Review of Green Works All Natural Cleaning Products

Thanks to being a member of the Mom Bloggers Club I was able to receive several Green Works products for review.

I've been using natural cleaning products for a long time- mostly items I've had to order online or go to a speciality store to purchase. I was leery of Green Works because they're made by Clorox.

But I decided to give them a try- and I'm blown away by how well they work.

They're powerful natural cleaners that get the job done-and they're convenient because I can buy them in my local grocery store.

Green Works Cleaning Wipes - 100% compostable, so you can clean up after your family and guests, and feel good while you’re at it!


With a family of 5 (6 if you count the cat) there's always something to clean up- and let's face it. You get to a point where you wonder which is worse- reusing all those towels that have to be washed constantly or using some disposable wipes made with compostable fibers.

I use a bit of both. I like the wipes because they are handy and can be grabbed easily and quickly- and they're great for using in really germy areas like the bathroom where you may not want to use a washcloth that needs to be washed afterwards.

Or in the kitchen for wiping down a counter-top after raw chicken has been on it. Sometimes it just seems more sanitary to use a wipe and throw it away. That's the situations where these are best. I'll be sure to keep a container of these on hand from now on.

Green Works Laundry Detergent - This dermatologist-tested formula is gentle on skin and formulated for both standard and high-efficiency (HE) washers, so you can be sure that your laundry will be fresh and clean….load, after load, after load

I am in love with this laundry detergent. It smells great, it cleans like you wouldn't believe and it's natural. I wish I would have received the Lavender scent (shown to the right) because I love Lavender but I received the regular scent which smells amazing too.

Some of the natural laundry soaps I have used don't smell good and my family complains- this smells great and my entire family seemed happy with their laundry. Amazing.

Green Works Bathroom Cleaner - The bathroom cleaner is a non-toxic way to power through soap scum, rust and hard water stains — without harsh chemical fumes and residue.

I have well water- which leaves all kind of rusty, scummy residue on my sinks, toilets and tub. Nothing gets it off- at least not the really bad stains. This stuff cleaned everything except the line down the back of my toilet bowl that seems to be there to stay.

I was very surprised that something natural finally cut through the grime. I've tried everything- natural and chemical and very few products even put a dent in some of the bad rust stains.

Green Works can hold it's won when it comes to cleaning. That's very good to know.

And the fumes won't make you sick while you clean. That's always a plus. Bathroom and kitchen cleaners always had a tendency to make me feel ill- either from the stink or the toxic fumes.

Green Works - works for me.

Green Works All Purpose Cleaner -safe to use on multiple surfaces throughout the kitchen and bathroom, including counters, appliances, stainless steel, sealed granite, chrome, cook top hoods, sinks and toilets.

It's flu season and this handy bottle of multi-purpose cleaner got used more than any other product, excerpt maybe the wipes.

Countertops, stovetop, bathroom counter, door knobs, handles, end tables...you name it, it got cleaned.

Thank you Green Works for making a product gentle and safe enough to use everywhere and strong enough to clean everything.

I have to admit I am impressed and will be purchasing Green Works products from my local grocery store. Will I replace all of my special ordered natural cleaning products- probably not but I'll definitely be adding to my green arsenal of dirt fighting tools and I know if I need something quick I can grab a Green Works product easily from a local store.


Web site: http://www.greenworkscleaners.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/greenworks

Beginning the Writing Process

Beginning the Writing Process

There are few things as rewarding as writing. Why is this?

There’s something about putting an emotion or story down into permanence that is incredibly therapeutic and useful. This gives us the ability to examine our thoughts and words from more than just the immediate perspective. We can pick them up and read them at any point and reinterpret ourselves, and see ourselves the same way we can see and experience our favorite authors.

In this way, writing can teach us a lot about ourselves. Sometimes, however, we can have the desire to write, but have no idea what to do next! Getting started can be an incredibly frustrating experience without any clear direction. I have countless memories of sitting and staring at an empty piece of paper or computer screen, feeling this deep impulsive desire to scratch my thoughts (my priceless and universally important thoughts) onto paper to save them forever. But, in the process of trying to write down thoughts, all my thoughts were focused on trying to conjure up some thoughts.

Which is the worst thing you can do, because then all your thoughts become centered on your thoughts, which are about trying to have thoughts. So basically, you have no thoughts. Here are a few ideas for how to get started as a writer.

One popular thing you can do is take up journaling. This is definitely the easiest because it revolves around a skeleton of your schedule. From just listing facts, you have the ability to elaborate on whatever interested you the most. If you had a particularly interesting episode in your day, chronicle it. Talk about how it made you feel. Then think, “Why did this event make me feel this way?” Then write about that.

As you write about some of the events of the day that really impacted you, you may notice some patterns. What types of things really get you? Why? As you answer these questions, you may see that you have some pretty strong feelings about different things. These strong feelings probably stem from really strong values that you either consciously or unconsciously possess. If you can identify these values, then focus your energy there. Maybe there are some burning issues out there that involve a serious debate within the field of your particular interest. Write about your opinions on the issue.

If you have no problem identifying your passions, then start there. Ask your friends about what questions they have about the thing you’re passionate about. Start with just answering those questions. If your passions lend to more of a fictional expression, then consider which stories most captivate you. What do you think it is about those stories that makes them so appealing to you? What time periods interest you the most? Rewrite the basic plots of your favorite stories in your favorite time period, with your own characters and personal touches. Who knows, maybe this will progress into something unique that you would be proud of.

All in all, we need writing. It allows us to remember who we were yesterday, the day before, and 10 years ago. When we have direct access to our own thoughts outside of the context of now, we have the ability to see ourselves in a new light. The more we write, the more we can know ourselves because we have more evidence. At the heart of writing is a decision: you can only write about one thing at a time. What will it be? And what does that say about you?

~Author Bio: Ethan S. writes on behalf of Design55, a UK-based designer furniture shop, and have been an avid writer for more than half his life.

Guest Blog with Lucianne Rivers

New Year's Resolutions 2011:
1. Join a gym
2. Get published
3. Put Lily in day care

Check, check, and…still avoiding number three.

My daughter was born in November of 2009. Now twenty months old, Lily is almost talking, definitely walking, and the light of my life. Giving birth was a milestone in my thirty-year-old existence. With her arrival came the need to create. Writing had never been my artistic outlet; instead, I had a background in acting and performing arts. However, when she was a couple of months old (and sleeping through the night) I took a local community college class in screenwriting, and penned my first feature, TWI-HARD, which placed in the top ten of the Golden Brad Awards Movie Script Contest.

That summer I took a vacation on the Olympic Peninsula, WA, and visited the Mecca of Forks, home to Twilight (and TWI-HARD). On my return, I turned the screenplay in a single title novel, which I had edited by a friend of a friend at Little Brown United Kingdom.

Sigh. TWI-HARD had a ways to go before it could ever be published. And I had a lot of work to do in order to be good enough.

That's when I became a member of www.savvyauthors.com, and took online classes on technique, plotting, and craft. In February of 2011, I received three contracts spanning four new projects and accepted two. HOLD ME, and its sequels, THRILL ME and KISS ME KILL ME will be released this fall from Entangled Publishing, and my novella, THE KISS TEST, comes out this year from Cobblestone Press.

I have Savvy Authors to thank for my three-book deal with Entangled, since I participated in a pitch session there with Entangled's Managing Editor, Heather Howland, and soon after received the offer for HOLD ME.

Weirdly, although I'd never had a sport in my life, or been inside the door of a gym, I started to workout in February of 2011, right before my breakthrough into publishing. I'm now addicted to Olympic style weightlifting, competed at state level in June, and (because I was the only one lifting in my weight class) became State Champion in the 53 kilo category. I kid you not.

Freakishly into exercise (this from a former couch potato), I've lost all the pregnancy weight and then some. Lifting and writing have become part of who I am, and they come as naturally as being a Mom.

Luckily I work part-time, from home, and have official child-minding duties every second day. Time to work, workout, write, and to watch my toddler grow. 2011 will be a year to remember for me, that's for sure.

I feel lucky.


Lucianne writes romantic suspense for Entangled Publishing and Cobblestone Press. Born and raised in Ireland, she currently lives in New Mexico with her young daughter.

Formerly a stage and television actress, she now manages a non-profit and is NM State Champion in her weight class for Olympic style weightlifting. Long story.




Title: Hold Me
Author: Lucianne Rivers
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella
Release Date: August 2011
ISBN: 978-1-937044-16-9

HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME KILL ME - Book One by Lucianne Rivers

Still reeling from her mother’s death, news anchor Jane Caldwell’s life is upended further when she learns the father she lost twenty years ago is still alive. Her mother’s will unleashes a manhunt—the Caldwell sisters must find their father, or their mother’s estate will not be settled, and their questions about his disappearance will remain unanswered.

Jane’s search leads her to Guatemala to investigate a man who claims to be her father and heir to the family fortune. Needing a translator, she enlists enigmatic Harrison DeNeuve, a sexy ex-patriot with a penchant for wearing dark sunglasses in public.

As Jane struggles to reunite with her would-be father, Harrison fights to suppress his desire for Jane. He has a secret—one he’s sequestered himself in a third-world jungle hideaway to keep safe—and falling for Jane puts more than his heart at risk.

Jane finds two men in Guatemala—a father and a lover—but can she trust either of them?

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/hold-me/

Promotion and Authors Guest Blog by Roxanne Rhoads

Promotion- it’s a bad word for many authors…downright evil… but a necessary evil.

A small percentage of authors revel in the spotlight and have no problem talking, promoting, and selling.

But most of us…well we’d rather be writing. And not writing about our books or ourselves, just writing the books.

What happened to the days when the reclusive author typed away in their little hermit like abode, sent the manuscript off to a publisher who handled everything and the author sat back and got rich while writing more books?

I think that image is a fairy tale, I’m not sure if that was ever a reality at all but when I was young that’s how I envisioned the author’s world. Then I started writing books- and thought that once a publisher accepted and published my work the hard part was over.

Boy was I wrong.

Thanks to the internet and technology more books than ever are being published every day- and it’s very easy to get loss in the ever growing a sea of pages and book covers.

What can an author do to stand out from the crowd?

Promotion.

Yes, there’s that damn word again but honestly it’s what can make or break your book. The other, I swear, is simply luck, and maybe a pact with the devil.

I’ve seen amazing books totally tank in sales and crap books, poorly written with sentences that run on and are hard to read, make the bestseller list on Amazon, repeatedly.

Why? Promotion.

For the past several years I have been on a quest to learn everything I can about the book business and book world, from all angles- author, editor, publicist, reviewer, book blogger, even publisher (I self-published a short story collection this year)- and I’ve learned a lot.

So what words of wisdom can I share with authors who are looking for the secrets to book success?

First of all- web presence.

What’s the first thing many people do when they hear about something- whether it’s a book, business, or new product?

They Google it.

That’s why an author should have a website- a good one, a professional one that showcases their author/book brand. If you write paranormal books your website should have a hint of the paranormal in it- should it showcase screaming skulls and blood dripping fangs? Probably not.

Keep it tasteful and professional while making it clear you are a paranormal author, or romance author, or whatever.

Your website can sell you and your books 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all over the world. Nothing else can reach as wide an audience 24/7.

The author website should have 6 key things to be successful- a way to contact you, your bio, your bookshelf (if you write in different genres or have a couple different series then you should have separate pages for each genre or series), a calendar or schedule of author appearances whether in the real world or online, a page of fun stuff and/or links that relate to your books, and your media page which should contain an author photo, media ready bio, sample author Q and A, and your most recent book cover and blurb.

I also suggest having a regularly updated blog and newsletter that readers can subscribe to.
Also be sure to utilize Author Central at Amazon, you can add your links and blog feed to your author page.

Which brings me to the next thing an author needs to utilize…social media- Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads- these are some of the most popular social media outlets for connecting with readers and other authors.

The idea is to build is solid foundation of reader and author followers. Do this by posting fun and informative tweets and updates- not just promo. And you can link all your accounts together through apps at Twitter and Facebook or through outside apps like HootSuite.

An author should also stay up to date on what’s popular and working in the online book world- for example: book trailers, book soundtracks, Twitter parties, virtual book tours.

Do book trailers or soundtracks sell books? In my opinion no, but they are great tools for sharing your book (these would fall under that fun stuff category above to include on your website).

Virtual book tours, however, are one of the best ways to spread the word about your book. You can reach a worldwide audience without ever leaving your home at a tiny fraction of the cost of a real world book tour.

The goal is not just book sales but reaching out and gaining new followers. After a book tour you should see the subscribers list to your newsletter has grown, you have more Twitter and Facebook followers, and the number of blog followers you have has increased- and hopefully your book sales have skyrocketed.

So what do you do during a book tour? You’ll write guest posts, fill out and interviews, and sometimes participate in live chats and podcast and radio interviews at different blogs and sites around the web. The book tour company will schedule everything.

The key is choosing the best company for your book- find a company that has handled many books in your genre and that shows a good track record. If you only see one or two previous tours done by this company perhaps you should move on to the next book tour company- and new ones pop up every day. Do your homework before laying down the cash. While no book tour business can guarantee sales or great reviews they should be able to provide you with proven capability, organization and a certain amount of tour stops based on what you paid for.

Are real live book events things of the past? No, not at all.

By all means go out to local book stores, libraries, seasonal and holiday events and set up signings, schedule fun events that will bring people in- work with other authors to create group things that draw a crowd.

For instance if you write paranormal books- get out there at Halloween events and sell your stuff. Set up tables for sales and signings at Halloween reading and parties at local libraries, (schools too if your book is kid oriented), hayrides, even haunted houses. Work with your community to promote your book. You might be surprised at how many local businesses and event planners will be thrilled to have something unique and special (like an author) be a guest at their holiday event.

And be sure to bring business cards, bookmarks or even the hot new thing in real world book promo- book trading cards, to all your live book promotions. Pass them out at local libraries and bookstores too.

The key is- get out and promote. You are not going to get anywhere as an author being a hermit and hiding in your house tapping away at the keys of your computer.

Publication is only the beginning of the process…promotion is the road to success.

~Roxanne Rhoads is a publicist for Entangled Publishing, the owner of Bewitching Book Tours and is a paranormal romance author, book blogger, and book reviewer.

Guest Blog with Gregory Marshall Smith

What to Write, What to Write, What to Write...

It’s kind of ironic that I’m guest blogging for Wenona today. She is, after all, the write-at-home mom, which gave me pause with today’s writing subject.

What to write?

Sounds confusing, I know, but bear with me.

I believe all of us, to some degree, have a book, short story or poem just itching to be freed. The biggest headache is, as I said, what to write.

But, more often than not, another question rears its ugly head -- should I write it?

I have a good friend named C.J. Ellisson, who is currently writing the VV Inn series. So far, she’s penned Vampire Vacation and The Hunt, with a third book in the works. The story revolves around an age-old vampire named Vivian and her human husband, Rafe, who run a vacation inn out in the wilds of Alaska. As expected, the inn caters to vampires, though humans who are part of the vampires’ seethes or clans are also welcome.

After some issues, she began writing as a version of therapy. If you read her work, you’ll see the warning notice about intense sexuality. C.J. is a mom. It’s going to be a while before her kids will be mature enough to get through one of her books. She might have to pen a Disney script to compensate.

Would C.J. have benefited from waiting a few years until her kids were older or is a dream deferred a dream denied?

Sometimes, something needs to be written because no one will do it. Case in point is Father Andrew Greeley. Some of us remember the brouhaha that arose within the Catholic Church when Father Andrew Greeley began publishing a series of novels with titles like The Cardinal Sins and Lord of the Dance.

Greeley kept at it and also published a series of very informative non-fiction books that were widely acclaimed and well-received. The Catholic Church didn’t toss him out. He took a chance, but one based on faith. That allowed him to go one step further in 2004 with the novel The Priestly Sins. That one was a direct jab at the Catholic Church and its habit of reassigning pedophile priests rather than excommunicating them.

Should you have this desire to defy your character or the personality and reputation your friends and family know you for, you might try a pen name or pseudonym. Many times a pseudonym is used by writers to go outside of their traditional genre, like when Nora Roberts (nee Eleanor Marie Robertson) created J.D. Robb to pen romantic thrillers when her agent wanted her to stick to contemporary romance.

In our case, however, we must look at Marayat Andriane. She had this intense desire to write a certain kind of novel but one that would run afoul of family’s heavily conservative and Catholic values. In fact, this desire might have had the effect of ruining the family name.

Andriane is a retired actress best known for playing the naive bar hostess Mai Ling in the classic The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen, Mako, Candice Bergen and Sir Richard Attenborough.

However, Andriane is also Emmanuelle Arsan. Yes, that Emmanuelle, of the French soft-core erotic novels that became a bunch of cheesy movies with Sylvia Kristel. The first book, The Joys of A Woman, appeared in 1957 and was immediately banned in France. But, it was a smash hit and the subsequent film made from it has been seen by more than 300 million people. On stage, it ran in France for 11 years. To date, the book and movie have grossed about $650 million!

However, in 1957, when the book first came out, I can’t imagine sweet, innocent Marayat Andriane explaining it to her mother, much less just about all of her native Bangkok (which, in 1957, was not the raging sex capital it is now).

Personally, I don’t use a pen name, primarily because I’ve used my given name as my byline for the past 30 years. I may have extended it to first-middle-last because of other writers or actors with the same name, but then again, I haven’t written any work or done any movie so controversial that I didn’t want my name attached to it. I happen to think my work, including Hunters (my current novel about vampire hunters), Land of the Blind (due this winter) and others, can stand on its own. I just haven’t felt the need to inject controversy. That’s me, however, and my genres -- Golden Age science fiction and traditional horror -- tend to be more straightforward.

When and if you do finally put pen to paper or fingers to keyboards, be sure you want to write it and, very importantly, the implications.

That said, by all means write something. If it means using a pen name to avoid scandal or hurt feelings or awkward situations, my advice is to err on the side of caution.

Just write.



* * * * * * * *

Hunters
By Gregory Marshall Smith

For centuries, vampires have owned the night. And in Fort Worth, Texas, master vampire, Louis Riordan, aims to keep it that way. With the help of Lin Tang, his lethal enforcer, he will unite sixteen of the continent’s top master vampires into the most powerful undead alliance the world has ever seen.

Rumors abound that Lin Tang’s most hated enemy, Cantrell Ryker, has returned from the grave and there are hunters in town, ready to take back the twilight. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, with dissension in the ranks and a traitor in their midst, these hunters fight for humanity side by side. They now have a weapon that could turn the tide of the age-old war between man and vampire once and for all.











Author Bio

Gregory Marshall Smith, born in Somerville, Massachusetts and raised in historic Medford, is a decorated Navy veteran. Though sports writing is his profession, in his career, he has been, among other things, a national columnist, playwright, engineer, asset protection agent, editor, safety auditor, fingerprinter, training instructor and sometime actor (Heiju trilogy; Life As We Know It; The Odd Life of Timothy Green; Detroit 1-8-7; Contagion; Walker, Texas Ranger).

He is the author of the novellas Crawl and They Call the Wind Muryah, along with two anthologies (Dark Tidings Vol. I & II). He has had numerous award-winning short stories appear in Farspace 2, Writer’s Bump, Far Side of Midnight, Spectacular Speculations and SFH Dominion, among others. Hunters is his first full-length novel.

Ever restless, he currently resides somewhere in America.