Sharon Ledwith's Blog, page 4

Author in the Kitchen: Cookbook Author Sloane Taylor Fries up Tantalizing Cod for the Upcoming Good Friday...

You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the enticing aroma from this easy recipe and the taste is superb. Studs and I have served this menu to skeptical guests and they fell in love with it.
Cook pasta prior to starting fish. Re-warm by running hot water over the noodles just before serving.

Serve with Whole Grain Spaghetti, Tossed Salad, Italian Bread, and White Wine – Pinot Grigio.
TANTALIZING COD
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ med. onion, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
½ cup dry white wine
5 lg. Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ cup black olives, sliced
2 tbsp. parsley, chopped or 1 tbsp. dried
1 tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
4 cod fillets, about 6 oz. each
½ tbsp. fresh basil, chopped or 1 tsp. dried

Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Add oil. Heat until it shimmers. Add onion, stir until translucent and lightly browned. Stir in garlic, cook 30 seconds. Add wine, cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with the juice, olives, parsley, capers and red pepper. Heat to boiling.

Lay cod fillets over tomato mixture. Lower heat to medium. Cover skillet and cook until cod turns opaque throughout and flakes, about 9 minutes.

Sprinkle basil across the top.

Serve over whole grain spaghetti.

Don’t prepare extra. Leftovers have a stale taste and tend to be tough.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

Lunch, dinner—or breakfast the next morning, Sloane has you covered! Because the best times always start in the kitchen.

AMAZON BUY LINKS
Paperback - E-book

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
To learn more about Taylor go to her website  Stay in touch on Blogger ,  Twitter , and LinkedIn .

Taylor's cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors.

Cover Reveal: Against All Odds Anthology (Far, Far Away, Vol. 3) Published by Mirror World Publishing...

Mirror World Publishing and Sapphyria's Book Promotions present the cover reveal for the Against All Odds Anthology (Far, Far Away, Vol 3).
About Against All Odds:
Love wins against the odds, in tumultuous times, unlikely circumstances, and dangerous places...
Volume three of our Far, Far Away series brings seven authors together to put a spotlight on stories of marginalized love.
Step across the galaxy to a world where love defies gender, race, and the outbreak of war. Fight for love of all kinds when the well-being of family and friends are threatened by magic power-tools. Witness an unlikely and dangerous affair between a god and his human handler. Then learn the meaning of self-love through the lived experience of a sentient Sapphire.
Through these powerful, unique tales, love is revealed to be the ultimate risk, it gives you purpose when the world turns dark and strange, and it proves time and again that it crosses all barriers, whether they are those of culture, time, distance, or strife. In this collection, love really does conquer all.

Release Date: 
May 19, 2025
Publisher Website:
http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com/

Guest Post: Time Travel Romance Author Stella May Asks, What's in a Name?

Haveyou ever wondered if or how a person’s name affects his/her personality? Doesyour name determine your fate? Or was Shakespeare right to shrug off labels?The older I get, the more I am convinced that the Bard was wrong—that there issomething in a name, after all.

My great-grandmother was named Tatyana. There are several different meanings of that name. From ancient Greek, it translates as "founder of order" or "organizer." According to other translations, it means “a fairy queen,” or “fairyprincess.” She was both. Born to a noble Russian family, she was raised like aprincess. Later in life, by fate’s capricious will, she became head of thehousehold, where she reigned supreme, bringing order and organizing the livesof her family. 

Let’sstart from the beginning: Tatyana Fortushina was born in 1901 in Qusar(Kusary), located in the foothills of the Great Caucasus Mountains inAzerbaijan. One of her brothers was an orthodox priest. The other was in the army.She also had two sisters. 

Unfortunately,the details about my great-grandmother’s family are sketchy at best. Accordingto all the people I have talked to, Tatyana (or Baba Tanya, as everybody calledher) wasn’t close with her parents or siblings. My guess? Probably because ofher highly unusual marriage. As I said, my great-grandmother was raised andeducated like a princess, graduating from an establishment (St. Nina’s) forgirls of prominent Christian families, and was the apple of her parents’ eye…. untilshe met my great-grandfather, that is. 

Here,we draw a big, fat blank. To this day, no one in the family knows how or why MeshadyAbbas, the son of an Iranian manufacturer, ended up in post-revolutionaryAzerbaijan.

Whendid my great-grandparents meet? And how on earth did a Muslim merchant get parentalpermission from one of the prominent members of Christian society to marry hisdaughter? The details are shrouded in secret. One thing we know for sure,though, is that in order to marry my great-grandmother, my great-grandfatherconverted to Christianity. And so, Meshadi Abbas became Artemy Kurdov andmarried my great-grandmother. Vera, my grandmother, was born the next year. 

Theirsmall family was happy—at least I want to believe that they were—but not forvery long. When my grandmother Vera was a toddler, Artemy Kurdov, who embracedthe Communist ideology wholeheartedly, was executed as an enemy of the nation. Ironic?Not in the least. It’s hard to understand now, but, during Stalin’s regime,just sneezing the wrong way was enough to be labeled as an enemy of thestate—literally.  And my daredevil of a great-grandfatherhad managed to become something of a Major in the small city where he lived.  I assume that’s why he was ultimatelyexecuted… or perhaps he just said something, or did something, or looked atsomeone in passing, and some zealot took a notice and reported it. I don’t wantto think about my great-grandfather’s days in prison or the beatings heendured. Torture was a regular practice of the NKVD—the original name of theKGB. 

Thus,my great-grandmother Tatyana was left a young widow with no income to supporther and her daughter, and no family to turn to for help. But instead of fallingapart, this delicately built dark-haired princess squared her shoulders andspat fate in the eyes. She showed everybody what a graduate of St. Nina’s wasmade of! Remembering the sewing lessons she took in school, Baba Tanya soonbecame one of the most sought-after seamstresses—all the wives of the city’selite were dressed by her. Much later, her granddaughters, my mom and my aunt,paraded in the clothes that were the subject of envy to their friends.  She had finally found her footing, and lifein her household became content. They had a roof over their heads, food on thetable, but, most importantly, they had each other. 

Andthen… 

Heronly daughter, her whole world, the reason of her being, fell in love with aman almost twice her age… and had to get married, or else. I can only wonderwhat Baba Tanya felt, when her nice and quiet world suddenly fell apart, as herown daughter repeated the same fate she had? As a mother, how would I react ifI were in her shoes? Would I let my daughter chose her own fate, or would I tryto interfere? I honestly don’t know. 

Inthe end, my great-grandmother gave the couple her blessings and stepped aside. Forthe next five years, she lived alone. Was she hurt? I imagine she was. Feelinglonely? Abandoned? Oh, absolutely. But she was too proud to show her emotions.Always restrained, now she became coolly aloof. 

Yearslater, when her beloved daughter became a widow with two small children at theage of twenty, she immediately took all of them under her wing. How could awoman, a mother, and grandmother keep harboring grudges when three people sheloved more than life itself needed her? Hence, she became the head of anall-female household, one she ruled for almost three decades. The secondmeaning of her name – the founder of order—had come into play. 

Accordingto my family, she was a stern woman, fair and loving, but reserved. She didn’tsuffer fools, didn’t forgive easily, and meted out punishment with a precisionof a surgeon. Her scalpel was her tongue—sharp, cold, and merciless. But herlove for her girls, although never visible, ran deep and was true. 

Mygrandmother Vera always said that, if not for Baba Tanya and her sacrifices, theyprobably wouldn’t have survived the hunger of World War II. During thathorrible time, to suppress her own hunger, Baba Tanya started to smoke. She wenthungry for days, giving her tiny bread portions to her granddaughters. She learnedto cook from bran and waste products, conjuring meals out of thingsunimaginable. She stood hours on end in bread lines, barely alive from hunger, allthe while puffing away her disgusting handmade cigarettes. That cheap tobaccomix affected her lungs, ultimately causing her to pass away years later when Iwas barely three years old.  

Mymemory of her is vague: a frail figure in a starched white kerchief, thin andpale-faced, coughing loudly. I remember I was afraid to enter the room when the‘scary old woman’ was lying in bed. I suppose, for a small child, her frailty,her illness-ravished face, that horrible dry cough could and did look scary.

Butstill…to this day, I feel ashamed of myself. 

Interestinglyenough, while I don’t remember much of my great-grandmother’s face, one thingthat stuck with me is her hands, which I can remember clearly. 

Isn’tthat just strange? 

Oris it just the wonders of human memory?

Here is a peek atStella’s time travel romance novel for your reading pleasure. 

One key unlocks the love of a lifetime…but could alsobreak her heart.  

Nika Morris’s sixth sense has helped build a successfulbusiness, lovingly restoring and reselling historic homes on Florida’s AmeliaIsland. But there’s one forlorn, neglected relic that’s pulled at her from themoment she saw it. The century-old Coleman house.  

Quite unexpectedly, the house is handed to her on asilver platter—along with a mysterious letter, postmarked 1909, yet addressedpersonally to Nika. Its cryptic message: Find the key. You know where it is.Hurry, for goodness sake! 

The message triggers an irresistible drive to findthat key. When she does, one twist in an old grandfather clock throws herback in time, straight into the arms of deliciously, devilishly handsome ElijahColeman. 

Swept up in a journey of a lifetime, Nika finds herselffalling in love with Eli—and with the family and friends that inhabit a time noteven her vivid imagination could have conjured. But in one desperate moment ofhomesickness, she makes a decision that will not only alter the course of morethan one life, but break her heart. 

’Til Time Do UsPartis available in Kindle and Paperback at AMAZON. 

Talented author Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website. 
Stella writes fantasy romance as well as time travel romance. She is the author of 'Till Time Do Us Part, Book 1 in her Upon a Time series, and the stand-alone book Rhapsody in Dreams. Love and family are two cornerstones of her stories and life. Stella’s books are available in e-book and paperback through all major vendors.
When not writing, Stella enjoys classical music, reading, and long walks along the ocean. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband Leo of 35 years and their son George. They are her two best friends and are all partners in their family business.

Follow Stella on her website and blog Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

A Recipe and a Read: Sunday Brunch Pie and a Cozy Mystery Served Up by Author Janis Lane...

I love Sunday Brunchand all the egg casserole dishes. This one is not for everyone, but I loveonions and eggs. Perhaps you will too. It’s easy and fast. You can add smallbits of bacon or ham for an extra interest. Shake a bit of Paprika to the topof the pie for a garnish with parsley. 

I grew up in SouthGeorgia not too far from Vidalia. Although the mild popular brand of sweet onionis named for the small country town, it’s actually the surrounding soil that isthe reason for the tasty veggie. It lacks sulfur which causes the biting tasteof other types. 

Only 20 surroundingcounties may name their onions Vidalia. (Vidalia Act of 1986.) You’d never knowthe difference driving through the area. Just pleasant, rolling country farmland with the occasional roadside stand selling—you guessed it—Vidalia onions.(And Pauline pecans, but that’s a story for another time.)  Now we can buy them most anywhere when inseason. Vidalia onion! Conjures up the tasty memory of a drive-in hamburgerladen with sweet onion and cheese, doesn’t it? With your steady BF, of course. 

This pie is not a good keeper. Serve it warm from the oven.

EGG and VIDALIA PIE 
1 c. saltine or Ritzcrackers, crushed (Club is okay too)¼ c. butter, melted2 ½ c. thinly slicedVidalia onions2 eggs¾ c. milk½ tsp. salt andpepper to taste¼ c. shredded sharpcheesechoppedham, bacon bits, chopped parsley to garnish, optional

Preheat oven 350° F. 

Mix crushed crackerswith melted butter. Pat crackers and butter mixture to form a crust in 8- or9-inch pie plate. Set aside. Sauté sliced onions in butter until opaque notbrowned.  In bowl mix eggs, milk,salt/pepper to taste. Pour over onions. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 45minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Serve hot from the oven in pieslices.  Add thick slices of French breadto round off your breakfast. Orange juice, small glasses of champagne, aselection of jams, will turn this dish into gourmet.

I’m afraid this dishrequires both a couple of y’alls and two Y’alls come backs.

Enjoy!

Here is a little from one of my cozy mystery books under my pseudonym Janis Lane. I hope you enjoy it.

Abby Naycomb, wildlife photographer, found more than scintillating images of the birds of Central Florida. A handsome park ranger turns her world upside down even as a criminal stalker seeks to threaten her life.

Who knew trespassing in the restrictive area of a Florida State Park to get the perfect shot of the sand hill crane family would wind up with Abby Naycomb, wildlife photographer extraordinaire, meeting the most handsome park ranger in the world? Mating/nesting birds were the subject of her quest but finding those intense blue eyes in the lens of her camera was distracting and hormone inciting.

Adam Rawlings, millionaire park ranger, was as shocked as Abby when she accidentally discovered a murdered man buried in a shallow grave in the sand.
Face to face with an exciting relationship with Adam, the perfect man, leaves her no excuse for backing away from a growing intimacy. Vagabond Abby must consider relocating if she wants to continue an invaluable relationship with Adam, the original hometown hero.

Abby struggles as she continues to work deep in the breathtaking wilds of Central Florida while trying to ignore the menace of a serious and threatening stalker. Her task was to reexamine long held premises and prejudices while admiring the southern flora and fauna through the lens of her camera. Bird and nature lovers alert.

SHORT TEASER
Busted in Bird land. Still...what a calendar he would make with that uniform, that smile, those shoulders. She stifled a sigh of pure visual pleasure.

You had better stop it, Miss Smarty. He has the authority to fine and kick you out of the park permanently if he so chooses. Holy Moly-- love a uniformed hunk!

Stoppit!

She stifled a giggle which was riotously rolling around deep inside her, threatening to break out. He continued to loom, gazing thoughtfully while she fidgeted in her warm nest sheltered by the dune. Surrounding them, the sporadic wind blew the smell of something baking in the sun. With her face turned upward and her eyes half-closed against the glare, she awaited her fate. She offered a weak smile while trying to bring into focus his face which was back lit by the bright sunlight. It couldn't hurt, she thought, and tried for puppy dog eyes pleading for mercy.

"Leave this area, and I'll forget your lapse of good manners--this time. Don't let me catch you trespassing on restricted lands again. This is a nature preserve. Visitors may not wander about-- especially during nesting season," he added giving her a stern look. "And that goes for well-meaning, good-looking, lady photographers as well."

BUY LINK
Janis Lane is the penname for gifted author Emma Lane who writes cozy mysteries as Janis, Regency as Emma, and spice as Sunny Lane.

She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.

Look for information about writing and plants on Emma's new website . Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma's face.

Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter . Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest .

A New Publisher, A Rebrand, and Another Chance to Reach Readers…

If you’ve beenfollowing my blog or my social media accounts, you may know that I’ve got tothe end of this year (2025) to find another publisher who would be willing tobreathe new life into my back list, and publish future books. I gave myself thegrace to be sad when I heard the news that my present publisher will no longerbe excepting submissions, and will pare down their promotion and marketing bythe end of 2025. Authors need growth. We also need challenges. So, I decided toshake up my author life, and start the query process early so my books can haveanother chance to reach new readers, and hopefully keep the ones I’ve got.

The thought ofquerying again—after being with my current publisher for ten years—made myteeth itch and body convulse. Augh. But, like anything, it takes some gumptionand a good deal of action to make things happen in your life. I knew I had aslight advantage being in the publishing game for a while, so I reached out toa few of my author friends to see who they were published with, and if I coulduse their name when submitting my query. Since it’s a small world in thisbusiness, I got the green light from friend Regan W.H. Macaulay, and submittedmy Canadian book series to PandamoniumPublishing House based in Ontario, Canada. I made the decision to split upmy two series, TheLast Timekeepers young adult time travel adventures, and MysteriousTales from Fairy Falls teen psychic mysteries because I’ve learned the hardway that you don’t put all your eggs (your books) in one basket (samepublisher) in case they close or go bankrupt. This happens far more often thanyou know, so authors are left scrambling to find another publisher.

This is where miracleshappen. Not a day went by when Pandamonium Publishing House emailed me back toschedule a Zoom meeting with me, and talk about the possibility of signing withthem. The meeting lasted over an hour, and needless to say, they were ready tosign me to publish my two existing books from Mysterious Tales from FairyFalls: Lostand Found, and Blackfliesand Blueberries. Woohoo! They’ll also take on future project in this seriesof five, so it’s nice to find a wonderful home for these books. My two FairyFalls books should be republished by the end of May, and I couldn’t be happierfinding a new home for them.

 If you’re in theprocess of searching for a new publisher, make sure that you look for adifferent
experience than the one you’ve had with your previous publisher.There’s a reason why they closed their doors. Do your due diligence, and seewhat other publishers offer to republish your back list, and take on newsubmissions. For instance, ask if they add extra bonuses at the back of yourbook, like reading guides for teachers or discussions for book clubs. Will theydevelop and execute a promotional campaign, including social media outreach,collaborations, and cross-promotions? What about coordinate tours, authorinterviews, and book signing events? Do they create and distribute promotionalmaterials such as graphics, press releases, and excerpts? Lots to think aboutbefore choosing the right publisher to re-release your book babies. Right?  

That said, it’s been astrange and stressful start to this year with personal and family challenges todeal with, scheduling an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon for my kneereplacement (looks like August or September), and allowing myself to grieve a tragicloss. I look forward to a new author life with a new publisher, and hopefullyconnecting with new readers. If you’re an author, has this circumstance everhappen to you? If you’re a reader, do you follow your favorite authors to theirnew publishing homes? Would love to read your comments. Cheers and thanks fortaking the time to read my blog. I appreciate you!

Take the Chill Out of March with a Perfect Casserole to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day...

The perfect casserole for any occasion, especially holiday feasts like the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. These super scalloped potatoes compliment any main dish your serve at yourtable. Tender potatoes in a creamy onion sauce baked to golden perfection wouldmake any mouth water. Whether you’re serving spiral ham, pork chops, poultry orbeef, this tasty side-dish makes six servings to share with family, friends, orfriends of friends. With a prep time of 25 minutes, cook time of 1 hour and 20minutes, and a rest time of 15 minutes for a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes, you’vegot plenty of time to visit with your company, and enjoy a glass of your favoritelibation. May I suggest a pint of green beer or perhaps a dram of Irish Whiskey? Slainte!

Super Side DishScalloped Potatoes
¼ cup butter1 large onion,diced2 cloves garlic,minced¼ cup flour2 cups milk1 cup chickenbroth½ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon pepper3 pounds of whitepotatoes, sliced about ⅛” thickSalt and pepper totaste

 

Preheat oven to 350°F

Sauce

To make the sauce, melt butter, onion, andgarlic over medium-low heat. Cook until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Addflour and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Reduce heat to low. Combine milk andbroth. Add a small amount at a time whisking to thicken. The mixture willbecome very thick, continue adding a little bit of liquid at a time whiskinguntil smooth.

Once all the liquid has been added, bringto a boil over medium heat while continuing to whisk. Stir in salt and pepperand let boil 1 minute.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place ⅓ ofthe potatoes in the bottom and season with salt and pepper. Pour ⅓ of the creamsauce over top.

Repeat layers ending with cream sauce.Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Uncover and bake for an additional 35-45minutes or until golden brown, and potatoes are tender. Broil for 3-4 minutesto obtain a golden top.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes beforeserving.

This casserole is also a wonderfulside-dish to include at your holiday get-togethers too, making a greatsubstitute for mashed or roast potatoes. Try it. You just might love it! Oncedinner is done, and you’ve got some free time on your hands, why not dig intoyour next read? May I suggest a visit to mysterious Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling reallyadventurous, a trip back in time with TheLast Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, either series willtake you on a journey far, far away from entertaining the masses.

Here’s a glimpseof the premises of both my young adult series:

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…

Chosenby an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keephistory safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past torestore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time.

Children are the keys to our future. And now, children are theonly hope for our past.

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…

Imagine a teenagerpossessing a psychic ability and struggling to cope with its freakish power.There’s no hope for a normal life, and no one who understands. Now, imaginebeing uprooted and forced to live in a small tourist town where nothing muchever happens. It’s bores-ville from the get-go. Until mysterious things start tohappen.

Welcome to Fairy Falls.Expect the unexpected.

TheLast Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:

The LastTimekeepers and the Noble Slave, Book #3

MIRROR WORLDPUBLISHING׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The LastTimekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book #2 BuyLinks:

MIRROR WORLDPUBLISHING׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The LastTimekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book #1 Buy Links:

MIRROR WORLDPUBLISHING׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Legendof the Timekeepers, prequel BuyLinks:

MIRRORWORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES& NOBLE׀

Mysterious Tales from Fairy FallsTeen Psychic Mystery Series:

Lost and Found, Book One Buy Links:

MIRRORWORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES& NOBLE׀

Blackfliesand Blueberries, Book Two BuyLinks:

MIRRORWORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES& NOBLE׀

BONUSES: 

Download the free PDF short story TheTerrible, Mighty Crystal HERE

Download the free PDFwriting resource Tips, Tools  & Tricks for the Tenacious Writer HERE

Book Tour: Beverlee Beaz meets Lowree Louise, the Blue Burmese by Regan W.H. Macaulay...

Mirror World Publishing and Sapphyria's Book Promotions present the 1-week book tour for Beverlee Beaz meets Lowree Louise, the Blue Burmese by Regan W. H. Macaulay

About Beverlee Beaz meets Lowree Louise, the Blue Burmese:

Beverlee Beaz, the brown Burmese, longs to share her creative adventures with someone special. When she meets her new sister, Lowree Louise, the blue Burmese, she knows she has found a true friend with whom to play imagination games…if only she can teach the little kitty how.

Join Beverlee in her latest tale as she mentors her sister in the ways of imagination.

Genre: Children's Picture Book, Fantasy, Adventure
Page Count: 53 pages

Follow the tour for exclusive excerpts, reviews, and spotlights.

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-tour-schedule-beverlee-beaz-meets.html

Exclusive Excerpt:


Purchase Links:
Mirror World Publishing:
https://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com/product/beverlee-beaz-meets-lowree-louise-the-blue-burmese/122
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QDtHXA

Barnes & Noble:

BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beverlee-beaz-meets-lowree-louise-the-blue-burmese-regan-w-h-macaulay/1146857423

Meet the Author:



Regan W. H. Macaulay is a multi-award-winning author of novels, short stories, children’s literature, and scripts. Writing is her passion, but she’s also a producer and director of theatre, film, and television. She is an animal enthusiast as well, which led her to become a Certified Canine and Feline Massage Therapist. Other picture storybooks include Beverlee Beaz the Brown Burmese, Chloe the Unfeathered Parrot, Sloth the Lazy Dragon, Dog Band, Libby the Lobivia Jajoiana, Tamara Turtle’s Life So Far, Merry Myrrh the Christmas Bat, and Mixter Twizzle’s Breakfast. She is also the author of middle grade novel series Peter Little Wing. Her Trilogy of Horrifically Half-baked Ham, which includes Space Zombies! (based on her film), They Suck, and Horror at Terror Creek, is a hilarious homage to B-movies and horror comedy for adult readers. Check out Regan’s feature film, Space Zombies: 13 Months of Brain-Spinning Mayhem!, available on Amazon Prime and DVD.
Meet the Artist:



Wei Lu is an illustrator and graphic designer. She has loved books, cartoons, and fantasy stories since she was a kid. She grew up in China before studying at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. After moving to Toronto, she worked as a graphic designer for three years, but her passion for drawing kept growing. After she illustrated her first book for a children's book author, she realized working with authors to make their characters and stories come alive brought her so much joy and fulfillment. Now she is a freelance illustrator working with authors from Canada and the US to create more great stories for children.
Connect:
Author Website:https://www.reganwhmacaulay.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/regan.macaulay/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reganw.h.macaulay/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reganmacaulay

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regan-macaulay-18989a34/

Amazon Profile: https://amzn.to/41wILMB

Publisher Website:
http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com

Author in the Kitchen: Tasty Spiral Cookies and a Chilling Romantic Suspense by Tina Griffith...

Iused to make these Pinwheels for my kids when they were in elementary school.  The recipe is pretty easy and quiteversatile.  By that I mean, you canflavor and add color to both layers. Example: add cinnamon or almond flavoring to the chocolate dough, andadd peppermint flavoring and pink food coloring to the white one.  Can you imagine eating a purple and greenspiral cookie on somebody’s birthday?  Orhow about a black and orange cookie on Halloween? 

Andjust before you put them in the oven, you can also top them with sprinkles,candy shapes, or just plain sugar.  Useyour imagination to make the most interesting of cookies for any holiday orcelebration, because experimenting is part of the fun with this dough. 

e Grama Tina’s Spiral Cookies f

¾ cup of softened butter1 cup of white sugar1 large egg2 teaspoons of vanilla2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour½ teaspoon of baking powdercocoa powder, peanut butter or Nutella - optionalrainbow sprinkles or candy shapes - optional5 drops of food coloring - red, yellow, pink, orange,black - optional1 teaspoon of cinnamon, almond, or nutmeg - optional3 or 4 drops of flavoring - peppermint, lemon, etc. - optional
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Lay parchment paper on 2 large cookiesheets or grease well.  

In large bowl, beat butter withsugar until fluffy.  Then beat in the eggand vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour with baking powder. Add to butter mixture in 2additions, stirring until it becomes a soft dough.

Divide dough in half.  Add cocoa powder (and/or cinnamon, peanut butter, Nutella, or mintflavoring).  Mix and set aside.  Now move to the other ball of dough.  Leave this white and add mint or a cinnamonflavoring or any flavoring you like and coloring. Remember - both the colors and flavors should gotogether well. 

Roll each ball out flat, and then place one on top of theother.  Take one end and slowly rollthis up into a log.  Length-wise or width-wise determines how large your cookies will be. 

Once you’ve completed rolling the dough,wrap it in plastic and place in the refrigerator until chilled.  This could take up to 2 hours, but you canleave it in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

When you’re ready to bake, take the log out and removethe plastic covering.  Beginning at oneend, slice the cookies about ¼” thick and place them on the prepared cookie sheets.  

Bake forabout 10 minutes – you want them to be a lovely golden brown.  Let cool and serve. 

**HINT - using a piece of thread instead of aknife, makes it easier to cut the dough.

The chill is in the air and all things that go bump in the night are about to happen. Time to curl up with a good romantic thriller by Tina Griffith.

On Hallow’s Eve, as the veil between the two worlds was thinning, the face of the full moon was lit up like a Christmas tree. The dead would soon come alive, the alive would dress up as the dead, and witchcraft had a way of piggybacking off other spells. This was the ideal night to be a witch, for the effectiveness of all incantations, divinations, and other avenues of magic, was perfect.

Jayla is a clever witch, who had been cursed in her teens by her friend, Ophelia. Since then, she has had to retrieve dark souls from shrewd men in order to survive. While she has taken hundreds of souls in her lifetime, this story is about her trying to take the one which belongs to Roger Casem – the man she accidentally fell in love with.

Could she kill him, as she had done with the others? If she wanted to continue living, she must. But today, when his eyes skimmed her body with unbelievable passion, she began to recognize her own needs. As she blushed and turned her face away from him, Jayla did the only thing she could.

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Tina Griffith, who also wrote twenty-seven children's books as Tina Ruiz, was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school.

After her husband of 25 years passed away, she wrote romance novels to keep the love inside her heart. Tina now has eleven romance novels on Amazon, and while all of them have undertones of a love story, they are different genres; murder, mystery, whimsical, witches, ghosts, suspense, adventure, and her sister's scary biography.

Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children's Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her second husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children's books or intriguing romance.

Stay connected with Tina (Griffith) Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out .

Guest Post: An Ode to Robert Frost and a Winter Anthology by Regency Author Emma Lane...

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. At this time of the year his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening warms me and makes me long for spring. I hope you enjoy the poem and my short inserts.

Whosewoods these are I think I know.       

His houseis in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

Hegives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easywind and downy flake.

 

Acknowledge we all long for warmerweather. In the depths of winter with no hope as yet for spring, we assess theyear’s past.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

Take stock. What plan worked; what was a dismal failure.

Mylittle horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake       
The darkest evening of the year.

Taxes loom, but not yet as the spring catalogs have startedto arrive. For this household, it’s time to plan, to dream, to make notes, tocheck budgets. While the snow whirls and the winds blow, the photographs of newvarieties of plants sparkle on the brightly colored pages and wish lists growdown the page. 

Out my window I see long whips of forsythia, budsprotruding, waiting for the first peep of spring breezes. I feel a slight thumpof adrenalin race through my veins. Am I already behind on my paperwork? Hardwinter, after all, lasts only a few weeks. I finish the last stanza of myfavorite poet, Robert Frost. He was an avid nature lover as am I. Best ignorethose dark, snowy mornings and get to work. The upcoming warm breezes aresirens of temptation and I’ll want to be outside and doing soon.

Thewoods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Here's a peek at Emma's winter anthology for your reading pleasure.

A Wild Wicked Duke
After a cruel family betrayal, Caroline Engelson vows the wicked duke will never regain her love unless he first earns her respect, no matter how fervently she longs for his kisses.

A serious accident delivers the wicked duke into Caro’s care, but she is shocked and hurt when he refers to her teen years as the ‘brat with tangled curls.’ Caro is all grown up now when the wicked duke tries to take advantage of her emotions, even as he turns the orderly household into total chaos with his ducal roars. To his astonishment, his best friend’s sister is made of sterner stuff. The situation changes drastically when Caro learns of a shocking family secret.

A Duke Finds Love
Young love is disrupted and the couple parted, but their unsympathetic parents fail to extinguish the strong bond between the two.

Roseland, left pregnant by the duke’s son, weds a neighbor, mistaking that her lover has been forced to marry another. A war and five years later, the two face a second chance, but despite their deep love for one another, impediments must be faced before happily ever after will be theirs at long last.

Beloved Soldier Returns
A wounded British soldier faces amnesia and frustrating dreams but is finally well enough to reclaim his fiancée and his heritage when a gypsy woman arrives to share an important secret.

Robert Cooper-Hanton, a soldier who fought against Napoleon at Waterloo, is seriously wounded and suffers amnesia but survives in a gypsy camp for three years. Pockets of memory are still missing, leaving him with dreams of people with no names, when he makes the decision to begin his journey home. He has no conscious remembrance of a fiancée he left behind but is not surprised to learn that a cousin has usurped his property. When neighborhood friends reveal the fact of his engagement to Lynda Clarington, his memory of her returns in a flash and he recognizes the woman of his dreams.

Lynda had struggled without much success to accept her loss and is overjoyed to learn that Cooper is alive. She has loved him since childhood, but can she adjust to a man who seems irrevocably changed? When a gypsy woman shows up searching for Cooper, Lynda is plagued with doubt. Will Cooper manage to reunite with his old life and the woman he loves, or will he remain lost in his hazy memories, dreams and a changed reality?

Dark Domino
Sarah Louise and Ethan have loved each other all their lives, but a war and time apart may have jeopardized their relationship.

Ethan has been away at war for six long years—without a single letter to the young girl he left behind. He is certain she has forgotten him, but he is still drawn to her. Dressed for a masquerade in a dark domino, he leads her to the garden and tries to steal a kiss. Sarah does not know why the man in the dark domino is so familiar, and why a stranger should give her a feeling of home. When Ethan reveals his identity, Sarah’s anger and hurt overwhelm even her love. Can a new life be built on the foundations of a first love? Or will the Dark Domino remain alone forever?
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Emma Lane lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous color. 
Emma is a gifted author who writes under several pennames. She writes Regency Romance as Emma Lane, but also delights in dipping into a Contemporary Cozy Romantic Mystery as Janis Lane.
Her day job is working with flowers at the plant nursery where she is part owner. Look for information about writing and plants on her new website . Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma's face. Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter .

 

 

 

A Recipe and a Read: A Famous Ukrainian Dish and a Time Travel Romance by Author Stella May...

Borscht is themost famous Ukrainian dish. It is kind of a sour soup common for EasternEurope. It is low on calories, full of vitamins and minerals, and can be servedhot or cold. And you can keep it in your refrigerator for several days. Theflavor will only improve. Serve crusty rye bread and butter to complete aterrific dinner or lunch.

There areliterally hundreds of different recipes for borscht. Here is my family’sfavorite version. I hope you like it too.

BORSCHT

1 medium carrot, thinlysliced1 bell pepper, thinlysliced (optional)2 medium potatoes, cutinto small cubes1 celery stalk, diced(optional)1 can diced tomatoes,drained5 cups low-sodiumchicken broth or vegetable stock3 bay leaves2 tbsp. fresh dill,minced, or 1 tsp. dried2 medium beets, washed, peeled and shredded1 small head cabbage,thinly slicedsalt/ pepper to tastedill for servingsour cream for serving 

Arrangethe ingredients listed above through the fresh dill into a large pot and bringto a boil.

Reducethe heat, add beets and cabbage. Let simmer until the vegetables are tender.Stir occasionally.

Whenthe soup is almost done, add salt and pepper.

Servewith additional dill and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Here is a little from my latest time travel romance for your reading pleasure.

Theonly way to save their future is risk a journey back to her past.

Timeis running out. The message rings in Abby Coleman’s head as clear as the chimeof the grandfather clock, her time portal on Amelia Island.Her instincts scream that she must move. Act. But where? And why? 

Throughshe leaped forward a century in time to live an independent life, she reluctantlyadmits she needs Alex, the insufferable thorn in her side who had the audacityto make her hope. Dream. Yearn.

Alexis through waiting for Abby to come to her senses. And to his completesurprise, the maddening, beautiful woman admits she loves him. Yet to hiseverlasting frustration, she refuses to marry until she solves her mystery. 

In ablinding flash of light, the portal spits out a desperate, heavily pregnantNika, and the reason becomes all too clear. With Abby missing from her owntime, Elistands accused of her murder. The only way to clear his name is for Abby to gowhere Alex can’t follow—back through the portal. Andone passionate night together may be all they’ll ever have.

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Talented author Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website. 
Stella writes fantasy romance as well as time travel romance. She is the author of 'Till Time Do Us Part, Book 1 in her Upon a Time series, and the stand-alone book Rhapsody in Dreams. Love and family are two cornerstones of her stories and life. Stella’s books are available in e-book and paperback through all major vendors.
When not writing, Stella enjoys classical music, reading, and long walks along the ocean. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband Leo of 35 years and their son George. They are her two best friends and are all partners in their family business.

Follow Stella on her website and blog Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.