Melissa Ox's Blog

Re: Review books with Reedsy Discovery

2023-04-14T10:22:00.001-05:00

Hi Melissa,

I'd love to talk to you about becoming a book reviewer with Reedsy Discovery. Are you interested in learning more about what we do?

By the way, these are our reviewer member perks:
- Free access to our online library;
- A tipping system so authors and readers can show their appreciation;
- Seasonal reading challenges with rewards (e.g. gift cards); and
- Paid affiliate program for reviewers on social media.

Let me know what you think!

All the best,
Hallie

P.S. Since I've reached out to you, it's totally okay for you to reply with a simple "DNC" if you're not interested and don't want me to reach out again.

On Sun, Apr 9, 2023 at 4:01 PM "Hallie Hoffman" <hallie.hoffman@reedsy.com> wrote:

Hi Melissa,

Just wondering if you had a chance to take a look at what I sent you about Discovery?

All the best,
Hallie

P.S. I'd love to hear what you're reading at the moment!

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 7:57 PM "Hallie Hoffman" <hallie.hoffman@reedsy.com> wrote:

Hi Melissa,

I saw from your blog that you're a bookworm and thought I'd say hi!

I was wondering whether you'd consider joining the Reedsy Discovery book review community — I think we could potentially be a good fit.

In case you haven't heard of Discovery, we spotlight gems of the indie publishing world — great books that are often overshadowed by big bestsellers.

This is where people like you come in: our reviewers guide the community, spotting new trends and deciding which books we recommend to our 500k readers.

If you think you might like to join us, here's what to do next:
1. Create your Discovery reviewer profile here.
2. If approved, you'll get full access to our library of ARCs and other member perks.
3. Write reviews as often as you like and see them appear in our newsletters to readers.

What do you think? I'm happy to chat more via email!

All the best,
Hallie, Professional Book Nerd @ Discovery

P.S. Since I've reached out to you, it's totally okay for you to reply with a simple "DNC" if you're not interested and don't want me to reach out again.

Re: Review books with Reedsy Discovery

2023-04-09T11:01:00.001-05:00

Hi Melissa,

Just wondering if you had a chance to take a look at what I sent you about Discovery?

All the best,
Hallie

P.S. I'd love to hear what you're reading at the moment!

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 7:57 PM "Hallie Hoffman" <hallie.hoffman@reedsy.com> wrote:

Hi Melissa,

I saw from your blog that you're a bookworm and thought I'd say hi!

I was wondering whether you'd consider joining the Reedsy Discovery book review community — I think we could potentially be a good fit.

In case you haven't heard of Discovery, we spotlight gems of the indie publishing world — great books that are often overshadowed by big bestsellers.

This is where people like you come in: our reviewers guide the community, spotting new trends and deciding which books we recommend to our 500k readers.

What do you think? I'm happy to chat more via email!

All the best,
Hallie, Professional Book Nerd @ Discovery

P.S. Since I've reached out to you, it's totally okay for you to reply with a simple "DNC" if you're not interested and don't want me to reach out again.

Review books with Reedsy Discovery

2023-04-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

Hi Melissa,

I saw from your blog that you're a bookworm and thought I'd say hi!

I was wondering whether you'd consider joining the Reedsy Discovery book review community — I think we could potentially be a good fit.

In case you haven't heard of Discovery, we spotlight gems of the indie publishing world — great books that are often overshadowed by big bestsellers.

This is where people like you come in: our reviewers guide the community, spotting new trends and deciding which books we recommend to our 500k readers.

What do you think? I'm happy to chat more via email!

All the best,
Hallie, Professional Book Nerd @ Discovery

P.S. Since I've reached out to you, it's totally okay for you to reply with a simple "DNC" if you're not interested and don't want me to reach out again.

Reviews for Jazalyn's Novels

2022-11-23T06:46:00.000-05:00

Hello, I'm an emerging global author-poet and I would like to have a
review from you for one/two orall three of my current books of your
choice. They are light poetry novels: short read poems with a premise.
It's abstract fiction written in lyrical verse.

In general, you can expect abstract narrative poetry,
psychophilosophical mystery, supernatural science fantasy etc.

I'm interested notonly for expertise review but also impressions from
a simple point of view. Even a few words would suffice.

Brief Introduction:

vViIrRuUsS: INever Forget, dystopian apocalyptic science fiction
mystery of crime fiction
Premise: A dangerous world where everyone can become a criminal.

Rose: Future Heart, dark fantasy cozy mystery of
empowerment/healing/self-love
Premise: A rare rose strives to turn a blurry past into a bright future.

Hollow: A Love Like ALife, supernatural romantic suspense of
spiritual/mystical fantasy romance
Premise: A spiritual wind makes an impossible romance possible.

Wide Publication: 2020, 2021, 2022 Independently Published

Word count: Around 10.000 words each

I could send to you the book/s through Book Funnel, you'll have a wide
variety of options how to download the book/s. *Note: you don't have
to have Bookfunnel account.

Main Links to my books:

jazalyn.art/poetic-novels
amazon.com/Jazalyn/e/B08R27QGLC/
goodreads.com/jazalyn
BookBub.com/author/jazalyn
play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Jazalyn
books.apple.com/us/author/jazalyn/id1478665962
kobo.com/us/en/search?fcsearchfield=Author&query=jazalyn
barnesandnoble.com/s/jazalyn

Main Social Media:

twitter.com/justjazalyn
instagram.com/justjazalyn
TikTok.com/@jjaazzaall

Thank you

Reviews for Jazalyn's Novels

2022-11-05T01:46:00.000-05:00

Good evening, Blogger

2022-09-30T01:04:00.001-05:00

Blogger

https://www.google.com/search?q=melissaox.online@blogger.com

MelissaOx

2020-04-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

Blogger

https://v.ht/UU10

Melissa

fwd

2019-06-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

good morning Linda

http://colexpresscargo.com/racial.php?eavdl=DDME25701

Melissa Ox

2018-03-19T23:58:00.001-05:00

good evening

http://bit.ly/2pnJXQh

2017-09-25T02:08:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon Blogger

http://bit.ly/2xnIMFH

Melissa Ox

hi Blogger

2016-02-25T20:34:00.001-05:00

greetings Blogger

http://outbacktrek.com/expression.php?meant=127gh0qqxf0

Melissa
melissap968@yahoo.com

Life keeps moving

2014-09-12T21:08:00.003-05:00

So last week was crazy. One day the well stops working, no water... good thing I had already showered before hand. Not so good I had cleaned the litter pan and couldn't wash my hands.

Then Friday am during the storm the corn crib (think barn) was struck and burned down a little bit after midnight. It had stuff in it, like golf carts, and grills, and my husband's motorcycle. I had never been so close to an accidental fire before. The building was gone in the blink of an eye. And the damage around it to the grass and trees took a little longer to see.

On a bright note, my chickens, well, one chicken, seems to be laying eggs. I have found 1 a day for the last 4 days. I keep checking around for more, and eggs from the ducks and guineas too.
I started working full time again this week. Takes away a lot of time for my knitting. Hopefully it will go well.

Tuesdays Musings

2014-08-12T17:41:00.001-05:00

I am canning more corn today. Can't blame the weather as it is not rainy at all. It was a bit on the chilly side this morning in the lower 50s. I had to find socks my feet were so cold. I guess it is a preview of the weather to come :(

I have finished the 2nd doll. She is going to family in Scotland, so I have to get her packaged and mailed off. I started on my 2nd glove as I only had done the first one before I started in on the dolls.

The kids start school next week. Big day for them coming soon. I think they are ready to get back to school, but the bus will be here around 7:05am so they are getting used to getting up early again. I will probably have to get up earlier too in order to make sure they are up and ready to roll. Such fun (not really - lol)

They have decided to go outside and play in the tent before we pull it up and put it away for the Fall and school. Also keeps them out of the kitchen while the pressure canner is going. :)

Rainy Day

2014-08-07T16:56:00.002-05:00

So its raining outside. Its been rainy almost all day and we had rain yesterday. Mother Nature is making up for a dry July already in August I guess. As it was cool and rainy I decided to can some corn the husband brought home recently. With no air conditioning it can make all the deference in the world to can when its cool versus hot.

I have been knitting away too. I am almost done with my 2nd doll. Once I finish her I will go back and finish my 2nd fingerless glove based on the gloves that Billie Piper wore as Rose Tyler in Doomsday. I already made one set, but I wanted them a little longer at the top and bottom, so I started again.
After that I will probably have at least 2 more dolls to make, one for each of my kids. And I have lots of sock yarn, so I need to try a pair of socks with actual sock yarn, not just the red heart super saver yarn I was using before.

Speaking of knitting, I discovered square needles really are better. For the dolls it called for size 1.5 US double pointed needles. The options on Amazon were limited, so I tried the Kollage square needles. I thought it would be fun to try. I have bought a couple other sizes now, including the size for my gloves that I will be starting back up with soon. I find they are easier on my hands, no achey fingers from holding the needles. However they are pointy, so I had to adjust to working with the point, which in some cases meant poking myself until the skin toughened up. I never drew any blood if you are wondering. And the point can make picking up yarn easier once I got the feel for it. So as I replace and pick up new needles I am going to try and pick up everything square. I think I will be cranky if I have to go back to plain old round needles.

As you can tell I am not knitting at the moment. I brought the laptop out to sit in the kitchen and watch my pressure canner do its thing. So I also worked on my story, The Adventures of Pinky and BlackButt. My kids have already provided some illustrations for it. And Kaylee will be proof reading it soon. It will be a story for kids, but I hope once I get it done and back in the flow of writing I can try something else. Maybe I should come up with a good sci fi/fantasy knitting story.... hmmmm

What have I been doing???

2014-03-28T19:23:00.002-05:00

I have been knitting.... some socks, neck koozies, more socks, a fire sleeve... now I am working on a shawl/shrug that I feel in love with in a magazine. Here are some pics. I am trying out ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/people/melissaox

Weather Weather What Is The Weather

2013-12-17T15:12:00.003-05:00

We live out in the middle of no where. Most weather apps will pick up weather stations that are rather far away, 20 - 40 miles away. That can make a big difference in the actual temperature, wind and such. We had the basic what is the temperature outside stations but wanted to see more as in the winter in Iowa the wind can make a huge difference and the news stations themselves are in a city an hour drive away.

My husband looked at some on amazon and then I can across a lightning deal on amazon on an Accurite 1500 weather station. Below is the link on amazon if you want to see it.
AcuRite 01500 Wireless Weather Station with Wind and Rain Sensor

Overall it works great. My husband installed it on a shed away from trees. It does recommend to use Lithium batteries in the outside portions if it gets cold, which it does here, so we had to pick some up before getting everything started.
The inside panel works great and has lots of info available. It is back-lit. It includes programmable alarms, but no silent mode to keep them from going off at 2am while you are sleeping, so we turned most of them off in the first day or two.

What this unit doesn't include is a way to see the data remotely. I went directly to AcuRite to see what I could do. They have a internet bridge which takes the weather data the sensor is providing and sends it to their online site that you can access via the web or smartphone app.
AcuRite (http://www.acurite.com) sells models that are like my 1500 with the same sensor and similar indoor screens but either include the bridge or have the ability to connect to your pc or laptop directly via USB.
However you still can only send data easily to AcuRite and Weather Underground. I personally was fine with using Weather Underground, but my husband prefers Weather Bug. And the AcuRite set up (Acu-Link) only sends data to WU every 15 minutes.
In comes the Meteobridge (http://www.meteobridge.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) which is a little box that the Aculink bridge goes through and it allows you to send data to other weather services such as Weather Bug and faster data updates to WU. Its not cheap. You can flash certain low end routers with the program, try it free for 14 days, and then pay the license fee for it. Or you can buy on already set up and should include a license. This works for more than just AcuRite stations if you are wondering.

So far once I got it all set up it seems to be working great.
Only drawback - the WeatherBug Andorid app doesn't let you see backyard weather stations as they call them. So you have to go to the mobile website for weather bug to see it. I had no issue with WU in the app seeing my station.

Its nice to see my actual weather conditions regardless of where I am. Its also nice to share the data with others who would otherwise be seeing data that is far away.
I like to look at the graphs on WU each day. Maybe it will wear off after while, but maybe not.
Below is a shot of the station if you want to see it.

I Tried Canning

2013-10-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

Well, my parents are back in Florida. It has turned cooler here in Iowa and today is rainy and cool.

I have actually tried some canning. I picked up a beginners kit on amazon that came with some recipes that I have tried. The apple butter turned out pretty good. I think its just applesauce, but the kids and hubby loved the extra bit that didn't make it in a jar. We have some apple trees here so I used those apples.
Today I am trying a barbecue sauce.
Which by the way, why is it called canning when its really jaring? I am not putting stuff in cans, but jars.
If you want to check out the kit I started with its --
Ball® Home Canning Discovery Kit (by Jarden Home Brands)

Still working on unpacking the stuff and getting the new house in order. Once we unpacked enough to get by we stalled out a little. I am trying to figure out what to do with my clothes. I am no good with this organizing and putting away of stuff. But I am the worst with my clothes, not to mention I have a lot of clothes. Also need to conquer the computer room at some point.

Still Breathing

2013-09-27T09:35:00.002-05:00

I am still here.... just been working on moving in and my parents arrived for a visit a week ago, so its keeping me very busy :)

Quick Update

2013-09-17T17:45:00.003-05:00

We have been super busy moving and getting set up in the new to us house. Still a work in progress.

I did download an update on my BlackBerry Q10 today. Haven't really looked at it yet.

Still loving my screen protector.

Gallifreyan Translator - From Doctor Who - For the BlackBerry Q10

2013-09-13T11:42:00.002-05:00

Good morning to the world.

I tried out another app on my BlackBerry Q10. This time it is the Gallifreyan Translator. If you have no clue what Gallifreyan is then you need to pop over to Amazon Prime Videos (you have Prime don't you) and watch Doctor Who.

This app is just for fun. It downloaded with no issue for me. When it opens up you type in the text you want translated. I trying with How Are You Today? Below is the result.

You can also save a file from your phone, say from your friend and open them up in the app and it shows you the English text it represents.

Pretty cool for Doctor Who fans. Even if you just post up a random image for fun.
As for the accuracy of the translations, I watch the show, but I don't speak the language, so I can't say. Overall pretty cool regardless.

I wish there was a version on the Android app store. I looked in Google Play and only found a Gallifreyan Clock.
I could see this being fun to send the images to my husband and him back to me as secret messages. :)

BlackBerry Q10 - Checking Out PolarBear and QuickPost

2013-09-12T17:08:00.003-05:00

I still have my BlackBerry Q10 and it works great over WiFi. I still use it for BBM sometimes and play with it.
I noticed PolarBear is now out officially for BlackBerry 10 and I wanted to give it a go. First thing I want to point out to anyone curious about it -- It is NOT a Twitter app. It simply lets you post the same thing to multiple places. It supports Twitter, Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Blogger, and Alpha.App.net. They say there is more to come.
It lets you post from the browser and other apps.

There is another app I discovered QuickPost that does basically the same thing. It supports BBM, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp. It says more are to come as well. It allows for attaching pictures.

I tried them both out today, but I don't think I am likely to use them. I usually post to twitter while looking over my twitter feed, usually Blaq on my BlackBerry and UberSocial on my S3. I don't think I will leave twitter to go another app to make my post. Same goes for Facebook, BBM, Google+, Blogger. I guess there could be occasions when I want to post one thing to them all and then it might be useful, like when I update my blog. But I do it so infrequently that I never really saw a need for an app to do it for me.

They both work well and have a good interface, so it really comes down to if the app covers the site you need it to.

I prefer it when an app offers access to more than one social media site, like Facebook and Twitter and Foursquare in one app. This usually allows for cross posting if you want it from the app while you are looking at the feed there.

Just my two cents.

My ArmorSuit Is Finally On

2013-09-10T16:11:00.001-05:00

So the husband finally put on my new screen protector for me and I am so much happier. It doesn't gather smudges like the old one did. Having used it on my Q10 and on his Fire 8.9 I am so glad to have it on my S3.
True to form it went on pretty easy, but we did wait overnight for it to dry. There were a couple bubbles but within 24 hours they were gone.
Hands down ArmorSuit MilitaryShield Protectors are the best screen protectors I have used.

I have also been reading a lot. Finished off Ender's Game over the weekend. I wasn't going to read it the first couple of times I came across it, but then I saw the movie preview with Harrison Ford so it was the first thing I started after seeing City of Bones. I didn't regret it either. It was a good read with some interesting twists in it. I didn't realize when I finished it there are actually additional books around and about Ender and his world. I will have to try and make time to go back and read them.

I don't think I have mentioned it here but I am an avid reader and tend to collect eBooks to read like some people collect kick knacks for their shelves. I don't run into a lack of eBooks to pick from, I run into trouble picking the one I want to read next. I also prefer a book in a series to invest myself into. However when I reach the last book its always a bit sad to leave those people and that world behind.

I just finished The Demon King in about 2 days. It was really good. I stumbled on it in my local library's online book selection and wanted to read it. I like Han and Raisa and enjoyed bouncing between their lives that are closer than they imagine.
I can't wait to see what happens next. :)

First TaeKwonDo Classes Survived

2013-09-07T17:02:00.002-05:00

So we signed up the girls for weekly TaeKwonDo Classes at the Rec Center. Today was the first class. Discovered we didn't have good shirts for them to wear under their uniform, so I ended up using one of my tank tops for each of them. Had to take a ponytail holder to the straps for each of them. Needless to say undershirts/tshirts for the uniforms are on my shopping list.

Billie participated just enough to get by. She likes to stand by and scope out the situation before getting involved, so I expect next week she will be more into it.
Kaylee was all in from the moment she started. She really liked it.

Been playing with Instagram on my new Galaxy. Never tried it before. Seems like its not quite Facebook or Flickr, but some where else I have to post my pictures...lol

Still waiting on the hubby to put on my new screen protector, so I can't comment on it yet.

I have been trying Go Launcher, Go Locker, Go SMS. I like the themes, makes it kind of fun. The kids like to check out the themes too... almost too much.

Here are some pics from TaeKwonDo:

Wednesday's Ramblings

2013-09-04T18:33:00.000-05:00

Still waiting on the hubby to put my new screen protector on my phone...

We went to South Dakota for the holiday. Got to see the baby peacocks, so cute.

Suddenly the kids are busy. We have a program at the Arthur Library Tuesday after school, Sunday School Wednesday after school, Martial Arts Saturday mornings. Kaylee was invited to her first birthday party. Looks like the kids are fitting right in.

I finally got to see City of Bones, so I started a new book afterwards, right now I am reading Ender's Game.

I need to start working on my story, it will give me something to do while the kids are away.

Mystery of the Wet Backpack SOLVED :)

2013-08-30T22:06:00.002-05:00

Billie (5) started Kindergarten and gets to take a backpack now. I noticed this week it was coming home wet. I couldn't figure it out. I pulled out the papers and looked. I suspected she was dropping the water bottle in the bag without having the lid on. She said she was not.
I even went so far as to forget the water bottle to see if it would get dry...

Today the teacher sends home a note

If you can't see the pics, there was a mushy pear she put in her bag one day at lunch... yuck... and somehow I missed it each time I looked in the bag. Its in the wash now.... hopefully that helps.

In other strange events from today... I helped the husband catch grasshoppers for fishing tonight. They make a lot of noise inside a bottle.

UPDATE on the backpack --- it survived the washer on delicate... now its drying out.