UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Pruett!
*~*~*

As I start typing, I can tell this is going to be a meandering post. Sorry—not sorry.

I had a good night’s sleep. I’ve had my first cup of coffee. I’ve been reflecting that the summer is off to a good start. The kids have activities lined up. Opportunities for earnings (special chores). I have little fetch-and-carriers who can run up and down the stairs so I don’t have to as I work away at my desk. The pool is gradually getting clearer. (We added clarifier last night, so hopefully, the last of the fogginess will dissipate.) We want to be able to see the snakes.

Anyway, we’re finding our summer groove. One thing we love to do is watch movies, whether in the theater or at home. Usually, in the summer we limit our ventures to the theater to once a month, if that. It’s so dang expensive to take six people to the theater! But to kick off the first week of summer, this past Thursday, we drove the 45 minutes to a neighboring city to catch the movie If. The kids and I loved it. My daughter and SIL complained that it wasn’t as crazy/zany as they would’ve liked. Yes, I cried too many times during the second half of the movie, but I couldn’t help it. Folks reuniting with their imaginary friends… Who wouldn’t want to live that? When I watch a movie, I’m in the movie. It’s my experience, too.

Yesterday, the 15 and 10 year-olds joined me in my living area to watch Interstellar. I’ve made it a goal this summer to watch every Christopher Nolan movie, and since the 15-year-old and I are the only ones in the house who LOVED last year’s Oppenheimer (the others thought it was too long, too boring–what!?), but she was as riveted as I was, so she and I have committed to watching CN movies this summer together. I hadn’t seen Interstellar since it originally came out, so I’d forgotten a lot about it. The three of us (even the 10-year-old) were again riveted.

Aside from my stated goal of watching every Chris Nolan movie ever made this summer, months ago, I bought a poster I adhered to my bedroom door—one of those “100 Greatest Movies Ever Made” things. It’s a big scratch-off list, and I’ve decided I am going to force myself to watch every movie on the list, and hopefully, find some company in the house to do it with me, too. I worry the kids are too fixated on their phones or TikToks and need a little film history education. So, I scratched off the first one—Shawshank Redemption. My dd and the 15-year-old watched it with me. Great movie, just not one I would want to repeat because admittedly my favorite genres are Sci-Fi, action, and comedy. Next up on the list is The Dark Knight—which will kill two birds with one stone—it’s a Chris Nolan flick!

So, that was my long meander. Sorry (not!). For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me whether you ever had an imaginary friend when you were a child.

UPDATE: The winner is…Natalie!
*~*~*

May

 

Work-related:

1. I revised four of my Delta Heat series stories and published three of them: Five Ways ‘Til Sunday, Fournicopia, A Perfect Trifecta.
2. I began writing Cyrus, which is presently scheduled for release on June 25!
3. I completed 6 editing projects for other authors in May.
4. I found art for my upcoming, soon-to-be-revised Delta Fire series, as well as art for Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, coming at the end of July.

Health-related:

1. I saw my doctor for a checkup. The bloodwork came back with many improvements! My blood pressure is under control. I still have areas requiring attention.
2. I spent half of the month with my knee still causing me problems, but it appears to have healed. Just in time for the pool!
3. I am paying more attention to what I put in my mouth. (That doesn’t mean I’m making better decisions!)

Happiness-related: 

1. The kids are out of school, and we’ve already put dates on the calendar for activities. The 10-year-old is learning to crochet this summer and has archery classes. The 15-year-old will be taking guitar lessons. We took the entire family to see If in the theaters.
2. I continued working on the #the100dayproject art challenge but more sporadically as my day job (writing/editing) got more hectic.
3. I attended a two-day papermaking workshop!
4. Here are some examples of art projects I completed in May:

June

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete writing Cyrus, the first of my new MBH in Yellowstone series, and which is scheduled for release June 25th.
2. To complete 5 editing projects in June!
3. To set up the pre-order and edit the stories in the upcoming collection—Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology!
4. To finish revising and prepare for publication the last books in my erotic romance series, Delta Heat. I’ll republish two of the stories in June: Twice the Bang and Once is Never Enough.
5. To find cover art and set up pre-orders for my Delta Fire series. Three books will be revised for republication and the fourth will be written in July!

For health related, I plan:

1. To swim in my pool every day! (Weather permitting!) Exercise on my recumbent bike when I can’t swim.
2. To start back on my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s time to get serious!
3. To reduce salt and processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas) and my liver (apple cider vinegar, flax seeds, sunflower seeds).
4. To take my BP every day and log it!
5. To have follow-up medical appointments, routine/annual things.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To finish #the100daychallenge. Just 10 pieces to go!
2. To spend time with the family—movies and pool—now that school is out!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in June…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Stacey Kinzebach!
*~*~*

Just a quick note before we begin… Our pool has been a sore spot. Usually, we’re swimming by the end of April. It’s taken weeks to rid it of algae. Well, yesterday, the pool was finally blue (teal, really), but still cloudy, and we decided what the heck? We swam!!!! Well, the cloudiness made things extra interesting because as we splashed and swam, a snake popped up to the surface to join us! My SIL was quick with the net and flung it into the grass. The thing was a baby water moccasin. So, since the pool is still cloudy today, we decided we’d head to the movie theater 45 minutes away today. We’re going to take the fam to see If! Maybe it will be clearer after we return (we’re going to a matinee). We’ll see. We’re impatient. And I’ll rub a brush over the bottom and smack the water a lot just in case. Being joined by a snake for our first dip does seem like an omen… 🙂

Anyway, onto the contest!

As a way to solve my book-hoarding problem and make room in my bookshelves, I’m continuing my Clear My Bookshelf Giveaway! I have a ton of my books, collected over my 20 years of publishing. So, rather than consign them to the burn barrel (which makes my heart hurt!) I thought maybe a bunch of giveaways would be fun. As the first giveaway garnered a lot of interest, I’m happy to offer more opportunities for readers to win a signed copy of one of my old books! The first winner of the first contest is…Sharon Coomes! (Sharon, I’ll be in touch with you today!)

So, for a chance to win a randomly chosen by me (I might say, do you want a western, an erotic novel, or a paranormal?) book, which I will of course sign and fill with a bookmark and a postcard, painted by me, tell me whether you love going to the movies!

UPDATE: The winner is…BN!
*~*~*

Do pioneers think to themselves, “I want to be first” or does becoming a first happen because they choose not to accept limitations? I believe the latter was the case for Mary Jane Patterson.

Mary Jane was born enslaved September 12, 1840, in North Carolina. After her father gained his freedom, he took the family to Oberlin, Ohio, in the mid-1850s. There, Mary Jane completed preparatory coursework at Oberlin College in 1857. She then enrolled in their four-year program of classical studies for men instead of the two-year course of study for women. She was not the first African American woman to graduate from a college, but this made her the first African American woman documented to have received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1862. She graduated with high honors in 1862 and gave a graduation address on the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Think of it. She does this while the Civil War is raging.

After graduation, she moved to Philadelphia and taught at Fanny Jackson Coppin’s Institute for Colored Youth. In 1869, she moved to Washington D.C. and taught at the Preparatory High School for Negroes. In 1871, she became their first colored principal and, except for one year when she served as assistant principal, held the position until 1884 when she resigned but continued to teach. During her tenure, the school grew from less than 50 to 172 students.

Like many African American women of her era, Mary Jane gave time and money to community organizations which focused on uplifting the race. Her involvement in women’s rights led her to help found the Colored Women’s League of Washington, D.C.

In Hallie Q. Brown’s Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction published in 1926, Mary Jane is described as one who “blazed a trail that many have followed and will follow, ever choosing the highest and hardest courses and ever overcoming.” She died at the age of 54 on September 24, 1894.

So once again I wonder if pioneers consciously decide “I want to be the first” or do they have a natural determination that just makes it so? I’d love to hear what you think. For a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card share your response in the comments.

One Breath Away by Michal Scott

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. She’s never been courted, cuddled or spooned, and now no man could want her, not when sexual satisfaction comes only with the thought of asphyxiation. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Excerpt:

“Why, Miss Hamilton, I do believe you ‘re blushing.” His fingers held hers with a teasing yet possessive grip.

“I am not.” Her words shot out with a force she hadn’t intended. “I mean I don’t blush.”

“No?” A cheeky boyishness winked at her from eyes as dark as chocolate. He leaned down so his breath tickled her earlobe. “Not even if I kissed you behind your ear?”

She shrank back then stared up into the gaze showering her with attention. Her heart beat beneath her breast with a prisoner’s unease. An unease she knew well having once been a prisoner.

“You—you wouldn’t.”

His smile widened into a grin. “Only because I don’t want to embarrass you.”

The amusement in his voice coaxed forth a wet response that Mary clenched her vaginal muscles to stem. She swallowed repeatedly until she found her voice.

“You still haven’t answered me, sir. Of all the women here, why did you pick me?”

“Why not you?”

She blinked. Why not her? The answers swirled through her mind as easily as she and Eban swirled in this waltz.

Why not her?

Because she remained planted among the wallflowers by the time the musicians played the last song at every Safe Haven dance. Because she learned to hang back at the call of “Ladies’ Choice,” forewarned of rejection by the grimaces caused by her approach.

Because unlike desperate-for-a-man Felicity, Mary refused to dance on her back in some dark field just so she wouldn’t be a woman who ain’t been asked.

Ain’t been asked to court.

Ain’t been asked to spoon.

Ain’t been asked to the altar.

And never would be.

*~*~*

Buylink: https://amzn.to/2u5XQYY

UPDATE: The winner is…Eileen McCall!
*~*~*

Last night, we experienced heavy thunderstorms. I thought for sure we’d lose power at some point, but we were lucky. Today, it’s still stormy outside, and the forecast is for more rain and storms over the next few days.

So, the pool is not in my forecast.

It’s sad, but today and tomorrow, I’m taking a papermaking workshop. I’ll be in the art center, staying dry. And learning something new. I’ll take pictures. Like I need a new artistic skill, but you’re never too old to learn something new.

With a heavy workload this week, I fell off the wagon of producing a new piece of art every day. I’ve been writing on my new story and have tons of editing gigs. I finished up two of those the past couple of days, so I have a little breathing room. Not much. And the workshop cuts into my schedule, but hey, I jumped at the opportunity. So what if I have to put my real work on the back burner for a weekend. I’m ready to have fun. And again, since the pool isn’t an option…

So, that’s what my weekend looks like. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what you have to look forward to this weekend!

UPDATE: The winner is…BN!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for letting me visit today.  I’m here to share another charity anthology (big surprise), but this is not like my other ones.  Deity Bound: A God and Goddesses Paranormal Anthology is about, well, gods and goddesses.  Norse, Greek, Indian…gay, straight, lesbian…we’ve got it all!  And proceeds for Breast Cancer Research, no less.

When I signed up, I had no idea what I was going to write.  Often, I don’t.  Another writer was contemplating doing a Native American god, so I knocked the Canadian version off my list.  I have an Aussie friend and I asked about their Aboriginal gods.  My friend, though, had a different idea.  She asked me for a trait that could be either a negative or a positive.  I was like…?  Uh, stubbornness.  I related it back to myself.  I’m stubborn in that I never give up with my writing.  Okay, sounds great—I never abandon a story—I finish everything.  Except, sometimes, there are projects that should be abandoned.  They’re not working.  They’re taking up too much brain space for little or no reward.  While I was contemplating this, she took to Googling.

Enter Pertinacia—the goddess of, essentially, stubbornness.  Daughter of Nix, Granddaughter of Chaos, sister to Chronos and a bunch of other gods.  Nix really got around (good for her!).  Anyway, my Aussie friend and I (I call her the plot whisperer) came up with a story set in North Vancouver, Canada, and involved Pertinacia being knocked out of time by Chronos and sent to a park on Earth in 2024.

From there, I flew with writing my story.  I had Dani, a woman who’d just had her heart broken by her long-term girlfriend.  I had Pertinacia the demigoddess.  And, for fun, Pertinacia’s family came to visit.  I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the closest to a rom-com that I’d ever written.  My beta readers and editor love it.  I’m hoping readers will as well.  All that from stubbornness.  Who knew!?!?

As a gift, I’d like to give one commenter a $5 Amazon Gift Card.  Is there a God or Goddess whose story you’d like to see?  Or a favorite movie?  I saw Hercules as a child and Medusa still gives me nightmares.  Comment and you might randomly win!  Thanks again, Delilah!

Deity Bound

Eternity breaks the smallest souls, but a god will never be ruined…except perhaps by the one who holds their heart.

The one who can rip at their soul or soothe it because it was always theirs.

But after an eternity alone, can a god give back the love given them, or wreak havoc upon a mortal’s soul?

Read the best USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors in a spicy gods and goddesses collection for charity curated by The New Romance Cafe, with all proceeds going to the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.

Authors:
Chele MacCabe
Francis Black
Lily Kindall
V.V. Strange
Katey Tattrie
Niki Brazen
TL Hamilton
Emmy Dee
Cecelia Conway
Jane Poller
Kataya Moon
Alexa Santi
Nicole Sondelle
Cameron J Quinn
Serafina Jax
Michaela Brent
Mikayla Rand
Tati B. Alvarez
Raven Hush
Kathleen Ryder
Niki Trento
Sonja Flowers
Ariel Dawn
Kathia Iblis
Christine Ashworth
Annee Jones
Gabbi Grey
Glori Medina

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

 

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/TNRC2024DeityBound
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Deity-Bound-Goddesses-Paranormal-Collection-ebook/dp/B0C7NXZWCP
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176294379-deity-bound

Deity Bound features my story, My Fair Goddess.

In the ominous light of the coming storm, the disheveled petite woman I rescued seemed helpless and in need of protection. Big miscalculation. Tina’s a demigoddess—a pint-sized powerhouse stranded in the twenty-first century—but far from a damsel in distress. Still, first impressions linger, and I can’t be in awe of someone I taught to use a toaster and to make microwave popcorn. I’m falling hard for her when her grandfather, the god of chaos, demands her return. Can our love and courage stand up to the old gods, or will we lose each other to an ancient land and powers I can barely understand?

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

UPDATE: The winner is…Deborah Brown!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday! There’s one more week ahead of getting kids up early for school, then we can ease into lazy mornings! I can’t wait. But it’s not today. Too much to do. So many pages to edit!! Enjoy the puzzle!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me something about the couple you see here. Why are they there? Does their setting cause some issues? Can they breathe? Have fun with it.