D.V. Stone's Blog, page 33

Take a Peek Through the Window of Fran Thomas.

Who Although I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA, and will always be a ‘Burgher in my heart, I have lived in southwest Florida for more than 20 years. Among Floridians, that makes me nearly a native. 
I earned an undergraduate degree in English at night school while working fulltime in the insurance industry. This was a square-peg-in-a-round-hole career choice. In my forties, I went back to school and got a master’s degree in educational psychology/counseling.
The career change I hoped for didn’t materialize for quite a while. I worked as the editor of our town newspaper, the administrator at the chamber of commerce, and a shelver at the library before I finally landed a job at the local community college.
At the college, I started tutoring remedial and non-native English speakers. Then I did academic coaching with first year students. Eventually, I became an adjunct professor and taught a class called Cornerstone. This is required for all first year students and covers study skills, time management, career development, working in groups, and the like. 
While all the above was happening, I started to write five or six romance books. In 2016, I finally finished one. This was the first novella in my Calusa Town Tales series.
Interests Besides romance books, I read a lot of nonfiction of the self-help variety. I’m interested in theories about personality differences: Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, but also astrology and numerology. 
I also love to sing. Before Covid, I was a member of the chorus at the college. We never got to sing our spring concert, Mozart’s Requiem. I’m hoping the chorus is able to start again in the fall. I was able to perform with my previous chorus last December. We sang wearing masks outside on a baseball field. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? The concert raised money for the local food bank.
Another interest that went by the wayside in the pandemic was my dance class taught at the Elk’s Club by a former Rockette for a class of four. Sadly, no sign that this will start up again. A few years ago, I danced with a senior women’s troupe called Calendar Girls Florida. They raise money to provide service dogs for veterans. I had such fun dressing up and dancing my little heart out. I really hope another dance opportunity presents itself soon.
Network My network is online. I am a big fan of The Writing Gals who have a YouTube channel and an annual conference.
Desk Confession time. My work habits are atrocious. I don’t have a desk. I do all my writing sitting on my sofa with my laptop on my lap. Worse yet, I generally have the television on. 
Outrageous talent I enjoy cooking, but I almost never make a recipe as written. I add, subtract, and substitute ingredients at will. I often take the basic idea of a dish from The Pioneer Woman and tweak it to suit what I have handy. According to my patient husband, I mostly succeed.
What’s outside my window? I live in Florida, so I can see two palm trees and a frangipani or plumeria out my window.

​Blurb for The Lady Is a Mayor:
Her town is going broke. He plans to build a new hotel. It should be a perfect match.

Geneva is relieved to be back in her tiny Florida hometown after her budding political career in the state capital and her romance with a big-city guy come to an end. She’s content to hold a seat on the local council until the mayor flees in the middle of the night, and the job of fending off bankruptcy falls in her lap.

Pittsburgh-born Seth arrives in Calusa with architectural plans in his polished briefcase. His family firm already owns a prime piece of land, and he can hang with his college buddy while the building is erected. But what should be a slam dunk faces opposition from the quirky residents.

Geneva is willing to partner with Seth to find a solution. What she won’t do is risk her heart.

The Lady Is a Mayor is the first book in the Calusa Town Tales series. If you love clean romances filled with southern charm, you’ll love The Lady Is a Mayor.
Buy on Amazon 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GYUON8O

Amazon Author Page 
https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B07NPXFSDR

Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/FranThomasAuthor

Website
www.FrancesOThomas.com
​

Take a Peek Through Laura Haley-McNeil'S Window

Who I am: A California girl at heart, I bid a tearful goodbye to the beach and laid-back San Diego to move to the Colorado mountains. My love for reading must have expanded my imagination because I constantly have stories playing in my head. The only way to stop it was to start putting these stories on paper, but that’s only a temporary relief as the stories keep coming so I keep writing.

Interests: When I’m not reading or writing, I indulge in music, which is easy because my husband is a retired piano professor. We met many years ago, when I decided I wanted to start studying piano again. When I learned that he had performed and had taught at the university level, I knew I wanted to study with him.  Over the years, a friendship grew into love and now I have music in my life every day.

Network: Over the years, I’ve developed a great group of beta readers and advance readers for my books. Because they’re readers, they can tell me right away when the plot and characters work or if something doesn’t ring true. It’s wonderful to have these great people in my life and cheering me on when I wonder why I’m still writing, but I love writing books for readers and as a writer knows, once you start writing, you can never stop.

Desk:  We live in a small house which seems smaller because of my husband’s grand piano. I’ve converted the family room into my “office,” but because I have an aversion to junk, the office is limited to a chair, a foot stool, my laptop and a music stand where I balance my writing notes. The family room is small and used to be the breezeway between the house and the garage. It has two large windows that look over a patio filled with flower planters. When I’m not writing, I like to spend time in the garden, weather permitting. As it’s a hot June right now, I’m look out at peonies and roses. The cone flowers, echinacea, and rudbeckia are sprouting but won’t bloom until later this summer, which is wonderful because with the crocus, tulips and daffodils blooming in the spring, I can see flowers for eight months during the year. 
​
Other: My husband and I are great lovers of nature. We’re happiest when we can escape the rat race and camp and enjoy the quiet. We’re both interested in ghost towns and drive the jeep along some of the old wagon trails. We’ve found a few ghost towns that are still standing with some household items the previous owners left behind. It’s fun for me to imagine what life must have been like back then. These miners worked hard as did their wives and children and sadly many had short lives, but their determination fascinates me.

Window: Surrounding myself with the beauty of our back patio and the brilliance of my husband’s playing, I have a view inside and outside of the of the wonders of life that sparks creativity and imagination. I feel very blessed.

Beaumont Brides Boxed Set Books 1-3
Here come the brides!
Book 1: Wherever Love Finds You
It’s his game. He makes the rules. Rule number one – only he can break the rules.

Zach Lowe lives his life without relationships in business and personally. Getting involved doesn’t work well when you’re the Black Knight of Wall Street.
Ellora Duvall, the sweet kid who crushed on him in high school, waltzes into the world of corporate finance with the same wide eyed innocence she had in chemistry class. He hadn’t expected her to affect him the way she did, but he’s in control. A few weeks with Ellora will be pure pleasure, then he’ll move on. She’ll understand. He should, too.
Who broke his rules?

Book 2: When Love Whispers
Sometimes, love comes in packages.
As the top ranked student at Charleston’s military academy, Preston Lowe excels in class, in sports and with women. Only Willow Dockery, a barmaid at the city’s trendy nightclub, sees the pain in his eyes when he’s out with friends having a good time. But Willow doesn’t know how Preston inwardly struggles to forget a past that could derail the career he’s worked hard to achieve.
Willow wrestles with her own secrets. After a disastrous relationship leaves her broke and disillusioned, she vows never to let anyone rob her of her dreams again. But as she gets to know Preston, it’s as if their tumultuous pasts meld together into something so startling it transforms their relationship and their lives forever.

Book 3: Call It Love
A kiss isn’t just a kiss …
Struggling actress Addison Duvall hustles background acting jobs at the Hollywood studios in hopes for her big break. When she’s cast as the stand in for the lead actress in a blockbuster spy film, she can’t believe her luck. The surprises rush in―her first test shot is with Hollywood heartthrob Spencer Kingsley. Her even bigger surprise is when the director yells, “Action!” and Spencer presses his lips to hers in a kiss.
Behind Spencer’s Hollywood façade hides the secret pain no one suspects. He’s the first to take a risk except when it comes to his heart. He can’t deny he and Addison have chemistry―chemistry onscreen and off―and he’s tempted to lower his guard. She seems real, not like the women he usually meets.
Once Addison’s star rises, so do Spencer’s doubts. She’s no different than the others looking for the connection to catapult their careers. He won’t let another woman damage his heart. His decision made, Spencer wishes her success.
But it’s already too late. How does he heal this Addison shaped hole in his heart? Should he risk more heartbreak for another chance at love?

Beaumont Brides Boxed Set Books 1-3 Buy Link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HYB96RZ

A further Peek
A native of California, Laura Haley-McNeil spent her youth studying ballet and piano, though her favorite pastime was curling up with a good book. Without a clue as to how to write a book, she knew one day she would. 
After college, she segued into the corporate world, but she never forgot her love for the arts and served on the board of two community orchestras. Finally realizing that the book she’d dreamt of writing wouldn’t write itself, she planted herself in front of her computer. She now immerses herself in the lives and loves of her characters in her romantic suspense and her contemporary romance novels. Many years later, she lived her own romantic novel when she married her piano teacher, the love of her life. 
Though she and husband have left warm California for cooler Colorado, they enjoy the outdoor life of hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and snow skiing. They satisfy their love of music by attending concerts and hanging out with their musician friends, but Laura still catches a few free moments when she can sneak off and read.
https://laurahaleymcneil.com/​
@laurarmcneil
https://www.facebook.com/LauraHaleyMcNeil/

Take a Peek through Romantic Suspense Author Kris Bock's Window

Who: I live in a small town in central New Mexico. I’m a full-time writer, and my home office looks out on nature, complete with distracting wildlife such as roadrunners and foxes. I enjoy walking, hiking, and archery. The Southwest infuses my romantic suspense novels, from a treasure hunting series to What We Found, a mystery inspired by finding a dead body while hiking. This blog post shares more about my Southwest Inspiration.

Interests: I love animals, both wild and domestic. I noticed lots of sweet, small-town romance series involving dogs, but few with cats. I think it's because dogs clearly bring people together – think dog parks, walking your dog, obedience training – while cats don't, or at least didn’t. The recent trend of cat cafés, where people can visit adoptable cats in a café setting, inspired my Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series.

Network: My brother, Douglas J Eboch, is also a writer. He wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama (yes, the movie starring Reese Witherspoon). We’re cowriting a young adult comedy series features “Felony Melanie,” Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. It’s a lot of fun to work with a writing partner, especially one I’ve known my whole life. 

Desk: I continue traveling the world, making trips to Wales, Turkey, Australia, and other destinations. Life eventually took me to New Mexico, where I've lived since 2002. She works from home office with a view of the beautiful New Mexican landscape and the pleasant distraction of birds, lizards, and occasionally a fox parading past her window. New Mexico year-round’s  sunshine and temperate weather lets her hike year-round in the mountains, deserts, and canyons.

Other insights: I prefer the German white wines. I also love a rum and coke on a warm evening. Wine or cocktails are an occasional treat, but I like to start every day with tea. I have a cabinet full of selections. I can’t stand coffee. If you visited me, depending on the season and time of day, we might have tea on the patio with a view of the mountains or a glass of wine in the shade of the trees.

Window: If you visited me, depending on the season and time of day, we might have tea on the patio with a view of the mountains or a glass of wine in the shade of the trees. ​
Furrever Friends 
by
Kris Bock
Cupcakes and Confessions at The Cat Café
Sweet Romance

Twenty-three years ago, Fiona gave up her baby when her teen fiancé abandoned her. A chance meeting with Sean, former tech company founder and now a cat café barista, leads to a startling revelation: his coworker, Holly, looks like a younger version of Fiona. Sean helps Fiona through the emotional roller coaster of getting to know her grown up daughter. Fiona’s life is too complicated for romance, and Sean doesn’t want to get between mother and daughter. Still, something sparks between them. Should they stay just friends or risk their hearts?
​
The Furrever Friends Cat Café helps people find furry forever friends – and just might lead to romantic true love too.


​Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Get a free 10,000-word story set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter. You’ll also get a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels, plus fun content about cats, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Peek Further
Twenty years ago, I started writing for children, using the name Chris Eboch. I have eight middle grade novels (for ages 9 to 12) published under that name. I also write a lot of educational nonfiction and fiction under the name M.M. Eboch. When I started writing for adults, I used the name Kris Bock, to separate it from my children’s work.
Find the first two books at Amazon US or other e-book retailers, or sign up for our Rom-Com newsletter and get a free short story sample.

I know you are 👀 for more

Learn more at www.krisbock.com or visit Kris Bock’s Amazon US page or Amazon UK page. (For other countries click here.) 
Kris Bock Blog: The Southwest Armchair Traveler
Kris Bock’s Newsletter signup
Kris Bock on GoodReads
Kris Bock on Facebook
Kris Bock on Twitter
Kris Bock on Pinterest


​Kris also writes romantic suspense set in the Southwestern U.S. If you love Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels, try Kris Bock’s stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue in the Southwest. “Counterfeits is the kind of romantic suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary Stewart’s Moonspinners.” 5 Stars – Roberta at Sensuous Reviews blog. ​

A Peek Through the Window With Karen Guzman

Who I’m Karen Guzman, and I write fiction and essays primarily. My first novel was published in 2014, and my new novel is forthcoming this fall.
 
Interests My faith and my family are at the heart of my life. I’ve been writing fiction since childhood. My tastes run toward literary fiction and upmarket women’s titles. I’m also an animal lover and an avid horseback rider with a special interest in dressage training.  I also love to hike and swim.
 
 
Network I’m lucky to have my MFA program roommate, Cathy Cruise, as the number one reader of my works-in-progress. Besides being an amazing writer, Cathy is a truly gifted editor. I also trade chunks of manuscripts with a group of writer friends. This summer I am fortunate to have received a 10-day Fellowship from the Collegeville Institute, where I will work one-on-one with author and editor Michael N. McGregor.
 
 
Desk I wish I had just one. With a busy household and a 12-year-old son, my writing desk is a very mobile laptop, fully charged, and ready whenever—and wherever—I am. I do work as much as possible in a little wooden cabin at the edge of our backyard.
 
Other talents I’m a budding pastry chef. I’m taking my first class at a cooking school this month, focusing on eclairs and crème puffs. Yum!
 
Window  Our backyard just outside my window, lovely at the height of summer. When the recipe for a new life is bittersweet…
by 
Karen Guzman
“Arborview is a tender and nuanced tale, compassionately told and woven with truths and insights. Karen Guzman’s characters are finely rendered, their challenges, joys, confusions, and triumphs honestly portrayed.” —Judith Teitelman, award-winning author of Guesthouse for Ganesha
​When the recipe for a new life is bittersweet…
 
Ellen Cahill’s financial future rides on the success of her new pastry shop. A bruising divorce has drained her bank account, along with her spirit. A man enters her life promising love, but Ellen, haunted by the past, questions whether she can pull off this new beginning.
 
College student Rosa Escamilla has her own culinary dreams—and a difficult mother who’s dead set against them. Rosa won’t be deterred. She scrapes up the money to enroll at a prestigious culinary school, setting out to prove everyone wrong.
 
When hidden betrayals by the people they love most surface for both Ellen and Rosa, can they overcome the blows they never saw coming on the road to where they want to go?

Welcome to the Campfire Patricia McAlexander.

Welcome to the Campfire, Patricia McAlexander.
5/22/2021
Happy Saturday, Campers! I'm so glad you could join us today. Camping season is in full swing, and I can't wait to leave on our big trip. Hali's bag is packed, and she's more than ready to hear the word "Load." Today 2HOOTS is in the shop getting new tires for our trip to Florida. There's a couple of things you should never skimp on- tires, brakes, and always get the best coffee you can afford. So get your favorite mug or beverage. Now that we're all settled, please help me welcome today's guest. Hi, Patricia! What’s your preference, coffee, tea, cocoa, wine? The camp fridge is like making a birthday wish, except you speak it, you get it.
Red wine. How about Merlot? I mention it in one of my novels.
​I love Merlot! Let me pop the cork while you tell us about your favorite camping trip, adventure or vacation. What made it special to you?
I have camped, but perhaps my favorite adventure was canoeing in Georgia’s beautiful Okefenokee Swamp, paddling past beautiful flowers, birds—and crocodiles.
Gulp! 😲 Never thought about canoeing with crocs. I am looking forward to camping in Georgia though. Tell us about your latest project and what’s on the horizon.
Read the whole thing at
https://t.co/6MpKpoHXBn?amp=1

Take a Peek Through J. Arlene Culiner's Window

W: My name is J. Arlene Culiner, I live in a small village in France, and I write about unconventional, lighthearted heroes and heroines, people who refuse the roles society sets out for them. No super-heroes or super-heroines in my stories. No impossible rescues, no ideal families—just real life and real characters. For me, what’s important in a romance is that first, very tentative gentleness, those early stirrings of love, and all that terrible doubting.
​
I: I am an amateur musician and play several instruments: Oboe, baroque oboe, baroque taille, English horn, tuba, flute, piccolo, recorder, and Breton bombarde. However, the lockdown has meant no rehearsals and no concerts and playing alone just doesn’t have the same kick as playing with others! So what am I doing instead? Growing my own vegetables in a little patch of land beside a tiny river. I’m having a great time.

N: I am a secretive writer. I don’t want anyone to read what I’ve done until I’ve finished. After that, I’m open to comments from editors and publishers. No, I have no one around me who reads enough English to look over my manuscripts, but that’s fine. I rewrite so many times, I’m pretty confident that my stories hold together. 

D: Okay, I’ve tidied it up for this photo of my writing space, but my desk is usually a horror with heaps of books, papers, coffee cups, toy animals, pens and pencils, notebooks, photos, and anything else that doesn’t have a set place in the house. (Please don’t look inside my closets, drawers, or pockets.) You can also see that I keep my desk far from my window, otherwise I’d be looking out all the time, dreaming.

O: Outrageous talent? Well…I’m rather scatty and I get lost a lot, but only in cities. Even if I’m three minutes from where I’m supposed to be, I’m lost. When I lived in Paris, I was lost for most of the time, and I had to call my partner and describe where I was. He knows his city inside out, so he would direct me back through the streets. However, in the country, out in fields or in deep woods, I’m never lost. Strange, huh?
 
W: What do I see outside my window? I’m very lucky. Right across the village square is a thirteenth century (but much modified over the years) church. All around the square are the stone buildings from the 1700s and 1800s. Just a street away, are open fields. My own house is a former inn built in around 1700 and you can see it in this photo.

 
A Swan’s Sweet Song by J. Arlene Culiner
The air sizzles when a country music star and renowned playwright meet, but can opposites fall in love?

Smart-talking Sherry Valentine has fought her way up from poverty to stardom as a country music singer. Ever surrounded by clamoring fans and paparazzi, her spangled cowboy boots carry her from one brightly lit stage to the next. But Sherry's been on the star circuit for too long, and she wants a change: is it too late for an acting career?

A renowned but reclusive playwright, Carston Hewlett cherishes his freedom, the silence of the deep woods surrounding his home, and his solitary country walks. So why is he fascinated by a flashy country music singer? Perhaps a short passionate, fling will resolve the problem.

When their names are linked in the scandal press, and Sherry's plans to become an actress are revealed, Carston feels betrayed. Is their budding relationship doomed?

​A Peek Inside
Perhaps she could avoid meeting Carston Hewlett again and circumvent disaster. Yes, she had enough on her agenda. A fling at a conference like this? That was positively banal.
“There he is,” said Charlie, ripping into her thoughts. “On the left. You see?”
Of course, she saw. How could she miss him? Mighty easy on the eye, he leaned against a plaster pillar, listening to the people surrounding him.
“Don’t make plans,” she warned Charlie. Yet she couldn’t avoid looking in Carston’s direction again. Didn’t he look delicious in that brown silk shirt and elegant tweed jacket; how those jeans hugged his long legs. He was just the way she’d always imagined a successful playwright should be: cool, intelligent, strong, and sexy.
As if aware she’d been watching him, Carston turned, caught her eye. She tried forcing herself to look away. Failed. For an eternity, their gaze held. Then detaching himself from the group, he headed in her direction.
She commanded herself to pretend indifference, but her heart thumped a sensual jungle beat. She swallowed, tried to summon up some zen-like calm… realized she didn’t have any available.
Why come over anyway? They had nothing in common. Here he was, tiny inches away, his jaw a definite line, his body that tight, sinewy stretch she’d thought about too often during the night. But it was the expression in his eyes, warm humorous, that confirmed her instinct: the immediate, deep reaction was mutual. Try as hard as they could to avoid it, something would happen. It was inevitable.

Peek Further
 Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFEUrxqdVs8
Web site: http://www.j-arleneculiner.com
Blog: j-arleneculiner.over-blog.com
Storytelling Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/j-arlene-culiner 
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7158064.J_Arlene_Culiner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JArleneCuliner

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jarlene.culiner

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jarleneculiner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarleneculiner/

Get your copy here ​⬇️
https://www.amazon.fr/Swans-Sweet-Song-Arlene-Culiner/dp/1628307439
https://www.amazon.com/author/jarleneculiner-quirky-romances
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-swans-sweet-song-j-arlene-culiner/1121102464
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/a-swans-sweet-song/9781628307443
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/J_Arlene_Culiner_A_Swan_s_Sweet_Song?id=06BVBgAAQBAJ

​​

May 11th, 2021

Where Camping season is open! Huzzah! That said out my window recently has been campers of all sizes and shapes. Horses pulling buggies had Hali going alil cray-cray. She even barked once. She doesn't bark. Well hardly ever. And Clock Tower Cheese shop didn't disappoint. The weather was a bit off. Chilly and rainy for much of it, but who cared, we were at camp.

Interests One of our the favorite things to do is visit antique and collectable shops. Among the favorites are Cackleberry Antiques Mall cackleberryfarmantiquemall.com/ 272 Antiques www.272antiques.com/ and The German Trading Post. This is all in or near Adamstown Pa. www.antiquescapital.com/ is a link where you can check out a lot of other places too.

Networking Campers love to talk, especially with Pete who is much more outgoing than me, and share their favorite spots, camping adventures and the men? All things truck and hitch related. Since I'm much more introverted, he does recon and reports back about dogs, campers, and people. 

Downtime Well as an author, blogger, and cooking maven ( and searching for internet signal) I keep quite busy, though open fire cooking was not in the cards this trip. Storms and rain passed through and the only night we had without rain was spent with local friends. I prepped and Pete cooked on the Blackstone. Other times we played cards. DH and I have a running Rummy game that is around 270,000 points. We're usually with in 150 points of each other. Kings in the Corner is another favorite we play. 

Outlook for the next couple of months is exciting. This weekend missionary friends from Webster County Christian Workcamp in West Virginia are visiting. Several will be driveway camping in 2HOOTS (our camper). Others will be nearby in the church manse. It's also our 27th Anniversary on Friday. I retire on May 28th (I wonder if I'll get a gold watch...lol). Then it's off on many adventures. I hope to see other Wild Rose Press authors, writing friends and some of my favorite writers at the Florida West Coast Writers Conference. Then across the state to see some cousins I haven't seen in 27 years. 

What's on the Horizon? In June I'm looking forward to hearing back from Elf my editor on Jazz House. I missed the deadline for the Christmas Cookie submissions. Covid and elderly parent issues put me way behind so I intend to work on Christmas Cookie Chaos. I'm also slogging through edits on Aimhirghin, Kingdom at a Crossroad. What else? Not sure but the road and many more books are calling.

#wsite-video-container-462010755897479031{ background: url(//www.weebly.com/uploads/b/81573318-373... } #video-iframe-462010755897479031{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... } #wsite-video-container-462010755897479031, #video-iframe-462010755897479031{ background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; } @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-resolution: 192dpi), only screen and ( min-resolution: 2dppx) { #video-iframe-462010755897479031{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; background-size: 70px 70px; } } Books I'm Working on
Jazz House
Book two of the Impact Series
Romantic Suspense/ Sweet
Tagline: One woman’s choices. One man’s impact.
 
Blurb
Jordan Vasilakis is on the run, living under the assumed name of Madeline Cielo. After a disastrous marriage to a notorious Greek business tycoon, she’s rebuilding her life as a jazz singer.
Police officer Michael Machau is friends with the House family, who have welcomed him into their lives. But their family is in danger from a woman who has already injured them.
Jazz House, a modern throwback to jazz music’s heyday, brings together a dedicated police officer and a woman living a lie. Can lives be rebuilt after so much destruction?

Aimhirghin, Kingdom at a Crossroad
Fantasy Romance
160,000 words (Oh My! I may have to split it in two but this is what editing is all about) Do you want a laugh? In 20147 I labeled it with "Final Draft". 
Blurb
On a cliff overlooking Alleen, Kíeran, Prince of Ath Dara, stares out over the farming village of Alleen. A clear night with everything is as it should be in Ath Dara.  Until in a flash of light, magic is born. An Tsolais, one which will change the world he thought he knew. 

Haana Elethia is a pariah to the humans of Alleen because she is different. Even her own family believes she harbors darkness in her soul. But Haana isn’t drawn to darkness and suffering, except to heal it. She is Mender an Chroi–Healer of Hearts. Cast from her family, she grows up alone in the forests of the kingdom.
​
Worlds collide the day she is chased through the woods by a gang of human boys crossing paths with Kíeran and his patrol. The world of Elves and Humans are thrown together in a war against a necromancer, Revenant, and former Mender an Chroi. 



And before I go here's what happens outside my window in N.J. Poor guy's a little scrawny from winter and tough love by a mama bear who kicked him out of the den, but I'll bet he'll be fat and glossy by the end of the summer. BTW the garbage had been taken outside for a trip to a locked garage about ten minutes prior. 

May 05th, 2021

Who I am Maggie Blackbird, an Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, who now resides in the country with my husband and our fur babies—two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes.  I write contemporary and historical romance starring Canada’s Indigenous People for eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies.

Interests besides writing:  Golf.  I love playing and I love watching.  I picked up the game way back in 1997.  The first shot I managed to hit hooked me from the start.  Although I don’t play nine holes every evening, and then 36 holes on Saturday and another 36 on Sunday (yes, I was a total junkie), I try get out to the links whenever I can.  Naturally, I had to include golf in my Matawapit Family Series, that Sanctified is book three of.  Haha.
The Mals have slowed down hubby and I, along with many other responsibilities that go with living in the country.  Writing also keeps me way too busy, such as marketing and promo, which I’m doing right now by finally setting aside time to write my blog posts.  However, I feed my golf tooth with tournaments broadcast on TV.  I’m a big fan of the European Tour.  Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, and the Netherlands’ Joost Luiten are my fave pro golfers.

Network or support system:  My husband and Mals, of course.  And I can’t forget my family.

Desk description:  There isn’t much here LOL.  It’s an old desk because I’m waiting on the husband to finally finish my home office, but at this rate, I could be waiting for years haha.  Here is a pic of my desk!

Outrageous talent or something fun like that:  I’m super-organized and operate by a very strict schedule.  Yes, I am pathetic that way.  I apply this to everything in my life.

Window What's outside yours.  The west side of the lawn with gorgeous trees. I love this face
​


Sanctified – Book Three in the Matawapit Family Series
by Maggie Blackbird

In the midst of a battle for leadership at their Ojibway community, two enemies of opposing families fall in love…

​A Peek at Sanctified
After suffering a humiliating divorce, infuriated Catholic Jude Matawapit bolts to his family’s Ojibway community to begin a new job—but finds himself thrown into a battle for chief as his brother-in-law’s campaign manager. The radical Kabatay clan, with their extreme ideas about traditional Ojibway life, will stop at nothing to claim the leadership position and rid the reserve of Western culture and its religion once and for all, which threatens not only the non-traditional people of the community, but Jude’s chance at a brand-new life he’s creating for his children.

Recovering addict Raven Kabatay will do anything to win the respect and trust of her older siblings and mother after falling deep into drug addiction that brought shame and anger to her family. Not only does she have the opportunity to redeem herself by becoming her brother’s campaign manager for chief—if he wins, she’ll have the reserve’s backing to purchase the gold-mine diner where she works, finally making something of herself. But falling in love with the family’s sworn enemy—the deacon’s eldest son, Jude—will not just betray the Kabatay clan. It could destroy everything Raven believes in and has worked so hard for.

Multicultural, contemporary, inspirational, romance, adult
Heat Rating: Level 3

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eXtasy Books

​A Peek Inside

Frost nipped at Raven’s exposed skin, the kind of frost that burned. At least there wasn’t a wind chill, or minus thirty-seven would become minus forty-seven. She scurried from her sister’s truck she’d parked, dashed up the shoveled walkway, and into the school.
All was quiet, classes for the kids having finished for the day. The scent of pine cleaner permeated the squeaky-clean hallway. She hurried to the adult education classroom. Since her vehicle was the lone truck in the lot, she might be the only one here. Even the new principal wasn’t present, unless he’d foolishly walked over.
She entered the classroom to Jude Matawapit sitting at the teacher’s desk, hunched over, writing on some paper.
“I was beginning to wonder if any of my students would arrive.” His strong fingers gripped a pen. His jet-black hair with blue undertones was slicked off his face and tapered to a short-trimmed back. Dark irises richer than a moonless night, so dark his lashes gave the illusion of a generous coating of mascara and liner-rimmed eyes, stared at her.
Not gawked, not ogled, not leered like every other guy did. He simply stared. His plump lips didn’t form into a flirty smile, either.
Jude stood. A white dress shirt hugged his pumped biceps and shoulders that formed into the size of baseballs. A black belt wrapped his ultra-slim waist. And a gold clip kept his line-striped burgundy tie secure. “Have a seat. It looks to be you and me tonight.”
Raven inched up the aisle. Her boldness remained at the door, where she’d probably dropped her tongue. She clutched her books and sat at the desk directly in front of him.
“I’ve been reviewing your file.” He closed the folder, and just like Deacon Matawapit, crossed his strong arms. They even shared the same rich baritone—direct and full of authority. “You were an A-plus student, but as of late you haven’t been handing in assignments. Once you get behind, it’s difficult to catch up. I’ve seen this happen too many times during my years educating others. When a student falls behind, most give up.”
A flame of annoyance flickered in Raven’s stomach. Never mind Jude Matawapit’s handsome white teeth, flawless red-toned brown skin, or run-her-nails-along-his-muscles build. Who was he to talk down to her like a kid? He was worse than her siblings and Mom.
Raven stared up at the white stucco ceiling. “I’ve been extremely busy. Not all of us make big money and do what we please. I’ve been pulling extra shifts at the diner.”
“Did you review your last three assignments, then?” Jude stuck the end of the pen into his mouth.
There was something about the way his red lips and white teeth nibbled on the cap. And she hadn’t witnessed a man in his late thirties gnawing on one like a hungry beaver.
Jude popped the pen cap between his rich lips, as if sucking on a lollipop, and released it. When he rounded the desk, his thick fingers glided across the top. He stopped in the middle, the fingers of his left hand still lingering on the desk’s surface. He rested his buttocks against the edge while crossing his sturdy thighs.
His stance, a get-down-to-business sort of manner, should have intimidated Raven but failed. His brows-bunched-together stare and drawn-in cheeks seemed to coax her to lean in closer and rest her elbow on top of her own desk. She set her chin on her knuckles. “I’m completing them here tonight.”
“Do you have any questions?”
She shook her head, still holding his stare. “I guess I should get comfy, huh?”
“Comfy?”
“Remove my toque and coat.” She sat back, hands brushing the edge of her desk and arms spread wide.

Anna M. Taylor gives us A Peek Through her Window. Don't be scared.

​Who: I’m a native New Yorker recently transplanted to the Southwest. I live with my husband of thirty-two years with our cat Scully. My love of story was revived when I began writing X-Files fanfiction about my favorite character Walter Skinner and his wife Sharon. I write under three pennames for my inspirational, gothic and erotic romance audiences and cover the heat level waterfront from sweet to steamy.
 
Interests:  I am obsessed with history. As a kid I loved reading biographies and about by gone eras and the histories of people and their countries. That love has not abated. You can find me watching documentary after documentary on any and all platforms I have access to. I blog monthly on Delilah Devlin’s blog about all things historical. My love of history shows up in my erotic romances where I write about romance and resilience in the African-American community starting in the post-Reconstruction Era. I’m also intrigued by the supernatural. My religious background has me investigating all sorts of paranormal and psychic phenomena which find their way into my gothic romances. My Haunted Harlem series touches on the “ghosts” of internalized racism and secrets that can only be exorcised and revealed by the power of love.
 
Network:  I belong to several writing communities: Romance Writers of America and five of its chapters, Women’s Fiction Association and Romance Slam Jam.  and although I’m retired I still participate as a member of the Metropolitan Association of the United Church of Christ, the Presbytery of Northeast New Jersey and the Interim Ministry Network.
 
Desk: My lap is my desk, but in the summer I have begun to use the patio table in our backyard. I’ve got a multi-outlet surge protector for the four or five electronic devices to keep my happy outside (fan, CD player, phone charger, a laptop fan surface to keep my computer cool)
 
Outrageous: I have a memory for songs from Broadway musicals that is out of this world. In high school my favorite section was always the plays. Growing up the Donell Music Library and the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts saw me checking out scripts, LPs (see how long ago this was?) every weekend. I often surprise myself when I hear a song and know it.
 
Window: Outside my window is one of two bird feeders that attract all manner of birds. We also have a rock fountain with its water turned off so I can leave food for a rabbit I’ve named Brownie and two squirrels I’ve named L’il Squirrel and GrayBoy. As you can see L'il Squirrel also helps him/herself to the spilled seed beneath the bird feeder.
 

A Little in Love With Death by Anna M. Taylor
 
Ten years ago no one -- not even the man who said he loved her -- believed Sankofa Lawford's claim she had been brutally attacked by a ghost. Ten years later an assault on a new victim brings her back to Harlem to a mother going mad, a brother at his wits’ end and a former love who wants a second chance. Sankofa longs for her family to be whole again, for love to be hers again, but not if she must relive the emotional pain created by memories of that night.

Mitchell Emerson is convinced science and reason can account for the ghostly happenings at Umoja House. He resolves to find an explanation that will not only satisfy him but earn back Sankofa’s trust and love. Instead, his own beliefs are shaken when he sees the ghost for himself.

Now reluctant allies, Mitchell and Sankofa learn her family was more than a little in love with death. Their search for the ghost draws them together but discovering sixty years of lies and secrets pulls them apart. As their hopes for happily ever after and dispersing the evil stalking Umoja House slip beyond their grasp, Mitchell and Sankofa find an unexpected source of help: the ghost itself.
​
 A deeper peek 
Anna M. Taylor is the women's fiction and gothic romance penname of Anna Taylor Sweringen, a retired United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church USA minister. A native New Yorker, she now enjoys the heat of the Southwest. She has been writing seriously since joining Romance Writers of America in 2003 and also writes inspirational romance as Anna Taylor and erotic romance as Michal Scott.
 
A further Peek 
Anna M. Taylor website: https://annamtaylor.webs.com
Anna M. Taylor Amazon Author Page - https://amzn.to/355nKv0
Anna M. Taylor FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/annamtaylorAuthor
Twitter: @Revannable

April 21st, 2021

Who - I write inspirational pet-oriented books for children and adults, including my Pet Rescue Romance series of clean, contemporary, western romance novels and novellas.

Inspiration – Inspiration for my books come from my own adopted pets and living in the Rocky Mountain West of the United States.

Nature – Also inspires me, and I weave wildlife and wild places into my works.

Dogs – I transport dogs for various rescue organizations, helping these animals either get into rescue or to their adoptive families. I once drove an older beagle named Boone to his new forever family who lived in Yellowstone National Park and made a mini-vacation out of that trip.

Outdoor activities I enjoy include nature photography and walks along rivers, creeks, wildflower meadows and forest trails. I enjoy taking photos of wildlife and wildflowers.

Window – Outside my window on this mid-April morning snow is falling. That’s springtime in the Rockies – sunshine and warmth one day and snowfall the next!

Seasons play a large role in my romance novels, including my first book set in autumn and the sequel to that book, which begins in winter and ending in spring. Follow the story of Rhiann Kelly and Levi Butler, whom I introduce in my 2019 release Rescue Road and whose story in March’s release, My Montana Love. Not only will you meet human characters, but you’ll get to know several animals, including Rhiann’s Shih Tzu Jax, who is modeled after my own little canine companion, Jeremiah. 

If you love dogs, cats, and horses as well as sweet contemporary western romance stories, I believe you’ll enjoy Rescue Road and My Montana Love! A Peek inside My Montana Love
Crisis and Chaos in Paradise –
Rhiann Kelly married Levi Butler five years ago. Their blissful life on a Paradise Valley, Montana property, operating an animal sanctuary and a horse ranch, is challenged after Levi experiences a health crisis. When the nephew of a criminal the Butlers knew in their past shows up for a job during Levi’s recovery, Rhiann faces critical decisions. Can she keep the ranch and sanctuary operating or will past incidents and Levi’s suppressed fears cause chaos she cannot control? 

Learn more about and purchase these books from my Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/gayleirwin

A deeper Peek
Gayle M. Irwin is a contributor to seven Chicken Soup for the Soul books and the author of many inspirational pet books and stories for children and adults. Her clean, contemporary romance series, Pet Rescue Romance, consists of Rescue Road, released November 2019, Finding Love at Compassion Ranch, released in May 2020, a 2020 holiday novella, Rhiann’s Rescue (the series’ prequel), and My Montana Love, released March 2021. She subtly weaves important life lessons within the lines and pages of her stories, including the importance of pet rescue and adoption. Learn more about Gayle and her writing here on her website: https://gaylemirwinauthor.com/.

More about Gayle:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/GayleMIrwin
Pinterest (under Waggin' Tales): www.pinterest.com/gaylemirwin 
Twitter: wyoauthor1 ​