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Learn What Your Name Means Day (Contest)
Wednesday, March 5th, 2025

UPDATE: The winner is…Stacey Kinzebach!
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This is another of those fun holidays I love to find. Learn What Your Name Means Day was begun in 1997 by some random dude named Jerry Hill to celebrate our unique names.

Since you know I’m going to ask you to find the meaning of your name to enter my contest, I figured you might like a shortcut to a site where you can check yours out. Try this one: Behind the Name.

The origin of my name is kind of fun. My real name is Deloris. My dad dated a girl named Delores back in high school and always liked the name. My mom let him choose my name but spelled it DELORIS and carved out the nickname “Lori” from that name. That’s what she and my father called me throughout my life. Mom wasn’t jealous of Delores; my dad and the OG were only good friends who went to the prom together because they didn’t have dates. She had named me Kathleen when I was born and called me that for three days, but Dad’s name sounded more interesting, so that’s what I was stuck with. (I’ve never liked the name. Sorry, Dad!)

Anyway, what does Deloris mean? The website tells me that Deloris is a form of “Dolores.” It’s a Spanish name that means “sorrows.” As in Mary of Sorrows. And it also means pain. So, I guess when my sister calls me a pain, she’s right.

 Now, it’s your turn. Share what your name means for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Report Card & Open Contests
Sunday, March 2nd, 2025

Report Card

Last week…

  1. I completed one author’s edits.
  2. I had a blood draw on Monday (my cancer antigen test looked really good!), and I had an appointment with a surgeon regarding the question of whether I can have surgery to remove the girlie parts that were affected by cancer (I’m now scheduled for April 1st!).
  3. I’ve continued some light exercises—mostly chair yoga and things I can do holding onto a countertop or pressing against a wall.
  4. I’ve been painting every day as part of #the100dayproject—not that I feel like I’m doing good work just yet. 🙂

This next week…

  1. On Monday, I have my immunotherapy infusion appointment!
  2. I will have one author’s edits to complete this week.
  3. I have administrative things to do this week to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
  4. I’ll continue working on #the100dayproject.

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

  1. Memory Game: Night Fall Stories (Contest)This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  2. Do you subscribe to my blog? (Contest)This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: French DiaryThis one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  4. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Gertrude Bustill Mossell, a Multi-faceted African-American Woman (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  5. Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  6. Tell a Fairy Tale Day (Giveaway) — Get your FREE story!
  7. February into March (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: On this day…Yellowstone National Park! — Win an Amazon gift card!
Saturday Puzzle-Contest: On this day…Yellowstone National Park!
Saturday, March 1st, 2025

UPDATE: The winner is…Pat Bohn!
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On this day in history, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park became our first national park. With the news that our parks service has been hit with massive layoffs, let’s remember the majesty of our protected lands that we’re trying to maintain for future generations to enjoy.

I’ve been to Yellowstone twice. Once as a small child. The only memory I have of that trip is grizzly standing outside our car window while my mom freaked out. The second was a trip in the eighties. It was after a wildfire and some areas were devastated, but seeing buffalo spread over a large meadow was breathtaking. Is it any wonder I decided to set my next Montana Bounty Hunters series in West Yellowstone and feature the park and the park rangers who protect this magnificent place?

For today’s puzzle, I chose an image of the Grand Prismatic Spring—so iconic. Enjoy the puzzle!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve ever visited the park or tell me about a trip to another national park you love!

Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest)
Tuesday, February 25th, 2025

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
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I had bloodwork yesterday in preparation for a couple of upcoming appointments. On Thursday, I meet with a surgeon in Little Rock to see whether I am a candidate for having a hysterectomy. Next Monday is another round of immunotherapy infusions. Hopefully, the tests I took yesterday won’t show any backsliding! Only progress—good progress! Cross your fingers; I am!

Let’s play!IMG_8426

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice, and whatever pictures appear face-up are the ones you use to riff off a story.

You can try to include all the cubes in your “story” or choose a few. The story you tell doesn’t have to be long or even any good. They all count!

To make this fun, I’ll offer a prize—a $5 Amazon gift card—good for purchasing one or two stories…
Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll…

Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Gertrude Bustill Mossell, a Multi-faceted African-American Woman (Contest)
Monday, February 24th, 2025

UPDATE: The winner is…Dana Zamora!
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It’s not often one of my blog post subjects has an obituary published in the New York Times, but such is the case with Gertrude Bustill Mossell, journalist, author, poet, teacher, suffragist, and civil rights activist.

Born on July 3, 1855, Gertrude Bustill was born into a Black Quaker and Presbyterian family in Philadelphia, PA. Her family’s activism ranged from baking for the Continental Army at Valley Forge to creating the first mutual aid society with black activists Richard Allen and James Forten to engaging in the Underground Railroad. No wonder activism filled all aspects of Gertrude’s life. Her graduation speech, “Influence,” so impressed AME Bishop Henry McNeal, he published it in his newspaper, The Christian Recorder, and encouraged her to send him her poetry and essays for publication.

She taught in the public schools of three states for seven years. While teaching she also wrote and edited for seven magazines and newspapers. In 1883, she married Dr. Nathan Francis Mossell, ending her teaching career and taking a break from journalism to have two children.

She began writing again when editor T. Thomas Fortune hired her to write for his newspaper, The New York Age. From 1885 to1889, her column, “Our Women’s Department,” focused on issues from how to care for a household to civil rights and being politically active.

After that, she was the editor of the Indianapolis World from 1891 to 1892. Her byline was Mrs. N.F. Mossell. Gertrude wrote for both black and white publications, becoming the highest paid black newspaperwoman of the late 18th century, earning $500 a year.

She not only wrote articles but encouraged African American women to write and submit their work, making her an early advocate for women journalists. Gertrude wrote The Work of the Afro-American Woman in 1894, in which she wrote essays that highlighted the accomplishments of African American women in many walks of life, included a number of her poems, and challenged African American universities for not hiring enough of their own graduates and African American teachers in general. The book includes a photo of Gertrude and her two daughters, Mary Campbell and Florence Alma to whom her dedication prays “that they may grow into a pure and noble womanhood.” Her book reminded me of Hallie Q. Brown’s 1926 Homespun Heroines which I blogged about here back in February 2024. In 1902, Gertrude published a children’s book, Little Dansie’s One Day at Sabbath School.

In Philadelphia, Gertrude and her husband founded the Frederick Douglass Hospital for which she raised $30,000 ($1,000,000 in today’s dollars). The hospital included a training school for nurses. She also organized the Philadelphia branch of the national Afro-American Council, the first national civil rights organization in the US.

Gertrude died in 1948 in Philadelphia. An historic marker stands at 1432 Lombard Street in Philadelphia where she lived.

In the HBO series, the Gilded Age black journalist Peggy Scott is confronted by her father who tells her he doesn’t know any women who make a living writing. He obviously never heard of Gertrude. Unfortunately, there are movements in the US today hell bent on making sure the accomplishments of marginalized communities remain unheard of. I share these posts as my way of joining the fight with other groups to make sure those movements fail.

To win a $10 Amazon gift card, share your thoughts in the comments.

“The Patience of Unanswered Prayer” by Michal Scott inside Cowboys

Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology

Kidnapped and destined to be another victim of Reconstruction-era violence, a feisty shop owner is rescued by a trail boss whose dark secret might save them both.

Excerpt:

Franklin crawled hidden in the tall grass toward the voice. The smells of oil and sulfur assaulted his senses. Echoes of the two explosions that ripped the night apart still played in his ears. The first body thudded against the ground. The second splashed into the creek. Moonlight glinted off the shooter’s gun and chest. Franklin’s upper lip raised over his incisors as he recognized the metal of a sheriff’s badge.

The man stalked over to the body sprawled by the creek bank.

The woman.

A Black woman.

The cur gloated and pointed his gun barrel at her unmoving form.

Franklin snarled. He leapt and went straight for the sheriff’s throat. The man’s horrified cry yielded to stuttered curses as he choked and writhed in the grip of Franklin’s jaws. The copper tang of blood fueled his indignation. The crunch of cartilage sounded lovely in Franklin’s ears. Flesh and bone yielded to canines and incisors.

The man staggered under Franklin’s weight. Lithe and lean in his wolf form, he still carried the heft of his human two hundred and fifty pounds.

The man convulsed, slumped then stilled.

Life flowed in the villain’s veins yet, but wouldn’t for long. The merciful thing to do would be to finish him off before some other predators made a meal of him.

Franklin felt nothing akin to mercy.

Buylink: https://amzn.to/3zfDpo2

Report Card & Open Contests
Sunday, February 23rd, 2025

Report Card

Last week…

  1. I completed two authors’ edits.
  2. I’ve continued some light exercises I found on Pinterest for women of a certain age—mostly chair yoga and things I can do holding onto a countertop or pressing against a wall. I’m amazed those easy exercises actually lead to sore muscles! Yay!

This next week…

  1. This week, I have a couple of doctor’s appointments, including one with a surgeon to see whether I can have my girlie parts removed to improve my chances of beating this cancer.
  2. I have one author’s edits to complete this week.
  3. I have some administrative things to do this week, so I won’t be starting to write.
  4. The #100daychallenge starts today. I’ve been gathering art books and Pinterest posts for inspiration and have materials unearthed to begin the journey! I can’t wait to start! Yes, I know I shouldn’t make this a priority, but I so enjoy the challenge. At this stage, I hunger for joy!

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

  1. Gabbi Grey/Gabbi Black: Why I own the Queen of Instalove title (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
  2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Another Rainy DayLast day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
  3. Kathryn J. Wright: Courting Risk (FREE Book!)This ends soon! Everyone, get your FREE book!
  4. Flashback: Truly, Madly…Deadly (Contest–3 Winners, Plus Excerpt!)This ends soon! Win a FREE book! 3 Winners!
  5. Memory Game: Night Fall Stories (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  6. Krysten Lindsay Hager: Nancy Drew and the Perfect Date Night (FREE in KU!) — FREE in KU!
  7. Do you subscribe to my blog? (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: French Diary — Win an Amazon gift card!
Saturday Puzzle-Contest: French Diary
Saturday, February 22nd, 2025

UPDATE: The winner is…Rachelle Lerner!
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Since we’re nearing the end of February, the month of romance, I thought I’d end it on a bit of a nostalgic note. Some of us kept diaries. I did when I was younger. I put my secrets in it. Talked about things I didn’t want to share with another soul.

Today’s puzzle image is a lovely, sepia-toned photo with hints of travel and love. I could have collected these things. How about you?

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me a story about what you see. Whose memories are encapsulated here? What happened to the lovers? Have fun with it!