Where do ideas for books come from? That’s a question most authors are asked at one point or another. Truthfully, ideas come from anywhere and everywhere—TV, movies, magazines, nonfiction books, overheard snippets of conversations, dreams, or random thoughts. In the case of the Hades’ Carnival series, it started with an online quiz.

This was back in the days of the Yahoo Groups—long before Facebook and Instagram. Someone posted one of those fun quizzes—What carnival ride would you be? I took the quiz and wasn’t surprised when it came up as a carousel. I’m not very adventurous, but who says a carousel has to be tame? My mind started working. What if the animals on the carousel were really shapeshifting immortal warriors trapped in their animal forms? The idea for the series spun out from there and the HADES’S CARNIVAL was born.

Hades’ Carnival

Welcome to Hades’ Carnival, where a group of immortal shapeshifting warriors are imprisoned in their animal forms on a carousel.

Cursed by the very goddess they served—The Lady of the Beasts—in order to keep them out of Hell, now the warriors are being offered a chance at freedom and redemption. And it will take a very special woman to free each warrior.

Once free, they must stay alive for 24 hours if they want to save themselves from Hades once and for all.

SERIES: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0742KNX25

NIGHT OF THE TIGER

When graphic novel illustrator Aimee Horner visits a traveling carnival, she’s drawn to an abandoned carousel and its carved white tiger. One touch of her skin against the massive beast, and Aimee’s world is changed forever.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSB6Z8

MARK OF THE BEAR

Kellsie Morris knows her career as a Hollywood scream queen won’t last forever. Luckily, she’s just landed a big role in a movie about an immortal, shape-shifting warrior trapped in a carnival run by the Devil’s minions. When the carousel bear on set shifts into a flesh and bone bear of a man, Kellsie starts to question reality.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TS79RK/

PRIDE OF THE LION

When Araminta Davidson is invited to participate in a readers’ appreciation weekend, she feels like she’s arrived as an author. But what starts out as a fun weekend quickly turns surreal and deadly when she accidentally releases a shape-shifting immortal warrior from a five-thousand-year-old curse.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSMST9/

HOWL OF THE WOLF

Artist and tarot reader Sabrina can’t resist buying and bringing home the old carousel wolf she finds in an antique shop. She never imagined the wooden animal could come to life in her living room and shift into a dark, sexy man.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSQ84M/

HEART OF THE SERPENT

After being trapped in his animal form for centuries by a curse, freedom is new and almost uncomfortable for shape-shifting warrior Mordecai. He knows Hades can’t get to him physically, but although he might try to deny it, he knows he has a weak spot—Jessica. Worried that Hades could hurt her to get to him, Mordecai’s tried to keep his distance, but there’s no stopping this kind of connection.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TST8PT/

FLAME OF THE PHOENIX

Phoenix is afraid—a first for the immortal warrior. Beautiful, forthright Tilly Ledet fires his mind and body. She’s been helping Phoenix and his shape-shifting comrades in their battle against Hades, and now she is in danger and doesn’t think she needs his protection.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSF7KT/

LURE OF THE JAGUAR

With the ancient curse broken, the warriors serving the Lady of Beasts are free. Stavros, the only unmated warrior, retreats to the solitude of the Louisiana bayou, but he’s not alone there. The minute he sees the woman stalking wildlife with her camera, he realizes her for who she is—his mate.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TS717B/

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, assassins, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit her at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: https://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

UPDATE: The winner is…BN!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for letting me visit today.  I’m here to share another charity anthology (big surprise), but this is not like my other ones.  Deity Bound: A God and Goddesses Paranormal Anthology is about, well, gods and goddesses.  Norse, Greek, Indian…gay, straight, lesbian…we’ve got it all!  And proceeds for Breast Cancer Research, no less.

When I signed up, I had no idea what I was going to write.  Often, I don’t.  Another writer was contemplating doing a Native American god, so I knocked the Canadian version off my list.  I have an Aussie friend and I asked about their Aboriginal gods.  My friend, though, had a different idea.  She asked me for a trait that could be either a negative or a positive.  I was like…?  Uh, stubbornness.  I related it back to myself.  I’m stubborn in that I never give up with my writing.  Okay, sounds great—I never abandon a story—I finish everything.  Except, sometimes, there are projects that should be abandoned.  They’re not working.  They’re taking up too much brain space for little or no reward.  While I was contemplating this, she took to Googling.

Enter Pertinacia—the goddess of, essentially, stubbornness.  Daughter of Nix, Granddaughter of Chaos, sister to Chronos and a bunch of other gods.  Nix really got around (good for her!).  Anyway, my Aussie friend and I (I call her the plot whisperer) came up with a story set in North Vancouver, Canada, and involved Pertinacia being knocked out of time by Chronos and sent to a park on Earth in 2024.

From there, I flew with writing my story.  I had Dani, a woman who’d just had her heart broken by her long-term girlfriend.  I had Pertinacia the demigoddess.  And, for fun, Pertinacia’s family came to visit.  I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the closest to a rom-com that I’d ever written.  My beta readers and editor love it.  I’m hoping readers will as well.  All that from stubbornness.  Who knew!?!?

As a gift, I’d like to give one commenter a $5 Amazon Gift Card.  Is there a God or Goddess whose story you’d like to see?  Or a favorite movie?  I saw Hercules as a child and Medusa still gives me nightmares.  Comment and you might randomly win!  Thanks again, Delilah!

Deity Bound

Eternity breaks the smallest souls, but a god will never be ruined…except perhaps by the one who holds their heart.

The one who can rip at their soul or soothe it because it was always theirs.

But after an eternity alone, can a god give back the love given them, or wreak havoc upon a mortal’s soul?

Read the best USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors in a spicy gods and goddesses collection for charity curated by The New Romance Cafe, with all proceeds going to the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.

Authors:
Chele MacCabe
Francis Black
Lily Kindall
V.V. Strange
Katey Tattrie
Niki Brazen
TL Hamilton
Emmy Dee
Cecelia Conway
Jane Poller
Kataya Moon
Alexa Santi
Nicole Sondelle
Cameron J Quinn
Serafina Jax
Michaela Brent
Mikayla Rand
Tati B. Alvarez
Raven Hush
Kathleen Ryder
Niki Trento
Sonja Flowers
Ariel Dawn
Kathia Iblis
Christine Ashworth
Annee Jones
Gabbi Grey
Glori Medina

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

 

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/TNRC2024DeityBound
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Deity-Bound-Goddesses-Paranormal-Collection-ebook/dp/B0C7NXZWCP
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176294379-deity-bound

Deity Bound features my story, My Fair Goddess.

In the ominous light of the coming storm, the disheveled petite woman I rescued seemed helpless and in need of protection. Big miscalculation. Tina’s a demigoddess—a pint-sized powerhouse stranded in the twenty-first century—but far from a damsel in distress. Still, first impressions linger, and I can’t be in awe of someone I taught to use a toaster and to make microwave popcorn. I’m falling hard for her when her grandfather, the god of chaos, demands her return. Can our love and courage stand up to the old gods, or will we lose each other to an ancient land and powers I can barely understand?

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

8 Seconds to Die

When veterinarian and amateur sleuth, Dr. Tullah Holliday reluctantly agrees to help a former high school bully, now ex-con on parole, and a breeder of rodeo bulls, who is being threatened by a drug syndicate, she finds herself in a world of corruption; especially when she digs up dirt on a dishonest sheriff and his deputy.

From a rattlesnake delivered in a giftwrapped box, to a vicious bull attack, as Tullah puts together the pieces of the case, a killer is preparing to strike again, and this time, it could send this nosy veterinarian to an early grave.

Excerpt from 8 Seconds to Die…

The silence that permeated the room had never sounded so loud. I finally said, “What happened then? Did you call the sheriff, or 9-1-1?”

Caleb poured another drink. It was halfway to his mouth when Caroline admonished, “That’s enough, Caleb.”

He racked a trembling hand over his face before downing the bourbon. He grimaced. “Yeah, sure, it’s just that I keep seeing Pop’s mangled body.” He heaved a deep sigh. “We rushed to the barn. Diablo had blood on both horns where he’d gored Pop. My ol’ man lay in a heap like a broken doll. I wanted to shoot the bull. I guess it was a good thing Rex and Baily stopped me. “We called Sheriff Coffey. He came with two deputies and the medical examiner, Reed Duckworth. Duckworth put Pop’s death at approximately two a.m. He said it appeared almost every bone in Pop’s body had been broken by the mauling.”

I had to ask, “Was there an investigation…did you request an autopsy?”

Both Caroline and Caleb gave me owlish looks. Caleb said, “Investigation…what was there to investigate? The bull broke out of his pen. He gored my father to death. End of story. And no, we didn’t request an autopsy. We knew how Pop had died. I don’t understand why you’re asking these questions, Tullah.”

Not satisfied with the shortened version of the answer, I persisted. “From the way you’ve reinforced the pens with metal bars, how did the bull get out? Was your father gored in the front or in the back? Wasn’t there a door or a ladder to the loft that he could’ve used to escape the attack? Was there any evidence of tampering with the latch on the gate of Diablo’s pen?”

Caroline and Caleb sat silent. Their silence cued me that there was more to the story. I waited. “Listen, you two, you’ve asked for my help. I’m getting a bit weary of the pranks and the evasiveness. What is it you’re either hiding or not telling me? Was Carl’s death an accident or murder?

“Does his death have anything to do with the threats you’ve received, and especially threats against your children? Have the perpetrators made demands for money or for something otherwise?”

*~*~*

8 Seconds to Die is book #5 in the Doc Holliday Mystery Series.

Books are available at:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Seconds-Die-Doc-Holliday-Mystery/dp/1509254919/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/8-seconds-to-die-loretta-c-rogers/1145014706?ean=2940186042167
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209767678-8-seconds-to-die

About the Author

Loretta C. Rogers is a fourth generation Floridian. She has rounded up cattle and participated in a couple of twenty-five-mile endurance trials with her mustang mare. She uses her life experiences to create stories. For example, rodeo is her favorite sport. Years ago, she and hubby were at a rodeo in Kissimmee, Florida. They were camping out and had to skedaddle when someone opened the gates to the bull pens. Thankfully, only their tent suffered. On the upside, Loretta got to meet Michael Landon, who played Little Joe Cartright on Bonanza. These and other past life experiences spurred the idea for “8 Seconds to Die,” a rodeo themed contemporary mystery that includes murder, drug syndicates, rattle snakes, and laced with a thread of paranormal.

Contact Loretta at:
https://www.facebook.com/loretta.rogers.3591/
https://www.lorettacrogers.blogspot.com/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/loretta-c-rogers
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Loretta-C.-Rogers/author/B004948XP2
https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2FBooksbyLoretta
https://www.instagram.com/rogers.loretta2018/?hl=en

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me back to share my new release.  As you might know, I’m always game to try something new when it comes to writing.  I was approached last year to write a gay romance retelling of a fairy tale and to say I was excited was an understatement.  Several tales were still available, and I snagged The Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t know much about the story beyond the two Disney retellings, so I set about doing some research. Which, of course, included buying the Disney combo and watching the movies again.  The one stipulation on my story was that I couldn’t include magic.  No singing candelabras, dogs as footstools, or little boys as teacups.

Undaunted, I tackled the project and…came up blank.  I knew I wanted to set the story in my Mission City, British Columbia world, but beyond that…I had nothing.  One day, I was chatting with a friend from Australia.  She said she wanted me to either write a story with a Canadian bloke in Australia or an Australian bloke in Canada.  Something clicked.  That morning (about 4 a.m. for me and about 9 p.m. for her), we plotted out a basic story.  About an Aussie forester coming to Canada to study, well, forestry management techniques.  So that was my Beauty – a lumberjack of sorts.  Then I needed a beast.  Since I was already flipping the trope, I decided to go with a slender, petite former model.  In stereotype parlance – a twink.  From there, we crafted out a story figuring out how Beauty (Dean) would wind up at Beast (Adam)’s castle (and yes, I have a real castle…of sorts…)  Throw in a dog named Chip, a cat named Maurice, and a pile of characters from the world I’d already created…and I had the skeleton outline of my story.

Executing this book turned out to be more challenging than I’d anticipated, and at one point I despaired of ever getting it ready to publish.  Toss in two amazing beta readers (one Aussie) and a fantastic editor and…we made it.  I hope readers will love the book as much as I now do.  A very different telling than the Brothers Grimm might’ve planned, but still something worth reading, I hope.

Thank you for letting me visit today.  I would love to give away a $5 Amazon Gift Card to one commenter.  Either tell me which fairy tale you would like to see modernized or feel free to mention an adaptation you’ve recently enjoyed.  Random Number Generator will select one lucky winner!

The Beauty of the Beast
A Contemporary Fairytale MM Romance

Dean

All my life, I dreamed about making the long trip from Australia to Canada to study forestry amid the old-growth stands of the Pacific Northwest. Now here I am, living the dream. Of course, nothing’s perfect. The only housing I can find is renting a room from a grumpy, reclusive guy who doesn’t seem to want me around. I should keep out of his way and focus on my studies, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in. I feel less homesick when I’m with him, and maybe I can make a difference for more than just the trees.

Adam

Life as I knew it ended with my horrific accident ten years ago. There’s no point to my existence now, but I can’t seem to stop living, so I hide my battered carcass in my mountain home. There, I can wander from room to room and no one stares, no one laughs, no one even remembers I exist. Until I make the mistake of offering a stranded Aussie a room to rent. It should’ve been a simple favor—two men with our own spaces, ignoring each other. Instead, he’s always close by, and he won’t let me wallow, and what’s worse, I think I’m starting to like that. But there’s no way someone like me can have a future with someone like him. Right?

The Beauty of the Beast is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in the wilds of British Columbia, where an Aussie forester a long way from home falls for the untouchable man he shouldn’t want. The novel has moderate angst, a feisty foreigner, and what happens when someone trusts again.

Links:
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Beast-Contemporary-Fairytale-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CN4VXZ2T
Universal Book Link:  https://books2read.com/TheBeautyoftheBeast
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-beauty-of-the-beast/id6499569892
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beauty-of-the-beast-gabbi-grey/1145522583
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-beauty-of-the-beast-5
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1558154

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up:  https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile:  https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey

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

The first book I completed was A Change for the Good. It was one of those times when the idea came to me complete. I knew the characters’ names, and scenes were fully plotted. I fully intended it to be a one-and-done. I was new to publishing, and I had so many ideas.

However, Forde and Layla popped into my head, and I couldn’t shut them up. Better was the first book that I couldn’t stop writing. I would open my laptop to write a quick one hundred words here and there whenever I got the chance.

With that book, The Change Series was born. I had no plan, only ideas. I used it as a way to try different things. I wrote about interracial couples, male/male, dealt with mental illness, women who did not want to settle down, and characters who didn’t want children. They were imperfect heroes and heroines who were making changes to get what they wanted.

I finished the last book in 2020 and moved on to other series. Three years ago, a member of my team suggested that I update the covers for the series. Every six months, she would remind me of all the reasons why it was necessary and enlisted others to encourage me to do so.

Last fall, I paid for new covers, and since the ladies who were working on the project had read the books, they had great ideas and insights. We tried to position the series for Contemporary Romance and Women’s Literature (Chick Lit.)

Because I could not leave well enough alone, I decided to go back and reread each book and make a few fixes. I thought it would take forever, but the books are easy reads, and I was done in a few weeks.

As I read each book, memories of the struggle to tell the couples’ stories came back to me. The excitement of knowing that I was on the right path when the words came easily and the pain deep in my chest when they thought they might not make it.

I rediscovered my old friends. In Best, I created the best friend that I wish I had. Billie has been through so much and is damaged. She has PTSD and a horrible mother. She moves to Indianapolis to start over. Soon after, she meets Zoe Alessi from Good and becomes a part of the Forde Limited family and finds the love of her life.

Next came A Change in Perception, where I explored the issue of child abuse and made the mother the aggressor. A book club in Michigan read the book and I was shocked to learn that one of the members was furious that I wrote “that garbage.” The reader believed that a mother would never hurt her child.

I’m still amazed at people who refuse to see.

Cress was a tough character to write. She works so hard but really only lives half of a life. When the book opens, she is trying to take some control over her disaster of a life. She doesn’t have a plan except to make changes. I needed to create a character that didn’t know herself, but she wanted to. She was smart and dumb at the same time. Her new friends and lover gave her a safe space to learn and the patience to make missteps.

My plan when writing A Change of Plan was to make Ramsay Kent, who was a ball-breaker and mistake-maker, likable. When the reader meets her in prior books, she is prickly and selfish. When things get tough, she takes off. Rereading her story years later, I saw a deeply wounded woman who was doing the best she could. It was ingrained in her that she was not worth people sticking with. I paired her with Osi Browne, who is a loner. He’s big and scary and intimidates all. He also has infinite patience and the drive to figure the elusive Ramsay out.

Immediately, I saw similar traits between Osi and The Novus Pack’s most popular male, Lore. They have a personal code. They care for only a few, but if you are one of “theirs,” then they will be loyal.

I clearly remember creating Campbell Talbot from A Change of Direction as a woman who made her own rules. She was single and enjoyed being so. Men were a want and not a need in her life. She was unapologetically independent.

In a different life, I could be her. In some ways, I am.

When she meets Sly, neither are looking for a relationship; however, their chemistry cannot be denied. He puts up with her dating rules because they amuse him. When he finally meets her two besties, he gains valuable insight into Campbell.

She needs to feel that she has control because, in her failed marriage, her husband controlled her with money. When she wanted her freedom, he fought and delayed the divorce to watch her suffer.

The final book in the series takes place during the holidays. I devote a chapter to each couple and give an update on their lives and a hint of their future. The story arc is about Billie and Tye moving into their dream house and their fertility journey. The final scene is during the group’s Christmas lunch. I wrote the damn scene, and I read it with tears falling down my cheeks. I was happy for all of my old friends, but especially for Billie.

After reading the series, I realized that I was writing about what I wanted from my friendships and what I wanted to give. I had gone through a period where I lost my closest writing world friends. There was no big blow-up, and to this day, I still don’t know what happened. One day, we were in a four-person Messenger group, and the next…it was disbanded.

In the Change Series, I created female characters that I wanted in my life. Women that were loyal and could have a problem with one another and not ditch a friendship.

As time passed, I made new friends. I probably moved more slowly with them because I was wary. I wanted to be sure they would be honest with me and understand that I’m far from perfect. I was looking for friendships where we celebrated the good times and pulled one another through the bad times.

Taking the time to reread the books gave me the opportunity to see how much I have grown as a writer and as a person and friend. Hopefully, I’ll be much better.

*~*~*

You can learn more about Melanie Jayne:  https://www.readmelaniejayne.com

And the Change Series: https://www.readmelaniejayne.com/change-series.html

To enter the drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card— Who is your Book Best Friend?
(A fictional character that you wish was real and in your crew)

Although the concept of motherhood has, in times past, been fairly narrow—and binary—I believe in a more expansive definition.  We can have “mothers” in our lives who didn’t give birth to us.  Aunties or grandmothers who raised us, foster parents who took care of us, or trans moms who might’ve had a different role as we grew up.

This new anthology of drabbles is a celebration of motherhood in all its many forms.  Of moms in their many forms.  Some stories will make you laugh, some will make you cry (yes, even me), and some will make you reflect on how we all view motherhood.

What’s a drabble? It’s a form of microfiction.  100 words.  Exactly 100 words.  No easy feat – trust me on that.  I love this project so much that I submitted stories under three different pen names.  I’ve had three maternal figures in my life: the woman who gave birth to me, the woman who adopted me, and the woman who guided me into mature adulthood.  My birth mom, my adopted mom, and my step-mom.  All hold pivotal roles in my life.  All mean the world to me.

So from funny anecdotes to touching moments to poetry, there’s something in here for everyone.  And the book has been published in paperback and hardcover – so it’s the perfect gift for the mother in your life – whomever that person is. (Or for yourself, to enjoy the reflections of all kinds of motherhood…)

Flowers for You

One hundred perfect words. A thousand heartfelt emotions.

For Mother’s Day and all year-round, we at the Romance Café are shouting about this collection of perfect, bite-sized celebrations of moms, mums, mas, mothers and other caring figures in your life.

These 100-word stories celebrate the many different ways that carers show their love, from the everyday acts of kindness to the sacrifices they make for their children.

Warning: may cause a sniffle or three.

Authors:
Gabbi Powell
Gabbi Black
Trinity Wood
Kaje Harper
Tami Winbush
L Mad Hildebrandt
Hannah McKee
Lisa Gwizdala-Cody
Alexa Santi
Cara north
Sonja Flowers
Michelle Mars
Tori Fields
Rhianon Ruby
Elaine Reed
Danika Bloom
A. Boss
Niki Brazen
DL Gallie
Mila Chase
Debra Deasey
Susan Horsnell USAT Bestselling Author
Jeanna Louise Skinner
Cecelia Conway
Suki McMinn
Annee Jones
Gabbi Grey
J.E. Feldman
Kathleen Ryder
Sarah Stein
Angela Kady
MacKade
Heather Osborne
Harper Michaels
Sofia Aves
Bonnie Poirier
Ryleigh Sloan
Niki Trento
Yolanda Olson
Sera Taíno
Kat Long
Katherine Moore
Melissa Kendall
LoLo Paige
Aurelia Foxx
Krithika
Vanesa L. Perillo
G.R. LeBlanc
Jade Glas
Brianna Malotke
Tori Fields

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/TNRC2024FlowersForYou
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Flowers-You-Drabbles-Microfiction-Collection-ebook/dp/B0CH3GBY4K
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198359414-flowers-for-you

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

For years, I’d driven past a small white house on a busy commercial street without paying it much attention. It had been converted into a coffee shop during the era when coffee shops were all the rage (likely due to the series, Friends). Drinking coffee has always been a thing in these parts but not a pastime. This is more of tea and “Coke” country. And when I say “Coke,” I’m not talking about the illegal white chalk. No, down South, any soft drink is referred to as “Coke.” If you ask someone if they want a Coke, you very well could be offering them a Sunkist or Mountain Dew or even a Pepsi. It’s all understood. I’m pretty sure the Coca-Cola people don’t appreciate that much—but then again, I can’t and don’t speak for the company or brand. That’s just my assumption that they wouldn’t as an issue of trademark genericide/genericization.

Coffee is the drink that gets a lot of people going in the morning and continue going during the day. It was considered by many a staple and not a pastime. For that reason, there was no need for a special place to go “have coffee.” And the reason it wasn’t considered a pastime wasn’t, as I implied, due to its unpopularity. Rather, it had to do with the heat.

It’s hot here in the South, and most people are trying to cool off and not warm up. They want something cold and refreshing. Beer fills that for many people. Ice (or iced) tea is another favorite. Thus, in the evenings, people weren’t rushing for a cup of steaming java. So, how was this place staying in business? The answer is simple. It was homegrown—a mom-and-pop. People went because it felt “homey” and was a place to hang out with friends. Sometimes, there was a band, but most times, there wasn’t. Students went there for a quiet place to study or as a getaway from home where they knew their parents wouldn’t create much of a fuss about them going. It was the quiet little place on the hill.

Then, one day as I was passing, I noticed new construction. And I recall my precise thought. “What used to be there?” It was one of those thoughts that only entered my mind as I was driving by, and then out of sight, out of mind. It took several weeks until one day it dawned on me that the building that was missing was the coffeeshop. It had been completely demolished and the rubble hauled away in less than an hour. What had happened?

The easy answer would be the illness that broke the world in 2020. I’m sure that had something to do with it. It certainly didn’t help. The poor economy could also be blamed. But what I’m guessing was its downfall is always what had made it successful: community support. People like me never really “supported” it. Sure, I always said things like, “I hear it’s really nice.” I never had a negative comment to make about it, but I also was never a customer. On those days and evenings when I wanted a quiet place to write, I always forgot about them. The students graduated and moved away. Friends went off the air. Trends changed. Additionally, before the pandemic, I’d heard some people complain that a few of the servers (who were related to the owners) were quite rude to customers. Because of the blood kin, some customers didn’t feel the rudeness would be addressed and took their business elsewhere. If it’s one thing a small business almost can never survive, it’s bad customer service.

I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of everything that happened with this business, but I do know that it is a loss for the community. However, there is a good chance that the community could have prevented the closing from happening.

What prompted me to write this post was I mentioned going to another mom-and-pop establishment only to be told that they had closed as well. It made me realize that I took so many of these small, local stores for granted. I always assumed that they would be there. But how could they be if people like me never graced their doors to give them business? It had been more convenient for me to go to a big business drive-thru than get out of my car, walk into the shop, and order from a small business. Because these small businesses didn’t have flashy neon lights or billboards across the city, I tended to forget about them. When I drove by, they faded into the background like shrubbery. But if I want the mom-and-pop stores to stick around, I’m going to have to do better.

Here are six ways to support small businesses.

1. Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday occurs in November, generally following Black Friday. This day is designed to encourage people to shop locally and support small businesses during the holiday shopping boom. Large retailers go hard in advertising and promoting Black Friday sales and keep them going through the weekend. Of course, many have now begun starting their sales on Thursdays (or even earlier in the week) and offering pre-orders. For many consumers, these deals are appealing. However, it is important to remember that many small businesses may not be able to compete like this. So, please remember them and drop in their brick-and-mortar or shop at their online store.
2. Lists. This is so simple to do, yet, many people don’t. Make a list of local businesses and keep the list on your phone or another convenient place. When you need to buy an item, refer to this list first. I had multiple opportunities to purchase my lunch from the coffee shop. I was going to spend the money anyway. But I forgot them as an option.
3. Refer a friend. Many small businesses can’t afford large advertising budgets. They gain a lot of their business by word of mouth. It costs you nothing to give them a shoutout, especially if you enjoy what they have to offer. I see many of my friends on social media now doing this, and I have gone to some of these places as a result of seeing their posts.
4. Mailing list. Ask small businesses if they have a mailing list and to add your name. This way you can keep up with sales and what is going on with them. One small business that I liked to shop (but was a little on the expensive side) moved. Because I didn’t go there frequently (again, because they were kinda expensive), I didn’t realize they had moved. By the time I went to the store, the sign stating they had moved had been removed, and another business was preparing to move it. It was almost eighteen months before I realized they had moved across town to an area that I consider a “destination” shopping ground. What I mean is, there are plenty of businesses in that area and parking is hellacious at best. When I go there, it is with the intention of going to a particular store for a specific item. I’m not browsing or wasting time. It’s not because it’s an unsafe area. On the contrary, the area is extremely nice. However, there aren’t many businesses that have items of interest to me, the layout of the stores is a little wonky, and again…parking.
5. Social media. Along the same line as the mailing list, follow small businesses on their social media sites. It costs nothing and affords customers store and merchandise updates.
6. Reviews. If the business has a place to leave a review, consider doing so. One review can go a long way. Plus, owners like having feedback on what they are doing right and what can be improved. That is what helps a business to grow.

That brings this post to a close. Now, it’s your turn to sound off. What did you think? What is your take on the subject? Do you agree or disagree? Did you find this information helpful or informative? Did you learn anything new, or did it change your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Also, let me know if you would like me to cover more of these types of topics or dive deeper into this one. If you like this post, please click the like button, and share it. Your feedback allows me to know the content that you want to read. If you’re not following me on Creole Bayou blog, what are you waiting for? There’s always room at the bayou.

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