J.J. Devine's Blog, page 51

Wednesday Weekly Check-In

Good evening, everyone!!!

 

Welcome back to Wednesday Weekly Check-in. It has been an interesting week. I knew at some point things would level off and I would slow down on losing, it happens to all of us. Well, I reached this point. I still lost, but it was ounces not pounds, but I inched my way down another two pounds after all was said and done J So I’m good with this. One more pound to go and I’ll be down by ten J

 

I’m getting better at going up to my office to use the walking machine, which is a plus J We’ve had some rainy days as of late, but hubby and I did manage to get in a bike ride and a friend and neighbor and I also rode one day last week with the promise we need to do this more often. Hubby and I also took both male furbies for a walk, our female furbie is a bit older and doesn’t take long distance walks anymore.

 

I think the key to all of this is to get up and get moving more often. I’ve always been a firm believer in, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

 

I’m sad to say though I am trying to bounce back from a bit of stress that started this week off. I was way down on my calorie counts for a few days and hopefully I’m getting back on track. I will let you know how that works out at next week’s check in. I will say though, at least I didn’t head straight for the junk food so I guess that’s a plus.

 

I will say this lifestyle change is really helping me to open my eyes to a good many aspects of my life in general. It is helping me to redirect my focus on what is important in my life. I realize I need to worry less, stress way less, and focus where I need to without allowing outside distractions. I’ve asked a couple of people to ‘check me’ when I go to trying to fix problems I don’t create, because the truth of the matter is ‘fixing things’ is my nature and I need to go against this nature from here on out. Why, because I am allowing it to be my procrastination crutch and this is bad for me.

 

So, I guess all in all it has been a good week. I’m still friends with myfitnesspal, which is a good thing J I’m getting up and around more instead of always sitting behind the computer, which is another good thing. My goal for this next week is to not only set exercise goals and keep them, or eating goals and keep those too, but also set strong writing goals and focus focus focus on those. I am seeking a new balance over the course of this next week, something long overdue. So wish me luck!!!

 

Everyone have a lovely evening!!!

 

Blessings to all!!!

Romance Writers Weekly presents...

Welcome back to Romance Writers Weekly!!! This week Ronnie Allen http://ronnieallennovel.com/blog/ would like to know the them in our novels, recurring or in one, that sends a message about an issue in society to help people. Was it developed by us intentionally or did it evolve through characters and plot?




I would have to say unintentionally (at first) I’ve written heroines who have to overcome something in each of my stories.

 

When I was a young girl I formed my own ideas on prejudice, then when I began writing one things I knew for certain that I wanted in my historical romance series was making the reader fall in love with both sides of a very highly prejudice time, Whites and Indians. By the final book I want take my readers into a very well-known battle but by that time my readers will be in love with both sides of the coin.

 

What came from this idea is making each heroine in my stories have to overcome something. In The Cheyenne Bride, my heroine, Nichole (White Deer to the Cheyenne) longs for acceptance of just being herself, a half white/half Cheyenne woman who longs to be loved for just that, not one half of who she is or hated for her other half.

 

In Destiny’s Price, Destiny comes from long term abuse and even though the story is novel length, the message to readers is overcoming and learning to live beyond the abuse, something in reality that takes a lot longer to overcome.

 

In Into the Darkness my readers are taken on a story of inner growth through the eyes of my characters the reader will find my heroine, Raven, come into herself. Even though the rape scene of this story is behind closed doors, it is a vital part of Raven learning that even as an immortal (a very powerful one at that) bad things still happen and it is through rising up from your own ashes you can shine again and become a stronger person.

As a victim of childhood abuse it is highly important for me to show others of abuse that regardless you are not your abuse, you are who you rise above it to become. It took me a good many years to rise above all that happened to me, but today I’m in a better place and if I can help someone else rise above their abuse, then it is a day well spent.




Now let’s hop over and see what Fiona Riplee has in store for us…

 

http://fionariplee.com/blog

Wednesday's Weekly Check-In

Good afternoon, everyone!!!

Welcome back to Wednesday’s Weekly Check-In J All in all this has been a week of insanity, pouting, pushing, firm ‘get down to business, woman’ talks, and in the end it was worth it.

I forced myself up those stairs every day (minus Saturday and Sunday this week) to walk the treadmill each day to burn off at least 185 calories a day. Hey, I get calorie points for going up and down those stairs every day too J Monday night I began getting those calories bumped off at 188 calories per walk each night J So yes, I’m improving.

I’m down a total of seven pounds since May 22nd J So that in my book is a huge plus for all of this.

How am I liking myfitnesspal? I’m actually loving it. I’ve learned to be a bit more cautious about what calories look like in food. Meaning, I am more aware that everything that I pick up to eat has a calorie intake J

I’ve also learned to use my resources. I’m not just talking about computer and phone resources, but those people who are on similar journey’s as my own. People who are willing to help me talk it out when I’m in a slump or offer helpful advice, or even smack that donut out of my hand if I need it LOL.

I’ve added more fruit to my diet along with measuring everything I eat to help me learn proper portion sizes. Something I added to my daily intake was some amazing water. I took regular tap water, added lemon slices, lime slices, and cucumber slices to it, put it all in a gallon jug and stuck it in the fridge. Oh my word!!! Now don’t faint those who know me well enough to know sweet tea is something I will never give up as long as I live, but this water I even like better than sweet tea. In fact, it has me drinking more water each and every day. The warmer the day the more water I take in. I even had one day last week where I only drank my mug of sweet tea at work, didn’t even have my morning coffee, and drank this water the rest of the day.

I’m averaging about a half a gallon a day with the hopes of increasing this to a gallon a day before summer is in full force.

I’m also pushing the mark on days off trying to get a few of the exercise equipment things I own in, such as my exercise bike and weights along with the treadmill. I’m also trying to work in either walking one of the dogs, a walk, or a bike ride each day that I don’t work until late at night or work long hours for that day.

Now the downside to all of this. Because I am not treating it like a diet but a lifestyle change, the thought that this is for life has occurred to me numerous times over the course of the last week. So, yes, there are days I ask myself, “Is this worth it?” “Do you want to still be doing this a year from now?” “What about five years from now?”

When I weigh the options I would have to say yes it’s worth it, yes, I will still be working on this a year from now. Maybe in a different manner because at that point I will have hopefully reached my ultimate goal by then, made this eating correct portions a routine, and the rest won’t be so ‘make myself do it.’

Now mind you this has not been an easy week by any means. Yes, I still want those yummy donuts people bring up to the register each day. Every day when I think of going up those stairs to get on that treadmill I try to find a way NOT to do it. The whole first lap I’m bitching. The second lap, well, I’m still bitching. By the third lap I’m telling myself, “You could quit after this lap.” By the fourth I’m telling myself, “You got this, keep going.” By the fifth, it’s all about the finish line, the calorie goal and the fat calorie goal J

Yes, I still want a big bowl of ice cream covered in peanuts and chocolate syrup. Yes, I would love to down a soda instead of water, or go grab a sandwich at the local Arby’s instead of cooking the evening meal or measuring my portions for my breakfast or lunch. But that defeats the purpose of getting healthy and staying healthy, so I change things up a bit and tell myself no.

What I’ve learned about myself through this past week is that I can do this. I may not want to. I may complain, bitch, and moan, but all in all it is something I want not something I feel I have to do. I have revisited the ‘why’ of why I’m doing this and realize that I cannot live with being so depressed and down on myself. I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from hard work. If it was easy it wouldn’t be so memorable and there would not be any sense of accomplishment.

One thing I am famous for is never taking the easy way out of things. I knew when I kicked the healthy way of life to the curb it would cause issues in the long run. At that time my mind frame was not in a good place and that ‘I don’t care’ attitude had taken control of my life. The real fact is I do care about being that person who can get out and play with the grandchildren, not just sit and watch them. I do care about being active and when I am carrying more weight than I should be, active is not in my vocabulary.

I know my chosen career of being an author keeps me idle in a chair more often than another career choice. I know that growing older slows down the process of the metabolism. I know that if I am going to stay within my healthy range of things I need to be more proactive. I need to get up and get moving and be mindful of what I take into my body, giving myself more brain food. I also need to be more mindful of my spiritual health. Walking every day helps keep me in tune with that aspect of life. It gives me time to reflect.

So this is it for my first week and a half. I’ll check in next week and let you know where we stand J

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!

Romance Writers Weekly presents...

Welcome back to Romance Writers Weekly!!! This week it is all about Flash Fiction and let me just say as a personal friend of Fiona Riplee http://fionariplee.com/blog , this week’s words really had my brain going in a million different directions J So join the authors of Romance Writers Weekly as we explore Flash Fiction stories containing the words, hammer, chisel, and coping saw. So here’s mine and no I didn’t take it in the direction of an ID tv direction as my youngest son suggested J

“Why?” Carrie asked under her breath. Of all the places in this town he could walk in, why did he have to show up in her shop?

“How can I help you?” she asked, busying herself putting away her coping saw before wiping the sawdust from the work counter.

“It’s been a long time.” His voice hadn’t changed in twenty years. It was still deeply seductive and unnerving.

“Yes, it has.” Hold yourself together, she thought, reaching for the hammer and chisel, wiping each tool before placing them back in the drawer. “Is there something special you’re looking for? I have plenty of pieces ready for sale over on the sales floor.” She pointed to the area of her little woodworking business set up with ready to go items.

Justin looked briefly in the direction she pointed, then brought those electric blue eyes back to hers. “I always knew you’d make something of your artistic side.”

Carrie swallowed the lump in her throat. Why did he have to show up now? When her life was a wreck, her business on the verge of collapse, and nothing seemed to be going right. Why couldn’t he have showed back up when things had been going great? When she could have shoved her success into his smug face.

“What brings you back to this part of the world?” Carrie asked.

He’d thought nothing of walking out on her twenty years ago when she was head-over-ass in love with him, ready to give up her whole life if he had just said the word. Instead, he just up and left, in the middle of the night like some thief.

“You,” the deep baritone of his voice vibrated in her soul.




Well that’s it for me, let’s hop on over and see what Carrie Elks has in store for us!!!

http://carrieelks.com/blog/

Welcome to my journey...

Good afternoon, everyone!!!

I decided I would blog today about what’s been going on in my world lately. Hopefully I will maintain at least once a week blogging on my progress. This is my goal anyway.

Last week I went to my doctor. As most of you know the course of the last couple of years I’ve had a few issues, one they took my thyroid out, then the hysterectomy that threw me right into menopause, and then most recently blockage in my heart that suddenly just vanished.

Well, I decided during my walk yesterday to start from the beginning of this up and down roller coaster and start blogging weekly on the progress of this latest venture.

Back when the doc was concerned I had thyroid cancer, they removed my entire thyroid, which now requires me to be on a medication to make my body believe I still have a thyroid. As I prepared to go for surgery, I overheard a couple of ladies who were ‘friends’ making the comment, “Now she’ll get fat,” both laughing and really cutting me to the core because first of all these ladies I considered friends, secondly, I’ve always been mindful of my weight and as a personal preference I don’t like to hold extra pounds at my age.

I’ll address the first aspect of this to start with. If you are someone’s friend please be mindful of the words you think you’re saying behind their back, because voices do travel and when someone is possibly facing the BIG C, it is scary regardless if the surgery will take care of the problem.

Second, the reason I stay mindful of my weight is because our family history of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes is very high. Sure these things can happen regardless BUT my line of thinking is, as I grow older I have to be mindful of what makes my body work and what doesn’t to give it the best chance possible even ‘if’ these things occur.

I did fine after the thyroid surgery, maintained my weight, keep up a good daily routine, kept active, and just kept moving forward.

Then the hysterectomy came and went and this is where my problems started. I had a LOT of bleeding after and the doctor and nurses would tell me, “If you’re still bleeding it means you’re doing too much.” Well, to me I wasn’t doing much of anything so this made no sense, but it contributed to this downward spiral that I firmly believe contributed to my heart issue this past winter.

I put on way too much weight for my build. I became depressed. I hated feeling this way. So, finally after packing on 40+ pounds over the course of two years I kept telling myself I needed to do something. So I would diet and not even lose a pound. After two weeks I would get more discouraged, more depressed, and just more and more angry.

So when at the doctor last week I told her my dilemma, because frankly I was at the end of my rope. It was either be happy with the extra weight and reserve to the fact that this was not good for my health but I couldn’t do anything about it, or find out what my doctor could do to help me.

So, for the next six weeks I am doing something to help me be mindful of my calories and exercise. I’m recording everything on an app for my phone called myfitnesspal. I’m getting serious about my health and finding new ways to increase exercise and cut down on calorie intake each day.

She started me on 1400 calories a day with the hope of losing five pounds over the course of this six weeks. What I like about this is I can eat what I want I just have to stay mindful of the calories I take in and record everything. What I wouldn’t advise is doing a program like this without first talking to your doctor.

See I had this app installed on my phone, I had my calorie count too low for me and never even knew. I was going by what the app told me I should have not my doctor. I also had no idea how to use the app properly, which fortunately, my doctor’s nurse had used this in the past and knew how to explain it to me.

Since I am watching cholesterol I try to stick close to low fat foods and since I don’t have a thyroid I need low fat, high protein/high fiber diet. I’m spending this first week getting used to the app, putting more variety of exercise into my daily routine, and finding creative ways to work in my downtime seeing as I need to be at the computer so many hours a day for writing purposes.

Today is my first day off work since going on this plan, so I am really trying to find ways to get me out of the chair and up doing something more often than spending hours at a time typing away J I’ll let you know next week how that goes J

Since beginning this plan, I’ve already lost the five pounds she wants me to lose in six weeks J So that feels good and is an incentive to keep me pushing forward. I feel like I have more energy, but today, for some reason I am feeling a bit down. I’m not real sure what that is about, but am hoping to combat that with a bit of exercise on the treadmill here in a little while. Plus I decided maybe completing the trim painting in my entry way will help increase a sense of accomplishment which will combat this down-in-the-dumps feeling.

After I put the second coat on here in another twenty-five minutes, then I’ll hit the treadmill and add some weights to my routine today since I won’t be lifting any heavy boxes at work today J

Hubby also picked me up a new RED bike the other day while I was at work. So I’ve been trying to add a bit of bike riding in my daily routine just to get a different exercise in each day also. We all know how much I love red J

Now for why I thought I should share this journey with you. Number one reason is another way to help hold me accountable. See I need that push or I will slack. If I know I have to do something I’ll do it, if I’m given free reign well, let’s just say I can talk myself out of anything under the sun for sure.

The second reason I’m sharing is because I know I’m not the only one out there who is like this. I also know I’m not the only one who’s had friends who would love to see them ‘plump out’ or struggle and have no issue talking about it behind your back.

Yes, I was that ‘skinny’ girl in the past. I was that girl who didn’t have to worry about what I ate or how much exercise I got in each day. You know the girl people would love to see get ‘fat’ for a change. Well, news flash, that was when I was twenty. Everyone has issues one way or the other where weight is concerned. I don’t want to be that twenty year old who weighed 95 pounds soaking wet. Today, my concern is being healthy, inside and out.

Today I am happy with meat on my bones, because it was fine when I was young to be a bit underweight, but these days, it is better for me to be at the right weight for my age and height. It is best for me to be mindful of what is best to keep me in good health and active to be able to be the grandmother I want to be. That’s means, get off my backside and play J

Do I have all the answers? Does my doctor have all the answers? Will this work? I know for me it is a guessing game. I just follow what I need to do and one thing I know for certain it is not a diet but a lifestyle change that needs to happen for me. I need to make new routines and be mindful of what I take into my body.

No you won’t see this old girl going completely off meat for any reason. I love meat too much J No, you won’t see me buy into some of the latest fads, because that’s not who I am either.

You will see me procrastinate, because frankly, I know I’m good at it J You will see me work toward changing my lifestyle, because for me that is the only thing that works. How do I know this? Because several years back I went through this very thing. Two years of working hard at changing up my lifestyle was blow to hell when I gave up. It’s that plain and simple.

I threw out the window everything I had worked so hard for. Two years it took me to reach my goal weight. I maintained it for five years. Then just like that, I said, the hell with it. Now look at where I am today. Back then I had a thyroid and it was easier to see results. Today, I don’t have one and I find it all too easy to give up after a week or two of no results.

So welcome back to my journey. My goal is to take off ten pounds in six months and maintain it for the other six months. In this six month period I also want to change up what foods I eat each day, practice a better exercise program to keep active in my daily routine (regardless of time of year seeing as I live in Indiana), and work toward a healthier mind frame.

Wish me luck J

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!

 

Romance Writers Weekly presents...

Welcome back to Romance Writers Weekly!!! This week Jeanne McDonald https://authorjeannemcdonald.wordpress.com/ wants us to answer a few questions for you. So I guess I should get right to it J




Describe that moment you first felt like a true author (not just an aspiring one).

Hmmmm, let’s see. I could say the day I received my first contract. Or I could say signing three contracts in the same year. But really, those were just highlight moments for me in this business.

I guess you could say I felt like a true author when people I didn’t know started recognizing my books and talking about them in front of me to a fellow author, who of course introduced them to me immediately.

For me, slaving over a computer, pounding out the words to a story, getting the story contracted, then published out into the world, is all pretty amazing stuff. But I always just feel like that ordinary person who gets up each day, hangs out on facebook a bit, gets the grandchildren off to school, clean house, go to work, sit down and write more stories. Then to have people you’ve never met either come up to you, email you, or facebook you and talk about how much they enjoyed your works, it really puts a twist on this every day woman’s life. I call this time my fifteen minutes of fame J




Name three authors who inspire you.

I have so many who inspire me but I will try to pick just three. I will say first would be LaNora Mangano. There are many reasons this lady inspires me, her dedication, her drive, and her ability to get me off my ass. She’s a personal friend and fellow author and for all she’s gone through and how she keeps pushing the mark forward I am always in awe of her.




Second, I would say would be the author who wrote the very first romance novel I ever read, A Warrior’s Heart by Margaret Moore. I fell in love with her warrior’s series and from the first moment I picked up her book and lost an entire afternoon reading it from beginning to end, I was hooked on historical romance. It was Margaret’s style as well as Suzanne Barclay’s that inspired me to write series novels. I read every book either of these two ladies wrote all the while my own novels were brewing in my head J




Third, would have to be Morgan Wyatt. This woman is also a personal friend who is so dedicated to her writing that it is just inspiring. She pushes the mark each and every day and continues producing books in the manner in which I hope to one day do. She gets herself out there both online and in the real world and still finds time to write some amazing novels.




Describe your favorite fan moment (either you as the fan or one of your readers approaching you as a fan).

Of course every author loves to hear someone else talk about their books J I think my very first time will always be something I will remember. I was at a First Friday event and on the table with a collection of the different authors’ books I had placed some of my postcards with my book cover on them. As we were meeting and greeting different people as they walked by, a couple of ladies were walking through, seen my postcards, and stopped. They started talking to an author friend of mine, who said something along the lines of, “This right here is J.J. Devine.”

They went on and on about how much their mother loved The Cheyenne Bride and of course this made me feel fabulous J It was just so cool to have people recognize my cover and even though they hadn’t read it, they knew all about it J I’m hopeful that they went home and picked up a copy J



Well that’s it for me today, let’s hop on over and see what Victoria Barbour has in store for us.

http://victoriabarbour.com/blog

Keep moving forward...

Good morning, everyone!!!

I hope this day finds all of you having a good day. It has been dreary here the last few days and much cooler than it was, which is definitely affecting my mood. Not cool, but I have to snap out of it. So the decision was made, by me, to give myself a bit of a spa morning.

I’ve neglected those in the last year or so and I really don’t have a clue as to why I stopped doing them. They are so good to recharge your inner batteries.

So this morning I’ve begun with a hot oil treatment for my hair and a facial. Then will move onto a nice meditative bath, no lights, just incense burning and most likely my favorite Native American music playing in the background to help ground me.

I sat down last night and wrote out my writing schedule for the next few months. I came to the conclusion last evening I HAVE to make some changes otherwise I’m going to really lose it. I’ve allowed too much time to go into worrying over a situation I have no control over. A situation that having empath tendencies isn’t a good thing. So, it is either give myself an ulcer with worry and holding my breath until the outcome presents itself, or be satisfied with the warnings I’ve given and move on in my life and just let things happen.

This is not an easy task for me but I know in my heart it is a lesson I am to learn in this life. So, how do I handle this lesson, but redirecting my focus, which I intend to do.

Yes, I went as far as to look up how to go off the grid yesterday. But really disappearing from life isn’t the answer as inviting as it is J There is just some times in this life one gets tired of being the one people count on to fix things. Then I realized, if I always fix the problem after I’ve given ample warning, then those depending on me to fix it never learn. So I have to take a backseat to this particular situation and let them fix it themselves.

There’s a fine line between being supportive and sticking to your guns. This will definitely be a balancing act for me for sure. But one I can manage if I redirect my focus into something productive.

So starting today, I will be putting my energy to good use, pampering myself when I need to, and revamping not only my inner world but my outer one as well.

The outcome I’ve seen coming for the bad situation is not a good one. I hate being a visionary sometimes. However, the lesson I’m to learn from this one is the harshest lesson I’ve had to learn thus far in life… sit back and let it happen.

Everyone have a lovely day!!!

Blessings to all!!!

Romance Writers Weekly presents...

 

Welcome back to Romance Writers Weekly!!! This week it is all about the Flash Fiction. Fiona Riplee http://fionariplee.com/blog would like us to give you 500 words or less using the following items: an empty parking lot, an abandoned SUV, and a Chihuahua sitting in the driver’s seat. I’m going to say this could get interesting J

So here it goes:

Erui Madison gripped the hilt of her sword a bit tighter. Why these particular demons chose to do combat in the abandoned parking lots that peppered this rundown little town was beyond her? Normally, she fought demons on their own turf, overgrown fields, old dilapidated buildings, and cemeteries seemed to be their favorite battlefields.

Her ears perked at the sound of children playing at the nearby park. Where were their parents? Didn’t they realize the danger they were potentially in? This band of demons seemed to attack more during the light of day than under the cover of darkness.

Making her way toward the playground, movement in a neglected SUV caught her attention. Damn demons, Erui thought as she clutched her sword a little more forceful. She glanced toward the children at play. None of them seemed to notice the potential danger that lurked just feet from where they frolicked.

“Humans,” she huffed.

Cautiously, she made her way toward the SUV, grouching low, sword ready, she came up the passenger side of the vehicle. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the door handle with her free hand, ready to strike with her sword hand.

Heart pounding, she ripped the door open.

“Yip.” The weakened bark of a tiny Chihuahua sitting in the driver’s seat brought an unsettled laugh from her throat.

Soon she was surrounded by children.

“Awe, can we pet it?” one little girl asked.

“We shouldn’t, it might have rabies,” an older boy chimed in.

Erui reached into the vehicle, scooping up the pup. “I think he’s okay, just a bit scared.”

She handed the little dog to the first girl, who eagerly clutched the trembling dog to her chest as the other four children surrounded her.

“You children shouldn’t be out here alone. Where are your parents?”

“They are preparing for the battle at sunset,” the older boy informed her.

“The battle at sunset?” Erui looked at the boy who could be no older than ten.

“Yes, the one where they return our leader to us.”

“Your leader?”

What an odd statement, considering it was these children’s parents who’d ask her to come here to save them from the evil that destroyed their streets.




That’s it for me, let’s see what Jeana Mann has in store for us…

http://jeanaemann.net

I hate when the fun ends...

Good evening, everyone!!!

I am sad to say retreat is over L I am happy to say it was a great success J I’ve said it more times than I can count how good it is if you are planning on becoming or are an author to get together with other authors.

There was ten of us throughout the weekend, not all at the same time, but at one point or another over the course of the weekend. We all stayed in the Slumber Party room of the house we rented for the weekend J

We had a writing room where we spent a good portion of our time.  We enjoyed a fantastic speaker on Saturday morning, an evening out on the town Saturday evening, and lots of fun in between.

I hated to see the weekend come to a close, but as most good things it must J I think mainly the reason I hate to see it end is because I enjoy the company of these wonderful ladies so much. We all just click when it comes to writing.

One thing I walked away with that I really hadn’t noticed before was we’ve all spent a good deal of time together over the course of several years now. We’ve walked the writing path with one another and it is amazing to see where each of us are today compared to where we were all those years ago. If you sit back and listen to each person talk about their writing, you realize the wheels of progress have taken place.

I’m so thrilled to be in the company of so many talented people, but best of all, I am glad to call each of them friend.

We gained three new members to our chapter this weekend. Bringing us closer to our goal of full affiliation with our National mother. We’ve set in motion a fantastic group of stories for an anthology we were going to release in June but have now decided to hold off until August due to a couple more stories to be added J We’re in the process now of getting the cover made and soon will have teasers for all of you to enjoy J

I have to say all in all I consider this weekend a huge success for us. It was our first retreat as a chapter and to have so many join us for our special weekend was quite wonderful.

We’ve voted to remain using this quaint farmhouse as our retreat location until we outgrow it because it was just so perfect for our needs. I have to say also I really love the compliments that have come our way after all the hard work our membership has put into making this chapter a writing home for all of us. It proves to me we are succeeding in our vision one step at a time.

Everyone have a lovely night!!!

Blessings to all!!!

Romance Writers Weekly presents...

Welcome back to Romance Writers Weekly!!! This week we’re doing interviews. Thanks to Xio Axelrod http://xioaxelrod.com/ who has provided us with five questions to ask one of our characters this week. This could get a bit interesting. J




Today I will be interviewing Skyler Davis from Jessie’s Revenge.

Welcome, Skyler, it’s great having you here today.

Thank you, J.J., it’s been awhile since we last talked.

Xio, wanted us to do interviews today so I hope you don’t mind answering a few questions for me today.

I’d be happy too.

What is your favorite word?

***sly grin*** that’s an easy one, Jessie. I have always loved the way her name has sounded when I say it.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

Well, as it was pointed out to me I was still a child when this happened, but I would say the night I first kissed Jessie under the full moon, next to the lake on the Bar D. I knew right then and there I would marry that girl one day.

Before the chaos of Jake Connors and his men brought down on our worlds, every summer Jessie’s family and mine would picnic up by the lake. She and I grew up together, got into mischief, and that particular summer I saw her for the first time as the woman she was becoming.

After her family was murdered, I even purposed to her, but she turned me down flat. I never thought I’d see her again after she moved back to Boston with her uncle.

What is one thing in your past you wish you could do differently?

***distant darkness clouding his face***

I would say one thing I would do differently is I would . . .

***clears his throat***

I would have manned up more after our parents died and helped Chris a bit more. That was a hard time for our family, then to lose the ranch to those bastards and almost lose Nichole . . . Jessie’s family . . .

It was a hard time for all of us and I guess maybe I could have been of more help is all.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

It helped us become the men we needed to be, I guess you could say. All of us, Chris, Stephen, Sam, and myself. I  don’t even think Anna or Lizzie would be the women they are today if we hadn’t gone through what we did.

Vanilla or chocolate?

***mischievous grin*** anything sweet my sister-in-law, Nichole, makes is good with me. That’s how she won me over when she came to our ranch. Hell, she even managed to get me to bathe once a week with her promise of cookies on bath night

If you could have lunch with one famous person (alive or not) who would it be and why?

He may not be famous to anyone else, but to our family he was legendary. It would have to be my pa. I miss his ever constant advice that I once thought to be overbearing. I would give anything to be able to sit down with him one more time and pester him with the million questions that come to mind not only about ranching, but those concerning marriage and children. Like how can I become the father he was to me and my siblings. Or what do I do when Jessie is on a rampage and I only wish to bring comfort and peace back to her life.

Thank you so much, Skyler, for joining me today. I can’t wait to get back to you and Jessie’s story.

You’re very welcome. Don’t keep putting us off, we have some exciting things going on in our story you don’t want to miss ;)




Well that’s it for me today!!! Let’s hop on over to Betty Bolte and see who she’s interviewing today J

http://www.bettybolte.com/blog.htm