This was the excitement in our little town yesterday. A black bear showed up at the courthouse/jail then took a tour, winding up in a tree next to this law office. The local PD (including my SIL) had to use yellow tape to keep the public back. There was no letting the bear wander away on its own because…people. So, game and fish brought a tranq gun out to dart the bear and take him to a remote spot to release him. There were some lovely pictures of him up in the tree, but I can’t share them because I worry about copyright. This pic was so widely shared, I didn’t see the harm…
Anyway, back to today’s fun.
Because he was so lovely, and it was so exciting watching the posts on FB all day, the puzzle is a bear! Enjoy it!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, what exciting interaction with wildlife has happened where you are?
So, I’ve been writing for some time now—since January 2000, actually. My sister, Elle James, and I made a New Millennium resolution that we were going to become writers. I’d say we kicked that New Year’s resolution’s ass.
I published my first book with Ellora’s Cave. Remember them? They were publishing erotic romance when traditional publishers wouldn’t. When they went out of business, I moved to Samhain. There, I wrote a series of BDSM books. The series title was Delta Heat, about a group of Memphis PD cops who were very…sharing. They are erotic romances. After Samhain closed its doors, I published the series through Entangled. Now, I have the rights back. I’ll be revising them and republishing them very, very soon. Here’s the cover for the first story.
So, if you love a sexy book with kink and alpha male heroes, watch this space.
So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, my question to you today is…do you like erotic romance? Or do you prefer something like my less-sexy bounty hunters and SEALs?
Forgive the meme above. I usually have my dd make them, but in my enthusiasm for this holiday, I thought I’d give it a shot. It kind of sucks.
Today is a celebration of the Batman comic book hero! I was a huge fan of the original Batman TV series back in the day. I loved the spoofy comedy, the over-the-top plots and acting. I loved all the “Holy Batman” exhortations from Robin and the “Boom” and “Pow” words that would flash across the screen. It was just great rollicking fun. The comic books were great, too, with so many more villains than they ever tackled in the show.
For a chance to win a pen my dd and the 10-year-old made yesterday (yes, they write quite well!), solve the puzzle, then tell me whether you’ve ever been a Batman fan—whether of the OG series, the comics, or the movies. If you love the movies, who is your favorite Batman?
I completed work on Tyson’s Mission, my next Brotherhood Protectors book & it was published! (Thank you to everyone who bought the book!)
I completed reading short stories for inclusion in my upcoming Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. Plus, I made the selections. We have a roster!
I completed 5 editing projects for other authors in April.
I found art and set up the pre-order for my upcoming book, Cyrus.
Health-related:
I haven’t done well taking care of myself this month. I ate too many salty, fatty foods and didn’t monitor my blood pressure!
I injured my knee and spent much of the month with either a brace on my knee or leaning on a cane. Thankfully, the past couple of days, it’s been so much better.
The only good thing I did was drinking one cup of Turmeric tea a day and upping my water intake.
Happiness-related:
I continued working on the #the100dayproject art challenge.
Here are some examples of art projects I completed in April:
May
For work-related, I plan:
To write most of Cyrus, the first of my new MBH in Yellowstone series, and which will release in June.
To complete 4 editing projects in April!
To edit the stories in the upcoming collection—Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! I’ll also find cover art for the book and begin work on the Collections website with the book’s information.
To revise and prepare for publication the books in my erotic romance series, Delta Heat. I’ll republish three of the stories in May.
For health related, I plan:
To start back on my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s time to get serious! I HAVE to get back in the saddle!
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).
To begin daily workouts using my recumbent bike and some chair yoga exercises now that my knee is cooperating.
To take my BP every day and log it!
I’ll get the pool ready and hopefully begin swimming before the end of the month!
For happiness-related, I plan:
To continue #the100daychallenge where I’ll be painting something every single day!
To spend time with the family—movies and pool—once school lets 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 May…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Last night, while storms were raging outside, I settled into bed. I was thinking about the people my family has lost.
My daughter and I were caregivers of our elderly family members during their last days. We cared for my grandmother in 2018—she was 98 and simply faded away. My father passed in 2019 due to heart and diabetes issues. My mother died from pancreatic cancer very, very quickly in 2020. We were happy to care for them. Proud we did such a good job, too, keeping them comfortable and easing their way from this world surrounded by love and family.
They lived long, fulfilled lives. You can’t hope for more. Still, I miss them deeply. I think about them often. I live in the last home they all resided in. My family is here with me. I say all this not because I’m sad, but because I treasure the fact we’re that kind of family—kind, caring, respectful, loving. I was thinking about them when I ran across this song. I’d heard it before but really hadn’t listened to it.
If you’ve followed me for very long, you know I love rock and heavy metal, and that my favorite heavy metal band is Disturbed. I’ve love them since I first heard “Down with the Sickness” which released back in 2000—so, I’m a long-time fan. Their music is powerful. The lead vocalist’s voice is, IMO, the best of any rocker out there right now. If you haven’t listened to his cover of “Sound of Silence,” you just have to. The first time my oldest granddaughter heard it, she outright cried.
This song, “Hold on to the Memories,” is another ballad. It’s not the kind of thing they’re known for, but it shows their range and their heart. I love everything about it—how they come to together as family to celebrate the memories of the ones they’ve lost. Give it a listen. Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me a song that hits you “in the feels” when you’re thinking about lost loved ones.
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I often talk about my nostalgia for old sci-fi TV shows—the ones I grew up with—and I forgot about one until I saw the image I’m using for today’s puzzle contest. Before Scott Bakula’s Quantum Leap, there was another TV show that trapped a pair of scientists, moving from one horrible situation to another. I ADORED The Time Tunnel, starring that yummy James Darren from the silly 60s beach movies. Can you imagine how thrilled I was when he popped up as lounge singer Vic Fontaine in a holodeck program in Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine?
Now, I have to go find the series to binge. Luckily, it was only two seasons long, and I remember it didn’t hold a candle to Star Trek, but I had plenty of daydreams where I was James Darren’s fellow scientist arriving in pivotal moments in time…
Anyway, I had to share that very short video, even if it’s grainy as hell. On to the contest!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what’s at the end of that tunnel! Have fun!
First, big thanks to Delilah Devlin for hosting my visit today! I love being able to chat with readers—some who know my work well and some who haven’t read my books yet. Hello to you all!
I’m Heather Slade, author of shamelessly sexy, edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense.
What seems like eons ago, I gave myself the gift of writing a book for my birthday. It was a milestone celebration (shh, I turned fifty). This came after years spent in the publishing industry editing other authors’ manuscripts.
On the plane ride back to Colorado, after a trip “home” to a village in Western New York called East Aurora, I decided I had a story to tell. My husband, amazing guy that he is, said, “Go for it, honey,” when I told him my plan. Six weeks later, my first book was finished. Now, I’m working on number sixty-three.
The joy for me is in the storytelling. I love it when characters lead me in directions I never thought they’d go, or when my brain conjures a plot twist when I least expect it.
That was true with Code Name: Puck, a book that releases TODAY! If you read my reviews, I’m known for neck-snapping twists and turns and boy did Puck and Seshat deliver! You can read more about their story in the blurb below.
Another thing I’m known for is characters from past books showing up in current releases. Everything for me began in a place called Butler Ranch, which is now responsible for nine spin-off series. Beloved characters from my very first books still make guest appearances in my current titles.
For a chance to win a digital copy of the Butler Ranch Boxed Set (all five books), tell me what tropes you love best. For me, enemies to lovers and friends to lovers are my favs. What are yours?
And, thanks again to Delilah for having me. Happy reading, everyone!
About Code Name: Puck
A tortured man.
A redemptive man.
Puck is desperate and driven—
a man to be watched.
As an MI5 agent assigned to the UK’s task force of the United Nations Coalition Against Human Trafficking, I’ve walked a fine line between right and wrong—always making sure to do what’s necessary for the greater good. Kidnapping my commander for help is no exception. I do what needs to be done.
But when I discover that the woman who captured my heart is still alive and in danger, I need all the help I can recruit to save my beloved Seshat. With the full-force of the coalition and SIS searching for her, we have to be stealthy and quick. Time is of the essence. Seshat’s secrets and past are riddled with enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy her and her future happiness.
And now that I know the truth about everything, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. Can I save the only woman who matters before it’s too late?
USA Today and Amazon Top 15 Bestselling Author Heather Slade writes shamelessly sexy, edge-of-your seat romantic suspense. She gave herself the gift of writing a book for her own birthday one year. Sixty-plus books later (and counting), she’s having the time of her life. The women Slade writes are self-confident, strong, with wills of their own, and hearts as big as the Colorado sky. The men are sublimely sexy, seductive alphas who rise to the challenge of capturing the sweet soul of a woman whose heart they’ll hold in the palm of their hand forever. Add in a couple of neck-snapping twists and turns, a page-turning mystery, and a swoon-worthy HEA, and you’ll be holding one of her books in your hands.
