Ten Things I Discovered When Researching 2006 #giveaway

When writing time travel, it’s important to know what existed when. My characters in Maybe This Time jump forward to 2006 hoping to mend a glitch in time. I choose 2006 because computer technology leapt forward in the five years between 2001 and 2006. 
When I researched December 2006, I found a few things I thought existed then hadn't happened yet, and a few did exist that surprised me.

Here are ten things I can’t imagine life without today that began their existance in 2006 and 2007.

1.   1.  LCD Flat Screen TV  Technically these were “around” before 2006. But that was the year they were made affordable for people to buy commercially, and now they’re everywhere.

2.  2.   Facebook While it was available to college students in 2004 Facebook opened its doors to everyone aged 13 and older with a valid e-mail address on September 26, 2006.

3.  3.  Twitter Twitter launched in July 2006. The world embraced the service which allowed only short bursts of information of 140 characters or less.  Twitter grew from 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007 to 500 million tweets per day.

4.    4.YouTube YouTube was launched in 2005. Every day people watch some of the hundreds of millions of hours worth of content, generating billions of views. It’s physically impossible to watch every video uploaded to the site as it would take over 1,000 years. I have a YouTube channel for videos of some of my acting roles. Not all of them, because shows like American Horror Story do not allow you to post scenes.

5.    5. The iPhone It released in March 2007. I thought it was earlier. But in 2006 the most advanced phone was the Blackberry Pearl. Jen, my heroine can’t understand why anyone would name a phone after a piece of fruit. 
     Today iPhones and Androids together with Twitter and YouTube are changing our view of what is really happening in the world. 

6.   6.  The Selfie. Obviously we couldn’t take selfies until someone invented the reversible camera. Selfies as a sport, didn’t become popular until the invention of the iPhone. This selfie, taken at the 2014 Oscars, momentarily broke Twitter. 

7.    7.   E-readers The first Amazon kindle was launched in 2007 priced at $400 and was immensely popular, selling out within five and a half hours and remaining out of stock for months.

8.     8.  Small independent publishers and Self Publishing The demand for content for new e-reader opened up new avenues for authors. Not only did a host of independent publishers spring up, I am grateful that Soul Mate Publishing was one of them. New options for self publishing proliferated. I haven’t tried this yet because I am too chicken, but I’ve discovered wonderful books by self-published Authors.

9.    Amazon Prime. I have had Amazon Prime since it started in 2005. For a flat fee of $79.00 I could have free two-day shipping. I added up what I had been paying in shipping for my bookaholic habits and decided it was worth it.  Amazon Prime wasn’t launched in the UK where my heroine lives until 2007.
10.  AirBnB. This alternative to traditional hotels for short term stays and vacation rentals started in 2007. I’ve used it several times and I love it. I now rent a room in my home through AirBnB.
Back in 2006 when Jen needed to find a short term apartment rental in Los Angeles I had her ask her waiter. (I always got my best apartment tips from waiters.)

BLURB 

Happy Ever  After? Not unless they change time

Popular London stage actress Jennifer Knight just turned forty-nine and she's fine with her life,  thank you very much. Or she was until her beloved niece accidentally time travels them both to 1988 bringing her face to face with her first husband.
Computer guru, Lance Davies is more comfortable with machines than people. He never knew how to handle his beloved, mercurial Jen. But now her future-self is here in front of him and he wants another chance.
Jen's traitorous body insists that home is in Lance's arms, but her heart has trust issues.
When Lance follows Jen into the future, time tangles. And, according to the computer they both died on September, 2001. Their only hope of a future is changing their past. But how?

Maybe This Time won the 2019 Raven Award for Best Contemporary Romance, The 2019 Reader's Favorite Gold Medal for Time Travel and was runner up for the RONE Best Audiobook General Award. 

I don't want to ask you to buy in these crazy times. I have Audible audiobook codes to give away. If you like to do Whispersync, the Kindle Copy is 3.99 or, I can give you a free PDF ARC. But the ARC won't allow you to Whispersync.

The paperback is 11.99 which is on the high end. I don't set the prices. 

If you want a free audiobook code or a PDF ARC please contact me through my Website. Or you can leave a comment with your email here.

I wish you a week of small joys in an unprecedented time. Stay Panic Free. Watch News only once a day. Laugh at least three times.

Read More →

It;s Award Season and Maybe This Time is a Contender #Giveaway

Maybe This Time was already a finalist for the 2019 RONE Awards in the Audiobook General Category. And thanks to you who voted, the eBook is a finalist for the 2019 Raven Awards in Romance Contemporary. Considering that there were 35 semifinalists, that an awesome achievement,

• I am proud of my book and would love to offer you a free audio code, or a pdf ARC of Maybe This Time. If you want either, please email me at sueberger3 at gmail.com.
• 
• TIME TRAVEL? Worst birthday present ever!  
  London stage star Jennifer Knight’s  life goes haywire when her genius niece sends her tumbling back in time from London in 2001 to 1988, bringing her face to face with her worst nightmare—her first husband.
  Now the only hope of righting the universe is to go forward in time and alter their future. Maybe this time Jen and Lance will get it right.
  “Charming, funny, a nice twist”
  “A great read written with originality and humor!
   “It's a little bit women's fiction, and a whole lot of romance.”
  “Two things about this book that are delicious: the idea of having a second chance with the love of your life AND the fact that the main character gets that chance in middle age.”
• Happy Reading
• 
  

Read More →

Free Audiobook Codes

Maybe This Time is a 2019 RONE finalist in Audiobooks General.

ACX has generated audio codes for me to give away in return for reviews.

If any of you are interested in getting the audiobook please email me,
sueberger3 at gmail dot com.

TIME TRAVEL?

Worst birthday present ever!  
London stage star Jennifer Knight’s  life goes haywire when her genius niece sends her tumbling back in time from London in 2001 to 1988, bringing her face to face with her worst nightmare—her first husband. Now the only hope of righting the universe is to change a past they have yet to experience.

“Charming, funny, a nice twist”

“A great read written with originality and humor!
 “It's a little bit women's fiction, and a whole lot of romance.”

“Two things about this book that are delicious: the idea of having a second chance with the love of your life AND the fact that the main character gets that chance in middle age.”

I also have audio codes for Time and Forever.

Two women in their sixties time travel to 1969 - London and Los Angeles. One finds an old love. One finds a new. But time travel has rules.  And that's a problem. 

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Forever-Susan-B-James-ebook/dp/B00I3PFF40 

Couldn't put it down. James's handling of the possible pitfalls of changing the past -- or not changing it -- was deft and, to me, unexpected. I cried a little, laughed a lot -- and wondered if the author would use a sequel to follow the time-traveling grandparents...

Enjoyable. Strong story line. Well developed characters. I liked reading book. It was nothing like any other time travel book I've read.👍 👍👍 I will be looking for more books by this author. I loved this book!

In Susan B. James' delightful novel, two sixty-something ladies, lamenting their long lost loves, decide to enter a Virtual Reality simulator to relive the golden age of their youth, if only for a few short days. But the simulator is actually a time machine and both women soon discover that they can not only relive the past, they can change it in order to correct the mistakes that cost them their true loves so many years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Forever-Susan-B-James-ebook/dp/B00I3PFF40

This lovely novel was a fun and quick read with lot of humour and witty ...

30 June 2018

Verified Purchase

Time and Forever is a delightful romance with light sci-fi elements. Sixty-year-old Sherry and Lorena decide to try a virtual reality game, only to end up in London in 1969 and find themselves twenty years old again.
This lovely novel was a fun and quick read with lot of humour and witty characters, and we follow two love stories: Sherry & Jeremy, and Lorena & Dave. You can’t ask for more

I am in Michigan helping my son get his house ready to list. My time is filled with to-do lists. But visiting my son and granddaughter is always a joy,

How are you doing? What made you happy this week?

Read More →

Rom Com Giveaway, Recipe and News Bits

Happy November. I have a recipe and fun surprise I’d like to share with you.  I'll start with the surprise. I’ve teamed up with 30 fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of Romantic Comedies to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a brand new eReader to the Grand Prize winner!  Oh, and did I mention you'll receive a collection of FREE reads just for entering? 😁  You can win my novel Time and Forever, plus books from authors like Helena Hunting, Zara Keane, Eliza Watson, and more.  Enter the giveaway by clicking here 👉 bit.ly/romcom-nov18   I also entered the contest because I found several books that sound like my kind of fun. Good luck and enjoy! It's the Holiday season. I hope you all have something special planned. I am gathering my Christmas reads and the jigsaw puzzles I plan to take to my sister and brother-in-law in Texas. This year I am bringing Apricot Bars. Apricot Bars Preheat oven to325 degrees 8x10 pan Baking time:1 hour Ingredients 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 egg yolks  2 cups flour 1 cup broken nuts (I use walnuts Or. If you are allergic to nuts, omit them.) 1 jar apricot jam (I use 6-8 ounces. You can use more.)  Instructions Cream egg yolks, butter, and sugar. Add Flour and nuts Fork ingredients together till you have a crumbly dough, Put half of it in the button of the 8x10 pan Spread a layer of apricot jam over this layer. Crumble the rest of the dough over the jam. Bake for thirty minutes on the oven's middle shelf. Then place the pan on the top shelf and bake for another thirty minutes. If you want to, you can dust the cookie with powdered sugar. Cool and slice into squares. Other Book News I signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing for Irish Magic. It will come out sometime in 2019. The Spanish Edition of  Mom, is There a Santa Claus? , ¿Mamá, existe Santa Claus? is now available in paperback from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. I think K.C. Snider's illustrations are perfect in any language.  Mom, is There a Santa Claus? is also available for Kindle for 5.00 Maybe This Time continues to collect reviews. Here's one: Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars Romance, time travel, women of substance... By pmlon Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase Maybe This Time Two things about this book that are delicious: the idea of having a second chance with the love of your life AND the fact that the main character gets that chance in middle age. If you like romance stories but wish they weren’t all about young adults or 30-somethings, this is the book for you. Ms. James does an excellent job of presenting the scrumptious possibility that maybe, just maybe we don’t have to live with the mistakes we made the first time around. Read it for the time travel, the spot-on era descriptions that take you back to a simpler age, and most of all for the romance. A page-turner for all those—and more reasons. The Audio Book narrated by the brilliant Stephanie Bentley has also gotten very positive reviews. You can download it for free with an Audible trial. Listen to a sample. https://smile.amazon.com/Maybe-This-Time-Second-Romance/dp/B079SHZWQ8/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_ The cover is one of my errors. It's not the illustrator's fault. I was trying to brand it to Time and Forever. But I think the story might have been better served with a different cover. I have no idea how to make that happen. Acting News I continue to get acting roles which makes me very happy. This week I filmed a role on the ABC comedy, Splitting Up Together. Next year I am in two new movies. Two weeks ago I was on the TBS series The Guest Book playing Michael Rappaport's mom. Followed by a quick one-liner on CBS's wonderful 12-step comedy series, Mom. I love both these shows. I Just wish they'd shown the tattoos they put on my character more clearly I wish you the happiest of holidays. I am for holding down the stress quotient and upping the thankfulness part. Enter the contest. Find a good book.   👉 bit.ly/romcom-nov18 Blessings Susan

Read More →

Hooray for May Giveaway

Tra La! It's May. I have a giveaway! Maybe This Time, the audiobook.
A code for a free download from Audible. Plus I have news about a reviewing site and a recipe for Cinco de Mayo.

 Blurb: Happy Ever After? Not unless they change time

    Popular London stage actress Jennifer Knight just turned forty-nine and she’s fine with her life, thank you very much. Or she was until her beloved niece accidentally time travels them both to 1988 bringing her face to face with her first husband.

There are a lot of holidays the first week of May. Here's a sample.
May 1 is May Day, Lei Day(Hawaii), and Mother Goose Day.
May 4 is Star Wars Day, Space Day, and Review For Me day
May 5th is Cinco de Mayo, and Free Comic Book Day


May 4th - Review for Me Day for Maybe This Time.
 I'm requesting reviews for Maybe This Time on a website called Review For Me
Maybe This Time goes live for Review Requests on May 4th
The email I got from, Review For Me's Katie Hamstead Teller.
"Hey Susan,
I have Maybe This Time scheduled for review requests on May 4th. Please remember to share the post and our blog to draw in reviewers once your post goes live. I will tweet, share, and include your review opportunity in the site newsletter and add it to the Goodreads group."

I know some of my readers are fellow authors, and I thought you might be interested in this service.
This site is equally wonderful for readers. I browsed and found some books which interested me and I am signing up to get review copies.
https://review4me775970817.wordpress.com/

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I'm sharing one of my family's favorite recipes. Mexican Cornbread.

Mexican Cornbread

Preheat oven to 450

Grease large baking pan

(Baking time will be 20-25  minutes. It will be moist.)

Ingredients

½ large green pepper

1 clove garlic

1 large onion

1 c drained mexicorn

½ c grated cheddar

½ veg oil

3 eggs

1cup buttermilk

½ c flour

1 c yellow cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

3 tsps baking powder

Preparation

Vegetables

Chop:

½ large green pepper

1 clove garlic

1 large onion

Add

1 c drained mexicorn

½ c grated cheddar

Set aside

Mix Wet ingredients in mixer. (add eggs— one at a time to vegetable oil, then add buttermilk.

½ veg oil

3 eggs

1cup buttermilk’

Mix dry ingredients together

½ c flour

1 c yellow cornmeal

1 tsp salt (can I cut in ½?)

½ tsp baking soda

3 tsps baking powder

Add dry ingredients  to wet ingredients:

Mix in veggies and cheese.

Pour into greased pan Bake 20-25 minutes

Happy First Week of May. Here's the Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More →

Leprechuan Love plus Maybe This Time audiobook free code

Happy March!

 I have news and a wee gift for you: A snippet of leprechaun love. 

I wish you a joyous week and the best Luck of the Irish.

For St Patrick's Day I put up a snippet of leprechaun love for the yet-unpublished Kate's Hero. (Eamon and Piri are the 'B' Story in the novel.)

Read it here.

The Audiobook is out!

Maybe This Time is now an audiobook narrated by the brilliant Stephanie Bentley and you can download it for free.*****

Here’s the 30 Day trial link 

(Free. Really. Because you can cancel any time)

Amazon Reader review
Never let the teenager run the time machine!

Fast paced, clever, touching, and above all fun! Great way to escape from reality.

 InD'Tale Magazine.

The reader is rooting for Lance and Jennifer throughout the whole story. They are a classic case of opposites attracts, but with an old-Hollywood flair. She's the determined, free-spirited actress who can warm his practical, structured engineering heart. "Maybe This Time" is an easy and heartwarming read.

****** If any of you are audiobookophiles and would like a free download code, please leave me a comment with your email address. I would love to get some reviews. I think Stephanie is a wonderful narrator. You can listen to a sample here. I am currently drowning in other peoples taxes, rewrites, babysitting and attempts to find homes for a couple of books - romance and children's. At the end of the month, I will be doing a film in Syracuse, NY. Hooray.  I sent in a video audition. Here it is.

Read More →

Rhys Bowen's The Tuscan Child Review & Giveaway

Rhys Bowen's latest book, The Tuscan Child is available February 20th. AND, I have an ARC to giveaway. 

BLURB

In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…

This historical mystery captured my interest from the first page.  

The story alternates between Hugo in 1944 and Joanna in 1973. There are compelling mysteries to be solved and an unknown enemy who would prefer the past to stay buried. 

I've enjoyed Rhys Bowen's storytelling since I was first introduced to her in The Royal Spyness series. The Tuscan Child is rich with evocative descriptions of Tuscan culture and the contrasting spareness of England. I loved the characters, the settings, the food, and the satisfying denouement. And I am delighted I have an ARC to give away. Enter below.

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as the #1Kindle bestseller In Farleigh Field. Rhys was born in Bath, England and educated at London University but now divides her time between California and Arizona. Her books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won fourteen of them to date. 

The Tuscan Child ARC is a USA only giveaway since it's a paperback.
So I added an ebook of Maybe This Time to the giveaway for an international winner. As of Feb 14, Maybe This Time  is available as an audio book.

Happy Reading. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More →

Tis The Season #GIVEAWAY

 This week I’ve teamed up with 54 fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of young adult sci-fi and Fantasy to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a brand new eReader to the Grand Prize winner!Oh, and did I mention you'll receive a collection of FREE ebooks just for entering?  You can win my novel. Time and Forever, plus books from authors like Jessica Leake and Laura DiSilverio.

.

Enter the giveaway by clicking here:

https://booksweeps.com/book-giveaway-ya-scifi-fantasy-december-2017/

You give your first name, and an email address and click to follow at least one author’s newsletter. I followed a couple after looking at the intriguing covers. (Why did I enter a young adult sci-fi and fantasy giveaway with a book about two women in their sixties? Hey, when I read the contest description, I thought there was a comma between young adult and Sci-fi. It's still a good contest.)

                              

Good luck, and enjoy!

Tis the season for giving. Maybe This Time came out in paperback on December 8^th and I’m giving away two copies.

My picture book Mom, Is There a Santa Claus is available now and I am giving away two copies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
And a joke for you,

My minister told this in church last week. I loved it.

Two friends meet in the street. One looked forlorn and almost on the verge of tears. The other man said, "Hey, how come you look like the whole world caved in?"

The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."

"That's not bad."

"Hold on, I'm just getting started. Two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew kicked the bucket and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."

"I'd like that."

"Last week my grandfather passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."

"Then how come you look so glum?"

"This week - nothing!"

I loved it because it reminded me how much I have to be thankful for.
Last week I had an operation to repair a torn miniscus in my left knee. I'm still in a lot of pain, but it's geting better and I am so grateful for my firends and family who are seeing me through it.
I'm not getting any writing done. But I will be.
I wish you a joyous week,

Read More →