Rose Anderson's Blog, page 46

Happy belated Saturnalia!

Damn, I missed Saturnalia yesterday. I was so enmeshed in gift creation and wrapping yesterday the Greco-Roman party day completely slipped my mind for much of the day. But I eventually remembered and then bought a lottery ticket! Learn more about Saturnalia here.

I found this rather interesting:

As a person raised on the Macy’s Parade and recently exposed to the Krampus parade, and now the Roman parade, all I can say is Wow. Winter celebrations spanning cultures around the world definitely bear more research. If I only had time to follow my curiosity. There just too much to do before the big 12-hour Solstice drumming we’re hosting this Saturday. Next year I’ll be ready. 

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Tracking says the new laptop comes as early as tomorrow.  Instead of dealing with a desktop that acts like a giant cellphone (aka Windows8), I’ve decided to install the devil I know — Windows7. I would have gone for WinXP were it available, but the geek scuttlebutt says Microsoft is ending support for that operating system. That’s a grand plan for all the people out there still using it. Bah humbug Mr. Gates. Take care the ghost of operating systems past doesn’t come rattling its chains one wintery night.

I’m posting another bit from the sinking ship’s files today.

The following is a portion of an interview I had earlier this year.  My second book in The Witchy Wolf and Wendigo saga had just been released. It has it’s own info page.

Can you tell us a little bit about your newest release?

Thank you for having me today. My most recent release is the second book in my shape-shifting shaman saga The Witchy Wolf and Wendigo (Book 2 Eluwilussit). Here’s the blurb for book 1 to give you some idea of the story:

What does an immortal Native American shaman do when the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity disappears under urban development?

His purpose of guarding his wife’s burial mound gone, Ashkewheteasu seeks to end his immortal existence. In his despair, Ash assumes the form of a wolf and steps in front of a moving car and into the life of Dr. Olivia “Livie” Rosalini. The veterinarian saves the animal’s life, and in the process saves the man within. Livie has no idea the wolfish dog she’s taken into her home and grows to love is a magical being seeking to win her heart as a man. While Ash is learning a new world filled with new love, friendship, and happiness, an old menace makes plans to steal it all away; just as he had 3000 years before.

What inspired this novel in particular?

It all began on a local artists’ tour. My husband and I came across an author selling her stack of books in one of the studios. We talked for a time about publishing then she explained some of the research that went into her book. The topic – the Wisconsin Werewolf. It wasn’t a book I would normally buy, but she was so nice taking the time to explain the publishing world. I was unpublished at the time. We bought it and I read as he drove the tour. Apparently there had been eyewitness accounts for centuries. It’s hard to imagine but people have sworn they’ve actually seen the creature several miles away from my house.

As we drove home, we talked about what people could possibly be seeing…everything from shadows to bigfoot to dimensional beings. Later that week, I looked into the Native American legends that went back who knew how long. A friend came to dinner and we talked about the book and the local sightings. He said maybe people are seeing a shaman in ceremonial attire. Once I had those thoughts tied together, my imagination cascaded. Yes, a shaman, but not just any shaman — a shaman associated with the ancient burial and effigy mounds in the area. Suddenly a question came to me: What does an immortal Native American shaman do when the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity disappears under urban development? My mind ran with it.

Without giving too much away, I’ve taken the urban legend and combined it with archaeological facts. My goal from the start was to make a completely realistic and somewhat plausible story. No kidding. Comprised of two books and spanning three thousand years, I do believe this is one of the best stories I’ve written to date.

Who is your favorite character in this novel and why?

By far that would be my hero Ash, also known as Ashkewheteasu. He’s one of the best heroes I’ve ever had the pleasure to write. His wife Aiyanna was murdered and he chose to stay by her side forever. That says a lot about him. When he finds her grave (burial mound) destroyed, and his reason to live his lonely immortal life destroyed along with it, he decides to commit suicide. Not impossible when you’re immortal, but the consequence is dire. What comes next eventually leads to a new reason to live.

What comes first–characters or plot ideas?

Definitely the characters. I don’t know how they manage it, but occasionally they’ll pop into my head fully formed like Athena coming out of Zeus’ skull! I *see* them moving through their world and the next thing I know there’s a story forming around them. Sometimes, they write themselves. I love when that happens.

How important is setting? Does it play an integral role in this story?

Yes, setting is important. I use the setting for layering details – those velvet curtains, the lemon oil on the wood paneling in the study, that cinnamon-laden apple pie. As a reader, I enjoy rich details. It’s a fine line though. It’s easy to get carried away describing the setting rather than letting the characters experience it themselves, and through them, relay that experience to the reader. At least that’s the case for me. After six novels, I finally have a handle on that. It’s good to remember readers like to use their imagination too. I know I do when I read.

As for this tale, yes, I’d say the setting is very important. I’m literally merging two worlds – the past and the present. I’m also walking the reader though the spirit world, and Ash’s dreams. The layering give all of these vastly different scenes dimension and depth.

What motivates your main characters?

Always love.

What is the central conflict?

This is NOT a Krampus

The ancient shaman Eluwilussit (Eli), Aiyanna’s murderer, also lives. Bared from the White Spirit world of the ancestors, Eli knows Ash has access and that’s something he wants. But filled with rage and jealousy like he is, Eli also wants Ash dead. The problem is, Eli tried to get into the White Spirit world and inadvertently ended up in an ancient version of hell – the Red Realm of the Forsaken. There he acquires a terrible gift. He becomes a Wendigo.

What is your favorite aspect about being a novelist? 

Seeing appreciation for my work lighting other people’s eyes. I love stories, hearing them, telling them. I have wonderful family and friends who encourage me along the way. One dear friend and her husband always have something nice to say. I find myself wanting to create scenes I know they’d enjoy. I also have an artist friend who periodically reads my scenes. I know we’re on the same page when he comments on my characters and scenes as if he sees them as real because they’re real to me. That does something to me; it fills me up in some inexplicable way and makes me want to write more complicated scenes to see if he can follow me there. I’ve always been sort of an oddball that never fit anywhere; I suppose it validates how my mind ticks.

Are there any other genres you can see yourself writing and why/why not?

I love romance and romance stories, and I do enjoy writing them. I have a labor of love I’ve been writing for five years. There isn’t a suitable name for it yet so I just refer to it as my magnum opus — MO for short. My MO is not erotic romance, so yes, I can see myself writing other forms of fiction. I’ve written childrens books and I may even whip up a cookbook or two! Writers have that drive to manifest thought into something tangible. If it wasn’t romance, I would have to create something!

What’s your goal as an author? By that, I mean…why write? Why is it important to you? 

I’d like more than anything for my writing to contribute to buying a nice piece of land for my husband to retire on. That’s been my goal from the start. He’s worked so hard for our family. I came to our marriage with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease I’ve had since I was 15, a disease he married along with me. Since I’ve never had good health in all the years we’ve been together, the financial burden has always been on his shoulders. That’s not to say I’ve haven’t worked, but he’s always done the lion’s share. Second to that, I’d like to set up a foundation that gives grant monies to people and organizations that do good things for the environment, animals, and mankind. I liken the desire to picking up Ben and Jerry’s torch and running with it. I dream big.

If you could snap your fingers and transport yourself anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I’m fascinated by the first religions and sacred sites of the world. Especially Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. I suppose I’d snap myself into a tour of all the major ancient sites. The human brain needs to understand how we fit in this world and change our modes to reflect fitting that. I know we can do better fitting in with everything else on the planet. I suspect the reason we don’t might sit squarely on destroying the earth/goddess worship mankind has taken part in.

Tea or coffee?

Coffee first, then more coffee, then tea.

Night person or early riser?

Early riser.

Tell us 5 little known facts about yourself. 

I love fiddle music from everywhere, but especially Irish, Roma, and Appalachian.
To combat shyness, I took a DJ job in college.
I’m a World drummer
I’ve walked on fire three times
I’m night blind

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample books 1&2 of The Witchy Wolf and Wendigo  & the rest for free!

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Coming January 2014

A place for your old stars to shine

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If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two post cards each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

I just love this one. But what exactly in the guy dressed in black…a Christmas ninja? He seems to have a ladder. Is he a chimney sweep?

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Here’s another fun recipe selection from the mountain of files. Not much to either but both are very cute. A plate of them might make a nice gift.

You will need frosting, Hershey Kisses, and mini Nilla Wafers. I’ve also seen them made with mini Nutter Butter cookies. Use the frosting as “glue” to hold the cookies and the kisses together. Put a dab on for a tiny stem. Some people attach pretzel piece stems with frosting. Refer to the picture to see what’s what. They’re cuties.

Cream Cheese “Mint” Recipe

4 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 pound (16 ounces) of powdered sugar

1/8 – 1/4 tsp. of ONE of any kind of flavored extract, vanilla, lemon, almond, etc

add food coloring if you wish.

Mix first three ingredients. Then with powdered sugar on your hands, roll into small balls, pipe onto waxed paper, or press into flexible rubber molds.

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our guest Author Lynn Crain.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Today is First Kiss Wednesday ~ come share your best 300 word kiss!

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

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* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

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Agatha and Rose etc…

Boy, I really do hang onto everything. The sun isn’t up and I’ve cleared out 1100+ emails from my personal email’s inbox. That’s what I get for being an armchair activist.

As mentioned before, I’m bailing out this canoe with a teacup – a metaphor (or is that a simile?) for my computer is near death and I’m sorting what to keep and deleting things I don’t need while I wait for the new one to arrive. My son dug around in the registry last night and it seems to have helped. At least my screen isn’t freezing this morning. That’s one of things that has bugged me the most about this slow demise. When it decides to freeze, you can’t even save what you’re working on. You lose it all when you reboot. Not good for a novelist. *grumble*

I’m currently recycling posts for my blog from the files I’m finding. Lots of good stuff. It’s a time saver for a busy month. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. Here’s another oldie from my first year as a published author. Again, I can’t recall where it posted first. I’m much better at keeping track now. This old dog does pick up a new trick now and again.

You know the story. It begins with ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear. They’re invited to a remote mansion on an island, but their host curiously fails to appear. Alone with the small household staff and the inescapable demons standing in the shadows of their pasts, the guests are cut off from the outside world. One by one, they share these darkest secrets. And one by one, they die. Perhaps you’ve read the book or seen the five iterations in film — Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (or Ten Little Indians).

Considered by many to be her most famous work, it ranks as the 7th bestselling book of all time. And Then There Were None was the most adapted of all her stories in film, theater, radio, and even video games. From its first publication in 1939 when the title included a racial epithet, to the more recent 2010 radio adaptation, it’s a novel with staying power. Why? It was summed up in the 1940 The New York Times Book Review:

“When you read what happens, after that you will not believe it, but you will keep on reading, and as one incredible event is followed by another even more incredible you will still keep on reading. The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery that Agatha Christie has ever written, and if any other writer has ever surpassed it for sheer puzzlement the name escapes our memory. We are referring, of course, to mysteries that have logical explanations, as this one has. It is a tall story, to be sure, but it could have happened.”

Agatha Christie is one of my literary heroes. On my shelf of favorite fiction, her works sit side by side with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Diana Gabaldon, Charlotte Brontë, Michael Crichton, and JK Rowling. I like reading novels that make my heart pound in anticipation with each anxiously turned page. And Then There Were None was my first encounter with suspense. It was also my first exposure to Agatha’s works.

My older sister was a passionate book lover who eventually got me reading romance. She recommended And Then There Were None as her all-time favorite Agatha Christie story. At age eleven, I didn’t understand the broader adult nuance of the story, but I did enjoy it. Several years later, I saw an old black and white movie entitled Ten Little Indians. I thought, hey wait a minute, that’s an Agatha Christie story! Inspired to reread the novel, I saw what my younger self had missed. The plot was literally peppered with clues that pointed to the murderer. I already knew who the murderer was so picking out the clues was easy.

So all these years later, I decided to write a book in homage to that amazingly creative author. Like Agatha’s famous story, Dreamscape is a literary puzzle as well. I crafted it to be a story within a story filled with clues scattered along for the avid reader to catch.

In this tale, I introduce readers to Dr. Lanie O’Keefe: a confident, independent, woman who’s just bought herself a Mid-Victorian mansion. This is a dream house in the truest sense, for Lanie has been dreaming of the Bowen mansion since she was a child. The locals say the place is haunted and it certainly looks the part with its overgrown weeds and decades of vandalism. Undaunted by ghost stories, Lanie moves in with grand plans to refit the old coach house into a free clinic. Little does she realize the local legend is true.

For nearly one hundred and twenty years, the ghost of Doctor Jason Bowen roams his house contemplating the treachery that took his life. His brooding thoughts are interrupted when a woman arrives with valise in tow. Not only is she moving into his house, but she’s sleeping in the master bedroom as well – his bedroom. As a gentleman coming from a time of social propriety and impeccable manners; Jason tries to give his houseguest space, but soon becomes infatuated with her. Once he discovers the electric signature of his ghostly essence can ride Lanie’s dreams, he follows where they take him and finds himself back in his time period as the date of his murder draws near.

Yes, I planned the suspense carefully. Like Agatha Christie’s works, uncovering my trail of breadcrumbs isn’t necessary to move the tale along. When taken as a whole, they offer an insider’s peek at the truth long before the truth is revealed. Dreamscape is complex, richly detailed, and sensual, and I’ve scattered enough crumbs that even Hansel and Gretel might see the story hidden within! Writing it I learned something about myself. Not only do I like taking the path less traveled, I enjoy making the implausible plausible. I really like offbeat turn-things-on-their-ear scenarios where the writer finds a box he/she must write themselves out of. To me, the insurmountable prospect is a curiously locked door — the next weeks or months trying to make the unlikely likely and the impossible possible is akin to finding the fat ring of keys to try the lock with.

What readers are saying about Dreamscape ~

5 Stars ~ Author Jane Leopold Quinn

What a lovely story! A young girl falls in love with a house and grows up to buy it. Haven’t you ever seen a building that just captured your imagination and your heart? The whole town knows the old mansion is haunted, but Lanie O’Keefe is about to find out for sure. Jason Bowen has watched the town grow around his house for 120 years — all the years he’d been dead. Dead since just after the Civil War. Jason knew he’d been murdered by his wife and her evil friends but had no memory of how the deed occurred. In the Twenty-first Century, when the beautiful Lanie moves into his house and proceeds to restore it to its original glory, he knows this will be a new chance at “life.” How does a ghost physically touch the woman he loves? How does a flesh and blood woman come to realize that she’s falling in love with an ethereal being? Humor and sensuality shine through in this story. Believe me, Ms. Anderson created some delightful ways for Lanie and Jason to communicate their feelings. Lush and lyrical describe the prose — hot and sumptuous the love scenes. While you’re reading Dreamscape, you’ll come up with happily ever after theories. You’ll desperately want to so these two people can triumph over death. My advice? Just read and enjoy the ride to the end. I had my thoughts, and they were wrong. The real ending is a wonderful surprise. Just let it be, and live in the Dreamscape.

5-Stars ~ Dr. Judith at the Book Binge

OMG — what a novel!! This is one of those books that lures the reader in with its mysterious scenario of dreams and a woman who has always romanticized this wonderful house–literally falling in love with a house as well as the gorgeous man occupying the house a century before. “It is all here and Ms Anderson has woven it all into a novel that is beautifully written, well-edited, and put together so that the parts of the story flow together seamlessly.” “It is a novel I have no difficulty calling a work of art.” “So readers who love erotic romance wrapped in the mists of dream and fantasy and time-travel will find this to be a delightful reading experience, an entertaining way to spend some time, and an exercise of the mind and imagination. This novel is already on my favorites list as well as my “to read again” list.” “This is not a story that should be missed. I feel it has been a true delight and privilege to read this tale.”

5-Stars ~ Manic Readers

Loved Dreamscape! Anderson has woven a 150 year old mystery with a 21st century ghost story, along with a few jealousies, murders, and assorted other intrigues to make a fascinating story. You could call this a time travel, a love story over the ages, or whatever, but it’s well done no matter what you want to call it.

Lainie seemingly exists in the 21stcentury where she’s renovating an old painted lady Victoria house that once belonged to Dr. Jason Bowen, who was murdered 150 years ago. She also seems to be able to exist in one form or another in Jason’s time. Jason and Lainie are in love in his time, but how will they manage to be together in hers? I wondered as I read this how the lovers were ever going to solve that problem, but was totally surprised at how Anderson arrived at the HEA ending I was hoping for, as I read far into the night. Great read with a surprising twist ending.

Two and a half years later and I’m still smiling over their reviews. 

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample Dreamscape & the rest for free!

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Coming January 2014

A place for your old stars to shine

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Here’s another fun recipe selection from the mountain of files ~

Instead of giving that godawful can of stale flavored popcorn, try this recipe. Easy to make and only three to four ingredients.

9 cups popped popcorn

20 finely crushed Oreos

24 oz. White Vanilla Almond Bark OR 2 cups salted almonds and 12 oz. white chocolate chips

Completely melt almond bark according to package directions until melted and smooth consistency (Use a double boiler). Drizzle over popped popcorn (and almonds). Sprinkle finely crushed cookie crumbs evenly over the popcorn. Lightly stir to distribute. Wait for chocolate to firm and enjoy.

I haven’t made this one yet but it sounds yummy. Curiously I didn’t save the name of this gluten-free recipe. It did have a link though. I think I gained 5lbs. just reading the page.

http://chex.com/Recipes/CategoryView.aspx?CategoryId=342&t=2

2 12.8-oz boxes Rice Chex cereal

1 7-oz bag shredded coconut

1 4-oz bag slivered almonds

3 sticks of butter (yep, you did ready that right)

2 cups sugar

2 cups corn syrup

Combine cereal, coconut, and almonds in a large mixing bowl. In a large sauce pan, cook butter, sugar and corn syrup to the “soft ball” stage. This takes place at approximately 234º on a candy thermometer. It can also be determined by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water. If you can gather the cooled syrup into a ball with your fingers, it’s ready. Pour over cereal mixture and stir until all is well coated. Pour mixture onto 2 large cookie sheets to cool. Stir occasionally to prevent clumping. Store in an airtight container.

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Author Jean Hart Stewart’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

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* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

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Been Naughty?

My new laptop is in transit, finally. Yay! It should come this week.

On top of everything else going on around here, I’m still sorting files. Just in time.. a cute recipe turned up for lump of coal cookies. It made me wonder about the origin of the threat “You’d better be good or Santa will put coal in your stocking.”

Once again I find the internet too small. Many many years ago I worked at a historical society and we were expected to site three original sources for any information we passed on. I’m a research hound. I love hunting facts. Let me tell you, one original source isn’t easy to come by sometimes, let alone three.

So here we have the vastness of the internet and the ability to hone searches to get exactly what you’re looking for. The thing is, much of of the “truth” that turns up on searches originates on Ask.com or Wiki and is just reused over and over again. Wiki, although user and not necessarily expert generated, can be useful if you know how to use it. Sometimes if you’re lucky, you can follow the author’s citations to the facts. Other times you just get a repeat of the same junk like that ridiculous email that’s been buzzing around the web for at least 15 years explaining the ‘history” about babies actually being thrown out with the dirty bath water, people marrying in June because May was the month of the year to bathe and they were still relatively clean,  or the “fact” about dogs and cats falling through the thatched roof when it rained. Good grief. Give me real info!!

Anyway…the best I can determine is the concept of coal for bad kids comes from the Dutch in the 1600′s.  It has nothing to do with children being happy to have coal in their stocking because it would keep their cold and starving family warm. Really? Are we expected to believe a single chunk of coal would do that? Who makes this stuff up?

It’s obvious the whole coal issue is a what would you rather have scenario — toys and candy in your stocking or a lump of coal? I found these and thought them all interesting enough to share.

http://www.history.com/topics/christmas-traditions-worldwide

http://www.historyextra.com/feature/christmas-controversy

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2037505,00.html

The last two pose an either or question too. Would you rather have coal in your stocking or go off with the Krampus? Yikes. This is the largest selection of Krampus cards I’ve seen to date. I want some for my album!

http://www.swide.com/photo-gallery/history-of-krampus-the-christmas-demon-trough-vintage-scary-illustrations/2013/12/15

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143485735/naughty-or-nice-krampus-horror-for-the-holidays

So be good. lol

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Here’s that fun recipe from the mountain of files ~

Lump of Coal cookies

One 16 oz package of Oreo Cookies crushed fine

5 cups large marshmallows

4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

This works best on parchment but a well-buttered (bottom and sides) 8X8 inch baking pan should do the trick too.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse Oreos until ground. An alternative would be a Ziploc bag, a rolling pin, and some frustration to vent.

In a large, microwave safe bowl, melt butter and marshmallows in the microwave until puffy, about 1½ – 2 minutes in my microwave. (Watch carefully…remember that Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters? Well, there’s a chance you’ll have him in your microwave if you let them puff too much)

With a buttered spoon, stir in ground Oreo Cookies until combined. Dump into your buttered pan and using a piece of wax paper or foil on top, press mixture flat and even. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Irregularly cut into chunks of “coal” and serve.

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Though I can’t recall where this originally posted, here’s another recycled post from the vault...

Award-winning Loving Leonardo as a whole is one of those color outside the lines stories for me. I’d never written a polyamorous tale before and I didn’t set out to write one with this story. I set out to make a social statement. I’d been so outraged by the unmitigated intolerance during the last presidential campaign, I decided to write an intelligent romance between two loving men in the Victorian era with characters like Oscar Wilde or Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. I suppose if I were a highly organized person instead of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer, I could have held to that original idea. I like to stretch my abilities as a writer and I especially love challenges. But like any good story that takes on a life of its own, it soon told me where it wanted to go. Aware that the rudder was being taken from my hand, I thought, ok, I’ll take a stab at it. Show me where to go. And it did.

Here’s the blurb:

Bound by limits dictated by society, Art Historian Nicolas Halstead lived a guarded life until a tempest in the form of Elenora Schwaab blew into his world. At first Nicolas can’t decide if the audacious American is simply mad or plotting blackmail for not only does she declare knowledge of his homosexuality, she offers him a marriage proposal. After Ellie tells him of a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, a book of erotic love poems and sketches dedicated to the artist’s long-time lover Salai, Nicolas joins her in a race to save the book from destruction. Along the way they encounter Historian Luca Franco and discover a comfortable compatibility that comes to redefine their long-held notions of love. The trio embarks on an adventure of sensual discovery, intrigue, and danger.  Little do they know Leonardo da Vinci’s book is far more than meets the eye.

The story continues in Loving Leonardo – The Quest. I’ve enjoyed these characters so much, they may very well return for other adventures. Readers have asked for more.

I’d done several character interviews in the last two years. Believe me, it’s an odd thing to converse with characters born from your imagination, it’s even stranger to interview them yourself and not have to think too long before you answer! So I recently had an encounter with Nicolas where I sat him down and asked some questions. I wondered what Luca might say. I no sooner had the thought when he appeared at the table. Luca Franco was exactly how Nicolas described him. Of course he would be. I’d seen him myself roughly forty years ago. I never knew his name, but he was much older than I and worked in my neighborhood deli.

I grew up in a blended Greek and Italian neighborhood in Chicago. Like a duckling, I do believe I imprinted on dark and handsome Mediterranean men. When I wrote Luca, I saw him in my mind’s eye because he was real. I recall he had very little English, but OMG was he beautiful with those snow-shadow eyes against his warm-hued skin. I think cold cuts sales tripled with him there. Luca is my imagination’s homage to that gorgeous foreign man. When my voice finally returned, I had a conversation with Luca Franco.

Luca: Rose! Buona sera!

Rose: Good afternoon Luca, I’m glad you could join me. The story is told through Nicolas’ eyes, but I was wondering if you’d like to share a few of your own perspectives.

Luca: I am happy to oblige, caro.

Rose: Well, to start why not introduce yourself. I’m sure people will be interested in the inner workings of Luca Franco.

He chuckled.

Luca: I can’t imagine that to be the case. I’m a simple fellow. But as I owe you much, Rose, I’ll follow your lead. Where shall we begin?

Rose: Like Nicolas, you also work at the Ashmolean Museum. What work do you do specifically?

Luca: I travel the world searching for precious items from antiquity. Once found, I bring them back to the museum to be studied, cataloged, and kept safe from the further ravages of time.

Rose: This interest in Leonardo da Vinci, one you share with Nicolas and Ellie…I know Ellie is drawn to the philosophy of the man many consider to be the personification of the Renaissance.

Luca: Yes. And Nicolas is fascinated by the mind behind the man’s unique artworks. They bring perspectives into our conversations that are as intriguing as the artist himself.

Rose: And what do you bring?

Luca: I’ve studied da Vinci’s world and his place in history to feed my own curiosity. The man was beyond brilliant. He possessed a ricchezza d’ingegno, a talento. A persona di genio.

Rose: I’m sorry, Luca. I only speak a little Italian.

Luca: Forgive me, caro. I said Leonardo possessed a richness of intellect, a talent. He was undoubtedly a person of genius

Rose: I find him all of those things as well.

Those snow-shadow blue eyes sparkled. Good lord, he was as handsome as I remembered.

Luca: But of course you would. You are the author here.

Rose: So…tell me about this unusual relationship you have with Nicolas and Ellie.

Luca: Never have I felt such loving acceptance. We’ve bonded through our common interests, beliefs, and temperaments. I love them with every fiber of my being. I’d die to keep them safe.

Rose: Yes, there are terrible dangers ahead. And do you see this…this, loving relationship lasting? Nicolas has family obligations to his title and estate…

Luca: Oddly enough, I do. The important thing is love, Rose. With love, anything is possible no matter the opinions of the world. Even in your time, mio caro.

What more could I say? He mirrored my sentiments exactly. Of course he would.  

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample both Loving Leonardo and Loving Leonardo – The Quest for free!

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If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

our guest  Adele Downs.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

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Prosperity balloons, a Krampus, & silly segues

Holiday Idea:

As mentioned in previous posts, my holiday plans are in high gear. We added this fun thing to our Christmas eve repertoire last year. Paper balloon lanterns –>

It was such fun, I thought I’d mention it just in case you’d want to try it yourself.  You might still have time to get them before Christmas or certainly by New Years. Last year we used them to send our wishes aloft. As they soar into the sky, the little block of waxy paper pulp eventually burns out and since they’re the thinnest tissue, they disintegrate. No plastic. They fly straight up like a weather balloon too, high above your neighbor’s rooftops. We could still see one after 10 minutes. Funny thing…we launched a balloon for good health and one for happiness. The three tries for prosperity never made it off the ground!

The best prices can be found on Amazon. Look for “paper balloons”.

So as not to be too disappointed, keep your prosperity wish expectations low. Those wishes just don’t want to fly in this economy. Or maybe that was just 2013.  

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Here are a few more recycled bits from my hoard of files. I can’t recall the guest blog where where I posted this first. It’s a fun post.

Thursday’s Things

I love a man’s hands. Sure, everyone enjoys a handsome face, a tight physique, a beautiful pair of eyes. Who wouldn’t? We’re designed by nature to be drawn to healthy and strong characteristics. How else would the species continue optimally if not for this unconscious selection? A man’s hands, provided they’re not long-nailed or belonging to Ichabod Crane, always turn my head. Pair them with corded forearms and strong wrists and mmm mmm mmm, you had me at hellooooo.

I prefer them large and capable, the clean fingernails trimmed reasonably. I like them expressive, their occasional gesture emphasizing the statement or encouraging the conversation.  I like them rough, not so hard that their skin is like boot leather, but rough like they know what it’s like to pick up a shovel or a hammer even if they spend all day typing on a keyboard or playing a piano. I love when they’re gentle. There’s nothing so sexy as when these masculine hands pat a child’s back, tuck a strand of hair behind an ear, or carefully tend an animal.

My father was of the opinion that a man had to have a firm handshake. I concur. I love watching men shake hands. A man doesn’t have to break the fingers of the hand he’s clasping, but his handshake should be strong enough to show his vitality. I just love that. In my mind it’s a throwback to the days when knights participated in tournaments, though I’m sure the handshake goes back far longer than that. It is a good way, after all, to judge if the man you’re meeting is a force to contend with should the meeting go badly. Enjoying this little show of prowess is another instance of a woman being drawn to the strongest male in the vicinity.

I love lacing my fingers in a strong, neat, expressive, lightly calloused, gentle, and capable hand. Especially if I can feel the love there in the warm, safe, confines. And lastly, I love when these hands roam. Oh yes I do.

That was fun.

This next one puzzles me. I have no recollection of writing this, but I’m almost certain I crafted it for a one-day Meet the Author event my authors’ group held in 2011. We were attempting to show a side of us outside of the novels we write by offering photos, short stories, and things like jokes and recipes. Here I’m introducing my debut novel – the scorching story that launched my author’s journey. The Cataromance Sensual Reads Reviewer’s Choice Award winner – Hermes Online. It was written in three days with one thought it mind -  to grab the attention of a publisher so I could learn the ropes of this business. It was only a tool. I was stunned when it become popular.

When I chose the title it made perfect sense to me. Only after it was in print did I discover Hermes is also a company famous for designer purses, and they sell online. At a friend’s encouragement, I signed myself up for Google Announcements to get a notice each time my name or book came up on the internet. I know all about Rose Anderson the semi-famous Scottish basketball star. And I know when Hermes handbags has online sales! They say hindsight is 20/20.

Reading this post nearly three years later, I have to say I find my segue from story intro to recipe rather humorous. lol Here it is:

Hermes Online is one woman’s journey as she travels from drab desolation to vibrant possibility. It’s about self-rediscovery and return from despair.  At a low point in her life, Vivienne allows the cruel words of another to steal her vitality and dictate how she sees herself. As a woman in this society, I believe women in our culture do this all the time. We allow others to determine how we see ourselves. Hermes Online is Vivienne’s road back to her true self, back to her confidence and true feminine power. Written in first person perspective and through one voice only, the reader gets a ringside seat to watch the transformation as it occurs.

It’s funny how our literary characters and their worlds spring from our heads. As the story unfolded in my imagination, I discovered my Vivienne had been on a student’s architectural tour in Greece several years before this sad chapter of her life. I was also surprised to discover she had herself a whirlwind romance there that ended in heartache. This brought the Greek gods to mind — the myths are full of gods meddling in mortal lives. Winging missives between the gods and the mortals below, the god Hermes was often the messenger for this meddling. As the tale is a modern one, I chose the computer rather than a scroll to get that message across.

The story:

Envision if you will, a story begun in the halls of Mount Olympus long before this modern tale was conceived. It was a time when the god Hermes flew on his winged sandals and carried messages from the gods to the unsuspecting mortals below. And between that time and this, couriers became postmen and handwritten letters became bytes. It is said the gods still speak to those who listen…

Imagine meeting someone who thoroughly compliments you. You share likes and dislikes, views and outlooks and a soul connection unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. It takes your breath, quickens your pulse and consumes your every thought. When you make love for the first time, it’s as if every cell in your body confirms this is your twin flame. Now imagine the timing is horribly off. In my first novel, Hermes Online, Vivienne joyfully discovers such a love amid the ancient ruins of Greece – a love complete and soul satisfying, but one that just isn’t meant to be.

As surely as seasons change, life moves on. Vivienne eventually takes another chance at happiness. Unfortunately, her next relationship turns out to be one of betrayal when her faithless boyfriend intentionally administers a low blow. After she finds him with someone else, he deflects his actions on to her – if she weren’t so dull a lover he wouldn’t have had to look elsewhere. His unaccountable attack becomes a yoke of self-doubt that spills over into every aspect of Vivienne’s life. Hungering for a good word, on a whim she enters a short story written during happier times to an online literature site and makes a connection with a compelling man known only as S. The two soon embark upon the world of anonymous Internet communication where their suggestive emails lead her to try erotic chat, where cybering leads to Skype, and C2C sends both into the arms of a love believed lost forever.

Capturing the imagination:

They have only sensual prose between them. To capture Vivienne’s imagination and coax out of her shell, S chooses his words with precision:

Take my hand, lovely V, follow me to my bed, lie back on petal-strewn sheets and fan your autumn-colored hair across my pillows. Allow me to pay homage to the goddess you are. Let me begin at your little feet. Feel me lightly kiss, and yes, you will feel me bite ever so slightly, for the need to devour you is great. Reply lover.

I await,

S

  Nothing better for heartbreak than comfort food. Devour these! lol that topic transition cracks me up.

Grandma’s Potato Pancakes



7 potatoes peeled and grated. (Grandma always used a box grater to grate her potatoes but you can use a food processor. Drain off any liquid. You’re looking for pulpy texture.)

1 yellow onion, grated to a pulp

2 beaten eggs

flour

salt, pepper

oil for frying

Optional toppings – applesauce and/or sour cream

To grated potatoes add the onion, eggs, salt and pepper, then add flour a little at a time until your mixture thickens to the consistency of sticky looking pancake batter. Your pancakes should keep their shape when you fry. Sometimes the potatoes will weep (from the onions? lol), just drain this water off carefully. Use as many potatoes as you like – simply adjust the amount of eggs, flour, and onion if you need to. Oil should be hot enough to skitter a drop of water on its surface. This is important. You don’t want them soaking up the oil. Turn when edges get golden brown. Drain on paper towels when crispy. Eat as is or top with applesauce and/or sour cream. Pyszne! (Delicious!)

**My Grandma was born in Poland in 1887, and made the long ocean voyage to a new world in her late teens. An amazing cook, she could tell you in one taste what series of ingredients made up any dish. Enjoy.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample more of Hermes Online for free!

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

It’s nice to hear people appreciate ephemera as much as my husband and I do. We’re building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. If you’re here for the first time, I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January. Scroll back to see the others.

I thought Santa just handed out coal to naughty kids. It turns out has other “helpers”. I haven’t found a Black Peter yet, but I did find a Krampus!

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

author  Fran Lee’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

Today: Set the Scene in Six ~ come share yours! http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

The family you’re born to & the one you make

The snow is falling and it’s so magically quite here. Forecasts say light snow in my area and a huge snowstorm moving east. We dodged that bullet. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I was looking forward to snow lanterns. My husband digs potholes in the snow and puts candles in them. Talk about magical.

For more than twenty years we’ve hosted a Christmas eve party for people who have nowhere to go, or no family to spend the holiday with. The roots go into my childhood. My family always gathered on Christmas eve. The day before we’d gather and make Italian sausage (with the grinder and the whole shebang) to cook the next day for our party. It’s always on the menu for our party, though I admit I buy the sausage from an Italian grocer instead of knocking myself out with a grinder and casings.

When my kids were little it was always our family that did the traveling to one sister’s house or the other. Even if that ride happened to be 70 miles away. I remember many times I was practically a zombie when I returned home to finish helping Santa get his show on the road for morning. Those early days with my young family made me the proactive person I am today. Don’t wait until the last minute to do holiday things that must get done. Plan better. And I do!

There are only three of us left in that once big family of mine. Geography has us scattered across several states. After our first sister passed away our individual families drew inward. The family gathering when we did get together was subdued and for me, quite sad. My family unit had a few years where Christmas eve consisted of staying home to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas or attending the holiday service at the small church in town. Then one year a friend I’d just made at work revealed her and her boys had nowhere to go. They came here.

A few years went by and another small family of friends with nowhere to go joined us. It’s been twenty years now and our “orphans’ party” expects 41 people this year. It’s no trouble at all to host a party this size. I love hosting parties. My skill set was honed from living at an open air camp where each meal fed a minimum of 50 people in addition to staff, and sometimes 200. Having learned the trick of layering to see to preparations, I do things in stages each day and have it all down to a science. 

To some, my family celebration is their family celebration. There are 41 gifts I’ll attempt to finish making this weekend in addition to the rest that I’m nearly finished with. You might think that isn’t necessary, but everyone gets a gift. For some of my friends, my little bag of goodies is the only gift they get. Giving from my heart is what I do. I’ve rebuilt my family Christmas eve celebration with friends and people who are as close as the family I was born into, and I love it.

My time is measured right now so I’ve found another recycled post for today. This one is a portion of an interview I did with author Jan Bowles a while back:

Q. What inspired you to write The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo?

Several years ago while taking a much touted artists tour not too far from my home, I wandered into a barn converted into an artist studio and found a new author sitting beside a stack of books. This curious book with its B-movie cover was all about the Wisconsin werewolf. At the time, I was less fascinated by werewolves than I was by anyone who’d actually managed to get published. In the days before email submissions, eBook publishers, Indy publishers, and self-publishing, I’d spent a considerable sum printing manuscripts to mail in their entirety to the major NY Publishers, and tasted confidence-shattering disappointment as rejection letters came in reply.

Needless to say, I saw opportunity to learn by talking to this author. Of course, after picking her brain as best I could, I bought the book. It seemed only right that I do. While my husband drove us from art studio to art studio, I read passages to him. The story was pretty farfetched but entertaining. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a wolf walking like a man. Some of these witnesses were upstanding citizens in their communities.  We well knew the areas mentioned in the book, and were surprised to learn some of the sightings of this weird creature had supposedly taken place over decades. Back home, I went digging for more. Apparently the Ojibwe legends in the Great Lakes region mention a magical wolf or dog that guards burials.

That caught my attention. Legends of grave guardians around the world often take the form of wolves or dogs. There’s that jackal-headed Anubis from ancient Egypt for example. Wasn’t he the Lord of the Dead? Beyond that, Wisconsin was covered in ancient Native American burial and effigy mounds. Coincidentally, one of the accounts in that book went back to the 1930’s and took place on top of a burial mound. Needing more information, we took the Great Mound Tour across Wisconsin into Iowa. I saw these effigies and burials for myself, what was left of them. After seeing an effigy in the shape of a standing man with a wolf’s head, my imagination went wild!

Q. Which is your favorite scene in Loving Leonardo?

I’d have to say it’s the moment where the spark of attraction catches Nicolas unawares. Here’s a small bit of it:

When in the presence of true beauty, my mind often imagines the person unclothed as the artists of the ages might have seen him. Sitting at my table was a statue carved in marble by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; an artist known for his remarkable ability to capture the essence of a narrative moment. And I found Luca Franco to be exactly that — a moment indelibly captured in time — a moment of meeting the mind could revisit in its entirety.

From every angle, he was beautifully made: black-haired, of medium build, and physically fit. He possessed a warm hue to his skin, his lineage no doubt stamped centuries past by the darker Moors or Turks. In startling contrast, and quite handsomely framed by black lashes, he had striking eyes the color one might see in a shadow falling across snow — not quite sky blue nor exactly steel gray, but a blending of the two in gradated rings.

I rose to shake his hand and felt the unmistakable current of compatibility. If this man weren’t forward in his mutual attraction, it was there nonetheless.

Q. Which of your characters is your favorite and why?

Of all the characters in my books to date, Nicolas Halstead from Loving Leonardo is by far my favorite as he’s the most complex and human of all my fictional people. I found a surprising depth of character to him. He’s a Victorian man of means forced by society to wear a disguise because he’s gay and that’s a criminal offense. His experiences in this story come to redefine how he’s always thought himself to be. I think anyone would fall in love with Nicolas, especially his perceptions. It’s through his perspective that we see and feel his world. An art historian by profession, Nicolas can’t help but compare life to art. Because of this, he leaves many references to artists and artworks scattered throughout the pages of his book. My art references aren’t just word-padding. I carefully wrote the story so readers could see what he saw if they cared to look up the artworks.

Q. Where and when do you like to write? What is your writing day like?

Since I work off a laptop now, the whole house is my office. Most days I work at the kitchen table. Last year for Christmas, my son gave me a back massaging office chair…for the kitchen! It’s a little uh…out of place… but I can’t deny the love behind the gift. I get up, make coffee, drink coffee, walk dogs, feed dogs, play with dogs (if I don’t then I’m hounded with squeaky toys until I do). Then I see to the details of being an author. Any given day I might have 60 or more emails or when yahoo is having one of its fits a few hundred repeats. Occasionally I’ll have a guest post to write or an interview to complete. I’ll try to get to my own blog if there’s time. Whew. By ten o’clock I’m writing my work in progress. If the Muse is on my side that day, I might get several chapters completed. I’ve recently added a stint on the treadmill to my daily repertoire because sitting all day is turning my muscle to mush and a recent study says that is seriously unhealthy for my kidneys and my heart. If I could figure out how to duct tape my laptop and coffee cup holder to my treadmill, and have the dogs in tow behind me, I’d be all set!

Q. What advice do you have for someone just starting out?

I’d say they need to keep in mind that not all of their books will be a good fit with every reader out there and not to take it too hard when the inevitable poor or snarky review pops up. Books are no less works of art than masterpieces in oil or stone. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So I’d say new writers, please remember that reviews are simply opinions. How many people do you know with opinions different than your own? Revel in the good ones. They feel great! Consider the bad ones. If you’re lucky, they’ll come with constructive criticism and that’s not a bad thing because sometimes authors are just too close to the story to see gaffs and gaps. And above all, ignore the nasty reviews. Nasty comments with nothing of value to impart and are simply mean-spirited, consider them to be the power plays they are and move on. A recent confusing review got to thinking… What do reviews look like for some of my favorite authors? I checked on Diana Gabaldon, Michael Crichton, Stephan King, and even JK Rowling. They have bad reviews too! My advice is — new authors, check your favorite authors for yourself. You’re in good company.

Q. What is the hardest part about writing romance stories?

Stopping in the middle of a scene to see to the mundane has to be the hardest part of writing anything. I mean really, who needs dinner? I’m a perfect candidate for the secluded writer’s cabin in the woods, because when I write, I fall into stream of consciousness mode.

Definition: Stream of consciousness is the continuous flow of sense‐perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and memories in the human mind or a literary method of representing a blending of mental processes in fictional characters, usually in an unpunctuated or disjointed form of interior monologue.

Yep, that’s me.

Q. Which are your favorite authors and why?

I do have favorites but not many. I’m an informational reader for the most part. Oddball that I am, I read encyclopedias like other people read magazines. Once a year I’ll binge on fiction, and I mean really Binge with a capital B. Romance mostly, but I’ve been known to do a run of historical fiction too. To me a favorite author writes the book you read so many times the pages fall out. I would read anything that Diana Gabaldon wrote and yes, I’ve read Harry Potter at least five times from start to finish. I’ve had to replace books in both series because I’ve read them to death!

Sadly last summer, a long time love affair ended for me. I’ve been faithfully reading an author for nearly 25 years. I couldn’t wait for the new releases and I’d reread the old ones (until the pages fell out). I jumped on the new novel last year, but three chapters in I realized I’d read it before. Then it occurred to me that the last several books had been exactly like this one. I couldn’t finish. Don’t get me wrong, formula stories can be fun reads. It’s just that we had something special in our long reader/writer relationship – I was given heart fluttering romance with unique storylines that I’d think about for days after the stories ended. I’m sad it’s over. So that being said, I have an empty shelf waiting for a new favorite author. Now if I only had time to read…

Q. Name three of your favorite things.

I still have a very good sense of child-like wonder. Lots of things flip my switches! For this question, I’ve given a nod to gifts from the universe.

1. After a blanketing snowfall when the sky is still overcast and all the shadows are blue.

2. A sunset so vibrantly colored with reds, oranges, and purples you have to remember to breathe.

3. Those HUGE orange full moons

Q. If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

If not my grandmother, then hands down it would have to be Leonardo Da Vinci. I steeped myself into his life and times to write Loving Leonardo. He was what’s referred to as a polymath – a person of great and varied learning, and this despite the fact Leonardo was denied traditional education because of his bastardy. What that man went through to become the genius he was… Can you just imagine how fabulous that conversation would be? I think I’d serve a Mongolian Hot Pot — hot stock and small bits of food to cook in it — or perhaps a fondue. Slow meals are great for keeping a dinner conversation going. 

Q. Are you a panster or a plotter?

Oh definitely a fly by the seat of my pants gal. An interesting idea will pop into my head and before I know it I have a character or two and they’ll start talking to themselves and each other. When they walk forward in their world, for one reason or another conflict comes in from the sides and they must react to it. The strange thing here is, I really don’t know how the story will end until they end it. They take over my brain until they’re done with me. I’ve heard other authors refer to this state of mind as a form of possession.

Q. Which comes first? The character’s or the idea for the story?

My characters tend to write their stories themselves. I just help in coloring their world. I’ve had this work both ways. I think, wouldn’t it be interesting to write a story with a story hidden inside it? The next thing I know, there’s an old derelict house. Then someone wants to buy that house. I discover she wants it and this desire goes back to her childhood. Wouldn’t you know she has larger plans. Suddenly she’s a doctor transforming the mansion into a free clinic. The next I know, there’s a ghost living there and he was a doctor too 100 years before.  It didn’t take much for him to fall in love with his new houseguest. But wait a minute…he’s dead, that’ll go nowhere. How can they have real interaction? He spends most of his time just silently watching her, even when she sleeps. Ah ha! As pure spirit energy, he plies her sleeping mind and follows her dreams. But why is she dreaming about the days before he was murdered 100 years ago? Now that the story has written itself, it needs a name – Dreamscape.

Q. Where can we find out more about your books?

My books are just about everywhere books are sold in ebook and paperback.

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Sample my love stories for free!

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It’s nice to hear people appreciate ephemera like my husband and I. We’re building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. If you’re here for the first time, I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

 

 

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author Marianne Stephens’ blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

Today: Author Interview Series with author Missy Martine. http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

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Time and tide, waits for no man

Holy cow is it cold here. My dogs’ are having trouble with the deep freeze we’re in right now. I actually had to carry the little pup inside because she couldn’t walk after ten minutes in the snow. She needs boots.

I regularly count my blessings and found myself having a rather profound moment of gratitude yesterday. I’m grateful I have a warm home. My dogs with their uncomfortably-cold little feet can get their business done then come inside where it’s warm. They can have a sympathy cookie while I warm myself with a cup of tea. A lot of animals are in dire straits in cold weather like this. You can help, and all it takes is a mouse click here. Open the tabs on site and find many other ways to help the rainforest, veterans, the hungry, and more through clicks or purchases. It couldn’t be easier, it takes less than half a minute to click-contribute to all the charities there.

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I don’t want to load my new laptop with duplicate pictures or documents from my mountain of files. That’s what I did to this poor machine. So I’m winnowing the wheat from the chaff, you might say and stumbled across more than a few oldies but goodies in the process. The following recycled post originally aired during the Hot Winter Nights Blog Hop last November. I was introducing my ghost story Dreamscape at the time and getting a tad Dickensian. Enjoy!

Written in homage to Agatha Christie, Dreamscape is a haunting, a murder, a thriller, a mystery, and a love story that transcends time. Above all, this sensual tale is a reader’s Easter egg hunt in the truest sense. Not everything is as it appears. Peppered throughout are little clues suggesting a story running behind the scenes. Finding them isn’t necessary to the telling of the tale, just one of the fun twists I like to insert into my writing. Can you find them all before the story ends? But more importantly, can a ghost find love among the living?

Get ready to curl up on the sofa under a quilt or one of those silly sleeved blankets. Grab a hot toddy and a copy of Dreamscape and lose yourself in a very unusual love story.

Oooh… warm quilt, good book, hot toddy. Sounds good to me!

How often do we crave a hot drink on a cold winter’s night? Hot cocoa topped with whipped cream sounds good. I’m even fine with coffee. Teetotalers have herb tea and insomniacs go for warmed milk, but nothing warms the belly so much as a hot toddy. Warm alcoholic beverages like toddies, rum punch, flips, and hot buttered rum trace their origins to Europe where liquors, wines, and ciders were mulled with cloves, nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon and enjoyed hot to take the chill off the ol’ bones.

Just as toddies are synonymous with cold nights, A Christmas Carol is synonymous with the holiday season, and wouldn’t you know, Charles Dickens enjoyed a good cup of rum punch too. As an author, I find it interesting that he often referenced hot drinks to add an honest human touch to his characters’ lives. In his story David Copperfield, David has this to say about his friend Wilkins Micawber:

I informed Mr. Micawber that I relied upon him for a bowl of punch, and led him to the lemons. His recent despondency, not to say despair, was gone in a moment. I never saw a man so thoroughly enjoy himself amid the fragrance of lemon-peel and sugar, the odour of burning rum, and the steam of boiling water, as Mr. Micawber did that afternoon. It was wonderful to see his face shining at us out of a thin cloud of these delicate fumes, as he stirred, and mixed, and tasted, and looked as if he were making, instead of punch, a fortune for his family down to the latest posterity.

In A Christmas Carol after Ebenezer Scrooge finds his heart among his spirit-led flashbacks and flash forwards, he shows up at Bob Cratchit’s  home and says:

“A merry Christmas, Bob! Said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken…I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!…”

Smoking what?? A little research on my part discovered people enjoyed a whole range of clerical drinks back in Dickens’ day, and Smoking Bishop was among them. I have no idea why they named their drinks as they did, but I suppose it’s not much different than our Harvey Wallbangers or Black Russians. Apparently, the range of clerical drinks goes high to low down the church hierarchy like this – Pope is burgundy, Cardinal is rye, Archbishop is claret, and Bishop is port. I never did find out if there’s a Deacon’s drink.

I stumbled upon a book written by Charles Dickens’ great-grandson entitled Drinking with Dickens, and in it found a traditional recipe for the Smoking Bishop:

Take six Seville oranges and bake them in a moderate oven until pale brown. If you cannot procure any bitter Seville oranges, use four regular oranges and one large grapefruit.
Prick each of the oranges with five whole cloves, put them into a warmed ceramic or glass vessel with one-quarter pound of sugar and a bottle of red wine, cover the vessel, and leave it in a warm place for 24 hours.
Take the oranges out of the mixture, cut in half and squeeze the juice, then pour the juice back into the wine.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan through a sieve, add a bottle of port, heat (without boiling), and serve in warmed glasses.
Drink the mixture, and keep Christmas well!

Meh…that’s just not tempting me. Further web scouring turned up some tastier historical alternatives:

Hot Buttered Rum or Hot Toddy Batter

Batter Ingredients:

1 cup dark brown sugar
4 oz unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg or mace
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate in an air-tight container for up to two months. This mixture can also be frozen for up to one year before using. Makes eight servings.

Preparing your Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp refrigerated hot buttered rum batter
6 oz boiling water
1 1/2 oz dark rum
1 Tbsp light cream (optional)
nutmeg for garnish

In a mug suitable for a hot beverage, combine hot buttered rum batter with boiling water, stirring well until dissolved. Add in rum and cream. Optional: Garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg. Serves one. Yum.

Or you can do it up without the rum!

Non-Alcoholic Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp refrigerated hot buttered rum batter
2/3 cup boiling water
1/3 cup vanilla ice cream
whipped cream (optional)
nutmeg for garnish

In a mug suitable for a hot beverage, combine hot buttered rum batter with boiling water, stirring until well dissolved. Stir in ice-cream and mix until incorporated. Optional: Top with whipped cream and garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Serves one and sounds delicious.

“Punch, my dear Copperfield,’ said Mr. Micawber, tasting it, “like time and tide, waits for no man. Ah! it is at the present moment in high flavour.”

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Find my books in ebook and paperback wherever books are sold.

The sampler is free!

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It’s nice to hear people appreciate ephemera like my husband and I do. We’re building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. If you’re here for the first time, I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

First a holiday potato wearing a hat (scroll down) and now pranks on Santa? This is how you get lumps of coal in your stocking!

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author Cindy Spencer Pape’ s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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I’ve stumbled across more deliciousness in my documents folder. I think I’ll make this for our holiday party. It’s really scrumptious. Enjoy! 

Pistachio Fudge

1 pound white baking chocolate

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 t. Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 t. Pure Almond Extract

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

1. Fully line an 8-inch square pan with foil and spray with no stick cooking spray.

2. Melt chocolate over a pan of hot water or use a double boiler. With an electric mixer and in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar on low speed until well blended. Add melted chocolate and extracts. Mix well. Fold in chopped pistachios.

3. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Garnish with additional pistachios, if desired.

4. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm. Carefully remove foil and cut into 25 (1 1/2-inch) squares. Store in refrigerator.

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of the Story ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking 2014 now.

Join us this Saturday for our Author Interview Series with author Missy Martine. http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Sorting through a packrat’s nest

They say 21 days of doing anything makes a habit. Blogging love quotes for 100 days is a habit x 4. No more searches, gotta stop myself from hunting down a love quote. I gotta stop. But I love love quotes. No… must… power down… the habit.

This morning I discovered the My Computer icon gone from my desktop along with a few quick start icons I had there. I managed to get everything back by using the System Restore. I consider this a portent of things to come. My new laptop hasn’t arrived yet. With a prayer to the tech gods this machine hangs on just a bit longer, I’ve been sorting files.



I’m a self-acknowledged info hound, a.k.a. file packrat, who really needs a manager, a personal assistant, or at the least, a good shaking. I even have files on floppy disks! What are the odds those are still good?

Needless to say, I’ve found other things to recycle today. Reposting perfectly good posts that debuted elsewhere really isn’t a bad idea during this busy holiday season. I always put a lot of thought and creativity into them to try to make them as interesting as possible, so hey, why not? I’m thinking I may do this again next December as sort of a year in perspective — where I’ve been, guest posts and interviews I’ve had, that sort of thing. After all, everything is new to someone who hasn’t already seen it and I have new blog visitors everyday. So anyway…

The first offering is a character interview I did for the Heart of Romance Valentine Celebration earlier this year. I give you a whimsical chat with Nicolas Halstead from Loving Leonardo and Loving Leonardo – The Quest.

I had an unusual experience the other day. It was a quiet day at home, inside and out. The snow was falling in that slow magical sort of way. It was just cold enough that snowflakes landing against my windowpane lingered a second longer as perfect six-pointed stars before falling to accumulate on the sill. I’d spent the morning seeing to author obligations and chipping away at my work in progress. I decided I’d take a much deserved break and enjoy a cup of tea.

I have a small collection of British fortuneteller teacups and saucers. They’re fun and fanciful little things for reading tea leaves back in the day. Several in my collection are from the Victorian era. That day, I chose the Aynsley bone china cup. I’ve been in a Victorian England frame of mind lately, unavoidable considering I’m wrapping up book two in my unusual Victorian polyamorous romance – Loving Leonardo.

Loving Leonardo is one of those color outside the lines stories for me. I like to stretch my abilities as a writer and I especially love challenges. The impetus for Loving Leonardo came right out of the headlines last summer. The US elections were underway and lines were drawn as political opponents dug their heels on key social issues. It got me thinking. Here it was 2012 and who you love, and who you wanted to commit your love to, were still hot issues as if love itself was a social condition and not a deeply personal thing.

At the time, the news was also filled with women’s issues and negative talk of “progressives”. I’d heard the term women’s issues combined with progressive before. That was the point to the Suffragettes 100 years ago! Before I knew it, I had a very American, very unorthodox, Victorian progressive heroine named Ellie.

My hero Nicolas Halstead is an art historian working for the famed Ashmolean museum. Nicolas leads a somewhat normal life as of a man of means, though he takes pains to hide his homosexuality from the world. He has to. Even though it’s no longer a death sentence, his nature is still a criminal offense at this time. One day Ellie, the daughter of an American consul, comes to call and confronts him with her knowledge of his particular predilection. To his incredulous disbelief, she proposes marriage. But there’s method to her madness. It turns out she wants him to help her rescue a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci – a book of love poems and erotic sketches from Leonardo to his lover Salai. How could an art historian refuse?

Thus begins their unorthodox marriage and abiding friendship. The book is held by a man who has plans to destroy it for the vulgar thing he sees it as, so they race to Venice and devise a plan on their journey. They didn’t count on meeting Luca, himself a historian. Secrets are revealed as they share their common interest in Leonardo da Vinci. While they come to redefine their long-held notions of themselves, a man with a dark obsession comes into their lives. The story continues in the second book. I’ve enjoyed these characters so much, they may very well return for other adventures.

So as I sat with my tea, my mind revisited previously written story threads searching for that perfect crescendo to end with. Wouldn’t you know, Nicolas Halstead appeared beside me. What else was there to do but ask my Victorian gentleman questions…

Nicolas: Rose! Good afternoon.

Rose: Hello Nicolas, what brings you out on a day like this?

Nicolas: You, my dear.

Rose: Oh, I guess I did. How silly of me. I’m having a little trouble ending this adventure of yours. Any insights you could share that might point me in that direction?

Nicolas: Hmm…what would you like to know?

Rose: Well, let’s start with the women in your life. What can you tell me about them?

Nicolas: There’s my grandmother, Lady Augusta Halstead. I’d describe her as a stately woman of  dignity, for she takes her role as Dowager quite seriously. A week doesn’t pass where she doesn’t make the rounds to visit the Halstead tenants and parsonage. I’ve never found her affected or stuffy, though there’s no denying she has her finger on the pulse of society. She’s always ready to laugh and is affectionate in her own reserved way. That, and she loves to play mahjong with her friends. I don’t know what else to say other than I love her.

Rose: She raised you.

Nicolas: Yes she did. At a young age I’d lost both my parents and nanny to a coach accident. I’d have to say however, that my housekeeper Mrs. Fletcher played a far greater role in my upbringing. With my parents and nanny dead and my bones broken, I was naturally inconsolable. Grannie was dealing with her own grief, after all she’d lost her only son and daughter-in-law. Mrs. Fletcher’s tenderness saw me through my pain and loss. In fact, I’d bonded so thoroughly with that loving woman that my grandmother dismissed her hastily hired nanny and left me in Mrs. Fletcher’s care. Though I was too young to understand it at the time, I’d learned much later that Mr. Fletcher had passed just a month before I arrived in my sorry state. She’d needed me as much as I’d needed her. That Grannie made this small unconventional adjustment to her household was a demonstration of her concern and affection for the both of us.

Rose: That was unusual for the time.

Nicolas: Quite. Mrs. Fletcher still looks out for me. She was very fond of my parents and with Grannie’s help raised me in my father’s image. I couldn’t love her more than I do. To me, she is the only mother I remember.

Rose: And what about Ellie? Ah, that made you smile!

Nicolas: I’ll begin by saying her marriage proposal impacted my life in ways I hardly thought possible, and that she’s single-handedly brought me immense happiness. She’s helped me to discover myself. Not only do I adore her views and perspective, I consider Ellie a true partner in life and love. She’s opened my mind to things I’d never thought about before – women’s rights for example. I doubt half the men in my own House of Lords are as well versed in Britannia’s policies as she is in the politics of your America. My wife is by far the most intelligent women of my acquaintance, present company excepted of course.

Rose: Thanks.

Nicolas: You’re welcome, my dear. Ellie is delightfully refreshing. In general, I find Americans aren’t as stodgy in their mannerisms as we English are. My wife can be as bold as brass, but that’s one of the reasons I love her so completely like I do. She’s quick and witty and kind, and has a tremendous capacity for love.

Rose: And that brings me to Luca.

Nicolas: As you are well aware, Luca is a sensitive soul who’s been through much pain and isolation. I’d do anything to keep him safe and ease his mind. He’s compassionate, loving, and thoughtful. And to those he cares for, he’s self-sacrificing to a fault. In many ways, he and I are cut from the same cloth in our interests and views. But where I am reserved, Luca is bold and brave, far braver than I. He’s a man anyone would be proud to know, let alone love. Ellie feels that sentiment as well. It’s trite to say, but we three complete one another in ways we hardly realized were incomplete a mere six months ago. They love me unconditionally, and I love them for that and more.

Rose: It’s impossible not to feel that love between you. How does Thomas fit into this picture?

Nicolas shook his head and as quickly as he appeared, he was gone. He had his reasons. I refilled my cup and went back to my laptop.

~*~

Sample the unconventional award-winning Loving Leonardo story (books 1 & 2) Discover the surprisingly racy Victorian world through Nicolas’ eyes and immerse yourself in reader-interactive art history to see exactly what he sees.



Love Waits in Unexpected Places – Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Response to my vintage holiday cards has been wonderful. It’s nice that other people appreciate ephemera like we do. If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

The squirrel is cute, but check out this holiday potato. What the heck??

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Join us today for ~ The Genesis of a Book

We’re featuring Domingo’s Angel by Jenny Twist

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

author Gemma Juliana’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

It’s double-digit cold here this morning. In my neck of the woods we’re a frigid -15° with this arctic wind. I recall trees exploding at this temperature when I lived in Chicago. I sure hope I don’t lose anymore of these precious old oaks.

I found  an ultra-tasty butternut squash recipe in my files just perfect for weather like this. This has to be the absolute best butternut squash bisque. Certainly the best I’ve ever tasted.

Butternut Squash Soup

Delicious and extremely easy to make.

3 to 4 cups of chicken broth (I use two 32 oz cartons of low sodium broth)

Half an 8 ounce brick of cream cheese

1 medium-sized onion chopped fine

6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (I use one large squash)

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/8 t. ground cayenne pepper

Combine and simmer until the squash is soft and mashable. Add cream cheese and stir in a figure-8 motion until melted. Use a stick blender or Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to pot, heat and enjoy!

Optional: a pat of butter or a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream.  Use more cayenne if you want. A 5-Star Yum.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Saving the best for last

Can you believe it? I’ve posted 100 love quotes for 100 days as part of the 100 Things Blogging Challenge. Here’s the one I’ve been saving for last. As a writer of romance, I find it truly lovely ~

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.”

~ Pablo Neruda

Come January 1st, I’ll do another 100 Things Challenge.

Why? Blog presence is important in this gigantic haystack known as the publishing world and such a commitment keeps me active here. As important as it is to maintain that presence, blogging comes pretty hard sometimes. Yes, even a chatty writer like me has wordless days. They may be few, but I still have them on occasion. lol

If you take a peek at the tabs above for my links page, you see I do have other blogs that I use as “satellites” for a be in multiple places at once strategy. And I use them a few times each week for those mini blog hops I join in on. While the other blogs are work-related, here it’s pretty much about me — an author on a journey. This is the place for readers to become acquainted with the person behind the writing.

*Subscribe here to follow my ramblings.  My interests are as vast as stars in the sky and my topics could literally be anything.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January. Response has been wonderful. It’s nice that other people appreciate these They’re charming keepsakes from days gone by. Two today. 

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Join us today for ~ First Kiss Wednesday

Share your best kisses. Come see mine!

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *



Love Waits in Unexpected Places – Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

guest blogger Sam Cheever .

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Our December contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ



* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

Exquisite Quills presents A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

Many holiday short stories in several styles written

by more than a dozen authors. And it’s FREE!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth

My laptop has been dying a slow death for days and is now in accelerated death throes. It brings to mind a line from the very first Indiana Jones movie. It’s not the age, it’s the mileage. If keystrokes were miles, I’d be halfway to the sun by now!

The very last thing I wanted to do to end 2013 was learn a new operating system. I hear Windows8 might be hard to get the swing of for moderate tech fossils like me. I’ve learned every single Windows operating system you’ve come up with since Windows95, Microsoft. I deserve a break. If you won’t give me a break from constantly retraining myself to use your products, then the least you can do is make my Office software transferable instead of forcing me to pay for a new Office Suite each time. How many has it been? Five…six?? *sigh*

Because I have to move files from this rapidly sinking ship, I’m seeing the early Rose Anderson. My my, how afraid I was. A timid fish out of water. I have a romantic soul and have loved reading romances for the last thirty years. Never in a million did I conceive I’d be among the likes of  Kathleen Erin Hogg (a.k.a Kathleen Woodiwiss), Johanna Howard (a.k.a Johanna Lindsey), and Jeanne Hines (a.k.a Valerie Sherwood) and thousands of others who call themselves romance novelists. But I’ve said before, I’m no romance writer.

People who know me well would tell you this shy writer is the last person to write erotic romance. How I became a multi-published award-winning romance author is curious, especially because I never set out to do more than simply learn the ropes. I’m in this genre because a synchronistic series of events appeared in my life just as I was writing the final chapters of my Magnum Opus (my M.O. — the as-yet-unnamed 500,000 word, 5-book labor-of-love stab at literary fiction). All fingers pointed to erotic romance as the sure-fire fast track to learn this writer’s world. It’s crazy but true. It did exactly that and all it required was me stepping way outside my comfort zone to do it. My mind is filling with adages right now. (morning coffee on a sleepy brain does that sometimes) This one fits: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

My writing is a blur between vocation and avocation. It’s more than my stay-at-home career. It’s almost necessary to me. With 40 years of rheumatoid arthritis stealing my crafty mojo, writing has become my main creative outlet. Sometimes it feels like half my life has been crammed into these three short years. I suppose it’s because I put so much of myself into it. My writing is all an expression of me –my experiences, my emotions, my beliefs, opinions, and more. Add to that, the interesting details and personalities found in the world around me. And add to that, an intense creativity.

The end of this month marks my 3-year anniversary as a published romance author. Thank you Siren-Bookstrand Publishing for taking me in and getting me pointed in the right direction. I’ve learned an amazing body of knowledge from A to Z, but more importantly, having been immersed in the occasionally painful editing process, the mechanics of my storycraft has improved as I hoped it would. My Magnum Opus is steeped in theology, philosophy, theosophy, physics, metaphysics, history, prehistory, quantum physics, and energy medicine. In it I make a social statement because that’s the point. It’s also a timeless love story, and the ultimate battle between light and dark. It’ll be epic. And hopefully people will understand it. lol  ;) 

Though I still have several partial romances to complete, it’s time to return to my labor of love. Come January, I’ll rewrite my Magnum Opus with all I’ve learned and feel confident that when I send it out into the world, it’ll be its best. The best message I can possibly convey. The best of me.

As Archimedes once said, “Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.”

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

So…while digging in my files I found something to share. Think of it as my gift to you. A gift of deliciousness.

Food is such a sensual thing. It nourishes the body and mind in so many ways. I worked at a school years ago where this heavenly dish was offered at a staff party. OMG. Our office manager/chef made these delightful little creamy hearts swimming in a sea of raspberries. Begging the recipe, I immediately rushed home to make it myself. Believe it or not I’ve only made this twice in 19 years because it’s highly addictive, fat and calorie dangerous to eat often, but oh so good. I hope you try it at least once. I know you’ll lick the beaters. I might have licked the bowl too!

To Die For Crème de la Crème **

1/2 c. farmer’s cheese

1/2 c. creme fraiche or sour cream

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

2/3 c. heavy cream, very cold

Combine farmer’s cheese, creme fraiche (or sour cream), sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Whisk in heavy cream and whip until your mixture has the texture of whipped cream. This will happen pretty quick. As soon as it looks like thick whipped cream stop or you’ll get lumpy butter chunks in sweet whey.  Refrigerate. If you’d like a prettier presentation, this mixture molds really well but be sure to line molds with cheesecloth. If you chill this a little first, you can blop it onto waxed paper and roll it into a log. Then chill and slice when firm. While that’s firming up, prepare the topping.

4 pints raspberries, rinsed and drained (I suppose any fruit would be good, berries, peaches etc.)

1 c. sugar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Mash and mix. Unmold, spoon or slice your crème mixture into serving dishes. Top with raspberries.

** Disclaimer: This is so good you’ll have a hard time deciding if you should eat it or rub it all over your body. I take no responsibility for stains the latter incurs.

 

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

 

Just 1 day left!

For 99 days I’ve posted something from my chosen topic of Words & Quotes of Love for the 100 Things Blogging Challenge . There’s just 1 entry to come!

Here’s another:

“To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others.”

~ Anne-Sophie Swetchine

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

If you’re here for the first time, my husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January. They’re charming keepsakes from days gone by.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

My blog presence is smaller this month because I’m taking a holiday break to see to gift making and cookie baking. Even though I’m not blogging much, you can still discover my books and a little bit about me. Just click on the Links tab above to see my book trailers and other blogs filled with snippets, insights, challenges, recipes, writer tips, chatty things, and more. My novels in ebook and paperback can be found wherever books are sold.

Sample my novels too!

Love Waits in Unexpected Places – Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

>>Subscribe to this blog for all my news<<

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

Join us tomorrow for our open promo ~ First Kiss Wednesday

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

author R. Ann Siracusa’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Last week I had my blog day on Romance Books ’4′ Us. Come see how much I love snow. http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2013/12/timing-is-everything.html

And…our new contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas!

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Say it again, and then some

I’m having an early start to a busy day away from home  today. It’s a good time to recycle!  The following post comes from one of my other blogs. I created it for some purpose or another…maybe a blog hop. 

It’s funny when authors say their stories come out of nowhere. That happens to me quite often. There are times when it feels like someone else it driving this brain’s bus. The following snippets from my novels are instances where my writing tickled my own fancy.

Enchanted Skye

Alexander MacCodrum belongs to a race of shape-shifting sea creatures living on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. When Jenna MacLeod unknowingly adds seven tears to the salt of the sea, she accidentally unleashes an ancient charm that catches the transformed Selkie unawares. Under this binding spell, Alex must win Jenna’s heart, or the pain of unrequited love will drive him to take his own life. Unfortunately for Alex, Jenna hasn’t come to Skye looking for love and it will take the force of a hurricane to bring them together. But worse, Jenna’s violent ex-boyfriend has found her at last and Carl has made it perfectly clear – if he can’t have her, no one can.

The scene - Alex ponders the truth of his family.

The best hiding in plain sight:

Doled out for tourists, the local legends pointed fingers at their family’s romantic origins but the tales were no different than those about the bogie man, faerie folk, or ghostly specters on the moors. No one took them seriously for all they were true. He and his siblings went to the pub on occasion and if there were tourists a neighbor would rib them good naturedly. The latest being, “Where ye hidin’ yer seal skin, Lachlan?” to which his eldest brother replied, “Now if I tell ye Ronnie Nash, and ye find it, I’ll have to wed ye! And man yer not my type!”

The tourists loved it and the locals howled, and god love them, none saw the truth right before their eyes. That was another Selkie gift, the gift of glamour. You only saw what a Selkie wanted you to see.

*********

The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo

What does an immortal Native American shaman do when the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity disappears under urban development?

His purpose of guarding his wife’s burial mound gone, Ashkewheteasu seeks to end his immortal existence. In his despair, he assumes the form of a wolf and steps in front of a moving car and into the life of Dr. Olivia “Livie” Rosalini. The veterinarian saves the animal’s life, and in the process saves the man within. Unbeknownst to Livie, the dog she’s taken into her home and grows to love is a magical being seeking to win her heart as a man. While Ash is learning a new world filled with new love, friendship, and happiness, an old menace makes plans to steal it all away; just as he had 3000 years before.

The scene - Newly entering the modern world, Ash encounters beer for the first time.

Best Slapstick by an Ancient Shaman:

Knowing he had to resume his wolf form at Livie’s home, he took a deep breath and shifted, but his inebriated mind was not concentrating and he ended up with a raven’s head atop his man’s body. He tried again. Forgetting that he still wore clothes, he found himself a small bird, pinned and struggling under the heavy garments that had fallen to the ground in a heap. He shifted into a feathered snake before taking the form of a mouse and working his way out of a sleeve.

The movement caught the attention of an owl on its nightly hunting foray. Just as it was about to swoop low on silent wings, intent on nabbing the large field mouse, a naked man with a mouse tail and whiskers appeared. The owl, clearly startled, flew off into the night. Laughing, Ash raised his arms and yelled after it, “This is not your night, my brotherrrr!”

Tail and whiskers absorbed into his changing form and once again bare skin grew feathers. He shifted into a raven — a six-foot-tall raven. Laughing at himself, he made his body small and flew fast to Livie’s home, albeit not in a straight line.

*********

Loving Leonardo – An unusual bisexual, polyamorous, Victorian love story with a touch of interactive art history.

Bound by limits dictated by society, Art Historian Nicolas Halstead lived a guarded life until a tempest in the form of Elenora Schwaab blew into his world. At first Nicolas can’t decide if the audacious American is simply mad or plotting blackmail for not only does she declare knowledge of his homosexuality, she offers him a marriage proposal.

After Ellie tells him of a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, a book of erotic love poems and sketches dedicated to the artist’s long-time lover Salai, Nicolas joins her in a race to save the book from destruction. Along the way they encounter Historian Luca Franco and discover a comfortable compatibility that comes to redefine their long-held notions of love. The trio embarks on an adventure of sensual discovery, intrigue, and danger. Little do they know Leonardo da Vinci’s book is far more than meets the eye.

The scene - Nicolas the art historian encounters a living work of art

Best Love at First Sight:

When in the presence of true beauty, my mind often imagines the person unclothed as the artists of the ages might have seen him. Sitting at my table was a statue carved in marble by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; an artist known for his remarkable ability to capture the essence of a narrative moment. And I found Luca Franco to be exactly that — a moment indelibly captured in time — a moment of meeting the mind could revisit in its entirety.

From every angle, he was beautifully made: black-haired, of medium build, and physically fit. He possessed a warm hue to his skin, his lineage no doubt stamped centuries past by the darker Moors or Turks. In startling contrast, and quite handsomely framed by black lashes, he had striking eyes the color one might see in a shadow falling across snow — not quite sky blue nor exactly steel gray, but a blending of the two in gradated rings.

I rose to shake his hand and felt the unmistakable current of compatibility. If this man weren’t forward in his mutual attraction, it was there nonetheless.

*********

Dreamscape - A haunting, a murder, a mystery, a reader’s puzzle, and a love story that transcends time.

Unable to deny his own translucence, Dr. Jason Bowen determines his lack of physical substance could only mean one thing — he’s a ghost. Murdered more than a century before, Jason haunts his house and ponders the treachery that took his life. When Lanie O’Keefe arrives with plans to renovate her newly purchased Victorian mansion, Jason learns, ghost or not, he’s still very much a man. Jason soon discovers he can travel through Lanie’s dreams and finds himself reliving the days before his murder with Lanie by his side. It took one hundred and twenty years for love to find them, but there’s that insurmountable little matter of Jason being dead.

The scene - a ghost discovers an incredible ability.

Best Ah Ha Moment:

Resisting the overpowering urge to touch her again, he closed his eyes instead and whispered, “Dream, sweetheart. Show me where you go each night.” And, just as he projected himself from room to room, the energy of his spirit plied her synapses…and to his complete and utter surprise, he fell into her dream.

*********

Hermes Online - 

Left bruised and brokenhearted after a cruel breakup, Vivienne Bennet finds herself mired in a world of self-doubt. To her surprise, she receives an email that challenges her to rediscover the sensual woman she once was. Together Vivienne and the enigmatic man known only as S embark upon the world of anonymous internet communication where suggestive emails lead to erotic chat, where cybering leads to Skype, and C2C sends both into the arms of a love they’d believed lost forever.

The scene - penpals venture into uncharted waters.

Best Quote: Allow me to pay homage to the goddess you are. Let me begin at your little feet. Feel me lightly kiss, and yes, you will feel me bite ever so slightly, for the need to devour you is great. Reply lover.

I await.

S

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Just 1 day left!

100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’m posting a little something from my chosen topic of Words & Quotes of Love. There are 2 entries to come.

Here’s another:

“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

* FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE * FREE *

My blog presence is smaller this month because I’m taking a holiday break to see to gift making and cookie baking. Even though I’m not blogging much, you can still discover my books and a little bit about me. Just click on the Links tab above to see my book trailers and other blogs filled with snippets, insights, challenges, recipes, writer tips, chatty things, and more. My novels in ebook and paperback can be found wherever books are sold.

Sample my novels too!

Love Waits in Unexpected Places – Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

A Holiday Anthology Vol. 1 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815

>>Subscribe to this blog for all my news<<

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Almost done!

100 Things Blogging Challenge. For 100 days, I’m posting a little something from my chosen topic of Words & Quotes of Love. There are 2 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

My husband and I are building a vintage holiday postcard scrapbook one card at a time. I’ve been posting one or two each day and plan to keep it up from now until January. I’ve been posting one vintage card each day and plan to keep it up from now until January.

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog.

Join us Wednesday for our open promo ~ First Kiss Wednesday

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

author Melissa Keir ‘s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

RB4U is participating in author Nikki Barrett’s READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY — Lots of prizes. Enter today!

https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor/app_228910107186452

Last week I had my blog day on Romance Books ’4′ Us. Come see how much I love snow. http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2013/12/timing-is-everything.html

And…our new contest has approximately 30 prizes for one winner, including a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. I’m adding a free book from my backlist to the loot. Read the pages and find the dancing Santas!

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ