UPDATE: The winner is…Stacy Hartley!
*~*~*

I’ve had tons of fun writing stories within Elle James’s Brotherhood Protectors world. At the moment, I’m working on wrapping up my next entry, Tyson’s Mission, which will be released on the 23rd of this month! Have you pre-ordered your copy?

And since I’m buried in writing the story, which is taking me away from a lot of fun stuff like family time, painting, and bingeing Andromeda, I thought today would be fun to reacquaint you with the stories I’ve written within that HUGE series of books—at least the ones I’ve written. Today, I’m highlighting the one that released just last October. I’m not even sure where the idea came from to write a story about a team of scientists dealing with a murder in their midst atop an ice floe in the Artic Ocean, but someone had to do it, right?

Gunn’s Mission

After surviving a catastrophic helicopter accident that left him scarred and unable to continue serving on the Teams, former Navy SEAL Gunnar “Gunn” Nielson is settling into life as a Brotherhood Protector in the Yellowstone, Montana, office.

When a request from the U.S. government arrives for a protection detail for someone with extensive cold-weather experience, Gunn, born and raised in Minnesota, is tapped for the job. He soon discovers that he will be the lone protector for a group of scientists working at a research facility on a floating island in the Arctic Ocean.

After discovering that one of her team members was murdered, Facility Chief Maddie Russo is grateful for Gunn’s expertise. Thinking the murder might have been committed by someone trying to interfere with a military-sponsored study, she and Gunn have to keep her team safe as the work continues.

Maddie and Gunn grow closer as the weather turns colder and the threats to the facility and its inhabitants continue.

Read an excerpt and order a copy here!

All the Brotherhood Protectors stories I’ve written, so far…

Click on the covers to learn more about them!

 

Contest

For a chance to win one of the stories shown above, tell me whether you’ve read any of these, and what settings/worlds you prefer!

UPDATE: The winner is…Ellen!
*~*~*

This morning, in the rush to get kids ready for school, the 15-year-old came to me in a panic because today is picture day and she needed a shirt ironed. It hit me (yeah, sometimes, I’m kind of slow) that I’m the only person in the house who knows how to iron clothes.

It gets worse. My daughter doesn’t buy clothing that has to be ironed. If she sees something she likes, a shirt, for example, she won’t buy it if she thinks she can’t wash and dry and then immediately hang it to avoid ironing it.

I remember being ten and being given a huge garbage bag filled with clothing, sheets (even T-shirts) that had been sprayed with water and rolled into tight balls, which I would take out one at a time and iron. I hated ironing, but the skill came in handy when I was in the Army, because at the time, you had to iron your fatigues or pay to have them laundered for you.

Today, there’s not a person in our 6-person household, other than me, who knows that to create steam you have to add water to the hole on the top of the iron. I feel like a failure as a mother and grandmother. It’s a survival skill just like learning to cook, which thankfully, the kids have learned to do.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you have an ironing board and iron that you use. Or is there another “lost art” that today’s generation has forgotten?

Open Contests

1. Happy World Storytelling Day! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. What makes you happy? (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
3. A Reminder for Your Weekend Enjoyment! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Animals in a Boat — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Josephine Silone Yates – Another Undaunted Pioneer (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Word Search: Colors of Paint (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Easter Stories (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What I’m bingeing now… — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. Happy Easter & March Into April (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Jackie Wisherd!
*~*~*

Before I get started with the end of month rundown,
Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

March

Work-related:

1. I completed work on What Happens in Bozeman (Book #3 of We Are Dead Horse, MT) and published it!
2. I began work on Tyson’s Mission, my next Brotherhood Protectors book!
3. I continued to read short stories for inclusion in my upcoming Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.
4. I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in March.

Health-related:

1. 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!
2. My sleep suffered this month, likely because of diet and lack of exercise.
3. The only good thing I did was drinking one cup of Turmeric tea a day.

Happiness-related: 

1. I continued working on the #the100dayproject art challenge.
2. Here are some examples of art projects I completed in March.

April

 

1. To complete writing Tyson’s Mission, my next Brotherhood Protectors, book, which releases on April 23rd!
2. To complete 4 editing projects in March!
3. To finish reading and selecting stories from among the submissions for the upcoming collection—Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology!

For health related, I plan:

1. To start back on my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s time to get serious! I HAVE to get back in the saddle!
2. 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).
3. To begin daily workouts using my recumbent bike and some chair yoga exercises.
4. To take my BP every day and log it!

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To continue #the100daychallenge where I’ll be painting something every single day!
2. To spend time with extended family during the ECLIPSE!

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 April…

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Jean White!
*~*~*

I’m late posting today because I’m not managing my time well.

I’ve been…distracted. After finishing up work on What Happens in Bozeman, my brain decided it wanted a rest from creating. I’m fighting it. I’ve already started the next story, and I will keep to schedule, but I’ve been dragging my feet.

What I really, really, really want to do is spend a week bingeing some fun Sci-Fi. I’m a Star Trek girl. However, while I’m waiting for new episodes of Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds to drop, I’ve been searching for another fix. I began Seaquest—which, by the way, is dreadful—and only have two episodes left to suffer through. Why did I continue watching when it’s so bad? Because I started it, and I hate not finishing what I start, whether it makes sense or not. A personality flaw, I know.

Last night, I googled “shows to watch if you love Star Trek, and Andromeda popped up in the list of many, many shows I’ve already streamed. Yes, Kevin Sorbo is the main character, but I will overlook that annoyance because it’s a Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek‘s creator!) project—and there are five seasons to gorge on! I was in bed when I reviewed the list. Then I googled “how to stream” and discovered it was FREE on Amazon Prime, so I clicked the link and watched on my phone (which I NEVER do). I didn’t go to sleep until I’d watched the first three episodes, which kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. It’s decent. It certainly caught my attention, and it’s different enough from Star Trek, and yet alike, that I’m definitely not bored.

But it does mean I’m dragging ass today when I have a mile-long list of things to accomplish today. So, onto my first priority—this blog. 🙂

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve watched Andromeda. Or tell me another Sci-Fi show (not Star Trek, not Farscape, not Firefly/Serenity, not Seaquest, not Star Wars) that I ought to check out after I binge my through Andromeda. Have a great Saturday and enjoy the puzzle!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pamela!
*~*~*

Yes, I know. Easter is on Sunday. However, Sunday’s post will be respectful…

So, I wanted to tell a story about something that happened one Easter morning to the Devlin family. Several years ago, when the kids were smaller and my daughter’s family lived across the road, I rushed over in the early morning to help set out the baskets. All went well. The kids woke up and were thrilled with their gifts and candy. Then they headed outside to play while the adults enjoyed coffee. A few minutes later, the youngest child ran back inside, sobbing.

“The Easter Bunny died. He’s dead!”

We all rushed out to see what she was talking about. The long driveway leading to their house was gravel and dirt (we live in the country!). So, when it rained, whereever the gravel wasn’t thick, small mudholes would form. The boy-child was standing beside one of the small muddy potholes with a stick, dragging something from a mudhole. It was a dead rabbit—a large dead rabbit—so covered in mud it looked like a giant chocolate-covered bunny. Yes, of all the days for it to happen, a bunny had croaked and fallen into a pothole on Easter morning!

We had to assure them all it wasn’t the real Easter Bunny and that the “real” one would be back next year.

That’s my Easter story. It’s famous in our family. My daughter and son have another from their childhood, but that’s for another time…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me an Easter story or tell me what your family’s practice is/was, if you celebrate Easter.

UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Jo!
*~*~*

Sometimes, I struggle for themes for puzzles. Today, I didn’t have to look far for an idea. I have three bottles of ink sitting on my desktop with the most interesting color names: Chicken Coop (which is a rusty color), Robin’s Egg (the teal blue), and Parrotfish Twinkle (the green). I experimented with those three inks last night to produce the bookmark above.

I had those ridiculously named colors then opened a palette I put together myself with some of my favorite Daniel Smith watercolors (all D.S., except for the ochre and the pale green) to come up with the rest of the colors for the puzzle. They’re ones I’ve been using the most often lately.

So, for the contest… For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what fancy-named colors you love. (Okay, so I don’t care if it’s a fancy name or not.)

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

It never ceases to amaze me how the African American women of the 19^th century did not allow societal limitations to keep them from pursuing and obtaining their dreams. Josephine Silone Yates is another of them. Born in 1859 in New York on Long Island in Suffolk County, by the time Josephine Silone Yates died in 1912 she had been a professor, a writer, a public speaker, an activist, and the first African American woman to head a college science department. Many of the works written on her life focus not only on her work as a pioneering African American female chemist but also as an advocate for early care and education for young African American children.

She attended several schools in her youth and didn’t allow the fact that she was often the only African American student keep her from excelling. At a young age, Josephine showed an aptitude for physiology and physics. By the time she attended the Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island, her science teacher was so impressed that he allowed her to do chemistry labs. She graduated from Rogers in 1877 as her class’s valedictorian. Her teachers urged her to go on to university, but she chose the path of teaching instead. In 1879, she graduated from the Rhode Island State Normal School and became the first African American certified to teach in that state’s public schools.

She moved to Jefferson Missouri to teach at Lincoln University either in 1879 or 1881, depending on your sources. There she taught chemistry, botany, drawing, elocution, and English literature. She was promoted to the head of Lincoln’s natural Sciences department in 1886, making her the first African American woman to head a college science department. This also made her the first African American woman to be a full professor at any college or university in the United States. All the while she was teaching, she wrote newspaper and magazine articles under the penname R.K. Potter. By 1900, she was publishing poetry, too.

When she married William Ward Yates in 1889, she resigned from her university position, moved to Kansas City with her husband, and had two children. While he served as a principal there, she blossomed as an activist. Like many African American women of her time, she became active in the African American Women’s Club movement. She helped found the Women’s League of Kansas City in 1893. When the League joined the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), Josephine served in various offices from 1897 to 1901. She promoted the establishment of kindergartens and day nurseries through the NACW to help prepare African American children for a post-emancipation society where they would not be taught to be subservient second-class citizens.

Lincoln University asked Josephine to return in 1902 to head their English and history department. She did this until 1908 when she offered to resign because of ill health. Her resignation was refused, so she remained as an advisor to women until 1910. She continued championing education and advancement for African American women, helping to found the first African American Young Women’s Christian Association in Kansas City a year before she died.

Looking back on women like Josephine I am inspired by how their drive stems from wanting as many people as possible to benefit from their accomplishments. I hope someday the same can be said of me.

For a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card, share your thoughts in the comments.

Better To Marry Than To Burn by Michal Scott

Wife Wanted: Marital relations as necessary. Love not required nor sought…

A bridal lottery seems the height of foolishness to ex-slave Caesar King, but his refusal to participate in the town council’s scheme places him in a bind. He has to get married to avoid paying a high residence fine or leave the Texas territory. After losing his wife in childbirth, Caesar isn’t ready for romance. A woman looking for a fresh start without any emotional strings is what he needs.

Queen Esther Payne, a freeborn black from Philadelphia, has been threatened by her family for her forward-thinking, independent ways. Her family insists she marry. Her escape comes in the form of an ad. If she must marry, it will be on her terms. But her first meeting with the sinfully hot farmer proves an exciting tussle of wills that stirs her physically, intellectually, and emotionally.

In the battle of sexual one-upmanship that ensues, both Caesar and Queen discover surrender can be as fulfilling as triumph.

Excerpt:

Queen Esther Payne arrived at noon on September fourteenth and proved to be a paragon indeed.

Caesar gawked at the copper-toned Amazon who emerged from the stagecoach like royalty descending from a throne.

Queen. Her name definitely suited. Only Cleopatra could have fit better. Maybe Sheba.

The afternoon sunlight crowned her with rays of gold. Kinky black ringlets covered her head, declaring she had a Nubian pride befitting the woman he’d want to wed. She used her bonnet to fan away dirt dusted up by the stagecoach’s departure. Her twisting and turning revealed an hourglass waist above curvaceous hips.

At his approach, her eyebrow curved over a gaze brimming with criticism. “Caesar King?”

He removed his hat and extended his hand in greeting. “At your service, Queen.”

She donned her hat and examined him with that regal air. “Miss Payne, if you please. You may call me Queen after the nuptials.” She finished tying her hat’s long ribbons beneath her chin. “Although, even then, I’d prefer Mrs. King.”

“You don’t say?” He chuckled, taking her measure from head to foot. “Well, Miss Payne it is…for now.”

She filled her face with a frown. “I don’t appreciate being examined like some newly purchased cow, Mr. King.”

He pulled back. Amusement wrestled with annoyance. “I’m making sure you measure up, Miss Payne.”

“Pray, to what criteria?” She shoved her valise against his chest. Caesar grunted, surprised but pleased by her strength.

She crossed her arms, causing her lovely bosom to swell. “I doubt there’s a standard for marriages of convenience.”

He inhaled against the pull of desire throbbing in his privates. “The same criteria as you, I suspect—my own self-worth and what I deserve.” He dropped the bag at her feet. “So, by that token, I don’t appreciate being treated like some fetch-and- carry boy.”

She lowered her gaze. But for the set of her jaw, he’d have taken the gesture for an apology.

He leaned forward and whispered, “If you ask me nicely, I’d gladly carry your bag.”

“A gentleman wouldn’t need to be asked.” Her tone dripped with disdain. “A gentleman would simply take it.”

“I do many things, Miss Payne.” He pushed up the brim of his hat and grinned, fired up by the hazel flame sparking in her eyes. “Pretending to be a gentleman doesn’t number among them.”

Buylink: https://amzn.to/2KTaGPH