I own several tarot and spiritual decks of cards. Most of them I don’t know well enough to read without referring a lot to the books accompanying them. I know it’s a matter of familiarization, of using them, and committing to memory the meanings of the images. The Mythic Tarot deck is my oldest, and the book’s spine needs to be re-glued. It appeals to me most because I’ve always loved mythology, especially Greek, Sumerian, Norse, and Egyptian. I know the Greek stories better than any other mythologies because of my 3rd-grade teacher.

Our reading books were progressive pamphlets that you worked at mastering one volume at a time. I flew through them weeks before the rest of the class finished. She had a personal copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes on her desk and would hand it to me when the others began their daily work with the readers. The stories were written for adults, in adult language, so I kept a dictionary at hand, which I didn’t refer to all that much as I read.

Tarot and divination have always fascinated me. I have dabbled with it over the years. I don’t believe or disbelieve, but I do think the cards help me reveal my own mind and inclinations. So, enough about why I love my Sunday “drawing the card” ritual. Let’s get to today’s card…

Before I open the book, I know this is Jason of “Jason and the Argonauts” fame—you know, the guy who stole the Golden Fleece. Jason’s story is really cool. He was the son of King Aeson, but he was stillborn, so his father sent him to Chiron the Centaur to be raised. (It doesn’t have to make sense. 🙂 ) Anyways, when Jason reached adulthood, he returned to his kingdon, but his uncle had usurped the throne from his father and didn’t want Jason around causing problems. So, he sent him on an impossible mission—to steal the Golden Fleece from another king.

Jason didn’t argue. He accepted the mission then gathered friends to accompany him on his journey. Here in the picture, you see the twins, the guy in the lion skin, Orpheus with his instrument, and another king friendlier to his cause. They are carrying torches (the wands) and are celebrating the fact that his ship, the Argo, has been completed. He’s ready to begin his journey.

What does the card mean to me? He’s accomplished a lot, gathered his support, built the vehicle he needs to continue. This moment is one to celebrate. So, I’ve completed a set of edits, and am deep into two other sets of edits, plus I’m a third of the way through my next book. It’s time to pause today to celebrate my accomplishments, but also to get ready to plunge back into the “mission.”

Now, I’ll check the book: The four of Wands “augurs a time of reward for efforts made. A creative idea has yielded early fruit, and the individual has every right to celebrate…” Woot, so I will. Today only.

Open Contests

1. Flashback: Strokes, Vol. 2 (Contest–Two Winners!) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book—two winners!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What’s he doing here? — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Story Cubes: Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Meet Carleen Crossley from HARD KNOX! (Contest & Snippet) — Win a FREE book!
5. Hollywood Heartthrobs (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Saturday Puzzle-Contest–What is happening here? — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
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Today, I searched for an image for the puzzle on my favorite photo site by just typing in the word “romance.” This odd photo popped up in the top row, and I thought how fun would it be for you all to tell me what you think is happening here.

So, solve the puzzle and tell me what’s goin’ on for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
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My thirst for hunky heroes goes waaaayyyy back. I am of a certain (*cough*) age, so my tastes were formed by what I watched mostly on TV or saw in magazines when I was still a kid. I didn’t understand my fascination, but that didn’t stop my fantasy life being filled with hot starship captains and spies who rode to the rescue to aid me (never save me, because even then I liked fighting, too!).

The hero who first filled my fantasies was Russian secret agent Illya Kuryakin from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964 to 1968), played by David McCallum. You might know him as “Ducky” in NCIS these days. He was my one and only blond heartthrob.

Then a sci-fi show caught my attention—Lost in Space (1965 to 1968). But it wasn’t the young, single Don West who caught my eye, it was the sexy dad, John Robinson, played by Guy Williams, that I imagined was the single one and an in need of a little alien companionship. I imagined myself as the green alien woman who pursued Dr. Smith, only I captured John Robinson.

 

Both of those heroes paled in comparison to my next obsession—James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek (1966 to 1969). He was…everything. Handsome, in charge, witty, funny—and that smirk! And again, they’re in space—the final frontier! To this day, I love the character, and yes, Chris Pine inhabits it very, very well.

I had brief crushes on some other hotties from the time.

Have you ever seen the old WWII flick, The Great Escape (1963)?

Yes, Steve McQueen was hot. Motorcycles are hotter. Blah-blah. But it wasn’t McQueen’s “Cooler King” that caught my eye. It was Charles Bronson’s “Tunnel King” I was riveted to. Am I right?

This guy, even though back then I wasn’t allowed to watch his movies for some reason, was all over the magazines. I thought he was pretty damn hot, too.

I guess I’ve always like smolder. 🙂

These days, I’m enamored with another starship captain—Captain Pike, as played by Anson Mount in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He’s funny, sexy, a great cook, empathetic, and brave. If you haven’t watched the series, or haven’t loved Star Trek before, he might change your mind.

So, my question to you is who were your earliest heartthrobs? Answer for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
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On September 12th, the next book in my new We Are Dead Horse, MT, series, Hard Knox, releases! So, I thought it was time for you to meet my main characters. I’ve included a snippet below for you! In the opening, we’re treated to a bit of Carleen Crossley’s mindset. She’s a woman on a mission to capture the one man she can’t have: Knox Ramsey. Carleen has no inhibitions or shame when it comes to her pursuit, much to the town’s enjoyment.

If you’ve read the books in the Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT, you’ve seen Carleen in some of the later stories in the series. Plus, she appears in Book #1 of the new series, Cold Hard Cash. Let’s just say, Carleen knows how to make an impression.

Meet Carleen…

Knox Ramsey was a man most folks in Dead Horse, Montana, shied away from. His tall, burly frame was imposing enough. Add the dark eyebrows that seemed perpetually lowered over his nearly black, piercing eyes and his huge, meaty fists, and he made most folks shiver with dread whenever his gaze swung their way.

However, Carleen Crossley wasn’t “most folks.” When she looked at Knox, she shivered the same as anyone, but for a very different reason. To her, Knox was The One.

She’d known it since she was a teenager, working after school to earn money for her cheerleading outfits. Knox hadn’t been the one to hire her—his mother, Dorothea Ramsey, had for no other reason than to annoy her son. Plus, she’d placed Carleen in the front office, doing little tasks that didn’t really need doing in a rough and tumble place like the Ride or Die Body and Repair Shop—like filing (who needed paperwork unless you wanted the grease-grimed fingerprints for a forensics audit), janitorial work (again, years’ worth of engine oil and grease couldn’t be wiped away with a little or a lot of degreasers), and making coffee (she had never mastered making the sludge Knox thought of as an actual beverage).

Even when she’d been sixteen, she’d recognized his appeal by the way her ovaries cramped in his presence. As she’d grown older, she’d noted other “proof,” like how her nipples beaded hard and her cheeks and groin got hot just being in his presence. She could feel him the moment he came into her vicinity. The air hummed with electricity. Her sex gave her warning, too, instantly softening and getting wet. When she turned and met that black gaze, her heart would stutter and then pound. Whatever she was doing, whatever thought was flitting through her mind, ground to a halt as she took him in. Looking at him was like downing a shot of whiskey—bracing and exhilarating.

Knox, with his deadly glare and biker’s windswept hair, was a bad boy through and through. And she had a mighty thirst for the biggest, baddest boy in Dead Horse, Montana.

Too bad the man didn’t feel the same way about her. After years of flaunting her body and seeking ways to slide up against him to tempt him, he still managed to deflect her affections.

Not that Carleen was ready to give up…

*~*~*

If you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy—here’s the link: Hard Knox

Contest

For a chance to win your choice of story in the Montana Bounty Hunters series or a copy of Cold Hard Cash, let me know if you’ve read any of the stories, and if you have, which was your favorite?

The winner is…Kerry Pruett!
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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.

Now, I’d like you to tell me a story based on what you see on the cubes. Do any of these symbols tell you anything? You can pick some of the images or use all of them.

Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll… 

To make this fun, I’ll offer a prize—a $5 Amazon gift card—good for purchasing one or two stories…

Welp. This card isn’t helping me decide how my week will go, or am I wrong?

First, just looking at the card, what does it represent? This is the goddess Aphrodite. Her origin story is kind of grisly. Cronus castrated his father Uranus and tossed his testicles into the sea. The foam that erupted produced Aphrodite. You can see her stepping out of the foam. The goddess of Love is the embodiment of feminine beauty, but also the embodiment of all those stereotypical “female flaws” like jealousy, laziness, vanity, and deceit. Lovely, right? What does that have to do with me? Aphrodite is holding one golden chalice—the Ace of Cups. The Ace of anything represents the powerful “first” raw meaning of a suit. So, before I check the book, I think this means I may be looking at an emotional week. One filled with love, or the “eruption” of love, and one filled with events that will have me demonstrating all those feminine flaws. I have the kids heading to school this week, so I’ll lovingly push them out the door with their backpacks prepared and their lunch bags filled. I’ll feel regret that I don’t have them under my roof. I have a ton of work in front of me, and I may wallow a bit in my feelings while I try to tackle the stacked-to-the-ceiling tasks I have in front of me. So, I think that’s what this card means for me. I don’t like it, but I will embrace the positive meaning and hope I can tamp down my “weak” feminine faults to slog through the work.

Now, to the book. It boils it down, saying, it “heralds an outpouring of feeling” although “not yet differentiated” and can often be “overwhelming.” *sigh*

Why do I start my Sunday mornings with a tarot card? I guess I could just dive into my calendar, calibrate how many pages I have to write and how many I have to edit to get to The End, but I like adding an element of the divine to my day, whether drawing a card or placing my hand into my bowl of crystals and gemstones and pulling out whatever my hand finds compelling. The mystical and the pragmatic can reside in the same heart.

Open Contests

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Flea Market Finds — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Ava Cuvay: The End of an Era (Contest & Excerpt) — Win a FREE book!
3. Gabbi Grey: Falling Down the Regency Rabbit Hole (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Flashback: Strokes, Vol. 2 (Contest–Two Winners!) — Win a FREE book!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What’s he doing here? — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday! The Saturday before school starts! The kids are ready! They’ve met their teachers, have all their clothes and supplies. Now, the nerves have set in. They’re planning their first day’s outfits, putting in their orders for their lunchboxes, etc. Our little town is having a “Back to School Blowout” tonight in the town center, complete with bouncy houses, facepaint artists, etc. Hopefully, there will be food trucks, too, for the parents as they herd their kids through the stations.

We’re ready (and NOT) for them to go back to school. Schedules will compress. Timing will be everything. (I’ll get back my quiet “alone time” to write and edit! Woot!) My daughter and I do hate the passage of time. We want to keep them little, but they’re eager to spread their wings. Same ole, same ole, I’m sure for most parents and grandparents.

Today, I had the 19-year-old clean my spaces. It’s such a big help. I can settle in my chair in my clean office and get some s**t done today. I hope. Until the next emergency—hopefully, not a power outage today. I noticed this morning, when I popped into town, that there were new power poles laid out all along the road to replace those splintered old things that keep falling every time the wind blows. I wonder if they’ll give us warning when they have to cut the power to install the expanse. Ha!

Anways, you have a challenge today. Solve the puzzle then tell me what this creature is doing. Or tell me what you would do if you were face-to-face with it! Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Enjoy the puzzle and have a great rest of the weekend!