Cause of the Day - Feel Your Boobies

Feel Your Boobies® was founded in 2004 after Leigh Hurst was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. What originally started as a few fun t-shirts designed to remind her friends in a fun way about something that had saved Leigh’s life has evolved into non-profit Foundation focused on spreading this life saving message to young women using unexpected and unconventional methods.

Many young women tune out messages about breast cancer because they don’t believe they are at risk. Here at Boobies Central, we know that research shows that simply “feeling your boobies” (aka “breast awareness) is just as effective at identifying lumps or other breast changes as the traditional step-by-step process of “breast self-exams”. And that’s exactly why we’re here -- to give you “a friendly reminder when you least expect it”. So get feeling girls, and remind a friend to do the same.

Self exams are important, girls. Learn more here.

Fortunata on Inside the Characters' Studio!

This week on Inside the Characters' Studio, Fortunata, the star of Deva Fagan's Fortune's Folly.

Ever since her mother died and her father lost his shoemaking skills, Fortunata has survived by telling fake fortunes. But when she's tricked into telling a grand fortune for a prince, she is faced with the impossible task of fulfilling her wild prophecy-or her father will be put to death. Now Fortunata has to help Prince Leonato secure a magic sword, vanquish a wicked witch, discover a long-lost golden shoe, and rescue the princess who fits it. If only she hadn't fallen in love with the prince herself. . . .

Shoemakers? Fake fortunes?? Vanquishment of wicked witches??? Yes, please!

Welcome, Fortunata!

What is your favorite word?
Magic.

What is your least favorite word?
Magic.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Fresh, spicy nutcakes, dripping with honey.

What turns you off?
Cabbage soup.

What is your favorite curse word?
Q What is your favorite curse word?
*blushes* Well, there are a few people I've cursed to the Seven Hells. But they all deserved it!

What sound or noise do you love?
The tapping of my father's tools when he's hard at work on a new pair of shoes.

What sound or noise do you hate?
Franca's braying in the morning. You'd think she was a rooster, not a donkey!

What profession would you like to attempt?
I think I could make a fair showing as Queen...

What profession would you not like to do?
Anything that doesn't involve being in constant peril and lying to royalty would be wonderful.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive
at the Pearly Gates?
Well, it would be nice to know that Saint Federica understands about that whole "faking-a-saintly-manifestation" affair. It was for a good cause! Truly!

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Check out other interviews from Inside the Characters' Studio here.

Calling All New Englanders!

I'm super excited to be reading at "Rhode Island Author Night" on this Friday, May 1, at the Barnes & Noble in Smithfield, Rhode Island. When I was first invited to be a part of the event, I had no idea there were so many authors in RI...and a fair share of romance novelists to boot!

So...those of you who are in or around the Ocean State next Friday evening, be sure to come out and hang with all of us! Aside from yours truly, Rhode Island Author Night will feature the literary stylins of:

• Edward Lee, Jr, author of Ripper,
  
• Jim Ignasher, who writes nonfiction about my homestate,
  
• David Bettencourt, author of a history of the amusement park of my youth, Rocky Point Park,
  
• Fr. Matthew Powell, author of Performing Parables,
  
• Thomas D'Agostino, author of Haunted RI -- and, as one of the 13 original colonies, I'm guessing there are LOTS of ghosts in RI,
  
• Donna Russo Morin, author of Courtier's Secret,
  
• Annette Blair, Romance Writer,
  
• Dr. Ed Iannucilli, author of Growing Up Italian (which I imagine will be a portrait of my youth),
  
• Hannah Howell, Romance Writer,
  
• Patricia Grasso, Romance Writer,
  
• Eric Sturtvant, Illustrator extraordinaire.

It should be a really fun event...hope to see you all there!

Book Meme! I tag YOU!

Via Jennifer Rummel via Diane Peterfreund's blog...I couldn't resist!!

1. What author do you own the most books by?
Lisa Kleypas. Stephanie Laurens. Julia Quinn. But if we're talking about authors outside of romance, probably Tom Robbins. Maybe John Irving.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Does my own count? ;)
I have two copies of The Cider House Rules. And two copies of Devil in Winter.

3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Fitzwilliam Darcy. Oh. Wait. You said *secretly*.

4. What book have you read more than any other?
Whenever I'm depressed, I read The Great Gatsby. I know that's weird and unexpected, but I just gravitate to it when I'm in a bad mood. So...it's probably Gatsby, considering I've had this strange quirk since I was 15.

5. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Definitely The Baby-Sitters Club series...one book would be tough...but probably one of the Super Specials. Those were longer and AWESOME. I can remember getting SO EXCITED when they came out!

6. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
I am extremely impatient. If I don't like a book in the first two chapters, I won't read more. While this does enforce my having the attention span of a gnat, it is a boon when it comes to bad books.

7. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
John Irving's Until I Find You.

8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Tom Robbins's Skinny Legs and All.

9. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Ulysses. Think you understood it? I don't believe you.

10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Oh, the French. Sand, Camus, de Beauvoir, Laclos. Tolstoy can keep his cold winters. I would like Nabokov, though, if I may.

11. Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
Shakespeare. Although ever since A Knight's Tale, I confess a crush on Chaucer. Assuming, of course, that he wore coats like Paul Bettany does.

12. Austen or Eliot?
This isn't really a question, is it? Austen.

13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Ok. BIG CONFESSION. I have never read a Dickens novel. *hides head in shame*

14. What is your favorite novel?
Romance - The Black Lyon
Modern Literary - The Cider House Rules
Modern Canon - Lolita
Classic Canon - Emma

15. Plays?
Yes, please. William Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams. And anything in between.

16. Poem?
Less so...but Richard Brautigan gives me the chills. In a good way.

17. Essay?
It really depends on the topic.

18. Non Fiction
I'll read any presidential biography I can get my hands on. If it's related to FDR, I probably already own it. I'm also obsessed with biographies of Henry VIII and his wives. Yes. I've read that one.

19. Graphic Novel?
I am too distractable.

20. Science Fiction?
Ender's Game. Pattern Recognition.

22. Fantasy?
No.

23. Who is your favorite writer?
John Irving.

24. What are you reading right now?
Nothing. I'm revising. I can't read while revising or it will never get done!

25. Favorite Genre:
Romance

Your turn! If you post, come back here and let me know so I can read your answers!

Today in Things That Are Awesome...

This made the rounds a few months ago, but I never posted it here...and I can't help but be madly in love with it!

Digital Regency Dress Up Doll? Yes, please! And the UNDERWEAR is accurate!!! Warning: You will lose hours of your day with this. HOURS.

Edited to Add: OMG...There's also a REGENCY HERO Dress Up Doll. I am now appeased for never having owned a Ken Doll. Well, until Aprilynne Pike sent me one. Aprilynne is awesome, no?

Cora Bradley on Inside the Characters' Studio!

This week on Inside the Characters' Studio, Cora Bradley, the star of Lisa Ann Sandell's A Map of the Known World.

Cora Bradley dreams of escape. Ever since her reckless older brother, Nate, died in a car crash, Cora has felt suffocated by her small town and high school. She seeks solace in drawing beautiful maps, envisioning herself in exotic locales. When Cora begins to fall for Damian, the handsome, brooding boy who was in the car with Nate the night he died, she uncovers her brother's secret artistic life and realizes she had more in common with him than she ever imagined. With stunning lyricism, Sandell weaves a tale of one girl's journey through the redemptive powers of art, friendship, and love.

They say no land remains to be discovered, no continent is left unexplored. But the whole world is out there, waiting, just waiting for me. I want to do things-I want to walk the rain-soaked streets of London, and drink mint tea in Casablanca. I want to wander the wastelands of the Gobi desert and see a yak. I think my life's ambition is to see a yak. I want to bargain for trinkets in an Arab market in some distant, dusty land. There's so much. But, most of all, I want to do things that will mean something.

As many of you know, Lisa Ann Sandell is my very best friend, and so I have known Cora for quite a bit longer than those of you who are just now meeting her. I'm so happy to finally have a chance to host her here at MacLeanSpace! (Although, I will say that I'm bummed that she was so tight-lipped about her gorgeous boyfriend, Damien, but I will leave that for another time.

Welcome, Cora!

What is your favorite word?
Crisp. It sounds like exactly what it means.

What is your least favorite word?
Freak. It's just plain ugly.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
maps; the notion of traveling; interesting, spicy smells; looking at art. Pablo Picasso is my favorite artist, and when I see his paintings, I feel so
inspired.

What turns you off?
Shrill, shouting, shrieking mothers.

What is your favorite curse word?
Does "crap" count as a curse word?

What sound or noise do you love?
I love the sound of ice skates scratching against the surface of an icy pond, and I love the rustling whisper of autumn leaves before they fall off their branches.

What sound or noise do you hate?
I hate the screeching and wailing of tires.

What profession would you like to attempt?
I am going to be an artist.
Or I promise I'll die trying.

What profession would you not like to do?
Anything else.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive
at the Pearly Gates?
Cora, your brother Nate's been waiting for you.

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Check out other interviews from Inside the Characters' Studio here.

Ze Frank Makes Me Less Scared

Today, I need Ze.

Am I the only one obsessed with Bo?

Are you kidding me? As if there weren't enough to make the Obamas the perfect family...

Dear Obamas,
Baxter makes a great play date companion.
Call any time.
xo,
Sarah

Today, in "Things That Are Awesome."

Tweenbots!

Creator Kacie Kinzer writes:

In New York, we are very occupied with getting from one place to another. I wondered: could a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? More importantly, how could our actions be seen within a larger context of human connection that emerges from the complexity of the city itself? To answer these questions, I built robots.

Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged. Often, people would ignore the instructions to aim the Tweenbot in the “right” direction, if that direction meant sending the robot into a perilous situation. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, "You can’t go that way, it’s toward the road.”

First, I love TweenBot. Second, how awesome is it that people stopped to help him? It just reminds me that, at our core...people are awesome!

And...Third, he did get there. In 42 minutes. With the help of 29 people.

Word, humanity.

Happy National Library Week!!!!

Baxter Says 'Hey. Woof.'

In which the author covets walls.

Ok. So I think I've said that Eric and I are casually looking to buy an apartment. I say casually because we're not entirely unhappy with our apartment...where we pay a fairly low rent for a fairly large kitchen and a terrific neighborhood that we simply couldn't afford if we were to buy.

That said, I go through my moments of wishing that I could sit on the couch, look around the apartment and cackle "MINE!" at the top of my lungs. But mostly, I refrain from doing this. And then I see things like these super amazing wall decals from Dali Decals at Etsy, and I WANT them. I want these swirling poppies... and i want this fancy chandelier... and i want this tree, complete with bird (i also want to be able to keep an orchid like that alive for longer than 6 days)... and, i'll confess (although this will scare the pants right off the Eric), this makes me kind of want to decorate a kid's room. Although I totally understand that is not the same as wanting to have a kid inside the kid's room.

But man do they all make me want walls to call my very own.

Matt Lauer Says Romance is Recession Proof!

After yesterday's piece on Romance and the Recession in the New York Times, the Today Show jumped on the bandwagon this morning with this piece...more kitsch than news, but interesting nonetheless!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Mary on Inside the Character's Studio!

This week on Inside the Characters' Studio, Mary, the star of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

I have been SO EXCITED about hosting Mary...so let's get started, shall we?

What is your favorite word?
Ocean.

What is your least favorite word?
Unconsecrated.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Dreaming.

What turns you off?
Rules that limit the possibilities.

What is your favorite curse word?
I've never known and curse words!

What sound or noise do you love?
I love the tangle of noises that could either be the wind through the trees or the waves crashing against the shore.

What sound or noise do you hate?
I hate the moaning of the Unconsecrated.

What profession would you like to attempt?
I don't even know what the possibilities are! Growing up everyone pitched in to do what was necessary to survive.

What profession would you not like to do?
I definitely don't want to be in the Sisterhood.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Well done :)

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Check out other interviews from Inside the Characters' Studio here.

in which i reveal my dreams. literally.

last night, i had a dream that i was surfing. in a full body wetsuit. in southern california. with matthew rhys.

in the immortal words of texters everywhere, wt*?

there are several weird things about this. (at this point you're saying, "uhm...yeah, sarah. there are." i know. it just takes me longer to get there, ok?)

1. i don't surf. i've never surfed.

2. my wetsuit had a lovely apple-green stripe on it. why do i remember this?

3. why am i surfing with matthew rhys? i don't think about matthew rhys. not ever.

4. in the dream, i left the beach and entered a large house, decorated in a moroccan theme, where my mother and sister were cooking dinner. when i announced that i'd just been surfing with matthew rhys, they were not impressed, as one rather expects they should have been by one of the three critical points of the following: *i* was *surfing* with *matthew rhys*.

and the weirdest thing? i woke up thinking, "wow. i really enjoyed that."

huh. so i did what most people do. i told my coworkers about this. and one very intelligent coworker did some hard hitting research and discovered two things:

• To dream that you are surfing, indicates the ups and downs of some emotional situation or relationship. You may feel overwhelmed. One minute you can be in control of your emotions and the next minute you are not. It may also indicate that you are going with the flow.
  
  
• To see or wear a wet suit in your dream, suggests that you are slowly and safely exploring your inner feelings and emotions. You may at a point where you are comfortable in acknowledging your vulnerabilities and feelings.
  
  
• Green signifies a positive change, good health, growth, fertility, healing, hope, vigor, vitality, peace, and serenity. Green is also symbolic of your strive to gain recognition and establish your independence.

**There was no entry for "Matthew Rhys."

So, internet, i ask you. What do you think it all means?

You Come From Rhode Island...

reasons why one should have a publicist:

1. They tell you about strange old timey songs about your home state that make you feel special.