UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
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No, it’s not Taco Tuesday, but it is the annual holiday — Taco Day! Woot! Now, this is a holiday I can get behind!

Have fun with the word search. I had fun looking for all the types of tacos I love or would love to try. There actually aren’t many I haven’t had. Okay, so there’s only one I haven’t had—the Tinga Taco. It’s chicken with chipotle sauce, so I can make that happen! I don’t know about you, but our family has tacos often. I love a breakfast taco with egg and potato and a generous stripe of hot sauce. I love chorizo and potato. Lengua (tongue)! Tripas (tripe–yum)! Chicharrón (pork skin–yikes, I misspelled it in the puzzle)!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, and then tell me what your favorite kind of taco is.

It’s Sunday—and the beginning of a new month! So, I pull this card before I begin adjusting my plans…

Oh, what does this mean? I do know who the two characters on the card are: Daedalus, who is the father of Icarus and a very clever and talented guy, and King Minos of Crete. See the bulls depicted in the art on the walls behind them? That’s a huge hint at the king’s identity. Now, I’m remembering how these two were entwined in mythology… Daedalus and his son built the labyrinth that housed the minotaur—you remember, the half-bull, half-man? The minotaur was the progeny of Minos’ wife and a bull (not her fault at all—this was Poseidon’s revenge for Minos cheating him of something). The minotaur had a taste for human flesh, so Minos served him men and women every nine years to keep him satisfied.

In the picture, it looks like Daedalus is begging Minos for the gold he’s holding (the six pentacles), but that can’t be right. Minos would have paid him for building that fantastic, huge maze, so maybe this is just how you get paid—on your knees before the king.

What does this mean for me and this week/month? I can hope it means I get paid for my efforts. Good sales, maybe?

I’ll consult the book… Yay! We’re in sync for once. The Mythic Tarot says the Indvidual is “the recipient of another’s generosity.”

Whew, all that to say I have a payday coming up.

Open Contests

1. Word Search: Attributes of a book hero… (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday-Puzzle Contest: Fall is here! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Sarah Boone – An Improver Not Just an Innovator (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Word Search: Types of Pancakes for National Pancake Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Puzzle-Contest–Let’s Celebrate National Coffee Day! — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. September into October (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C!
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September

Work-related:

1. I completed work on Book #2 of We Are Dead Horse, MT — Hard Knox — and released it!
2. I wrote over a third of my upcoming book, Gunn’s Mission! (Have you pre-ordered your copy?!)
3. I revised and published an erotic/menage short story that was originally published by Harlequin Spice years ago—Eye of the Storm.
4. I completed 6 editing projects for other authors in September.

Health-related:

1. Swimming ended for me after my trip to my sister’s place in North Arkansas because I came home to a green pool.
2. Through medicines and some diet tweaking, I’ve managed to keep my blood pressure down to 130-150. I haven’t had a bad spike in a while.

Happiness-related: 

1. I have been working on and making more great progress organizing my art room, getting ready for the next push for art shows and reopening my Etsy store. I have accumulated the supplies I need to begin painting in encaustic wax BUT HAVEN’T DONE IT YET because I’ve been buried in work.
2. As for making new art, again, work has kept me too busy to do much. I attended the monthly art guild meeting, and as a group, we worked on sketching cats. The only piece of art I completed this month was this cat, which I watercolored yesterday because I wanted SOMETHING to share…

October

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete writing Gunn’s Mission, a Brotherhood Protectors story,  which releases on October 17th!
2. To begin & hopefully complete work on a standalone story I’ve been dying to write for years and years, called Little Green Dreams. We’ll see.
3. To complete 5 editing projects in October!

For health related, I plan:

1. To not make promises about counting points for my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s that time of year and I know I’d be setting myself up for failure. However, I will try to make healthier choices!
2. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas).
3. To acquire and begin using a treadmill.
4. To do more housework because my art room isn’t finished! Cleaning is exercise, too.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To work on art and jewelry-making to get ready for the Art Festival this month!

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
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Saturday is usually my puzzle day, but tomorrow’s the end of September, and I have other plans for my blog.

I found a fun picture to help celebrate a very special holiday…National Coffee Day! Okay, so maybe you’re tired of my obscure holiday celebrations, but my point is that you can make any day a reason to celebrate. Since I’m a coffee lover (it’s my favorite beverage!), and this is my blog, I get to celebrate whatever the hell I want. 🙂

My daughter and the two youngest girls are in Ireland at the moment, so the house is very, very quiet. You’d think it would mean I can get a ton of work done, but that’s not how I work. I guess I do better in the middle of chaos. I’m working on a story you will see very, very soon. It’s been fun to write because it’s set someplace I really have to use my imagination to describe. You’ll see.

Anyway, Happy National Coffee Day!

Solve the puzzle, then tell me what your favorite beverage is for a chance to win $5 Amazon gift card! 

I have a book that talks about the Spirits or Saints of the Day. Today’s intrigued me. She is La Sirène. In Haitian Vodou, she is a Loa, a god or spirit, and is the consort to the Lord of the Water, Agwe. She holds a mirror (vanity is one of her characteristics), which is a portal into the mystical world, and of course, she has the most beautiful singing voice. Another of her symbols is a horn, and if you happen to find it on the shore, you’ll be guaranteed a rich life. If you decide to give her offerings for her favor, she loves seashells, desserts, and champagne.

Open Contests

1. Gabbi Grey: Single Parent Books — Xavier (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. What’s leaving Kindle Unlimited soon?! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest — Let’s celebrate National Collect Rocks Day! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Flashback: Handy Man (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
5. Word Search: Attributes of a book hero… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Saturday-Puzzle Contest: Fall is here! — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Sarah Boone – An Improver Not Just an Innovator (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Word Search: Types of Pancakes for National Pancake Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Cara!
*~*~*

Fall is here. 🙁  (I miss my pool.)

We don’t have much of one here. We had 93-degree weather just a couple of days ago, but the temperatures are definitely falling. Our nights are in the low 60s now. Leaves are falling, but we don’t get that lovely gradual process of leaves changing colors and drifting to the forest floor. Ours wither from the heat, drop into the pool, and then it’s winter. So, Fall colors are nice in pictures, but we don’t get them here!

I’m sharing a wistful, Fall-themed picture in today’s puzzle. I hope you enjoy it. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what Fall is like where you live!

UPDATE: The winner is…ButtonsMom!
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I love creating heroes who are unique. They don’t always express themselves the same way or present themselves the same way. Knox Ramsey is a grumpy, gruff man who didn’t think he could be in a long-term relationship because of some issues that haunt him from his childhood. And he’s very physical. I should have added that to the word search!

Anyway, I riffed some attributes I enjoy seeing in my heroes. Have fun with the puzzle!

Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, tell me what attributes you love to see in a hero!