HeY FoLKS! PaY aTTeNTioN PLeaSe!

This is a newsy long blog-post, so grab a cup o' joe or beer and settle in for some reading ...

I'm exhausted but there's a hodge-podge of information to share so this is gonna be a newsletterish type of blogpost so do your best to follow along and please make sure to take a look at the links because a lot of these here folks have been pretty good to me and well, make sure to stop on over at their blogs and such to check out their goodly news and wares and yeah, I'm not making much sense with all this burning the candle at all four ends.

First off, my great pal Eileen Cook has a new book out, What Would Emma Do? It's a young adult novel, kinda along the lines of Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, and we all grew up loving Judy Blume and "We Must, We Must, We Must increase our bust!" so check it out for yourselves or for your teenage daughters or nieces. I'm currently in the middle of it and really enjoying it, even though it's about a girl who kisses a boy, and I never got kissed by boys when I was in high school which pretty much made high school suck for me. Well, at least freshman and sophomore years.

Eileen also wrote Unpredictable, which was another great book I featured on Manic a while back, and is currently on sale at Amazon. I'm also hot for Eileen's dad, so there you go. Winka Winka! Ah come on, Eileen's Mom, you know I'm kidding. I know he digs your buns! (WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS? I told you I was EXHAUSTED!) Anyway, Eileen is a dear real life friend and an exceptional writer, so GO CHECK OUT HER BOOKS. I never steer you wrong!

Another dear but NOT-SO-NEAR friend is Kim Stagliano who is giving away a signed copy of Better Than Bulletproof by Kay Thomas, who is an author and autism mom. The book is described as "romance, sexy and autism" all rolled up into one. You can enter to win and also learn about the author's journey to publication and find out more about the book right here. Tell 'em Manic sent ya!

In the mood to win another book? Recently, I offered this book to you on my blog: BOY MEETS GIRL (Sidenote: I still owe sexy CDs to Kirsten, Christine, Katy & Reagan!) ... Well, for those of you who wanted it but didn't get it, you can run on over to Betty and enter to win one of FIVE copies over there! Just go here: Betty's Boy Meets Girl Book Giveaway and follow the EASY instructions to enter to win!


Next on the list (Gosh, I feel like I'm reporting the minutes from a GD meeting I attended on my freaking life!), I had the opportunity to do a video webcast CELEBRITY interview yesterday and to be truthful, since I don't watch really ANY TV ('cept American Idol, and I'M ALREADY IN LOVE WITH THE BLIND GUY!), I wasn't all too familiar with who he was, but many of you may know him, and let's just say he was on The View yesterday and he has a new book out, AND he was on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy WHICH I TOTALLY DID USED TO WATCH, AND, I would totally want to hang with this guy and drink martinis with him at a cocktail party and have him redesign my house for me! So, any guesses? Well, I'll be sharing info on him later in the week, and might even be nice enough to give away a copy of his new book!

Phew, are YOU tired yet? Cuz I am, but there's STILL MORE!

If you've made it this far and are a regular reader and know something personal about me you can friend me on Facebook here: Facebook Friend Me Here! And gee, if you've read even one sentence of this whole blog, then you probably know something personal about me. My blog is an open book!

Let's see, what else ...

The Manic Mommy Virtual Blog for Blood Drive is GOING PLACES, thanks to so many of you! The donors, YOU GUYS, are stepping up to the plate and we're getting pictures from you! The drive was mentioned on The Boston Herald Blog (excuse the photo - it was taken just seconds before I passed out). Also somehow it landed HERE, may show up in The Chicago Trib, and is rumored to be in The Huffington Post later this week.

And speaking of The Huffington Post, I wrote a little something about my friend Ann Coulter, and you can read that here: Who's the Recipe for Disaster: Ann Coulter or Single Mothers?

And next up is a way cool mom who is creating a web show (think iCarly on Nickelodeon but for the cool moms!) ... Michelle at My Semblance of Sanity is launching her own web show and it's going to be amazing and fun -- a place to chat and listen and submit your ideas and laugh with like-minded and smart women JUST LIKE YOU! So go subscribe to her youtube channel right here: Gabbin'Mama: The Mom Show and let the party start!

(I don't know about you, but I could use a cocktail right about now. And saying "Right About Now" makes me then want to say, "Funk Soul Brother!" Come on, YOU KNOW THAT SONG!)

Last, but certainly NOT LEAST, and thanks so much for hanging in there for so long on this very long post ... I think later I'm going to get one of these, at the grand suggestion of my friend Darren Garnick, who was manly enough to try it himself, and even got his toes painted orange afterward! Read his version here!

This is what it looks like:



This is the song I imagine will be running through my head the whole time: