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. 

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me back to share my new release.  As you might know, I’m always game to try something new when it comes to writing.  I was approached last year to write a gay romance retelling of a fairy tale and to say I was excited was an understatement.  Several tales were still available, and I snagged The Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t know much about the story beyond the two Disney retellings, so I set about doing some research. Which, of course, included buying the Disney combo and watching the movies again.  The one stipulation on my story was that I couldn’t include magic.  No singing candelabras, dogs as footstools, or little boys as teacups.

Undaunted, I tackled the project and…came up blank.  I knew I wanted to set the story in my Mission City, British Columbia world, but beyond that…I had nothing.  One day, I was chatting with a friend from Australia.  She said she wanted me to either write a story with a Canadian bloke in Australia or an Australian bloke in Canada.  Something clicked.  That morning (about 4 a.m. for me and about 9 p.m. for her), we plotted out a basic story.  About an Aussie forester coming to Canada to study, well, forestry management techniques.  So that was my Beauty – a lumberjack of sorts.  Then I needed a beast.  Since I was already flipping the trope, I decided to go with a slender, petite former model.  In stereotype parlance – a twink.  From there, we crafted out a story figuring out how Beauty (Dean) would wind up at Beast (Adam)’s castle (and yes, I have a real castle…of sorts…)  Throw in a dog named Chip, a cat named Maurice, and a pile of characters from the world I’d already created…and I had the skeleton outline of my story.

Executing this book turned out to be more challenging than I’d anticipated, and at one point I despaired of ever getting it ready to publish.  Toss in two amazing beta readers (one Aussie) and a fantastic editor and…we made it.  I hope readers will love the book as much as I now do.  A very different telling than the Brothers Grimm might’ve planned, but still something worth reading, I hope.

Thank you for letting me visit today.  I would love to give away a $5 Amazon Gift Card to one commenter.  Either tell me which fairy tale you would like to see modernized or feel free to mention an adaptation you’ve recently enjoyed.  Random Number Generator will select one lucky winner!

The Beauty of the Beast
A Contemporary Fairytale MM Romance

Dean

All my life, I dreamed about making the long trip from Australia to Canada to study forestry amid the old-growth stands of the Pacific Northwest. Now here I am, living the dream. Of course, nothing’s perfect. The only housing I can find is renting a room from a grumpy, reclusive guy who doesn’t seem to want me around. I should keep out of his way and focus on my studies, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in. I feel less homesick when I’m with him, and maybe I can make a difference for more than just the trees.

Adam

Life as I knew it ended with my horrific accident ten years ago. There’s no point to my existence now, but I can’t seem to stop living, so I hide my battered carcass in my mountain home. There, I can wander from room to room and no one stares, no one laughs, no one even remembers I exist. Until I make the mistake of offering a stranded Aussie a room to rent. It should’ve been a simple favor—two men with our own spaces, ignoring each other. Instead, he’s always close by, and he won’t let me wallow, and what’s worse, I think I’m starting to like that. But there’s no way someone like me can have a future with someone like him. Right?

The Beauty of the Beast is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in the wilds of British Columbia, where an Aussie forester a long way from home falls for the untouchable man he shouldn’t want. The novel has moderate angst, a feisty foreigner, and what happens when someone trusts again.

Links:
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Beast-Contemporary-Fairytale-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CN4VXZ2T
Universal Book Link:  https://books2read.com/TheBeautyoftheBeast
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-beauty-of-the-beast/id6499569892
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beauty-of-the-beast-gabbi-grey/1145522583
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-beauty-of-the-beast-5
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1558154

About the Author

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.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up:  https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile:  https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey

UPDATE: The winner is…Sharon Coomes!
*~*~*

I’ve got a hoarding problem. This picture is of one section of my bookshelf. I have a s@#t-ton of my books, collected over my 20 years of publishing. So, I thought it’s time to do something about them. The burn barrel seemed too…tragic. So I thought maybe a bunch of giveaways might be fun. Then the giveaways needed a name. The only thing that came to mind was, the Clear My Bookshelf Giveaway. Afterall, I need more room for things like my Funko Pop bobbleheads or some Star Trek action figures. Important stuff.

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’re as excited as I am for summer to come!

If you like this contest, we’ll do it again, and again, and again, until I have space on my bookshelves!

First, to all the mothers out there! Happy Mother’s Day!

This was part of my gift from my daughter! She knows I’m a Star Trek girl and had an artist do this up of me with my cat, Tess, Lower Decks style. She had one image framed for my office wall and had a coffee cup made with the image wrapped around it. Such a lovely, thoughtful gift for a nerdy girl like me! The 19-year-old added a funny squeeze-toy/stress ball with an alien that pops out of a spaceship and a small tray with a spaceship hovering over a farm field, sucking up a cow. Yes, they do know me well.

Report Card

Last week…

• I finished one editing job for another author, plus, I worked on three others.
• I finished revising, formatting, and uploading Five Ways ‘Til Sunday, which releases Tuesday. I began revising the next in the Delta Heat series, Fournicopia.
• I worked on art for #The100DayProject.
• My knee is nearly healed, but I have to stop myself from moving full-steam-ahead, because every time I do, I reinjure it. It’s such a pain in the ass.
• So, yeah, I’m light on accomplishments this week. 🙁

This next week…

• I will work on four editing projects for other authors, finishing three!
• I will try to find art for the next anthology, Secret Identities. Plus, I’ll work on the webpage on the Collections site, adding loglines for each author’s story. (This is a repeat from last week, because I didn’t make much progress.)
• I will complete revising the second and third stories in the kink series I’m republishing and get them uploaded.
• I will begin writing my next Montana Bounty Hunter story, the first in the West Yellowstone office, Cyrus. (This is carried over, too. I made NO progress.)
• I will continue creating small art daily for #The100DayProject.
• I’ll work on a gazillion administrative and cleanup duties I need to catch up on. My office is a disaster at the moment.

I really need a vacation…

Open Contests

1. April into May (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Word Search: Happy Batman Day! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a beadable pen!
3. Remember when…? (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Why did the black bear cross the road? — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Who should Cyrus’s love interest be? (Poll & Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Word Search: Family Summertime Activities (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Books for PRE-ORDER! See what’s coming soon! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Melanie Jayne: Spending Time with Old Friends (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? — Win an Amazon gift card!