UPDATE: The winner is…Ruth Limeburner!
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Happy Saturday! And you know what Saturday means, right? It’s puzzle-time!

I really do search hard for pretty or weird pictures to share to make this fun. Today’s is weird. Hope you enjoy it!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me what you think is happening in this picture. Or, simply tell me how it makes you feel. Super easy. Have fun!

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
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First, a reminder of what’s coming your way next Tuesday!
Have you ordered your copy?

What happens in Bozeman stays in Bozeman…unless it’s a cowboy!

Stranded in Bozeman, Montana, for the night while snowplows clear a mountain pass, Kelly Willis decides to throw caution to the wind. After being jilted by her college sweetheart, she’s determined to have one no-holds-barred night, her way of seeking revenge against a lifetime of conformity, before she settles down in a new town to live a very circumspect life as an elementary school teacher. She chooses another stranded motorist, propositioning him with the offer of a no-strings, no-names night of pleasure.

No one is more shocked than rancher Ryan Mobley when he appears at his daughter’s parent-teacher meeting to discover the angel he’d made love to is his daughter’s new teacher. Now that she’s here, he’s going to do everything he can to convince her they have a real connection, something they can build a lifetime on.

While she wrangles the class bully and he tries to figure out who’s rustling his cattle, the two of them grow closer with the help of a classroom full of mini matchmakers.

Pre-order your copy here!

Saturday Puzzle-Contest

 For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what this scenery does to you. That’s all. Happy Saturday!

UPDATE: The winner is…Joy Boutwell!
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The Devlin household has numerous pets. Too many. Currently, we have seven dogs (did I count right?), four cats, and a bunny. The picture I’m sharing is of MY cat. She hangs out with me, loves her cat bed under my desk, and is a generally noisy nuisance. Tessa has the most god-awful meow of any cat I’ve ever had. It’s a scratchy, yowling sort of meow that grates on a person’s nerves, but she’s MY cat. Usually, when she’s looking at me, her gold eyes are perfectly round, which makes her look really stupid. Here, I woke her from a nap, so she’s irritated with me. If she were a tiger, she’d eat me.

Yes, the topic for the word search today is lame, but I didn’t want to break my brain trying to come up with something clever, so for the sake of a good brain-matter workout, here’s today’s challenge:

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me about a favorite pet of yours, past or present, and have you had any exotic ones? I’ve had everything on the list below except for a lizard and a snake (feeding them mice or crickets was a big NO).

UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy!
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I’m busy writing, writing, writing! And I have no idea how the story will unfold. It’s kind of fun being in the dark until stuff happens I never expected. I let the characters do their thing. I know. It sounds nuts, but it’s usually how my stories happen. I know how they begin but after that…?

Anyway, I have so much to do. Write another mystery chapter, edit some, and then read more Secret Identities stories. I’m up to my eyeballs in work—and then, before I can go to bed, I’ll have to paint something to stay on track with the challenge.

What do you get to do? Well, I have a challenge for you, too! Are you excited? 🙂 Solve the puzzle then add some ideas for what you think a romantic date night should include for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
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I’m currently doing the #the100dayproject. Basically, I paint or create some kind of art for 100 days straight and post it. Trying to find subjects for so many days is a challenge in itself. So, I poured over the work I did in last year’s challenge and found a photo of a postcard featuring poppies. I really liked it at the time, but I like it even more now, so I’m going to try to recreate it. I don’t know if I can do a better job. It depends on my patience and whether I use the right paper and paint. Whether I have the brush pen I used before. Maybe I should choose another subject so I don’t disappoint myself, but painting is a lot like writing. You find a niche or topic you like and try to repeat the pattern so you reproduce something you love.

Anyway, enough talk. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me about something you’ve done you were proud of and tried to recreate. It can be about anything. How successful were you? Have fun!

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
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I watched a TikTok where a man played a prank on his girlfriend while they were eating at a restaurant. While she was in the bathroom, he paid their bill and then waited for her to return. When she sat, he leaned toward her and dared her to do a “Dine & Dash” where you eat and flee without paying. She was reluctant at first, but then her eyes brightened. They ran from the restaurant and jumped into his car; then she told him, “Go, go, go!” while she patted her chest because she was so frightened and excited. After they pulled away, he told her he had paid, and she said, “Oh, thank God!” He asked her, “But was that fun, right?” Her smile was everything. He’d invited her to do something naughty but had protected her from the consequences. I thought, “Damn, he knows her.” And, “How romantic.”

Okay, so maybe you think that was risky and weird for a date, but it got me thinking about what makes a dinner romantic.

So, today’s challenge: For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me what your ideal romantic dinner would look like.

UPDATE: The winner is…Flchen!
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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. You can try to include all the cubes in your “story” or choose a few.

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…