UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

It’s sooooo hot here; a fresh heat wave is coming today. And wouldn’t you know it? The AC doesn’t work. My SIL’s very handy, and he’ll look at it after his shift with the local PD ends. However, I already have a service request submitted through our home appliance insurance to get someone out here. We’ll probably be roasting for days.

So, I’m thinking cool thoughts and keeping in the basement because the temperature down here never gets dire. I’m really thinking about an escape, wishing I could head to some beach. My sister and I have been playing with the idea of taking another trip to Hawaii next year. I’ll have to dream about sand squishing between my toes and swimming with the sea turtles until then.

In the meantime, we need a contest, right? Something fun!

Because I love reading about what’s going on in your lives, let me know. Tell me what you’re cooking. Tell me what you’re reading or watching on TV. Tell me about any trips you have planned. You choose the topic. Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

In the meantime, I’ll be here, working on edits that are almost overdue, and putting the final touches on the story I have to get to my sister… Have a fabulous Sunday!

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C.!
*~*~*

We had a 7-hour power outage yesterday due to heavy thunderstorms. It started in the morning and lasted well into the afternoon. We pulled the generator out of the shed to power the refrigerator and make cups of coffee (priorities!). Working by candlelight in my basement office was impossible. It’s a daylight basement. From the front of the house, you think it’s a one-story home. From the back, you see two stories. Well, my office is tucked into the way back of the basement and has no windows. I call it my “mole hole” and that lack of windows is perfect for a writer with W.A.D.D. (writer’s ADD).

However, my basement craft room has windows, so that’s where I settled. The light that reached my worktable was dim, but I had to do something. I’ll be cutting out the watercolor flowers for collaging so the ugly marks around them don’t matter (I didn’t like looking at all the white space!). The ink drawing was kind of fun. I used the dropper on my ink bottle to draw it. I’m going to practice with it more. So, not a wasted day. I learned something.

Puzzle Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you want to read right now! (My picture clues you into the genre of book I wish I had right now!)

Open Contests

1. May into June (“Me in My Mind” Puzzle-Contest — and More Contests!) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Diana Cosby: For the Love of Nature! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a signed book!
3. Hump-Day Contest! —  Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Cara North: 10 Free Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors (Contest) —  Win a Kindle Fire!

Want a peek inside the book coming out on June 21st? It’s part of the Athena Project series, which includes these books written by the fabulous Desiree Holt, Reina Torres, Jen Talty, and Regan Black inside Elle James’s Brotherhood Protectors World!

(And yeah, I know the picture says June 28, but it’s the 21st!)

Victoria’s Six

Read an excerpt!

A hard shoulder butted against her belly, taking away her breath. Not that her adversary today had given her the full might of his movement. Still, he managed to fold her over that said hard shoulder as he straightened and swept her off her feet. As she sailed behind him, she forced herself to go with it instead of tensing in anticipation, tucking in her chin before landing. Her surrender to the move lessened the impact when her back slapped the mat.

Dragging in a deep breath, Victoria Cross gave her sparring partner a stern glare. “You could’ve warned me we were starting again.”

He arched an eyebrow.

Yeah, that had been the point. He’d wanted to surprise her and check out her moves. He’d already made his opinion of her fitness for close-in, hand-to-hand combat measures perfectly clear. If they ever faced that sort of attack, she was to let him lead. Step behind him. Let his superior size and strength take the lead. Always.

Logically, she could see the sense of it. He was an ex-SEAL, built big and tall, not an ounce of lazy flab on his muscular frame. At thirty-seven, he was still in his prime. Battle-hardened.

And dear Lord was he hard.

Shoving that thought aside, she accepted the hand he offered her and let him pull her up in front of him. “You were holding back,” she said, frowning. Something that irritated the shit out of her because it was becoming a pattern. One she was trying to break because he needed to learn to trust in her skills and abilities.

“I used an appropriate amount of force,” he said, one corner of his mouth kicking up.

That half-smile and the deliberate deepening of his southern drawl had her seeing red—he was patronizing “the little woman.” She shot out both hands, slamming them against his chest while at the same time sweeping out a foot to catch him behind the ankles.

He didn’t budge.

She’d used the same move when sparring with her last partner and had planted his butt on the mat numerous times.

Logan Tackett sighed, gripped one of her arms, and turned her, folding her into his embrace so tightly she couldn’t use her elbows to strike his gut. Further, he quickly kicked out and hooked a leg around her ankles, preventing her from stomping on his foot. He had her completely trapped and under his control.

His head lowered, and he spoke into her ear. “You done?”

Seeing as they’d already spent an hour beating punching bags and each other, she relaxed, glad none of her friends were there to see her so overmatched. They’d have laughed themselves silly. “You can let me go now.”

“You sure?” he asked, his breath stirring the hair sticking to her cheek that had come loose from her ponytail.

“We have a meeting with Jake Cogburn in the conference room,” she reminded him while gritting her teeth.

His leg released hers. His arms fell away. When he stepped back from her, she felt a stirring of cool air against her sweaty back and strangely missed his warmth. “I’m heading to the shower,” she said. “See you at the meeting.” Then she quickly moved away, trying to leave behind some conflicting feelings—irritation with herself for not meeting the moment because she’d been working hard to earn his respect and disappointment that he’d let her go.

That last realization had her shaking her head. Logan was her partner. She’d never go there. Besides, she’d noted that he tended to have some old-fashioned views about a woman’s place in this organization. He’d have been fine with her if she kept to her lane—something she’d never accept.

Have you pre-ordered your copy? No?
Pre-order now!

10 Free Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors:

1. Write a review. Seriously, even a few words about being excited to get the book or looking forward to the next one matters to the algorithm. Note: Even bad reviews count as reviews and push those books to the top of search feeds. 
2. Share what you are reading on social media. This is one of the most awesome things to see as an author. We love it when people share that they are reading our books! 
3. Have a print book and limited space? Gift it to a friend, put it in a free library, and share it with someone rather than sending it to the recycling or landfill. 
4. Join their Facebook reader groups. You get all the details, the opportunity to interact with the author(s), and other readers reading the same books you are. 
5. Like their social media pages. 
6. Comment on social media posts. Even emojis can make their day. 
7. Send a message or comment about your favorite book. Sometimes authors feel like giving up, like no one wants their books, so little comments, if you like a book, may be the difference in a series you love getting completed or pushed to the back burner in favor of another book in the author’s mind that they think people will like. 
8. Be kind. A lot of indie authors are not making 3 much less 6 figures on their books. It may take a bit of saving to get better covers, more detailed editors, etc. Everyone starts somewhere. 
9. Don’t return books. Again, most indies are not rolling in the cash. Every return hurts. Use your local library to get digital or print copies of books. It costs the time it takes to get a library card and ask the librarian to add it to the digital or physical shelf. 
10. Join an influencer, street, or advance review copy (ARC) team for your favorite authors and volunteer to read the books first in exchange for sharing on social media or leaving a review. 

💜Check out this wonderful #giftaway!💜

🎁You could win a KINDLE FIRE, sponsored by the Rituals & Runes Anthology authors.🎁 

➡️Clickity click: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1be7623384/
(No purchase necessary to enter.) 

📘Be sure you have your copy of Rituals & Runes reserved so you can get lost in over 25+ ALL NEW stories by your favorite bestselling authors including Gina Kincade, C.D. Gorri, Bella Roccaforte, C.A. King, Piper Stone, J. C. McKenzie, J.E. Taylor, Serenity Rayne, Cara North, and so many more!📘

➡️Buy Links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oz9aGJ
Universal: https://books2read.com/rituals

Author Links:
Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/musesandsirens
Website: https://www.creativewritingwithdrnagle.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCaraNorth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caranorthauthor/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caranorthauthor
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/caranorth_author/?hl=en
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20650398.Cara_North
BookBub : https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cara-north
Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B002BLLE1U
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdht9Kg1/

UPDATE: The winner is…Shelley Russell!
*~*~*

Today’s the Hump-Day Contest — because we need an excuse for one, right?

But what can we compete over? How about the best excuse to call it a week on Wednesday and create a really long weekend for yourself? It doesn’t matter if Wednesday is like every other day to you because you don’t have a job, but pretend you’ve got the most awful boss and you’re inventing the lie to end all lies and make yourself legendary to your co-workers!

Yes, that’s it! The winner with the best, most legendary lie will win a $5 Amazon gift card. And hey, if it happens to be true, you’ll have our admiration!

I’m used to accomplishing something every day. However, today, I accomplished nothing.

I’m a writer. An editor. Those are the things I do to earn a living. I work seven days a week. Because I’m self-employed, I determine my hours. I try to keep to a plan. Sometimes, like today, nothing goes according to plan.

First, I spent my morning babysitting dogs (the five little ones—they’re very yappy) to keep them quiet while my daughter ran errands and my SIL slept (he’s currently working the night shift at the local PD). When she returned home, it was only to gather the two older kids to take them into town to a blood drive. Funny story. Neither had ever given blood. The 17-year-old fainted when the tech pricked her finger for a blood test—and that was it for her. She passed right out. Wish I’d been there to see it. The same girl thinks she wants to get her first tattoo when she turns 18. Ha!

Then I headed downstairs late afternoon to try to get some little thing accomplished, but the 17-year-old had promised her mom she’d make spaghetti for dinner. She called me to ask me how to make it. Of course, I headed up to the kitchen and took over making the meatballs, browning them, making the sauce, while she boiled the noodles.

After dinner, I came downstairs, but the 8-year-old is trying to figure out things she can do to earn money this summer, so she said she’d show me how good she’d be at doing “spa work” (she’s inventive, I’ll give her that) so I let her soak my feet and scrub my callused heels. Then she gave my hands a massage, my face a facial, including a mask and a heated “eye treatment.” She even brushed my teeth! So, if you can imagine, after she’d worked on me for about an hour, my room was a mess. She did a marvelous job, so professional, but then it was time for her to shower and go to bed, so I cleaned up all the sundry products she left in my space.

So, here I am. Doing at least one little thing—getting my daily blog posted. What a day. Oh, and the 8-year-old is hired. 🙂

June 6. Do you know what’s special about this day in history?

It’s the anniversary of D-Day: June 6, 1944.

During the night, paratroopers had already dropped behind German lines to secure roads and bridges. Early that morning, a coordinated amphibious assault that would ultimately bring the end of World War II in Europe began. Have you watched the actual footage from that day? Seen the bodies on the beaches? The stalwart, and surely frightened, men traveling in their amphibious vehicles when the doors were lowered, and they ran out to try to make it across that expanse of exposed sand?

It’s gripping. Heroic. Suicidal.

That kind of courage was what it took to rid Europe of Hitler.

Wars to end all wars… What a myth. What a hope. Anyone who is sane knows the costs of this kind of war are too high.

We’re seeing that kind of courage, in real time, in Ukraine today. They surprised all of us. Really, they shame us into action and support. And yes, the cost of that support is high, but they are fighting for all of Europe, and by extension, the world, and in the bigger picture, they are showing us that this kind of war has no true winners. We can hope China takes note. There can be no concessions, and we must show our willingness to sacrifice, even if the sacrifice is only money.

Policies of appeasement and negotiation failed when attempted with Hitler. They will fail with Putin.

I wish I had something fun and uplifting for you today, but the calendar highlighted “D-Day” and I don’t think we should forget. Our freedom isn’t guaranteed. And it comes with costs. The fields and fields of white crosses expose that truth.