My daughter introduced me to my new obsession, darn her! Have you heard of Poppy?
I hadn’t either, but last night while I was visiting at her house, she and the 14-year-old were cackling over Poppy’s latest. I watched one to see what had them so engaged. I didn’t get it. So, I had to watch another, then another, then… Yeah, now I’m a subscriber.
Poppy is quirky and downright creepy. If I were writing her into a story, she’d be an AI entity ready to take over the world and enslave mankind.
My dd and I are best buds. Wasn’t always so, but these days, we could be together 24×7 and neither of us would get annoyed with each other. It’s a lovely thing to discover that we actually have so much in common.
Her hubby is away at the Police Academy for the next few months, and I do my best to spend extra time with her, keeping her spirits up. She was edgy today, because he had to qualify with his weapon today or be booted, and although I didn’t think he’d have any problems at all, she’s my worst-case-scenario girl, so when she asked whether I’d go shopping with her this morning, I dropped everything to keep her company. Of course, our favorite type of shopping is thrift store and flea market shopping. Not that we’re super cheap, we just enjoy hunting for hidden “treasure”.
The picture above is my haul from the two junk stores we hit today. And before you go, “Gah, it all looks like sh@t,” let me tell you what I see!
Starting from the left…
See the beige-colored pot? Well, I’ve been looking for something to hold all my paintbrushes. It’s in perfect condition, and once I fill it with dried beans, I’ll stand all my brushes inside it.
The ruby-and-diamond-colored crystal bracelet draped over the side? Well, if one of my granddaughters doesn’t want it to wear (they’re getting to the age where they love to wear jewelry, but I’m reluctant to buy “real” stones and gold because they lose shit all the time), then I’ll use it to decorate a box or take it apart and string it in an eclectic bracelet.
The large orange things at the bottom are part of a bib necklace. My dd loves retro costume jewelry, and with her long red hair, she can pull off a big gaudy piece like that, but if she never wears it, I’ll pluck apart the large plastic orange circles and use them to decorate a box. (Nothing goes to waste!)
See the turquoise letter holder? Well, the color doesn’t match anything of mine, so I’ll paint it with some Chinese red chalk paint and use it to stand my stencils in my art room inside.
Those flowers at the top are old enamel clippie earrings. I love them! They will either be glued to blanks to make up a charm bracelet or they will end up as drawer pulls on a small cupboard.
The two retro rhinestone necklaces? One of them has missing crystals, so I’ll cut it up to use for boxes or to add to another bracelet.
The one that’s intact, I’ll probably give to my dd, because again, she loves to wear retro fashion.
The two gold pieces in the center with the flowers? Those are huge gold-tone hoop earrings. My dd will wear those, and if she doesn’t, I’ll take them and bend them up to use in a leather bracelet.
The white Chinese bottle? I collect old snuff bottles. This one’s missing its stopper at the top, but I couldn’t resist it because it depicts two dudes smoking opium.
The neutral-tone tin box on the right will be cut up to make disks for earrings. And the leather bracelet on top of it will go to my granddaughters.
So, not junk at all. Treasures, all! And I didn’t pay over $20 for the lot. My daughter leaves the refurb-able (I know it’s not a real word!) jewelry to me. She loves to pick up small pieces of furniture to recover, repaint, and repurpose. So, it was a perfect morning for us! Now, it’s back to work!
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Dragons are creatures of myth, Do you wish there were really dragons. Of course, in the early stories about dragons, they’re not the good guys. We read those old myths and learn dragons were evil creatures who gathered treasures they fiercely protected. In those tales, dragons also kidnapped and feasted on young women until a hero came into the picture and slew the dragon and rescued the maiden, often a princess. St. George slew the dragon, so it’s been said.
Where did these myths appear? There are fables about dragons on every continent. Asian dragons have no wings. Those from Europe and other places. Dragons can breathe fire. Many can fly. They can be found inland or flying over the oceans. Dragons hoard treasure.
Years ago, I found a coffee table book called Dragonology by Ernest Drake.
I used this book when designing dragons for my stories. There are many stories about dragons these days. I’ve read many of them. My favorite being Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern. Naomi Novak used the Regency period for her dragon stories. Mercedes Lackey also has a series featuring dragons. There are many more.
On the shelf above my computer are about forty dragons. All manner of dragons. Ones from cloth, glass, metal and plastic. Every year I receive a new dragon ornament for my Christmas tree. I finally delved into writing about dragons. The first is a novella where a snooty princess is turned into an amber dragon. This story is found in a series of novellas in The Amber Chronicles. The second and third are part of a series about the island of Fyre. The Dragons of Fyre and the third is still under construction hopefully for release in March—The Children of Fyre.
Question. What are your favorite dragon authors and books? Let me know and I’ll enter you in a contest to receive a print copy of one of my books about using dragons as characters. You’ll have to let me know your email address so I can contact you.
UPDATE: The two winners are…Jeanette Whetzel and Charlene Michael!
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I’m in the doldrums. That space where, as a writer, I stall for a bit before the wind picks up and I’m sailing fast again.
Last week, I finished a story. One I had to push hard to reach The End. Adrenaline helped, because I was staring at an immoveable deadline. As soon as I wrapped up production and uploaded the sucker, I revised my plan and my bullet journal, and aimed at the next couple of hard deadlines, but then the wind died down. Ugh.
Lots of things are percolating, bubbling up like a fictional witch’s green, smelly goop. Stories I want to write, stories I have to edit. I took a bit of “me” time to hang with my daughter, which included a couple of days of shopping and junking. I played at cleaning up my workspace. Now, I have to get serious. Make myself afraid I’ll miss my dates. That’s the only way to motivate myself. I am an adrenaline junkie, and I’ve convinced myself over the years that I’m most creative when I’m riding that high. Huh. I need to change that internal narrative, because someday, I do want to be that plodding, methodical writer, who has “balance” in her life—not that I’ve ever met her.
Now, so many days have passed since I revamped my plan, that I have to revamp again, increasing my daily writing and editing page counts, in order to meet those hard dates. Here goes again…
Offer your thoughts for how I can goad myself into pushing through this slump to get back on track, and I’ll offer two stories, to two winners, readers’ choices!
JOY. A simple three letter word, which can hold so much. Joy. Every year I choose a word for the year and my word for 2019 is joy. I made this selection and not long afterward saw on Pinterest where someone was making a joy jar.
What is a JOY Jar? It is a jar where you collect joys for each day of the year.
Making a Joy Jar easy to do. Take a jar. Decorate it if you wish, any way you wish. Write down one of your joys onto a paper and place it in the jar. Do this every day. At the end of the year, open the jar and read all the joys you collected in the Joy Jar in that year.
I loved this idea so much that I had to make one. I headed to meet one of my BFF’s for a Joy Jar making, 2019 planner day. I’d been looking for stickers, which said Joy and couldn’t find even one in any of the stories I searched. I was looking for joy and was surprised it wasn’t easier to find. When I arrived at my friend’s house and told her I couldn’t find Joy stickers anywhere, she said I have something I made for you. She went into the other room and came back holding white a red heart she’d knitted for me. It was the perfect thing to glue onto the front of my Joy Jar.
You know how when you buy a new car suddenly you are seeing cars just like it everywhere? Well that is how is has been with me with the word joy. The more I look for it, the more I find it. The word joy has been popping up and I am more aware of my joys each day. What we focus on often increases.
My challenge to you is, make a Joy Jar and start adding to it.See how it enriches your life this year and keep your eyes and ears on the lookout for joy.
One of my joys is writing. I’ve got seventeen books out now in various genres of romance and have many more to share with my readers. If you follow me this year, you are going to be hearing a lot more about my joys and hearing the word joy a lot.
Here are my pages and links to follow. Thank you to Delilah for inviting me to visit and share some joy!
A Spirited Girl. A Reluctant Dom. Fated Mates. Bridling Lucy by Sierra Brave Horse Mountain Shifters Book #3
Release Date: January 11, 2019
Genre: Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Spanking
Stubborn, prideful and self-disciplined, Chance Locklear believes his way is always right, and he doesn’t like hiccups is in his strict routine so when the matriarch of his equine-shifter clan saddles him with a spoiled, twenty-one-year-old brat from out-of-town, he’s none too pleased.
While growing up as a member of a rogue-shifter clan, Lucy Tate didn’t have the luxury of an easy or predictable life, but she’s learned to live with her parent’s self-centered behavior causing problems for her or leaving her in the lurch. When her step-father’s latest hijinks force her to abandon her job as a blackjack dealer and skip town, she resents having to live with a stranger and work as a maid while hiding out. To make matters worse, she’s been placed in the care of an arrogant but sexy game warden/werehorse who demands her respect.
The first time Chance pulled her over his lap for a spanking, she was shocked and angry, but her body reacted to his touch in a completely different way. Just as the two begin to give into their shared attraction and admit they are fated mates, outside forces show up to pull them apart. Will destiny, love, and amazing sex be enough to save their relationship?
Warning: Bridling Lucy is a smoking hot, stand-alone romance with graphic sexual language. If you are offended by corporal punishment/adult discipline or sizzling, put-you-in-the-moment love scenes, you might want to look for another book.
EXCERPT
“Doesn’t matter. Truck’s not locked.” He reached out and then opened the door. “Hop up and drive.”
“Whoo hoo!” Lucy jumped in the driver’s seat, and after bucking her seatbelt, she cranked the engine.
Chance had barely gotten seated and was still closing the door as she took off in reverse. “Good Lord, woman!” He slammed his door shut before he grabbed the handle by the roof, hanging on for dear life with one hand while fastening his seatbelt with the other.
Lucy put the car in drive before heading down the dirt path serving as a driveway. She rolled down the window and smiled as the wind blew through her hair.
“It feels amazing to be behind the wheel again.”
She glanced at Chance just in time to see him remove his hat and the tie holding his long, black hair back in a low ponytail. As she maneuvered along a curve, the breeze flowed through his gorgeous locks, and her heart skipped a beat as he glanced at her. His full lips pursed together in a smirk as he did his best not to laugh. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”
“Oh, I am. Mama was so stingy on the long drive here—she wouldn’t let me behind the wheel at all.” She turned on the radio, tuning into a station playing hip hop and then bobbed and swayed as she tore up the road.
“You’re going to need to take the next right.”
She glanced at him. “That’s not the way to Ms. Banks’ house. Are we going straight to your place?”
“Yeah.”
She frowned. “I’ve been working all day. I wanted to freshen up.”
“You look terrific and smell sweet. Please, let’s go to my place.”
“Alright then.” She flipped on the signal before making the turn.
Chance grabbed the handle again. “I can see why your mama wouldn’t let you drive. Would you slow down?”
She flashed him a toothy grin. “What’s the fun in that?”
“The fun is in not flipping my truck and killing us both. Plus, you have to turn again soon. Now be a good girl so I don’t have to spank your behind before dinner.”
Lucy’s couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but with her bottom still raw from the whooping she received that morning, she applied her foot to the break. For the rest of the drive to his house, she behaved, following his directions.
Sierra Brave is a multi-published author of smoking hot romance. She writes across genres, dabbling in a little bit of everything, including ménage and BDSM. Her love of erotic fiction started in her last year of high school when she first read the sensual classic, Fanny Hill. She felt so naughty yet liberated with her copy tucked away in her book bag and hopes her work will have the same delicious effect on her readers.
I’m in the doldrums. That space where, as a writer, I stall for a bit before the wind picks up and I’m sailing fast again.
About the Author
