad to see her mother coming home with lots of dog food.

Red Heart dog food - "the only 3-flavor dog food"

A fashion advertisement (probably 1930's) featuring a dachshund -- and another doxie's face in the background:

 The 1955 Chrysler -- and it is raining.  There is something wrong with this picture!  Ask me what I think about rain.

General Tire - two beautiful red smooth doxies walking with a stylish couple:

Chevrolet - this is a close-up of the ad picture.   That doxie sees herself in the shiny clean car!

I hope you enjoyed these vintage ads.   I would love to hear from you in the comments, below!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo