tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52074261097013294862024-03-19T03:30:31.619-04:00The Creatively Green Write at Home MomCreatively Green is the blog of freelance writer, avid crafter, and La Mamma Verde (the green mom), Wenona Napolitano.
This blog features everything about her creatively green life from green crafting to eco-gardening, green parenting and green living in general.
You will also find articles on writing, being a mom writer, and see guest posts from authors.
Full of green musings, eco-product reviews, book notes, eco-friendly crafts and so much more.Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.comBlogger3246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-72167342505558009472024-03-19T03:30:00.013-04:002024-03-19T03:30:00.133-04:00In the Kitchen with Eric Swett - Recipe for Sausage and Summer Squash #InTheKitchen #Recipes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyVZBTPuZTnMuTurOwLcJBMF7dJ4EuW5_rA8HwuJo-mAb-Cg13JIGX13EZXWr-fG07R7G-YyYwbN-LIE9uR9LqvZF6CXHgzplXAaVKFWHiZjfmC93WBHHK8SI9zm32i5Wuwpnv50WOtzujZbdZmtstVGQqtL05MREqJ33vVCGYpOdxCUEdbq97RpL_uDU/s820/A%20Murder%20of%20Wizards%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyVZBTPuZTnMuTurOwLcJBMF7dJ4EuW5_rA8HwuJo-mAb-Cg13JIGX13EZXWr-fG07R7G-YyYwbN-LIE9uR9LqvZF6CXHgzplXAaVKFWHiZjfmC93WBHHK8SI9zm32i5Wuwpnv50WOtzujZbdZmtstVGQqtL05MREqJ33vVCGYpOdxCUEdbq97RpL_uDU/w400-h153/A%20Murder%20of%20Wizards%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div>My go-to meal, any time of year is my Sausage and Summer Squash. </div><div><br /></div><div>It started off as something I threw together with what I had in the kitchen. Over time I refined the recipe and it might change a little depending on what I have in the kitchen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall it is a simple recipe and will take about 30 minutes from beginning to end, so it is a winner when we get home late or have an activity later in the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div>For a slightly leaner dish, use turkey sausage and add a little more olive oil than what is called for.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can also use white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar for the vinegar (my personal preference, but not my wife’s).</div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn’t really matter what hot sauce you use. It is more about personal preference. I like using siracha or chipotle tobacco sauce, but Texas Pete’s will work fine too. Use more or less depending on the heat of the sausage you use and your personal preferences.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want something a bit heartier, I would recommend serving it over rice or pasta of your choice. It will extend the meal to enough for more people or more leftovers.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sausage and Summer Squash (serves 4)</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Ingredients:</div><div><br /></div><div>One Package of Spicy Italian Sausage Links cut into half-inch discs</div><div><br /></div><div>One Large Yellow or Sweet Onion roughly chopped</div><div><br /></div><div>One Pint of Grape Tomatoes</div><div><br /></div><div>One Larger Zucchini</div><div><br /></div><div>One Large Summer Squash</div><div><br /></div><div>Two Clove Minced Garlic</div><div><br /></div><div>4 oz Feta Cheese Crumbles</div><div><br /></div><div>1tsp Italian Seasoning</div><div><br /></div><div>1tsp Salt</div><div><br /></div><div>1tsp Pepper</div><div><br /></div><div>2 tsp Hot Sauce</div><div><br /></div><div>1tbl Olive Oil</div><div><br /></div><div>1Tbl Red Wine Vinegar</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Directions:</b></div><div><br /></div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In a high-sided skillet, add the Olive Oil and the Italian Sausage. Cook on medium-high, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Once the sausage is browned, remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside.</div><div><br /></div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Add the onion and tomatoes to the skillet along with ½ tsp of salt. Stir regularly until the onions become translucent and the tomatoes break.</div><div><br /></div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>While the onion and tomatoes are sautéing, cut the ends of the zucchini and summer squash. Cut them lengthwise in half and in half again. Cut them horizontally into half-inch chunks. Add them to the onions and tomatoes.</div><div><br /></div><div>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, remaining salt, and pepper. Add the minced garlic. Stir frequently until the garlic becomes aromatic (no more than a couple minutes).</div><div><br /></div><div>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Add the vinegar and stir with a flat wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan.</div><div><br /></div><div>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Once the squash softens a little (another two or three minutes), add the sausage back into the pan and stir until it is well-mixed. Reduce the heat to medium-low.</div><div><br /></div><div>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Add half the container of feta cheese and the hot sauce. Stir thoroughly.</div><div><br /></div><div>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Turn off the heat and serve. Sprinkle with remaining Feta Cheese to taste.</div><div><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCzkh1T-4UDnTPA8uDEcovVYoQkQMJYKjTyq5Boa9fHz-UbqwVNQ38JA4kfeXb8y_FXGWn7kE7gqcqKu3_t_2qqBTjYfeYDnTs1P_NCmP3vFe_rgZMQQhzFF1_IPBXEEs49sIt2tlGBaX_mht2PaOgXHo2DX9ngoeuQ-LI3ve46G-OMLpKQ51EmudWEE0/s2250/1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCzkh1T-4UDnTPA8uDEcovVYoQkQMJYKjTyq5Boa9fHz-UbqwVNQ38JA4kfeXb8y_FXGWn7kE7gqcqKu3_t_2qqBTjYfeYDnTs1P_NCmP3vFe_rgZMQQhzFF1_IPBXEEs49sIt2tlGBaX_mht2PaOgXHo2DX9ngoeuQ-LI3ve46G-OMLpKQ51EmudWEE0/s320/1.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>A Murder of Wizards: Apocalypse Rising Year Two</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Armageddon Angels </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book Three</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Eric Swett</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Urban Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Haileybug Publishing </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 12/9/23</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 979-8867576660</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN:B0CN7HJCGN</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 251</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 95,789</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Eric Swett</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: The Grim Reaper looks for a serial killer who is ritually murdering wizards and taunting them in the process. He needs to find the killer and stop him before his plot comes to a disastrous conclusion.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apocalypse Rising: A Murder of Wizards is an Urban Fantasy about a fallen Angel named Justin. He just happens to be one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Grim Reaper himself, Death. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two years have passed since he remembered who he was and what he is. He is regaining abilities and memories he lost when he chose to fall to earth and live among humans, but he has a long way to go before he can fully reclaim his title. When Justin is asked by a friend to investigate a string of supernatural murders he can't say no. Justin discovers he has a connection to the murders and has to find the murderer before their plans come to fruition.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://a.co/d/aCBzGl9">Amazon</a> <a href="https://books2read.com/u/m26Pa6">Books2Read</a> <a href="https://mywriterscramp.com/my-books/">MyWritersCramp</a></span></b></div><span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt:</b> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Don’t look.” Justin turned and pulled Lilly to him. He tried to shield
her from the gore splattered about the alley. The copper stink of fresh blood
assaulted them as they stood across the street from the scene. As the Grim
Reaper, eons of death dulled the impact for Justin. He wanted to keep Lilly
from it if possible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I can’t.” Lilly looked away, but it did not help. Despite being blind,
the murder shone in vivid technicolor to her. Being Justin's Oracle gave her
sight far beyond what any normal person enjoyed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The pull of death drew her attention, and in her mind's eye, the scene
coalesced as clearly as if she stared at it. The violence and butchery lit the
aura surrounding the dead body in angry tones of black and red that shone like
a spotlight upon the murder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She placed her hand over her mouth to keep from vomiting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The splayed open corpse's entrails hung about the alley. The smashed
kidneys hung from the side of a dumpster. The lungs sat in a pile against the
alley wall. The liver dripped blood into a shallow pool beside the corpse. The
buzzing of flies grew louder as the dead man's evacuated bowels drew them to
the feast. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The callous mess made of another human left her uneasy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She wanted to block it out, bury her head in Justin’s chest, and flee
the scene. She tried to look away, but ancient instinct forced her to bear
witness to the death of a fellow human. Her instincts buzzed with warning. Her
palms sweated, and her lips trembled. A predator lurked nearby, and she needed
to be aware.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Lilly.” Justin put an arm around her shoulders and turned her back to
the horrific scene playing out in the alley. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Justin wanted to go home and leave it all behind them. Lilly wanted to
know what happened and needed him to tell her so she did not have to face it
alone. The closer they got to it, the more apparent the full extent of the
horror became.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What…what is it? What happened, Justin?” Lilly held onto him tightly,
seeking comfort in his strength.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He apprised the situation with a practiced stare. His experience on
earth gave him some insight, but his familiarity with death brought everything
into focus. He scratched at the stubble on his chin as he considered the dead
man. “Looks like a sacrifice of some sort, a ritual, but not one I’ve seen
before. Doesn’t appear demonic, but it could be part of a summoning. Maybe
something geographical...”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Can we go? I don’t like the way this feels. There is something wrong about
this. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something dark here. It's
tickling my senses, tempting me, drawing me toward it like an inevitable
conclusion.” She turned her back on the scene and shuddered.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure. Let’s get out of here.” Justin guided Lilly away
from the murder. Justin held her hand gently as they walked. “Sorry about that.
Hazard of the profession. As the Angel of Death, I've seen a lot of corpses.
It’s not every day you come across something this unusual.”</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
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<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8_WP1oKidm3uZNx3w0GXfy7tsTuImz7ulrCLM7y988PevaCIAQDCtxIdEtgec4_PshLJIr2NAKt-5C0s1C0JLWdwGS-i6FdLDqmDyVVG8NCNgyfdYzC8i8S1y6bleAtZT-_u0HWAIo1l20WmEcn2BH2ObKVqW1tSZIWm11ty2TalBej2V-aBxJTJ-yMa/s1404/FDc_FsWXMAIpIUF.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="1152" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8_WP1oKidm3uZNx3w0GXfy7tsTuImz7ulrCLM7y988PevaCIAQDCtxIdEtgec4_PshLJIr2NAKt-5C0s1C0JLWdwGS-i6FdLDqmDyVVG8NCNgyfdYzC8i8S1y6bleAtZT-_u0HWAIo1l20WmEcn2BH2ObKVqW1tSZIWm11ty2TalBej2V-aBxJTJ-yMa/w164-h200/FDc_FsWXMAIpIUF.jpg" width="164" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eric Swett is a husband and father. He has a beautiful wife named Tracy and three fabulous children (Zachary, Connor, and Kaitlyn). Between the four of them, he has absolutely everything he really needs in this world. If everything else went away and he still had them, he could die and count himself a fortunate man.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">He works in IT, streams video games, and dabbles in 3D printing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">He is a self-proclaimed Geek and does not adhere to a single form of geekdom. He likes roleplaying games, tabletop games with painted miniatures, video games, comic books, science fiction and fantasy, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://mywriterscramp.com">https://mywriterscramp.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">X: <a href="https://twitter.com/ericswett">https://twitter.com/ericswett</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok/ericswett">https://www.tiktok/ericswett</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="http://amazon.com/author/ericswett">http://amazon.com/author/ericswett</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/innocenteric">https://www.instagram.com/innocenteric</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ericswettauthorinprogress">https://www.facebook.com/ericswettauthorinprogress</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6439846.Eric_Swett">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6439846.Eric_Swett</a> </span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG74NHLW_5ACYiG-ELuF8DvtSv4JyAS6o7F6C6A5DAzKeUtU5U0LQ81EiwRZ8DrKrZHs6eZ8JzFTYX3jLDqG3bEG_oD8T3m9lWQqQtqCFMJUJezQsUpBXwknRYZMYPdY7ycssnbH6ZjJciS5oN9KwL6LrVxfJEGOyPSYjEzxlpPuLTIEkKIeCjzN5jsJ9_/s1080/A%20Murder%20of%20Wizards%20%20Insta%20(2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG74NHLW_5ACYiG-ELuF8DvtSv4JyAS6o7F6C6A5DAzKeUtU5U0LQ81EiwRZ8DrKrZHs6eZ8JzFTYX3jLDqG3bEG_oD8T3m9lWQqQtqCFMJUJezQsUpBXwknRYZMYPdY7ycssnbH6ZjJciS5oN9KwL6LrVxfJEGOyPSYjEzxlpPuLTIEkKIeCjzN5jsJ9_/s320/A%20Murder%20of%20Wizards%20%20Insta%20(2).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-34189641220267549802024-03-05T06:00:00.001-05:002024-03-05T06:00:00.144-05:00Storm's Convergence by Valerie Storm #YAFantasy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ThH0Ol1m5At03zQkcot8fSxEkdZuCjLFTeem7c8VmoY6H93F9gzZ6kJuKhimEKxD0syEEbcnQIJbeKv2tU41B78Ecsj9OXoMr5yFyDC6ao4bDtSKMr5WoW6pCTNwKnv0wdV1TBq02KEjZoSoOMtCkRX8Ata2BxuVRMrfdL11R69lxyoqPFc2RlTtjotD/s820/Sroem%20Convergence%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ThH0Ol1m5At03zQkcot8fSxEkdZuCjLFTeem7c8VmoY6H93F9gzZ6kJuKhimEKxD0syEEbcnQIJbeKv2tU41B78Ecsj9OXoMr5yFyDC6ao4bDtSKMr5WoW6pCTNwKnv0wdV1TBq02KEjZoSoOMtCkRX8Ata2BxuVRMrfdL11R69lxyoqPFc2RlTtjotD/w400-h153/Sroem%20Convergence%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutUoDQFSvIwrhyphenhyphen1sJm4efv2mbfdvBVGwWQ_LxcnuzSMsgsnqmNWH49UcX_NAyZ4waz8dBiBY9nhKiDSrJB38nXZKHC87ByGtSROGGy20NGrXuaFAbxRuPkCyzC1RGPQNAKrPOCTWY0RdHRx4YGCATZAMXnIooX8vK-DyPNoFVIs0qUNOpaoVMANv2OCKj/s2560/Convergence%20eBook.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutUoDQFSvIwrhyphenhyphen1sJm4efv2mbfdvBVGwWQ_LxcnuzSMsgsnqmNWH49UcX_NAyZ4waz8dBiBY9nhKiDSrJB38nXZKHC87ByGtSROGGy20NGrXuaFAbxRuPkCyzC1RGPQNAKrPOCTWY0RdHRx4YGCATZAMXnIooX8vK-DyPNoFVIs0qUNOpaoVMANv2OCKj/s320/Convergence%20eBook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Storm's Convergence</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Demon Storm </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book 5</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Valerie Storm</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Young Adult Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 2/13/24</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: @Ginkahederling</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div>ASIN: B0CRYQJRN1</div><div>Number of pages: 313</div><div>Word Count: 78962</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: <i>The Fire Witch ruined Kari's life once before</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> Now she's back</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> And she's not alone</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The calm can only last so long.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now a member of Freehaven's Council, Kari tries to put her past behind her and settle down in her new home with her ever-present Lord and love, Ari.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cracks in her mind, parting gifts from the heart eater, make planning the upcoming Spring Festival a struggle, but Kari is determined to do her best, even after Guine departs the town.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When a mysterious child appears at the festival and marks Kari, all semblance of normalcy is banished.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A triple threat from her past awaits beyond the walls of Freehaven and options are thin. Not willing to spill any more blood, Kari takes it upon herself to stop them—with Ari by her side.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRYQJRN1">Amazon</a></span></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times;">
</span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The girl grabbed the neckline of her shirt and jerked her closer with
too much ease. Kari stiffened as the girl’s cheek touched hers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Funny wolf demon, hiding in this wretched town.” Her voice was low and
cruelly amused. Kari tensed, prepared to jerk free and throw a fist, but the
girl hissed, “Ah, no, don’t move. There are many innocents here, though I would
not call demons innocent. I know you would not want them hurt.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She suddenly realized the closeness of so many villagers, as if she’d
been ripped out of reality and dropped harshly back into it again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari bit back a growl. “Who are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She knew, though, before the small girl laughed. The boastful yet
righteous arrogance of someone who believed truly and wholly in her cause—it
could be no one else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I feel your defeat. You’ve answered your own question.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari’s throat was dry. “Ri…Riniko. What are you doing here? Why—”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Since you’ve yet to heed our warning, I’m here to play a little game.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Kari!” Ari called.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko’s small hands tightened. “Tell him to leave. We’re busy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She hesitated. Ari yelled for her again, and now she envisioned him
pushing through the crowds, looking for where she’d gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It’s fine,” she yelled back. “I…I’m helping someone. I’ll catch up!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko’s grip didn’t loosen. “Your boy is insistent.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari turned her head with some difficulty, given Riniko’s grip. The
little witch traded, wrapping her arms around Kari’s neck with a giggle that
cracked against her eardrums.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Visible between passersby, Ari made his way to them. His brows raised
at the sight of the girl around her neck.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Who is…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari smiled, big and wide, and prayed he didn’t notice her trembling
lips. “She’s lost. I’m part of the Council, so she came to me. Go back to Rathik
and Essie, I’ll catch up.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ari saw something in her face; his eyes constricted, his jaw pulsing,
uncertain of what to do.<br />
Please walk away, Ari. It’ll be okay this time. I promise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">When she did not say anything more, he relented. “Alright. Meet us over
there, okay?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari nodded, jostling Riniko. Ari glanced between them, then jogged
off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko giggled again, quieter this time. “Good.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari grabbed her around the waist and yanked her off. There was
something insanely surreal about holding a small child in her hands, a child
whose eyes burned with unmatched cruelty and fire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What do you want?” she snarled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko wrapped too-small fingers around Kari’s wrists and met her eye
with a cool, even gaze.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You know what we want. I’m only here to set the fire of action a
little higher for you.”<br />
Her palms, pressed against Kari’s skin, warmed. Kari’s eyes widened, and she
struggled with the instinct to fling the small child away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“We do not want to burn this entire village to the ground. Despite the
way these villagers associate with demons, they are still good, innocent
people. The demons can be excused as long as they remain thusly. But you
cannot. You must come and face your fate.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Her arms were burning; Kari bit back a scream. “I keep telling you, I
don’t want to hurt anyone! Why can’t you just leave me alone?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Tell that to those poor people in the east. They probably thought you
didn’t want to kill them. But now they’re very, very dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari staggered back. There were fewer villagers out now, less to see
this odd pair, but Kari dreaded what Riniko would do if even one was drawn to
them. She inched away from the square, edging toward an alley between two
buildings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Isn’t it enough that I died once? What more can you want?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko laughed. “Oh, yes, but Zina got cold feet. Superstition, I
guess. She couldn’t let it die with you. No, she believed it would go on,
despite having no body. So here you are, her little pet wolf demon, but she
won’t be here to save you a second time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Cold feet? Let it die with her?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The burning on her arms increased, snapping her attention back to
Riniko’s young-girl face.<br />
“I’ll come to you,” Kari croaked. “Does that make you happy? I’ll leave and
find you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riniko’s eyes lit up, though she did not remove her hands. The heat
continued to rise until Kari thought she could smell her flesh cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Oh, do you promise?” Riniko asked, her voice girlish, sickeningly
sweet. “Pretty please?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Please stop,” Kari whispered between her teeth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Little hands lifted, releasing her from the agony of fire. Kari
trembled, then froze as those hands touched her cheeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It was easy to infiltrate this place, Kari. It would be even easier,
now, to set it all ablaze. You remember my previous work.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kari’s hands around Riniko’s waist shook with the effort to not squeeze
her into pieces. “You’re the monster, witch,” she snarled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It takes a monster to slay one,” Riniko responded. “Remember that if
you decide to hesitate any longer. I’m tired of waiting for this final show. My
sisters have both seen that I was right and now it’s time to end this.” Riniko
raised her hands. “Put me down.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Shaking profusely, Kari set Riniko on the ground, where the little
witch-girl brushed off her plain, brown dress. She fluffed her hair, then
raised a finger to her lips.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Remember your promise,” she said, then spun and skipped away into the
darkness.</span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
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<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5C1RZIq7G7Uth5kizh6q_k1Njb4VGqh3puqrD46MoxUn_DdeVqVf1kj0zou7mW9pMO9AylRdNBLymhxPZQiVV_5fGlANCccXjmpI7EJDMI_-6jzxI6j1-awcqby6Rwsv4X7mHnGDO0HfvK3kZP_NfstIkWcYHsb4QIsTQcq6Qwv4lXFl-CQaiftV4cBp0/s1050/Jen+Author+Photo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5C1RZIq7G7Uth5kizh6q_k1Njb4VGqh3puqrD46MoxUn_DdeVqVf1kj0zou7mW9pMO9AylRdNBLymhxPZQiVV_5fGlANCccXjmpI7EJDMI_-6jzxI6j1-awcqby6Rwsv4X7mHnGDO0HfvK3kZP_NfstIkWcYHsb4QIsTQcq6Qwv4lXFl-CQaiftV4cBp0/w143-h200/Jen+Author+Photo.png" width="143" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children & children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Blog <a href="https://rantsofawriter.home.blog/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rantsofawriter.home.blog/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/valerie_storm">https://twitter.com/valerie_storm</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tumblr <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/valeriestorm">https://www.tumblr.com/valeriestorm</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pinterest <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/valeriestorm3135/">https://www.pinterest.com/valeriestorm3135/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/valeriestorm_author/">https://www.instagram.com/valeriestorm_author/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter Sign-Up <a href="https://mailchi.mp/038f1013a6c2/valerie-storm">https://mailchi.mp/038f1013a6c2/valerie-storm</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082414584775">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082414584775</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIM3ocNF0AKh0ANsslU9P1xz3U5cxyKuK6GoFch9KIjvdDgOYGcI2BAKQCuKPczOX74AC9tmuwvp_E2tU7ny0bF3OTAxohFk3LEJrlnwJbl8R7PW57RTohxjb3MH_HYEKNUxHWTimfUwxtMxmCC3pxKtyZjwK9tlOSP9GFfyNdCHHwIqDLr84uTPjpyEm7/s1080/Storms%20Convergence%20Instagram%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIM3ocNF0AKh0ANsslU9P1xz3U5cxyKuK6GoFch9KIjvdDgOYGcI2BAKQCuKPczOX74AC9tmuwvp_E2tU7ny0bF3OTAxohFk3LEJrlnwJbl8R7PW57RTohxjb3MH_HYEKNUxHWTimfUwxtMxmCC3pxKtyZjwK9tlOSP9GFfyNdCHHwIqDLr84uTPjpyEm7/s320/Storms%20Convergence%20Instagram%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2216" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2216/" id="rcwidget_067jg09g" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-3749250115875411822024-02-26T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-26T06:00:00.138-05:00A Sword of Blood and Roses by Jessica Ash #DarkFantasyRomance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOMoDygtWg_TMwTB7B9iObaeJYkDx_-CPqtORqFYRB_kdsBWrdJ1IxAukHWwh4uhvJA2PhZ7eGpjzcAInUdUwpAmOdAoovXi9WIxHW_MAUE32m599Fv36tBs5W0mHcabBoHfNnhkf-EzgWZlE2u37xDtSWS5pYmQRt0WYqKp7a_EiRMXHeKQlVyUgmEKm/s820/Blood%20and%20Roses%20Banner%20%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOMoDygtWg_TMwTB7B9iObaeJYkDx_-CPqtORqFYRB_kdsBWrdJ1IxAukHWwh4uhvJA2PhZ7eGpjzcAInUdUwpAmOdAoovXi9WIxHW_MAUE32m599Fv36tBs5W0mHcabBoHfNnhkf-EzgWZlE2u37xDtSWS5pYmQRt0WYqKp7a_EiRMXHeKQlVyUgmEKm/w400-h153/Blood%20and%20Roses%20Banner%20%20(1).png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuoO9QJLHCQnPwACFBLSxCYFAV5aBp9gqY7U5GTag_-eeStjorhvKv5E-TbKo8DHVCN04eCR02k6wMXEF_y77ruuhhsZ8ROFSKEUx6ehMYAbyDFIRRhalejyzrxH_BAbECSRs0Zi0gexfeUgyo5gvsM-I-WTBH-EjULQEpCHgetHgZz-dJ08Jx1HIsMVV/s600/cover_md.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuoO9QJLHCQnPwACFBLSxCYFAV5aBp9gqY7U5GTag_-eeStjorhvKv5E-TbKo8DHVCN04eCR02k6wMXEF_y77ruuhhsZ8ROFSKEUx6ehMYAbyDFIRRhalejyzrxH_BAbECSRs0Zi0gexfeUgyo5gvsM-I-WTBH-EjULQEpCHgetHgZz-dJ08Jx1HIsMVV/w213-h320/cover_md.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>A Sword of Blood and Roses</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Hunted by the Faerie Queen </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Jessica Ash</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: June 30, 2022</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 9798201496227 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0B1XQTX28 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 322</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 85,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Firda Graphic</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: When the Queen of the Fae is after you, sometimes your best bet is falling in love with the enemy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Enemies to Lovers Dark Fantasy Romance...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">He was supposed to kill me...Now I'm his prisoner.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was supposed to hate him...Now I'm falling in love.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">But neither love nor magic can save me. And Now time is running out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When the Queen of the Fae is after you sometimes your best bet is falling in love with the enemy, even when he's your kidnapper…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Read all five books in Kindle Unlimited. Discover enemies to lovers romance like you've never read before.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://geni.us/roses"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span><blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Riding into the dry-as-bones mountains on the back of the
puca, Logan’s anger seared bitter in his chest. It rolled off him in waves,
pulling thunder down from the sky. He toyed idly with the storm letting his
anger draw the danger of the lightning to him as he seethed.<br />
Fifteen years away from his hounds. Fifteen years of Solanum’s running wild,
the puca causing havoc wherever he went. Fifteen years of Logan’s life eaten
away in the hole of the queen’s dungeons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">And now he was to kill witches for the queen—a fact that
rubbed him raw.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Humans were amusing companions, why create trouble?
Irritated with the brief flare of morality, he smothered it with brutal force.
It didn’t fucking matter what he wanted. It never had.<br />
Lightning cracked. The eerily silent hounds of the Dark Hunt tightened around
him, their tense glances and snapping teeth reflections of his flaring
emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He had no room for second thoughts tonight. The Black Queen
had given him no reason why she needed these witches killed, but if he
satisfied her it might give him his freedom. At the very least it would give
him some space. Maybe some time to figure out a way to stay out of the
dungeons. And time to figure out how to truly extricate himself from her bloody
dominion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Because no matter what she had promised him, he knew, there
was no way she would simply let him go. Not after the way he had betrayed her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Solanum tossed his head and bucked. “Quit squeezing my
ribs.” Lurid green faery flames leapt from his hooves, igniting short-lived
cold fires in the dry Wyoming brush.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Cease, horse,” Logan said, squeezing his legs a little
more. Punching Solanum’s buttons felt good, really good. Just like his wrath at
the queen felt good. Justified.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The puca tossed his long mane into Logan’s eyes. “Lay off,
or you’ll be eating dirt,” he snarled, nostrils flaring red in the dimming
light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Solanum’s irritation put a hard smile on Logan’s lips. He
tightened his legs and drove the puca harder down the hill through the brewing
storm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">A hound pushed in too close. Solanum’s hoof lashed out,
connecting with a solid thud. The hound’s yipe sounded inside Logan’s head as
he regained his balance, cursing the hound’s behavior and the puca’s
intolerance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He was back. The hounds would get used to him again. And
Solanum too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Thunder crashed in the sky, following him down into the
shadowed hills as he approached the witches’ lair. Nostrils burning from the
ozone, nerves tingling, he distracted himself with the dark moist wind,
manipulating it to blow through the dry autumn brush like a child's tantrum.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He laughed, the spiteful wind stealing away the dark sound
as cracks of thunder echoed off the mountains. He let the anger simmer and the
lightning moved further away. He wasn’t free yet, and he wasn’t suicidal. What
he was, was trapped. And it pissed him off, the frustration riding him like a
hag.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">What could he do when the queen changed her mind and refused
to release him from her service? What if the bitch thought she could use him
then put him back into her dungeons Underhill, calling him to her side like a
lapdog? He needed a way to show her there would be repercussions. He needed
leverage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">In the distance, thunder rumbled. They tipped over the edge
of the valley in search of the witch. A wavering glow of candles shone above
the last few rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Almost there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The telltale traces of a spell raised the hair on the back
of his neck. He extended his Gift to perceive what he couldn’t yet see. A
labyrinth set by a single inexperienced witch. His lips twitched. As protection
it might have worked, had the Faery Queen sent her regular henchman. Unluckily
for the witch, the queen had unleashed him. The Dark Huntsman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He would kill the wench, and be done with this thing between
himself and the queen of the Tuatha De Danann. And when the queen refused to
release him? He’d deal with that when the time came.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The wind carried the hot dry smell of sage mixed with the
smell of fear and musky female. He inhaled the raw flavor of the witch, the
taste of her fear and anger and power, slid down his throat, easing his rage.<br />
The anxious hounds shifted around him, sensing the proximity of their prey.
Solanum rounded the rock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">And there she was.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The sight of her rocked him back like a blow, almost
knocking him to the ground. And he realized—despite the stasis, fifteen years
had been too long a time to be without a woman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Glimmers of power limned her naked body and the silver blade
of the athame that gleamed between her breasts. Her legs were spread slightly
apart, tensed for battle. Long black hair crackled and lifted with static. Her
expressive face was poised on the edge of dilemma, her body caught between the
need to hold the spell and the need for action.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He paused to let the feel of power and woman roll through
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Beautiful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Unexpected.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Green, almond-shaped eyes widened. Her stance firmed, her
shoulders pulled back, and her full breasts rose, nipples tightened with cold
or fear. Something wild and raw he hadn’t felt in a hundred years stabbed low
in his gut.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">His agenda changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The queen wanted to kill the witch. Why? His plan of
placating the queen suddenly seemed weak. She’d never let him go without
leverage, and here was leverage standing naked and lovely before him. He had a
new plan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Screw the queen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">***<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Thunder boomed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Trina glanced up the valley. The dying light made it
impossible for her to see much more than the silhouette of a horse and rider
barreling through the boulders and uneven terrain, tearing down the rocky
hillside at an impossible speed. But no barrel racer would endanger their mount
careening down the mountain in a thunderstorm. Or ride a horse the color of the
absence of light with freakish red eyes. Only something truly inhuman would
light up her inner sight with that particular eerie blue glow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The acid in her stomach rose into her throat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">An elven lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Oh fuck! I’m screwed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She swallowed the fear down. Her trap, her best effort, all
her hard work. Dumb. Stupid.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Pathetic. None of it would hold an elven lord—a full adult
fae whose power would make her trap look like an art project. She wished she
could hide the evidence, like a small child wiping up the crumbs of stolen
cookies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Horse and rider skidded and slowed in a shower of
ricocheting rocks. The enormous red hounds flowed out, surrounding the
labyrinth as the cloaked rider and his dark mount advanced.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She held still, athame at the ready in sweaty hands,
prepared to bolt if she had the chance. Her eyes flicked from the approaching
rider, distracted by the lesser threat of the huge, sharp-toothed,
yellow-eyed hounds encircling the labyrinth like silent sharks waiting
for the command to take their prey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Damn shame to kill you, witch.” His voice was smooth,
well-aged whiskey with a hint of brogue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “Then don’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What will you give me instead? A life requires a powerful
exchange. And I was sent for your death.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Trina tried to keep her face even and not reveal her panic.
She had nothing he could want.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Anything of true power that a fae like this one might
consider valuable, was safely out of reach and driving down the road in the
van. Gone. Along with any reinforcements.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“How about honesty?” She offered in desperation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Funny girl.” The dark presence leaned forward, his
impatient mount’s feet shifting on the gravel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The nervous sweat on her back grew cold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Although I would enjoy taking the time,” his voice carried
easily over the wind and thunder, “we shouldn't stand here bargaining. The
queen awaits my report.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The lord’s level tone distracted her and she was unprepared
when the horse moved. The pair crashed effortlessly into the labyrinth, cutting
a destroying swath across the short, brushy sage and heading for her at the
center. Spectacular violent explosions burst into cascades of colored lights,
as if her carefully constructed wards were merely firecrackers, instead of huge
magical grenades.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The overwhelming smell of crushed sage rose, and she swore
the evil-eyed horse laughed. She reached inside for what was left of her power,
losing her grip on it when he leaned over and grabbed her arm. With no apparent
effort, he hoisted her up.<br />
She scrabbled for a handhold in an effort to not fly over the horse into the
waiting sea of teeth and dogs. She tangled one hand in the long black mane and
held tight to her slippery knife with the other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Strong arms wrapped in leather tightened around her, forcing
her upright, her toes dangling sidesaddle. Everything happening too fast. She
barely had a grip in the long black mane when the creature flexed under her and
they flew over the candles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The flames blew out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">They landed on the other side of the labyrinth in a hard
jolt. She slipped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">If I fall, I could run.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Before the thought had been and gone, her grip on the mane
loosened. She slid to the side. Hot breath and the scrape of teeth on her ankle
warned her, just in time. She yanked her foot out of range of the snapping
jaws, and lost her balance. Making an instinctive grab for the mane with her right
hand—she dropped the knife.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Her kidnapper growled and tightened his grip on her stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She gasped for her voice. “Put me down!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m afraid it’s too late for that. I either kill you or
take you with me.” The sparkling black blade of his laughter cut deep into her
soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Accelerating faster and faster, they wove in and out of the
treacherous rocks in a mad, blurring rush up the side of the valley. If she
fell off now and hit a rock, she’d be roadkill. She anchored both hands firmly
in the mane and leaned back into the solid chest of her attacker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">They raced on, licks of green fire lighting up the hill
behind them. A deep maw of black within purple mist formed ahead, transforming
the familiar landscape into a horror. The knowledge of where they headed
slammed inside her brain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Trina’s heart sped into a sharp staccato.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Words of denial formed in her constricted throat, gone long
before she had a chance to know what they were.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Don’t make me go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">They rocketed to the top of the valley, the piranha hounds
schooling tightly around them as they raced to the looming mouth of the portal.
Steely muscles bunched and flexed under her.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Launching into the air, they flew into the mix of fog
and darkness encased in the sound of her scream.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><b style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTHUpRtdfu748ztBM4t3mY1v49uZNvdGY31B-ciCnWuhfCp4b862hoxwzLx_BopStFpEn6neeofWVGY2aNhTIpZoyyetI2YK-jEnhpqU7r_Ymrw6MS7kP72-aAmwBMx0LMrpmGjn-Aup_yIjiOxYmplXVYe3zRlHTngv7_Joxa4OPofufgTrlMU_2zDAw/s1600/Logo%20square%20no%205_Jessica%20Ash.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTHUpRtdfu748ztBM4t3mY1v49uZNvdGY31B-ciCnWuhfCp4b862hoxwzLx_BopStFpEn6neeofWVGY2aNhTIpZoyyetI2YK-jEnhpqU7r_Ymrw6MS7kP72-aAmwBMx0LMrpmGjn-Aup_yIjiOxYmplXVYe3zRlHTngv7_Joxa4OPofufgTrlMU_2zDAw/w200-h200/Logo%20square%20no%205_Jessica%20Ash.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jessica Ash loves dragons, magic, and romance, and is lucky enough to write about all three while consuming boatloads of chocolate. Her favorite fantasy is taking a luxury cruise up the Rhine where she could stare at the castles along the water and dream of faery. She writes dark fae fantasy romance where evil queens are on the hunt and strong heroes and heroines fall in love.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://jessicaashbooks.com">https://jessicaashbooks.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tik-tok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@authorjash">https://www.tiktok.com/@authorjash</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jessica-ash " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jessica-ash </a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jessicaashromance">https://www.facebook.com/jessicaashromance</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/151835998-jessica-ash">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/151835998-jessica-ash</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jessica-Ash/author/B0B2BHJ7R9">https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jessica-Ash/author/B0B2BHJ7R9</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP5MuSYmyyY4I47cx6_DhPmC4Rs_gHRltGqadZu_9w0N2YqIwFqdShaWCCuVV3L9chSNkRmExRwUQHWM1Die3sD4Ql-FaRYPgt_HxygINxFPswYGWGVsw7GtAoyyZMMqMF5n5gP4Ytrjy5iC0YXCQfbNSjeMcQ225M2rhPiJAj7NLvd-7ICDZB-evZRP8/s1080/Blood%20and%20Roses%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP5MuSYmyyY4I47cx6_DhPmC4Rs_gHRltGqadZu_9w0N2YqIwFqdShaWCCuVV3L9chSNkRmExRwUQHWM1Die3sD4Ql-FaRYPgt_HxygINxFPswYGWGVsw7GtAoyyZMMqMF5n5gP4Ytrjy5iC0YXCQfbNSjeMcQ225M2rhPiJAj7NLvd-7ICDZB-evZRP8/s320/Blood%20and%20Roses%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2215" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2215/" id="rcwidget_5qw4s13w" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-70889538744566522662024-02-23T03:30:00.001-05:002024-02-23T03:30:00.133-05:00Aestrangel the Fallen by Maria DeVivo #DarkUrbanFantasy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gCfJ1oGeeKD8e1QYIvzkw8nANJYPOkUHNCZrDskIHG5Ug7xAo0A7mXcQqP9JJJFZ2A6V36lKkG4B0lgzukD7W_AO_RGcI3hrYz28WPhZbZsS1Ww6UfwghVKsIYBU8zGe8P_rp7tDTgcdGp5IMq51HnCMgqCis6gRUjqAeS3I4hl2yHMMXsSnfNKEETa1/s820/_Aestrangel%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gCfJ1oGeeKD8e1QYIvzkw8nANJYPOkUHNCZrDskIHG5Ug7xAo0A7mXcQqP9JJJFZ2A6V36lKkG4B0lgzukD7W_AO_RGcI3hrYz28WPhZbZsS1Ww6UfwghVKsIYBU8zGe8P_rp7tDTgcdGp5IMq51HnCMgqCis6gRUjqAeS3I4hl2yHMMXsSnfNKEETa1/w400-h153/_Aestrangel%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UACRwXQ6clOhxbbyYLXcoAVRnOxaSw6FcOn31FkWSyptUlsPxhq6RvNV5z8KLEFMMJ2Ltuhc91U5-xjZ0QYufUMM7wYk_KyaPVp-m3jC4r4cP0mUl7RhNj7Tybz0vzZE3QHsP1XuSWJrD5QvfnQv1sAYgxWjVKHPd5YMuqc3AC910TNSBi7ENUXrZX9g/s2400/1.%20Aestrangel%20the%20Fallen.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UACRwXQ6clOhxbbyYLXcoAVRnOxaSw6FcOn31FkWSyptUlsPxhq6RvNV5z8KLEFMMJ2Ltuhc91U5-xjZ0QYufUMM7wYk_KyaPVp-m3jC4r4cP0mUl7RhNj7Tybz0vzZE3QHsP1XuSWJrD5QvfnQv1sAYgxWjVKHPd5YMuqc3AC910TNSBi7ENUXrZX9g/s320/1.%20Aestrangel%20the%20Fallen.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Aestrangel the Fallen </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Aestrangel Trinity </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Part 1</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Maria DeVivo</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: 4 Horsemen Publications</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: September 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 1644509261</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 240</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 63K</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Hell hath no fury like an angel scorned!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aestra, favorite teenaged angel of The Lord, has been sent to Earth to ensure that high school senior, Jake Parker, pursues the correct path. He is teetering between two options that may seem innocuous, but only one will lead him to positively impact the lives of millions of humans.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">But what happens when the heart chooses love over responsibility? For Aestra, one fateful night will set into motion a chain of events unforeseen by even her infallible Creator.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://amzn.to/4blfIyA">Amazon</a> <a href="https://books2read.com/aestrangel01">Books2Read</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div></b></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt</b><br />
<b><i><br />
From Chapter One: Learning the Ways</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">They tell me I should be dreaming by now, that the images and scenarios
should be well-embedded into my brand-new subconsciousness, but for me, all
there has been is color. No. That’s not right. When I close my brand-new eyes,
all that consumes me are the shifting shades of grays and blacks, and I’m not
sure if this is something I should be worried about or not. I’ve been in this
human simulation environment for quite some time now, and I’m guessing that
part of my “humanness” hasn’t kicked in yet. But I’ve heard the others talking
and describing their dreams, and I’m getting anxious for my first one. Revalia,
the closest thing I have to what humans call a “best friend,” has told me the
fabulous tales of her dreams. She says sometimes she doesn’t even want to wake
up. She says the images and sounds and smells are so overpowering, so
overwhelming, that when she wakes up, she desperately longs to go back to that
dreamy, lazy place between the conscious and unconscious mind. I wish I knew
what she was talking about. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I know my lack of dreams worries Camael. He has told me many times the
human experience is multi-pronged and multi-faceted, and in order for me to
complete my calling, I must be immersed in the most basic of human functions.
There’s no other way for me to complete my mission because there’s no other way
for me to be a “believable” Guardian to the human I am assigned. And if I don’t
complete my mission successfully, I will never move up the ranks and become a
Guardian Angel. Camael is in a higher order of angels than I am—the Dominions.
He’s my mentor, and it’s his job to prepare me for the journey that I’m about
to embark upon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Yes, I’m an angel—we all are: Camael, Revalia, the others, and me. But,
my rank right now is that of angel—the lowest rung on the ladder. My goal is to
move up to Guardian, and hopefully beyond. It’s the natural progression for my
kind, and I’m excited to serve the Creator (or God, as the humans refer to Him)
and all of His glorious wonders.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">There is no time—not the way humans divide time up at least. I’ve
always existed, yet there are others and elders who were here in Ilarium before
I was created, and since I’ve been given the ability to communicate in human
language, it seems hard for me to put into words all the thoughts and feelings
that I had before. Before, there was just love and peace and a willingness to
serve and please, but now there is an actual lexicon, a vocabulary of tens of
thousands of words, that I’m still trying to figure out how to effectively
communicate and verbalize what’s in my heart. Never having had a heart before,
it takes some getting used to.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">We angels who are preparing for our callings have been thrust into a human-like
world in order to become accustomed to the actual life of a human. The Powers
That Be have replicated the physical world and have created buildings and
structures for us, given us languages, infused us with feelings, and given us
body shapes all in preparation for our descent to Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">While angels are neither male nor female, I have the body of a woman
now, and I will be assigned female attributes from here forward. I rather do
like the contour of the female form, I always have, and perhaps my partiality
towards women is what prompted the Creator to put me in a woman’s body. My
wings are more defined too; they are heavy on my shoulders with the feathered
tips almost irritating the backs of my arms and legs. As the human notion of
time becomes more ingrained into our routine, the weight of my wings becomes
more and more cumbersome. Camael has said that the awareness of our wings was
important so when we lose them on our descent, the shock wouldn’t be so bad. I
don’t know; I’m still trying to understand all my teachings. Like how we’re
going to be given a set of human memories specific to us and our assignment,
yet have all the knowledge of our angelic lives. The thought of blending the
two perplexes me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">This
leads me to right now. This time. This place. The unfamiliarity of it all.
Camael says this is a school, and the human I am assigned to help goes to one.
I know this. I’ve seen them, the humans. I’ve watched them from up high, but
actually being in a school—the four white walls and chairs called desks filed
in rows with children sitting at them—is quite an adjustment. I sit in the
front of a single aisle. We’re in alphabetical order, and I’m Aestra, so that
means I’m first in the row. Revalia is a few desks behind me. I turn my head to
try to catch her attention, but she’s staring out the window, deep in what
Camael calls a “daydream.” I look at her a few seconds longer hoping my gaze
can break her trance, but she’s too far gone, mesmerized in her human thoughts.
The one disadvantage to being in this human shape is we angels can no longer
feel the thoughts and emotions of others without speaking them. If I had been
free from this woman body, I would have been able to read Revalia’s mind, but
then again, if we weren’t in these human forms, Revalia wouldn’t be having such
thoughts as hypnotizing daydreams…</span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BfIoTYZiZfbWU0aGrTKS3mZh_DRwzma6lmHRrMX35hh4Mmqj8DaSVnGRuHclKyn_IB8CHlXlUFbJbcf639Besso9pAkRi0LH_hf7EB81b0qqcR7BJt_zAtES9ddjci1pW3AvLp9yw_gKW_B5RNGzZViduelFJKExzZW6-J1wU5R29okPmpTwF75_HQxg/s3688/new2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3688" data-original-width="2500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BfIoTYZiZfbWU0aGrTKS3mZh_DRwzma6lmHRrMX35hh4Mmqj8DaSVnGRuHclKyn_IB8CHlXlUFbJbcf639Besso9pAkRi0LH_hf7EB81b0qqcR7BJt_zAtES9ddjci1pW3AvLp9yw_gKW_B5RNGzZViduelFJKExzZW6-J1wU5R29okPmpTwF75_HQxg/w136-h200/new2.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>About the Author: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maria is the Author of the Amazon bestselling and award-winning series The Coal Elf Chronicles, the YA psychological horror series The Altered Experience, and the NA Urban Fantasy series The Aestrangel Trinity. When not writing about dark fantasy and horror, she teaches Language Arts and Journalism to middle school students in Florida. A lover of all things dark and demented, she takes pleasure in warping the comfort factor in her readers’ minds. Just when you think you’ve reached a safe space in her stories, she snaps you back into her twisted reality.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Link Tree: <a href="https://linktr.ee/mariadevivo">https://linktr.ee/mariadevivo</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://bit.ly/3OrcyPT " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3OrcyPT </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://www.mariadevivo.com">https://www.mariadevivo.com</a>/ </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@authormariadevivo">https://www.tiktok.com/@authormariadevivo</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authordevivo">https://www.instagram.com/authordevivo</a>/</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mariadevivoauthor">https://www.facebook.com/mariadevivoauthor</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/MariaDeVivo">https://www.youtube.com/c/MariaDeVivo</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Maria-DeVivo/e/B00CIAYHKY">https://www.amazon.com/Maria-DeVivo/e/B00CIAYHKY</a>/</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3127SkvnVdmzIecGN5l3fj9vRAdPAJyO5yADqEAihzgCn9xZNHYs_BUDUK9swAvIQX2gcBT9Ypr5DTUYzw2a_tSnhQjOFvKuVG5_b4c8xZDtE3Mn55ePX0L_CjVlNoSyRS5bQ7XQgPhsOxUu-uRQEgaQXQ0E8uSaNydfEBjBqkhMmoEP6O3fjQO-GgvLh/s1080/_Aestrangel%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3127SkvnVdmzIecGN5l3fj9vRAdPAJyO5yADqEAihzgCn9xZNHYs_BUDUK9swAvIQX2gcBT9Ypr5DTUYzw2a_tSnhQjOFvKuVG5_b4c8xZDtE3Mn55ePX0L_CjVlNoSyRS5bQ7XQgPhsOxUu-uRQEgaQXQ0E8uSaNydfEBjBqkhMmoEP6O3fjQO-GgvLh/s320/_Aestrangel%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-1037631463719055572024-02-21T03:30:00.008-05:002024-02-21T03:30:00.128-05:00In The Garden with Rebecca Rook #InTheGarden #RebeccaRook #YAHorror<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DatwD3KJE_lMLbglGxrhQ21ytjuZekfUCjOoY8gUYtpkDn6Bq6WAVBK3VbXNXYZLxiP2xw9LiwL22mTUjxhB2DL0WO9luKO1WQdMabAoZ41YADS5unVQv82pZPzyVK-LYvG3a1U8Lg3yQKAQIQ-2i9p-4Zy6WW07VYBVD2CZzp0SSJsqYJlt3vsEs4Dj/s820/False%20Haven%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DatwD3KJE_lMLbglGxrhQ21ytjuZekfUCjOoY8gUYtpkDn6Bq6WAVBK3VbXNXYZLxiP2xw9LiwL22mTUjxhB2DL0WO9luKO1WQdMabAoZ41YADS5unVQv82pZPzyVK-LYvG3a1U8Lg3yQKAQIQ-2i9p-4Zy6WW07VYBVD2CZzp0SSJsqYJlt3vsEs4Dj/w400-h153/False%20Haven%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gardening with Rebecca Rook<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">False Haven</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is a young adult paranormal horror novel that’s a cross between <i>Holes </i>and
<i>The Haunting of Hill House</i>. In this novel, Vivienne Barston’s life has
fallen apart. With her mother recently passed, her father disappears into his
grief – leaving Viv to deal with her sadness and anger alone. Viv turns to
destructive behaviors like petty vandalism, but after a disturbing stint in a
juvenile detention center frightens her, Viv agrees to a court mandated service
opportunity designed to expunge her record. The deal: work for six weeks with a
trail conservation crew in the rural woods of southern Oregon, and she’ll be
free with a clean slate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She knows it’s her last chance to fix her life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Viv arrives at the small town of Hard Luck,
Oregon, she meets her crewmates, all with troubles of their own. The unusual
group travels to Grafton Stake, a remote and derelict former asylum with a
haunted history–and now Viv must face the ghosts of the past while fighting for
her future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Outside of being a writer, I design tabletop games
and I am a gardener. In celebration of the publication of <i>False Haven</i>, I
imagined designing a garden that represented the tropes and themes of the
novel. Like a playlist but with flowers and plants that provided the visual
symbolism of this chilling tale. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here are my botanical contributions to the <i>False
Haven</i> Garden. These are the colors and textures that best capture the mood
of the story, and if you love my novel, you can take inspiration from the list
below to design and grow your own ghostly garden.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hellebore
(</span><a href="https://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/flower_seed_categories/HELLEBORUS_SEEDS"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pitcher
Plants (</span><a href="https://www.rareseeds.com/store/plants-seeds/flowers/pitcher-plant-seeds"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scabiosa
Black Knight (</span><a href="https://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/scabiosa-pincushion-flower/black-knight-scabiosa-seed-1724.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ranunculus
Tecolote Merlot (</span><a href="https://www.longfield-gardens.com/plantname/ranunculus-tecolote-merlot-spring"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Corms</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Snapdragons
White (</span><a href="https://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/snapdragon/legend-white-f1-snapdragon-seed-4907.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Corn
Cockle / Agrostemma (</span><a href="https://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/agrostemma-corn-cockle/ocean-pearls-agrostemma-seed-1105.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zinnia
Precious Metals (</span><a href="https://shop.floretflowers.com/products/zinnia-precious-metals-mix"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bearded
Iris Ghost Train (</span><a href="https://www.schreinersgardens.com/products/ghost-train"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tubers</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Breadseed
Poppy (</span><a href="https://www.rareseeds.com/poppy-giant-rattle-breadseed"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rudbeckia
Cherry Brandy (</span><a href="https://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/rudbeckia-black-eyed-susan/cherry-brandy-rudbeckia-seed-1865.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeds</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve also included links to seeds for these flowers.
Most vendors have growing instructions for starting the seeds they sell but you
will want to confirm </span><a href="https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">your
growing zone</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> and determine what tools you need to
start your seeds indoors (heat map, lighting, etc.). Only a month and a half
remains until spring so start your planning today!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFo0wb9woHNeKoY0VWB8_0oW97IrgUVn5z8rZcPHNk3vK6foQabUHSUpHFZ4Z5UFrPffP1Di-gdaam92U7_YGXqi0KCRYsx8pczF98sUX5Ybhkz5B_XAqSQCNbikQhW4oYhMiCq7hzDETTLQZRTpZYiyC96WqFcAQ6PsMK3gCPT1d3mrK8CIzzZnO4AxAX/s1500/FH%20Cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="970" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFo0wb9woHNeKoY0VWB8_0oW97IrgUVn5z8rZcPHNk3vK6foQabUHSUpHFZ4Z5UFrPffP1Di-gdaam92U7_YGXqi0KCRYsx8pczF98sUX5Ybhkz5B_XAqSQCNbikQhW4oYhMiCq7hzDETTLQZRTpZYiyC96WqFcAQ6PsMK3gCPT1d3mrK8CIzzZnO4AxAX/s320/FH%20Cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>False Haven</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Rebecca Rook</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Young Adult Horror</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Hellebore House</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: February 13, 2024</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: Print: 979-8-9894253-2-7 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: e-book: 979-8-9894253-3-4</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CNDX3SBY</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 250</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 60,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Paper & Sage Designs</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Her last chance may end her life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Seventeen-year-old Vivienne Barston’s life has fallen apart.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">With her mother recently dead, her father disappears into his grief – leaving Viv to deal with her sadness and anger alone. To cope, Viv turns to destructive behaviors like petty vandalism, and after a disturbing stint in a juvenile detention center frightens her, Viv agrees to a court mandated service opportunity designed to expunge her record. The deal: work for six weeks with a trail conservation crew in the rural woods of southern Oregon, and she’ll be free with a clean slate.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">She knows it’s her last chance to fix her life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Viv arrives at the small town of Hard Luck, Oregon, she meets her motley crewmates, all with troubles of their own. The unusual group travels to Grafton Stake, a remote and derelict former asylum with a haunted history–and now Viv must face the ghosts of the past while fighting for her future.</span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3UitADA">Amazon</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt:</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Five
faces looked up at her entrance: two girls and three guys. They sat around a
conference table in office chairs that were sleek, professional, and out of
place in the rustic lodge. An open box of cheap pastries rested at the center of
the table, surrounded by water bottles, sodas, and napkins. A pile of hiker’s
backpacks rested in the corner of the room. Viv cast the others a quick glance,
then placed her pack next to the pile. She picked a chair at the end of the
table, closest to the door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Viv
found five pairs of eyes studying her. She felt grubby after a long day on
public transportation and tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What’s
your name?” one of the girls demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Viv.”
She didn’t inquire about their names. None of them were there to make friends. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The
girl who had demanded Viv’s name opened her mouth to say more but was
interrupted by the arrival of a woman in her thirties with thin black hair
pulled into a low ponytail, nut-brown skin, and a stocky, muscular build. The
woman walked with authority and purpose, her shoulders back and her head
upright, and when she came to a stop at the head of the conference table, she
cast an assessing gaze over Viv. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You
must be Vivienne.” It wasn’t a question. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Viv
nodded. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Welcome.”
The woman didn’t smile. “I’m Helen Whiteaker, and I run this program. You will
report to me for the duration of your time here.” Helen’s dark eyes held a
steel promise of order.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Viv
found herself sitting up a bit straighter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Helen
swept a glance around the room. “We’re all here, so let’s start.” She then eyed
the pastries in the center of the table. “I’d eat those if I were you. Our
meals over the next six weeks won’t be spectacular.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">One
of the boys reached for a Danish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">This
seemed to satisfy Helen. “Welcome to the Conservation Corps for Teens. Let’s
discuss what you’re here to work on for the next six weeks. At the direction of
the Bureau of Land Management and the local county council, we’ll be providing
the grunt labor for the demolition and cleanup of Grafton Stake, a local
institution with several old buildings. We will also build a trail system,
campsites, and recreational day sites around the area. The goal of our work is
to help create a park-like setting for a future campground and visitor’s center.”<br />
Helen paused. “Does anyone have questions?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">No
one responded. The boy with the Danish ate loudly, without closing his mouth.
Viv winced at the sight, then looked away. The squelching noise turned her
stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Helen
eyed Danish Boy with a flicker of amusement in her eyes before continuing. “We
have a tight schedule and will need to work fast. We work eight hours a day,
every Monday through Friday, with lunches and breaks. Weekends will be spent at
the campsite, or in town for short durations.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Helen
paused again and looked around the conference room with her eyebrows raised.
When no one said anything, she sighed. “I’m going to be blunt: none of you are
here because you want to be here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Viv
felt the impact of the words like a dash of cold water across the face. She saw
the others react, too, shifting uncomfortably in their seats or staring at the
floor or the ceiling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Helen
stared at the table. “For various legal and privacy reasons, I do not know the
specifics of why you are here, but I will not tolerate any insubordination or
disruption on my team. If you misbehave, I will ship you home without a second
chance. This is a job. You will be paid a stipend at the end of the six
weeks—or a prorated amount for the time you’ve spent in this program. I expect professional
behavior from each of you, towards me and towards each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">That
means no sex, no drugs, no shit talking, and no fights.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The
conference room was still. Viv’s stomach roiled with anxiety. She almost
admired how efficiently Helen had asserted control over the group.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Really?” Helen cast a skeptical glance around the
room. “No questions at all?”</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j1wvHMWGJMVNZAHm5gHCXfl-s_dSRYQ85_7y7FExT65LHNZyBAt1LoeF0EvYs0bJkmO7yuiuGnVWCdAQWmxxiK5r4p6ocFCHqa-PHiILRa08HiY_YSPcA1fnz5xY-bXZjmlmh_xaZjaKZX5gBtCBhIVP2Vzlnh7paowWW5VE-sq5isBtQJ0-EpgM5CFt/s400/Writer%20Headshot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j1wvHMWGJMVNZAHm5gHCXfl-s_dSRYQ85_7y7FExT65LHNZyBAt1LoeF0EvYs0bJkmO7yuiuGnVWCdAQWmxxiK5r4p6ocFCHqa-PHiILRa08HiY_YSPcA1fnz5xY-bXZjmlmh_xaZjaKZX5gBtCBhIVP2Vzlnh7paowWW5VE-sq5isBtQJ0-EpgM5CFt/w200-h200/Writer%20Headshot.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rebecca Rook is a hard of hearing person who designs tabletop games, manages a little free library dedicated to sequential art and comics, and lives in the Pacific Northwest with two wonderful dogs. A 2021-2022 Hugo House Fellow in Seattle, WA, she also attended the 2021 Tin House YA Fiction Workshop in Portland, OR. Prior to this, she completed the wonderful Yearlong Workshop for Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction at Hugo House. She writes young adult fiction in the fantasy, thriller, and horror genres.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://www.byrebeccarook.com/">https://www.byrebeccarook.com/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/byrebeccarook">https://www.instagram.com/byrebeccarook</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CM1GVVY2">https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CM1GVVY2</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45848659.Rebecca_Rook">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45848659.Rebecca_Rook</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6x1Zgf4lUpCquJknJMnxTVkemC3Tq4-V8wOjpXcKC8LPjAiQr-2X3fv6XJzDwIThsMoAAQIBm1_7CkNNpVzEaA1MckhF7etoTL06G0wPyCY9ZA67VAZpJvXHOC_nJ7VdC6llJlK3ctChBF6BxBupRHzVocBkwXWVRqo7diBTWd48fqG9Eq5dN_5p0SuQG/s1080/False%20Haven%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6x1Zgf4lUpCquJknJMnxTVkemC3Tq4-V8wOjpXcKC8LPjAiQr-2X3fv6XJzDwIThsMoAAQIBm1_7CkNNpVzEaA1MckhF7etoTL06G0wPyCY9ZA67VAZpJvXHOC_nJ7VdC6llJlK3ctChBF6BxBupRHzVocBkwXWVRqo7diBTWd48fqG9Eq5dN_5p0SuQG/s320/False%20Haven%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b></span></div><div><br /></div></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2217" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2217/" id="rcwidget_k2vkiqx5" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-33102027102171291592024-02-15T01:00:00.007-05:002024-02-15T01:00:00.163-05:00Soul Masters: The Hunting Grounds by K.R. Gastreich #PNR<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6WTNoGZq7qm-JfxXs4K0T_UBcRnZy2eKX_m3auVlPIMrJEhmIyeVuQ-b_ul_Cy630vUt3GcxETG2w76-YyvePA3byCRv4vvyljJhRk1sOUGXMuJkIilwc3dg5cM4hy4pdghUn6rHQQ6lFCQ6auGqngwxhs0sYd7jr4xvWwUGhjJKX-0qIvYQMougioMG/s820/soul%20masters%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6WTNoGZq7qm-JfxXs4K0T_UBcRnZy2eKX_m3auVlPIMrJEhmIyeVuQ-b_ul_Cy630vUt3GcxETG2w76-YyvePA3byCRv4vvyljJhRk1sOUGXMuJkIilwc3dg5cM4hy4pdghUn6rHQQ6lFCQ6auGqngwxhs0sYd7jr4xvWwUGhjJKX-0qIvYQMougioMG/w400-h153/soul%20masters%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span><div><div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Green Tips from Mayela, Protagonist of Soul Masters</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">It so happens that the main character of my new novel, Soul Masters, is an ecologist. Mayela studies how remnant green spaces and home gardens can help conserve native bees in urban environments. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Native bees are getting more attention in the media. They were eclipsed at first by the ever-popular honey bee. While honey bees are important for a lot of reasons, they are not native to the Americas. Honey bees were brought to this continent by European settlers.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Across North America, we’ve identified about 4,000 species of native bees. In my home state of Missouri, there are about 400 native bee species. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Native bees include bumble bees, mason bees, sweat bees, and many other varieties. Each species is a unique variety of bee with distinctive physical characteristics, behaviors, and ecological roles. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Native bees are extremely important in keeping our ecosystems going. They pollinate native plants and many important crops. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Supporting native bee populations is easy. Just follow these tips:</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Plant native wildflowers. There are a number of organizations, including state conservation agencies and local garden shops, that can help you identify what wildflowers are native to your area. Native wildflowers are beautiful and hardy. Many are perennial and most need very little maintenance. They may not have the big showy flowers of other garden varieties, but native wildflowers will do a better job of feeding your bees. And you don’t need much - even one potted plant on your balcony or front porch can help feed the bees.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Do not spray blossoming plants with insecticide. When and how to use pesticides is a whole other topic, but if you must spray, please do not spray on plants with flowers. You will hurt not only the bees that visit those flowers, but the colonies and offspring they carry the contaminated pollen back to. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Provide permeable surfaces in your garden. If you have a backyard, try to minimize paved or tiled surfaces. The bees most impacted by urban development are those that nest in the ground. Many native bees need soft soil where they can burrow deep to protect their young. By conserving open spaces in your own backyard, you can provide a home for bees.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Support local ecological restoration sites and remnant habitats. Many urban areas have important remnant habitats. Green zones, such as gardens, parks and trails, can be vital for native bees. Volunteer organizations often work hard to maintain these habitats. Sign up to help out and you’ll be amazed at the positive difference you can make. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">On behalf of Mayela and all her friends, thank you for supporting the bees!</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAdupnn8JJNkuQv33LsqjL-w01XEtUpwVMZmEfphE_EDoxFK8tUKTQqzmfa5QBtR0e_MWq6hiy5gknBikXrYaGds02xVonHmhuC1DoQnGfHfUgN-mwzk0U0rpDgSj7KBWWHoVfGrkbZzEwTHDy3lsoYA6ZiEde4bTArnTycpUTfivsE1pF1lqTchzP456/s2252/SoulMastersTheHuntingGrounds_w17960_ib.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAdupnn8JJNkuQv33LsqjL-w01XEtUpwVMZmEfphE_EDoxFK8tUKTQqzmfa5QBtR0e_MWq6hiy5gknBikXrYaGds02xVonHmhuC1DoQnGfHfUgN-mwzk0U0rpDgSj7KBWWHoVfGrkbZzEwTHDy3lsoYA6ZiEde4bTArnTycpUTfivsE1pF1lqTchzP456/s320/SoulMastersTheHuntingGrounds_w17960_ib.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>Soul Masters: The Hunting Grounds</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Soul Masters</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>K.R. Gastreich</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Paranormal Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: The Wild Rose Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: February 7, 2024</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1509253302</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CP6GMWRK</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 320</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 90k</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Kristian Norris</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: He wants to claim her soul. But can she capture his heart?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">On a hike through the forest, Mayela stumbles into a terrifying world where immortals hunt souls. To survive she secures protection from a Soul Master. When he demands payment, Mayela fights back. But how can she fight the desire consuming her heart?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Every soul Nathan claims expands the power of his realm. In Mayela, he finds a rare gift that could guarantee his place among the Soul Masters. All he must do is secure her allegiance without losing his heart. And Nathan has no heart to lose. Or does he? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">With eternity at stake, Mayela and Nathan ignite a transcendent passion that breaks all the rules. Among the Soul Masters, a malevolent force awakens. The final hunt is on…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amzn.to/48n624N">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soul-masters-kr-gastreich/1144418170">BN</a> <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/soul-masters-the-hunting-grounds-k-r-gastreich/20925562?ean=9781509253302">Bookshop</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Excerpt:</span></b><b> </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Then
everything froze. Joni, the customers, the cars outside. All movement simply
stopped. The chime on the front door sounded. My throat went dry. Somehow, I
knew what was happening. I knew who had arrived, though I didn’t understand how
or why.<br />
Twisting around, I peered over the rim of the booth. Standing in the doorway
was the man from my hallucinations, a creature of the dark plains. Tall and
slim, broad-shouldered, dark in aspect. That same man had beheaded a snake in
my kitchen. Not my kitchen, I reminded myself. The illusion of my kitchen, part
of the same hallucination of an impossible world. The Hunting Grounds, he’d
called it. Where we go to hunt souls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">My
mind spun with the impossibility of what I was seeing. He couldn’t be real.
Yet here he was, in Joni’s shop. Except, he looked different. His hair
was peppered gray instead of black. His skin seemed a shade darker. Or maybe
lighter? It was like wrapping my head around a mirage, trying to remember what
he looked like in my nightmares. But the simple force of his presence, the
quiet luminescence of his spirit, was unmistakable. That was him.<br />
Without so much as a glance in my direction, the man stepped into the shop and
started toward the counter. Everything stirred at once. Several people looked
his way. Joni let go a long, low whistle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“Well,
I’ll be!” she exclaimed. "We haven’t had anyone that drop-dead gorgeous walk
in here since…Well, ever!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">She
kept staring, mouth agape, as he ordered coffee. Then her face lit up, and she
jumped into action, wiping down the table next to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’ve
got an idea,” she said. “I think you should go for him.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“What?”
I croaked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“He’s
totally your style.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“I
don’t date men in suits.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“What
are you talking about?” She laughed. “Look at him! It’s fate. I can feel it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“Joni
–”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“Sir!”
She called. “Sir, we’ve got an empty table right over here. Next to the
windows.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Holy
crap! I sank deeper into my seat. “I’m serious, Joni! Send him somewhere else.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">“Straighten
up, beautiful.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Give it a shot. What’ve you got
to lose?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Then
she was gone. I cast about frantically for an escape, but there was no back
exit from the booth. Unless I wanted to crash through the window. Could I do that?
Crash through the window?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Yeah,
I could do that. But I’d have to leave my insects behind, and –<br />
And there he was, taking the table next to me. His chair scraped against the
floor. His clothes rustled as he settled in. Minutes passed while my heart
pounded inside my chest. I kept my face turned, pretended to stare out the
window, wondered whether it would hurt to feel the glass shatter against my
skin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Idle
talk filled the coffee shop. Customers came and went, orders were taken, steam
forced through frothing milk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Still
the man said nothing.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">I snuck a glance in his direction. Damn, he was
handsome. Heart stoppingly so. Desire tugged at my gut, a strangely familiar
sense of attraction, as if we’d known each other before this moment. As if I’d
been bound to him in a time before memory.</span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9F_96SYhjeuQH3tG76IgL7Q1ZL6aX82lUVcsx-Q9pFU8a9KwPAEPijZlJeEgwIJ8KuYU0myM24KjmIioTkr0_jIDAhL03SCKB99katBe_voFCg8TinBhYFiBKeV5gjRQeHjxK7W9Gsgr-MTKVX4siHSLBydT6JvoTdvIdRWmo5HFQXm29lA_1na2Qfvaj/s2100/5x7_300dpi_Karin_244A0694.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9F_96SYhjeuQH3tG76IgL7Q1ZL6aX82lUVcsx-Q9pFU8a9KwPAEPijZlJeEgwIJ8KuYU0myM24KjmIioTkr0_jIDAhL03SCKB99katBe_voFCg8TinBhYFiBKeV5gjRQeHjxK7W9Gsgr-MTKVX4siHSLBydT6JvoTdvIdRWmo5HFQXm29lA_1na2Qfvaj/w143-h200/5x7_300dpi_Karin_244A0694.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">K.R. Gastreich is a recipient of the OZMA Award for fantasy fiction and the Andrews Forest Writer’s Residency, as well as a winner of the Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest. Her fantasy novels feature high-stakes romance, gripping battles, and darkly lyrical prose. In addition to Soul Masters and The Silver Web trilogy, she has published short stories in Zahir, Adventures for the Average Woman, 69 Flavors of Paranoia, and World Jumping.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A proud native of the American Midwest, K.R. Gastreich lived for many years in Texas and then in Latin America before returning to the Kansas City Metro where she grew up. When not writing she enjoys hiking, camping, studying dance, and spending time with her family.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">To learn about new releases and other events, visit K.R. Gastreich’s website at krgastreich.com, or follow her on Instagram @EolynChronicles.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://www.krgastreich.com">https://www.krgastreich.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Linktree: <a href="https://linktr.ee/EolynChronicles">https://linktr.ee/EolynChronicles</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063135194840">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063135194840</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4431702.K_R_Gastreich">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4431702.K_R_Gastreich</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneKRhoLUUYFdqwOjkfAf1Ixk2_oDnvrcX3afyFwLgfdKen9-jXj5eK20hKTJq10gmYO-Xums4aRQrLo3jSuWbXrS5oN6Oeq8KgajjVC8Lf6i7Cq302nF7V5biIcYn76PwTpbTI1Fvvmi3XGQSCTKKr5ggqh_TqAM4Yfi3nL6zLt0cGCqDUK7APPItcMcZ/s1080/soul%20masters%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneKRhoLUUYFdqwOjkfAf1Ixk2_oDnvrcX3afyFwLgfdKen9-jXj5eK20hKTJq10gmYO-Xums4aRQrLo3jSuWbXrS5oN6Oeq8KgajjVC8Lf6i7Cq302nF7V5biIcYn76PwTpbTI1Fvvmi3XGQSCTKKr5ggqh_TqAM4Yfi3nL6zLt0cGCqDUK7APPItcMcZ/s320/soul%20masters%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-40155317324685262722024-02-06T04:25:00.009-05:002024-02-06T04:25:00.251-05:00In the Kitchen with Stanislava "Stacy" Buevich #SalmonTarator #Recipe #IntheKitchen<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit1BzSmVQRNKDirucmbA1CZfjxO1H_Y3nOVH0dzAm-iTjg5mpzPoLjRLuXULzIjH4loScnB3XwrNFsqw2o3HLd2fB_uk7inq87wGMs9zlI3q2045T5WT0IdHyFkQ3P4srUJtw2bMZPX5vlmI5hY4nW_nhsjB0Jv24IdYT34ND1YKoQ5NRh5iIMXFGAXn7/s820/Clearlake%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit1BzSmVQRNKDirucmbA1CZfjxO1H_Y3nOVH0dzAm-iTjg5mpzPoLjRLuXULzIjH4loScnB3XwrNFsqw2o3HLd2fB_uk7inq87wGMs9zlI3q2045T5WT0IdHyFkQ3P4srUJtw2bMZPX5vlmI5hY4nW_nhsjB0Jv24IdYT34ND1YKoQ5NRh5iIMXFGAXn7/w400-h153/Clearlake%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Salmon Tarator is the absolute staple in my home. I always come back to it when I need a gorgeous, delicious, and healthy main course, and I'm short on time. It looks as impressive as it tastes and is relatively easy to make. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some years ago, there was a potluck dinner for parents at my daughter’s school, and one of the ladies brought this dish. She had no idea what it was called and refused to share the recipe. I was so impressed that I scoured the Internet for it and discovered that it’s called Salmon Tarator, and it hails from the Middle East. I cooked it so many times that I’ve adapted it to my taste. Now, I must warn you that I am not the kind of cook who measures things; I very much believe in cooking by feel, so the measurements are approximate. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>You will need:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fresh Salmon - I prefer a big chunk of loin. However, you can use individual fillets from any part of the fish you like. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A generous bunch of parsley or 2 small bunches (some might prefer coriander/cilantro) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Small bunch of mint </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garlic - 2 cloves </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lemon - whole</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Walnuts - 2 generous handfuls of halves</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Red onion - half </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tahini paste - 1-2 tablespoons </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Greek yoghurt - 3-4 tablespoons </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Salt and pepper to taste </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Optional - a sprinkle of Baharat or Sumac. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pomegranate seeds for decoration </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Place the salmon into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish) on high heat. I don’t put anything on the salmon. The sauce is more than enough to give it flavour. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While the salmon is in the oven, I whip up the sauce and the salad/garnish elements of the dish. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garnish: Roughly chop up the parsley and mint. Break walnut halves with your hands or in a mortar. Dice the red onion and mix everything together. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and add that into the mix, along with some salt and pepper, to taste. Now, you have a parsley, mint, walnut, and onion salad.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sauce: Mix the Greek yoghurt with the tahini paste, add crushed garlic and juice from the other half of the lemon and salt to taste. The paste should be smooth and not lumpy; just keep mixing with a spoon until Tahini is adequately integrated. I prefer my Tahini sauce to be very strong, so I sometimes add more Tahini paste. It is entirely up to you and whether you like sesame as much as I do.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Take the salmon out of the oven and place it on a gorgeous serving dish (optional). Now, let's layer the dish. First comes the sauce. Smear it over the top of the salmon, covering it whole. The salad element goes on top of the sauce. You may finish the dish with a sprinkling of Baharat or Sumac and some pomegranate seeds. Enjoy! </div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mfjyZcVC7TV_G58Q1EoqZ7VRqB-o4994Ed_Hvts3P4Q5xuE4bhM2tRD-QmPW20jHTlUOpx4lOWbdHymCHoDiA5au4O_er-0Ch3uK9l-oo56yJ-3H7aXL0b2bus3bs3cimddLRTJgnOpur-6J6zVZtNOIWffdSK7cVd_4Cfajqj2KxH2ghA7vi5yiUi7k/s2560/Clearlake_ebook.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mfjyZcVC7TV_G58Q1EoqZ7VRqB-o4994Ed_Hvts3P4Q5xuE4bhM2tRD-QmPW20jHTlUOpx4lOWbdHymCHoDiA5au4O_er-0Ch3uK9l-oo56yJ-3H7aXL0b2bus3bs3cimddLRTJgnOpur-6J6zVZtNOIWffdSK7cVd_4Cfajqj2KxH2ghA7vi5yiUi7k/s320/Clearlake_ebook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Clearlake </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Stanislava Buevich</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Upper Middle Grade/Teen Mystery Horror</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: December 1, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: B0CMQHGC24</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CMP432S1</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 245</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 73K</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Sabina Kencana </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Don’t go into Room 214 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Hi, I'm Moon and this is my story. It all started with a terrible cold. When the lady in purple promised my mother that Clearlake Institute would be able to cure me without the use of modern medicine, my mom was hooked.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was nothing I could do, or say, that could’ve changed her mind. She was determined from the moment we set foot on a remote island far, far away from everyone else, until the moment we were separated, and I was trapped in a creepy, gothic hospital."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Clearlake Institute was hiding something!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Deep beneath the shadows, something sinister was brewing - darkened halls, strange doctors, ghastly nurses that watch your every move, and children who are sent into Room 217 never to return.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aided by the other children she meets at the institute, Moon Rains embarks on a perilous, suspenseful adventure to uncover the secrets of the Clearlake Institute.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now, the race against time begins. Will Moon and her friends make it out before it’s too late? Or will Clearlake claim them as its next set of victims?</span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />
<b><a href="https://amzn.to/47sgDKl">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clearlake-Stanislava-Buevich-ebook/dp/B0CMP432S1">AmazonUK</a><br /></b></span></p></div><div><span>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt</b> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">There will come a time when you wonder, how did a girl like me end up
in a place like Clearlake and mortal danger? Well, it all started with a
terrible cold. At first, it was just a blocked nose. Then a sore throat,
nothing major. About a week later, I got a temperature. And the blocked nose
got worse. Much worse. I lost all sense of smell and the ability to breathe.
Snot kept trickling down from my nostril to my top lip, and I had to
persistently wipe it off with my sleeve or taste the said snot. I had a
headache. A constant, nagging, relentless headache as if a woodpecker was
incessantly pecking above the bridge of my nose. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I was thirteen at the time and missed so many days of school that my
mother got fined by the government. Now, I know what you’re thinking - any
responsible parent would have taken their offspring to a GP if the wretched
illness hadn’t gone away within a week. Well, not my mother. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">My mother didn’t trust Western Medicine, you see, particularly vaccines
and antibiotics. As far as she was concerned, those two were the source of all
evil. I count myself incredibly lucky that, so far, I have managed to avoid
catching something particularly nasty like Rubella, Mumps, or Measles. I’ve never
had anything more severe than a cold, in fact. And while most colds went away
without intervention, other than a honey, lemon and gin concoction (which was
surprisingly effective, never mind that I was far too young to take it), this
cold proved to be something else entirely. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">About a week in, my mother marched into my room early in the morning.
Loud, insistent stomps woke me up from a hazy, feverish dream. She touched my
forehead with the tips of her fingers and raised her eyebrow, nodding as if
everything was going according to plan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Well, I think I know what will finally do the trick,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I rolled my eyes. Well, not actually. Not on the outside. The outside
she could see. I rolled my eyes on the inside, imagining them going so far
inside their sockets that all that was left were the white bits. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Beetroot!” she exclaimed, her voice chiming like a Christmas bell. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Beetroot?” I yawned, and a few tears seeped out of the corners of my
eyes. I wasn’t sure if the yawn caused it or the ever-escalating feeling of
utter desperation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“A few drops of beetroot juice inside your nose three times a day, and
you will be good as new. I promise.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She made similar promises a lot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“If you stick a clove of garlic in each nostril overnight, in the
morning… Poof. Cured. Gone. I promise.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Breathing over a pot with hot potatoes and a duvet over your head will
open up the sinuses and unleash the phlegm. All of the gunk will stream out.
You’ll see. I promise.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“If you do a wee in a little pot and then take some of that wee with a
little pipette that I’ve got here for you and…” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“NO!”</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I drew the line at urotherapy, as it was apparently called, and it did
take quite a bit of courage to stand up to my mother. She fussed and fretted
but couldn’t get me to administer urine into my nose.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: georgia; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKq7bG_Yck0O9unq2i3slbRIR7HThywo7UH1gRO_qaLZPbO3qzpvc9MHi-FUtR1w3n1p12PbLuq-U1JmEWxVANaNFQRfJksTgxEAFNqPiLh9NzTrFXCTTsI5kUlgapYUYuStLvBaxdgxPJIfBc0JPd4MUe3-q3bzpTgVEseGavoq6vWhvEtpikDAt_lxqy/s628/1157714_10100269934163600_1541197981_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="628" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKq7bG_Yck0O9unq2i3slbRIR7HThywo7UH1gRO_qaLZPbO3qzpvc9MHi-FUtR1w3n1p12PbLuq-U1JmEWxVANaNFQRfJksTgxEAFNqPiLh9NzTrFXCTTsI5kUlgapYUYuStLvBaxdgxPJIfBc0JPd4MUe3-q3bzpTgVEseGavoq6vWhvEtpikDAt_lxqy/w200-h176/1157714_10100269934163600_1541197981_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stacy Buevich is a British writer and a film director with many award winning short films. She started writing novels during lockdown (wait did that really happen?), beginning with a magical mystery Maya Fairy, that she wrote for her daughter. Since then she has written several more and not planning to stop</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.stacywritesbooks.com/">https://www.stacywritesbooks.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BN5WHQRZ/about">https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BN5WHQRZ/about</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201587543-clearlake">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201587543-clearlake</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlcIG_7w3MXiifrjrwNWzMQzGnrod-VwyXGdjYDX1-kRUJjiWIXAFVfYMKak1GOhE9QCbzM36lLSOJalP6MBTIgnWRMKZcwYU2CXDfUF3NWgCoV4owJTvmo6SfMwrynrOxs_YykXq3w05QZ0ypgysCNiW_YU0ueAfKxLhSyUJsxqLQK_zLw98SvEhQthd/s1080/Clearlake%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlcIG_7w3MXiifrjrwNWzMQzGnrod-VwyXGdjYDX1-kRUJjiWIXAFVfYMKak1GOhE9QCbzM36lLSOJalP6MBTIgnWRMKZcwYU2CXDfUF3NWgCoV4owJTvmo6SfMwrynrOxs_YykXq3w05QZ0ypgysCNiW_YU0ueAfKxLhSyUJsxqLQK_zLw98SvEhQthd/s320/Clearlake%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;"><b>Book Trailer:</b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/VQxsysbOnPA?si=7iX3EWXdG13LHrdz"><b>https://youtu.be/VQxsysbOnPA?si=7iX3EWXdG13LHrdz</b></a></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VQxsysbOnPA?si=eUABU8QADCYouo_p" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-90140210199088202252024-01-30T04:00:00.012-05:002024-01-30T04:00:00.140-05:00THE READER CHOOSES THEIR OWN SETTING with Connor Coyne #LGBTQ+ #LitFic #MagicalRealism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWzLsPnto_wjcqhfI5hPEGhRvtjnaBAglMGeIMSu844Fv2GUG22De3tjjqRWsKQHLzYttKWWATV23tVCqFiQCtexXy_yf3XISVNe9Y6CLaymBvjtsyaoeh-BMEB4XtPfsJ8BbTn6XxGsSKxPOo5msyckVmeKcrBSfgOncOMpoyipkBFw70fHm-z1C5jpF/s820/Hollywood%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWzLsPnto_wjcqhfI5hPEGhRvtjnaBAglMGeIMSu844Fv2GUG22De3tjjqRWsKQHLzYttKWWATV23tVCqFiQCtexXy_yf3XISVNe9Y6CLaymBvjtsyaoeh-BMEB4XtPfsJ8BbTn6XxGsSKxPOo5msyckVmeKcrBSfgOncOMpoyipkBFw70fHm-z1C5jpF/w400-h153/Hollywood%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>THE READER CHOOSES THEIR OWN SETTING</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Books are famous for their ability to transport us to places and times we’re unable to access in a more literal fashion. But what about transporting ourselves with our books? As Stephen King once observed, “books are a uniquely portable magic.” How often, though, we find ourselves limiting our reading to settings dictated by convenience and habit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Don’t get me wrong: I think you should read wherever you get the opportunity to read! I’ve read short books and long while bouncing down the road with other passengers on a bus, or lying in bed at night, or (most often) sitting in front of my computer with Google and all of my social media accounts a convenient click away. All great places to read.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The truth is, we have the ability to read anytime and anywhere we are able to fix our attention on words and page. That is true for both printed books and ebooks, though, admittedly, textbook-heavy hardcovers are less flexible, literally and metaphorically, than a pocket paperback.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let’s take a look at a few possibilities to enjoy your books outside of the confines of familiar chairs and couches.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Read in a café</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is low-hanging fruit, and probably you have already tried this, but we’ll start out in the shallow water before these suggestions get progressively weirder.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cafes and many restaurants are great because they demand little of a visitor. If you purchase a coffee or appetizer, you’ve gained admission for hours, and nobody will be inconvenienced or put-off by your hanging around, so long as you leave a decent tip and don’t leave a mess.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Part of what makes this special is that the place has a life of its own beyond whatever you bring in with you. When you pause or take a break, resist the urge to reach from your phone. Instead, take note of the other people around you; the workers, the other patrons: Are they laughing? Are they deep in an intense conversation about their hopes and futures? Are they, like you, reading or studying something they care about? They each have their own stories, their own secrets and desires. And speaking of stories, your book is calling to you again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In my case, it was Toni Morrison’s Beloved which I read at a college bagel shop. Students were coming and going, and when Morrison’s rich and tragic and inspiring world started to overwhelm me, I was able to take a breather and silently acknowledge the kids cramming for their midterms, the barista offering a friend a free bagel, and the snow falling lightly just on the other side of the window.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cafes are an opportunity to link the story you are experiencing with the other humans and stories in the world around you. They grant you enough privacy to focus on your book while never letting you forget that books are stories and stories are a compact between a storyteller and a listener / reader. It makes an often solitary activity less isolating.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Read in a museum</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Much less common than reading in a café, reading in a museum enjoys many of the same benefits. That is, like a café you are in a public space where you will be intermittently exposed to other patrons and their stories. As with cafes and restaurants you’ll need to be selective; a noisy children’s museum may not be the best pick for you to make your way through your Djuna Barnes or Dostoevsky. I particularly recommend art museums, as they are almost always quiet by comparison, and most rooms have benches for patrons to sit and enjoy the artwork.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Where museums are different from cafés is that you will also be engaged by the exhibits on display. One of my favorite experiences of this was reading the very quirky The Book of Highs: 255 Ways to Alter Your Consciousness without Drugs at the Flint Institute of Arts. Sounds like a mismatch, right? I’ll be honest, if I was reading at home, this book would have been kind of a drag. The ideas were all over the map, involving painting your bathtub psychedelic colors or lightly pressing on your eyeballs until phosphenes appear. It was a several-hundred-page listicle where only about half of the ideas were notably interesting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reading at an art museum transformed the experience. The ideas in the Book of Highs, interesting and not, all posited a fixed understanding of “consciousness” that could, with intention and insight, be “altered.” Reading an entry or two, and then admiring the massive tapestries in the Bray Renaissance Gallery or a Tiffany stained-glass window, I asked more probing questions than I would have thought of at home: “What is consciousness?” “Isn’t consciousness automatically altered, all the time, simply through the act of thinking?” “What can an altered consciousness offer that ‘ordinary’ consciousness does not?” And asking these heady questions while studying a work of art, the color, the geometry, the arrangement of the pieces started to work upon me as an observer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reading in a museum allows the book you are reading to engage in an un-premeditated dialogue with the art and artifacts and people to whom the museum is dedicated. Often the most spontaneous associations are the most fruitful. I especially recommend this if a book is challenging to you, and you’re looking for a way in, but your usual study tricks don’t seem to be helping you out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Read in a park</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If a café gives you access to other people and a museum gives you access to other concepts and ideas, a park gives you access to nature and to the wider world. Like an art museum, many parks come with benches. Even small towns are likely to have numerous parks, and larger cities might have dozens or hundreds. Feel free to mix it up. (In a pinch, reading on your front porch or in your backyard can have the same benefits!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This time, when you stop to pause in your reading, take a moment of silence and stillness to observe every facet of your environment. Is it a sunny or a cloudy day? What is the quality of light? Are you approaching sunset? Coming out of dawn? Are there animals present? Wildlife? Birds? Squirrels? Deer, perhaps? What about the plant life? Are there flowers nearby, and if so, are they fragrant? Where are you sitting? Is it the gentle yield of a grassy lawn or the reassuring firmness of a boulder?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then, as we might do through meditation or prayer, take a moment to situate yourself with and connect yourself to this environment. You are, after all, just another animal moving through the world, and whether one is there to read or walk or hunt or forage, you are breathing the same air as all the plants and animals around you. This can help you find your focus and concentration, to move outside of yourself while never leaving your body. This is something that most good books demand, so you are lucky to have nature helping you along!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Read everywhere else…</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are, of course, just a few obvious suggestions. The nice thing about reading in different places is that the more you do it, the more ideas you’ll have about different places to read!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had a major breakthrough when I discovered that I could walk and read at the same time. To be sure, this takes a bit of extra effort and care; you still need to be aware of the people and environment around you; no stepping out in front of cars! But if you can swing it, reading can be a part of your travel through space.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can read in churches, you can read in cemeteries, you can read at the bus depot or train station, and if you go a middle-school concert, you can read while the students tune their instruments up on the stage!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Read in places of resonance. I read Edgar Allen Poe on the athletic field of an abandoned high school not far from my house; runners still use the track, but it was still an experience I’ll not soon forget. What about William Burroughs on the New York subway? What about Hopi poetry at the Grand Canyon? What about Angela Flournoy or Tim Lane in a neighborhood in Flint or Detroit?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pretty soon you’ll realize that you can read books anywhere you can be, and they’ll all contribute, in some meaningful way, to the experience of reading you seek.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIi266AjLpvSp8VAXmcTkT5H_OxMMsN49aci8xYt8psy1qOjKJokksSK1bKvi42j88lV8Wz5ctM90J6E1vZxe6DyvuHyjoj6NkB3TJCpE_85BtZpgjNPM0KdNm57HyYa4rxZAuYnO3znFEDOZnyjzZYdCd-n1JV-fuywtRlp-PRPaQ5_EnyYifhsBjUzS/s2136/hollywood.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2136" data-original-width="1454" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIi266AjLpvSp8VAXmcTkT5H_OxMMsN49aci8xYt8psy1qOjKJokksSK1bKvi42j88lV8Wz5ctM90J6E1vZxe6DyvuHyjoj6NkB3TJCpE_85BtZpgjNPM0KdNm57HyYa4rxZAuYnO3znFEDOZnyjzZYdCd-n1JV-fuywtRlp-PRPaQ5_EnyYifhsBjUzS/s320/hollywood.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>Hollywood</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Connor Coyne</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: LGBTQ+, Literary, Magical Realism</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Lethe Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: Feb. 3, 2024</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 9781590215944</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CP6PG3J1</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 97</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: About 24,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Inkspiral</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: A new American myth for readers who enjoy a bit of madness in their weird fiction.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anxious Ophelia steps off the elevated train in the big city, hoping to start a new life with her summer hookup, far from her dissolving family and all of the traumas of industrial Rockville. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over the course of the next few hours Ophelia will lose her roommate, her money, and eventually, her sense of sanity when she sees a mile-long shark out on the lake, unwitnessed by anyone else, but obviously there, because if it wasn't how did she get so soaked? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ophelia cannot go back to who she was before sighting the beast, and the friends and opportunities she discovers all proceed from what and how she acts on that first, fierce, drunken night.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3TRFqV5">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.lethepressbooks.com/store/p699/hollywood.html">Lethe Press</a></b></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b>
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<!--[endif]--></b></span></span></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt:</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">One August afternoon, in the midst of the hottest years ever recorded,
with the nation crashing through wars, the stock market climbing like Icarus
toward the sun, and the City funneling its poor people inland as it closed and
demolished the last of the projects, Ophelia got off the Red Line elevated
train at the Thorndale stop, squinted in the sunlight, and kicked her foot
against the platform to free a stone from her sandal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Home at last?” she asked herself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She certainly hoped so. There was so much here, and all of it
everywhere: dozens of dark smears from murdered bubble-gum on each sidewalk
square, hundreds of quartz-bright sidewalk squares lassoing each block, and
thousands of glowing, sweltering blocks throughout the City with its millions
of people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">To the west, between the tracks and Broadway, Ophelia made out a video
store, a laundromat, and an internet café, all noisy with activity at four in
the afternoon. To the east, between the tracks and the lake, she saw a canyon
of tenement apartments—mostly brick, fronted with stoic windows, several
stories high—going out for three blocks before the real high rises rose from
the beach, blue and white and glass and concrete, almost unimaginably tall.
Their heights arrowed sunlight back toward Ophelia, hitting her from all sides.
And here, too, she saw people coming and going in the glow of late summer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Please,” she said. “Let this be my home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">But who was going to answer her? Not the smartly dressed Black men
talking in low voices, laughing softly, leaning out over the tracks to look for
the next train. Not the old Polish woman in the headscarf murmuring her rosary
to herself. Not the train attendant patrolling the platform. Or the sun, the
steel high-rises, the brick tenements, the video store, or the laundromat.<br />
Since nobody would answer Ophelia, she descended the stairs, passed through the
station, and went out into the City.<br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
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<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Five minutes later, Ophelia stood in the lobby of her new apartment
building, buzzing for the super to come down and give her the keys. The
building stood near the corner of Kenmore and Ardmore, just one block from
Sheridan Road and the lake. At eight stories high, it was the tallest of its
neighbors, though still dwarfed by the towers just a block away. A white stucco
lobby. Moll carpet. Plastic plants standing in shell-shaped alcoves cut into
the wall. Nothing fancy, but with a breeze coursing down the hall from an open
fire escape, Ophelia’s new home felt luxurious.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The super arrived and eyed her new tenant suspiciously. Ophelia wasn’t
tall, but she was so skinny, especially about her face, that it created an
illusion of height. When she looked in the mirror, her prominent cheekbones
reminded her sometimes of a skull and sometimes of a praying mantis. Ophelia
was white, pale even, with fine brown hair that wisped gently about her
shoulders. She generally considered herself a fairly okay-looking person,
whatever her other defects might be. Still, she knew wrinkles and exhaustion
were about the corners of her eyes. Anyone could see this. Everyone noticed.
She was only in her early 20s but seldom got carded for alcohol.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The super frowned but must have decided Ophelia was harmless because
the woman hit the button in the wall, and the elevator dinged in reply. The
super pulled open the accordion gate, and as they rose through the building,
Ophelia watched each floor sinking out of view. She tried to ignore the stench
of stale piss. They got off at the seventh door. The woman fumbled with the
keys, swearing under her breath in some Slavic language, and opened the door to
Ophelia’s apartment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She’d seen Tasia’s pictures, but they didn’t do justice to the place.
The hallway opened into a long white living room with a white carpet and a bay
window looking out to the east. Slivers of blue water peeked in from between
the lakeside towers. An arch to the left led into a slender kitchen, all
Formica and old appliances, while another hall exited the back of the living
room, passing the first bedroom and the bathroom and ending at a second bedroom
with plenty of closets and built-in shelves along the way. Ophelia spotted a
cockroach crawling across the stovetop and another in the back bedroom. Still,
there was something so happy and fierce about the light and the skylike
linearity of the lake that hope welled up in her chest anyway. This was fine.
No, glorious! She’d deal with the roaches later. Maybe after Tasia arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">As Ophelia carried out her inspection, the super stood in the living
room with her hands on her hips, waiting, but there wasn’t much else for
Ophelia to do: everything had already been settled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Several months ago, she had told Tasia that she was going to off
herself before the end of summer if she didn’t get out of Rockville. “Let’s
move to the City,” Tasia had said. “Get jobs. Get a cheap apartment. Hit the
beach. Hit the good stuff.” The joke came up several times before the friends
realized that they took the idea seriously. Even though Tasia’d gotten her
Associates from the community college, she seemed stuck in dead-end cashier’s
jobs and was dying of boredom. Rockville was killing her slowly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">And killing me quickly, Ophelia thought. She’d only been half kidding
about surviving the summer. So, before she knew it, the two were creating
profiles on Monster.com, Googling neighborhoods, and emailing old friends from
high school who had moved to the City. Tasia drove out one weekend, picked up
some job applications, toured the apartment on Kenmore, and signed the lease.
She’d gotten in on a special promo: no security deposit required. Ophelia had
faxed her signature. They were in.<br />
But if Tasia had set the whole thing up, she also needed another week to tie up
the last loose ends at Spencer’s Gifts. “My manager got caught stealing
inventory,” she’d said. “They want to promote me. I haven’t broken the news to
them yet.” So, Tasia stayed behind while Ophelia went ahead with her sleeping
bag and a backpack full of cleaning supplies. To get the new place ready. To
make it homey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia thought back to the 4th of July weekend when she’d lain in
Tasia’s bed with Tasia on top of her and Rockville’s fireworks bursting out the
windows. The taste of shandy on Tasia’s lips and her sturdy weight pressed
down. How all the wretchedness and sorrow of all those years had collapsed that
one drunken night. So ... were they friends now? Roommates? Lovers?
Friends-with-benefits? With all the planning for their big move, this was one
thing they hadn’t discussed. Ophelia wasn’t sure if it complicated things or
simplified them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Okay?” asked the super.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Thanks,” said Ophelia. “It’s wonderful.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Okay.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">As if on cue, a dull thudding sound—four-to-the-floor with the bass
bass bass—started thrumming down from the apartment overhead. The eighth-floor
penthouse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Uhhhhh,” groaned the super. “They never stop.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She let herself out, leaving Ophelia with the music.<br />
<br />
* * * * *</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">It took Ophelia only a short time to unpack. She chose the second bedroom,
near the back. It didn’t have a view of the lake, but it got more sun, and she
could see the long sweep of high-rises following the shore and rising toward
their downtown crescendo. Since she didn’t have a dresser or bed, Ophelia
stacked her clothes in neat piles along the wall, unrolled her sleeping bag in
the middle of the floor, and crushed a cockroach with her shoe before it could
scurry for cover. Then, with the music still thudding overhead, she shouldered
her backpack and left the building.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia found a supermarket just past the Thorndale stop on the other
side of the tracks and spent the next half-hour in a reverie, pushing a
shopping cart up and down each aisle and wondering what the next month held in
store. I could apply to be a cashier here, she thought. I could apply to be a
teller at that bank across the street. I wonder if I could apply to work for
the El trains. I’ll need to make money somewhere! She didn’t worry a whole lot
about what she did or didn’t need to buy. She had a crisp hundred in her
wallet—a parting gift from her grandpa and some keychain pepper spray—but this
was just the first of many shopping trips. Right now, she just needed to make
it through the next week. She bought some Bisquick, some eggs, and milk.
Instant coffee. Bananas and apples. Bread and peanut butter. A dollar box of
cookies. A six-pack of cheap beer. Paper plates and plastic forks. A tall can
of Raid. A small pillow. It ate up half of her money, but it was enough. She
was halfway home before realizing she had nothing to cook the pancakes in or
boil water for coffee. I can go back tomorrow, she thought. The peanut butter
and beer will keep me going for tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">When Ophelia made it back, the sun was lower in the sky, and shadows
covered the streets below. The thudding upstairs continued. She set her keys
and phone on the counter, massaged her sore arms, and noticed that she’d missed
a call from Tasia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Tasia?” she said when her friend answered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Tasia gasped. “I didn’t think you’d call back so quick!” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Why wouldn’t I call back quick? I was carrying groceries. What’s up?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m bursting! I’m bursting! I can’t lie! I can’t come to the City with
you!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I was going to turn down the manager job, O, but that was before they
made the offer. I didn’t know it came with such a huge raise. They’re gonna pay
me twelve an hour. That’s, like, twice what I make now! No way I will get a job
in the City that pays that much. And you know how expensive it is there ...
have you seen the gas prices yet?! We didn’t think this through, O. I can’t
move now. It would be crazy. I mean, it would be fucking stupid. I mean, I’m gonna
get fucking health care!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Slow down, Taze. We have been planning this for months!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I know, I know, I’m so sorry, it was my mistake too. It was just a
dream, you know? It was a silly dream. A summer thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“But our names are on the lease!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“No security deposit, remember? So, we’re out that first month, but
I’ll make that up in like a month. Maybe two. Point is, I’ll make it up quick!
You could get out. It was my fuckup. I signed the lease. We just walk away.
Hey, I’m the manager here now. I can hire you. Think how fun that’ll be. We can
work at the mall together. Lunch at the food court. You know you love them
burritos!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia’s heart was sinking. It was already in the basement laundry
room, and maybe it wouldn’t settle until it reached the bottom of the lake.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I don’t know, Taze,” she said. “I was ... I was really excited about
this. For us. I ... went shopping.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Oh, shit. How much money do you spend on us, O? It’s okay, I can pay
you back. Now I’m, like, rolling in money! Compared to what I have been. You’ll
come back to Rockville, right?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia looked helplessly out the window. A seagull sailed down the
street, caught between cool breezes from the lake and the warmer currents
wafting off the brick buildings.<br />
“I don’t know, Taze. I don’t know anything right now. You shocked me. I mean,
you surprised me.” She took another long pause. “I have to think about it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I understand. I’m sooo sorry to just drop this. But I’d be crazy not
to, you know?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I know. I get it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Call me when you make up your mind. I’d love to hook you up.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Would you love to hook up?! Ophelia cried out in her brain. What does
this mean? What did that mean? What does anything mean?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I will,” she said. “I’ll call you soon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Hey, nothing else, we’re paid up through the end of September. Take a
vacation in the City before you come back!”<br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">It wasn’t anything, Ophelia thought. It couldn’t have been much. She
was drunk, and I guess I was desperate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Am desperate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia went into the kitchen and took another look at the food she had
bought. She probably had enough money left over for a pot and a pan, but she
wasn’t sure that would leave enough for public transit, and if she wanted to
get a job, she’d need some train fare. She decided that she could boil water
for coffee in a pan, leaving her enough to take the train downtown for a week.
That’s ridiculous, she thought. Who lives like this? If I go back home, I’ve
got a sure thing at the mall. I can go back to Grandpa and Grandma’s. Maybe
save up. Maybe try again in a year. Or two. Maybe Tasia and I get a thing going
... if she wasn’t just drunk. If she really meant it. A car on the street below
started honking. The honking continued, and Ophelia realized the driver was
waiting for someone to come out of another apartment. She was drunk. She didn’t
mean it. There’s no way I can stay here, and there’s nothing for me to go back
to there, either.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Between the thudding bass and the car honking, Ophelia was starting to
get a headache.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She wanted to bang against the ceiling with a broom but didn’t have
one. She opened a beer with the bathroom towel bar, using the trick her brother
had taught her. She shotgunned the beer, then had a second and a third, and
then she was halfway done, so she went to the bathroom for a pee and drank the
rest of the beers on the toilet. By then, she was getting dizzy, but at least
drunkenness was a temporary relief. The honking had finally stopped, but the bass
thudded on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ophelia went into her bedroom and shut the door, thinking it might
muffle the sound, but it didn’t. An elevated train of alcohol slammed into her
skull. She giggled sadly and reeled. Ophelia knew she was just as drunk as
she’d been when she’d tumbled into bed with Tasia, but she was all alone this
time. The walls and windows swirled around her, the bile danced in her stomach,
and her ears popped like fireworks.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Shut up!” Ophelia said and fell asleep.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
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<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhib8mahqI__jajICtyBbYSvuMIOS_Y8S3cr1NhYmQKwy6nZahfJKNjnio1-97QmrQsZKSXaHuc769UTwSBmXFULmxZlQtUaSF63aJXHsKFG6nn9ciKVZE6fSc9dq18ihQ2_8Yuo0oWMuG-6IErQG6mdHrpcsaufT4mcj_0azMsOGqbsPxd5IA6ePS3Agw1/s1200/ccoyne%20authorphoto.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhib8mahqI__jajICtyBbYSvuMIOS_Y8S3cr1NhYmQKwy6nZahfJKNjnio1-97QmrQsZKSXaHuc769UTwSBmXFULmxZlQtUaSF63aJXHsKFG6nn9ciKVZE6fSc9dq18ihQ2_8Yuo0oWMuG-6IErQG6mdHrpcsaufT4mcj_0azMsOGqbsPxd5IA6ePS3Agw1/w200-h160/ccoyne%20authorphoto.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Connor Coyne (he/him) is a writer living and working in Flint, Michigan.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Connor has published several novels and a short story collection, and his work has been featured in Vox.com, Belt Magazine, and elsewhere. He is the director of the Flint-based Gothic Funk Press and is facilitator for the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library‘s writing workshops.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Connor is a graduate of the University of Chicago and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. Today, he lives with his wife and two daughters in Flint’s College Cultural Neighborhood (aka the East Village), less than a mile from the house where he grew up.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Web: <a href="http://connorcoyne.com">http://connorcoyne.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Blog: <a href="http://connorcoyne.com/blog">http://connorcoyne.com/blog</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://connorcoyne.substack.com/">https://connorcoyne.substack.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/connorcoyne">https://www.facebook.com/connorcoyne</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@blueskiesfalling">https://www.tiktok.com/@blueskiesfalling</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/connorryancoyne/">https://www.instagram.com/connorryancoyne/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4218298.Connor_Coyne">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4218298.Connor_Coyne</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAXmosUj7afsexSgw7xvFv62DPa_SSO9ZL6FdPdPkpNBI9Q15_yObWiCk-MPPyOQ7lpZQfcR7mnM5WQIvtoD1uKpye8TnjC8OgMjxyUzFOskEGrqZTiZzz35sFBeapUqELXcyL2hZfmC5vVUi9B35h5aKy_X7OPOnwpYiY_P_6Clk29hBybiF0DFhV-Jv/s1080/Hollywood%20Banner%20%20(Instagram%20Post).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAXmosUj7afsexSgw7xvFv62DPa_SSO9ZL6FdPdPkpNBI9Q15_yObWiCk-MPPyOQ7lpZQfcR7mnM5WQIvtoD1uKpye8TnjC8OgMjxyUzFOskEGrqZTiZzz35sFBeapUqELXcyL2hZfmC5vVUi9B35h5aKy_X7OPOnwpYiY_P_6Clk29hBybiF0DFhV-Jv/s320/Hollywood%20Banner%20%20(Instagram%20Post).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-45021108644820473732024-01-23T03:30:00.009-05:002024-01-23T03:30:00.144-05:00Juggling Writing and Kids with Carrie Monroe O’Keefe #Memoir #BlendedFamily #StepParent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeJ7pnE30jKkg285HVFjVFyHC1K8PDNNFg5aMKTMUt8TcwBtITsCd77LMqoncALGs5sERxl4At5ldY6PCyk8JI3gYK-KNqDgnH45uPYascm-Y7FdorG5LyqG2Ea5-u476Awx2LcnnO7ZYU3FcbG3BsCI7qtBsJce88sm7DnFP_xDNl1iaLkeQvBquP36W/s820/Mama%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeJ7pnE30jKkg285HVFjVFyHC1K8PDNNFg5aMKTMUt8TcwBtITsCd77LMqoncALGs5sERxl4At5ldY6PCyk8JI3gYK-KNqDgnH45uPYascm-Y7FdorG5LyqG2Ea5-u476Awx2LcnnO7ZYU3FcbG3BsCI7qtBsJce88sm7DnFP_xDNl1iaLkeQvBquP36W/w400-h153/Mama%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When I started writing about my experience as a
stepmom, writing was the way I found my way through the struggles I had in the
beginning. It was how I processed the
challenges we faced and how I navigated this new instant world of parenthood,
blended families, and stepmotherhood.
Every night after we put our girls to bed I would go down to my office
which, at the time, was also our laundry room.
I would write 800-1,000 words every night to the sound of our clothes
rumbling through the washer or dryer. I
wrote for myself but once people started reading my work, I was also writing
for the connections I was making. What I
was saying was resonating with people – not only those in similar familial
situations. It gave me energy, it was
therapeutic, and I felt better about my world on the days that I made time for
writing than I did on days I wasn’t able to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div style="text-align: left;">As the girls got older it got trickier.
It’s hard to juggle working full-time, which I have always done, with
school sports, band concerts, homework, family obligations, a dog that needs
walking, etc. Not to mention the
challenges that go hand-in-hand with raising children along with other
people. Blended families, in many cases,
are not easy. It’s hard enough to parent
with another human who was raised differently and has a different outlook on
parenting and the world. When you have
even more people involved, people that you had no part in choosing, it’s a
completely different ballgame. You can’t
just make a decision about a kid taking swim lessons or joining a club. It requires requests in writing, it sometimes
involves battles via email and text, and other times it might require trips
back to court or mediation. Parenting
isn’t easy. Parenting with four people
can be downright ugly.</div></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think it’s really hard to live in challenging
times and then to write about those challenging times. I had to take a break from writing about my
life when things got particularly ugly.
I actually self-published a middle grade novel in 2019. It was a great escape to be able to write a
story that didn’t require me to analyze what we were dealing with
day-to-day. I could very well have just
stopped writing during this time but I still <i>needed</i> to write. I had a story in me and took that time to get
it out into the world. Even though I
wasn’t writing about my life or connecting with others through my blog, I was
still writing, and writing makes me better.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I am a better version of myself when I make time to
write but sometimes it’s hard to justify it when there are eleven other things
on the list of to-do’s for the day. Like
many women, I will often put the needs of my family above my own. But I believe it is our job as humans to be
able to communicate the things we need for our own health. For me, writing is one of those things. I am
lucky to have a partner, and now almost adult children, who know how important
writing is to me. They understand when I
say I need to shut myself in my office (upgraded to an actual room during
COVID) to write and they will tell me to go do that before I fold the next load
of laundry or run to Target for the eighth time in a weekend.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the end of the day – it will never be easy to
juggle all of the things. I think the
hardest part of writing is actually sitting down to do it. I hope you all have a life partner, or
friends, or family, that will encourage you to write even when there are a
thousand other things to do. Those
things will never go away so the trick is figuring out how to get the writing
done anyway.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQWBymUxZi5Le-_O2hMA5k6i36JcqyIQO3XUCDUZk8CMzJA8s-L3Ck0gWVG6n2UtsqLDeyPMacEtaa17ncVsvkVWPg3dPiRCFWQBq4cpzv0a5oZq6jz9tfPBKVU8CVMKKM5iYg76AQDgdI67L7BYShnv0dwpsGDQwPx5at_U2frh7Zru9C4guvEhvzcpU/s3750/MamacadabraBookCover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3750" data-original-width="2566" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQWBymUxZi5Le-_O2hMA5k6i36JcqyIQO3XUCDUZk8CMzJA8s-L3Ck0gWVG6n2UtsqLDeyPMacEtaa17ncVsvkVWPg3dPiRCFWQBq4cpzv0a5oZq6jz9tfPBKVU8CVMKKM5iYg76AQDgdI67L7BYShnv0dwpsGDQwPx5at_U2frh7Zru9C4guvEhvzcpU/s320/MamacadabraBookCover.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>Mamacadabra</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Carrie Monroe O’Keefe</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Nonfiction / Memoir / Parenting / Blended Family / Stepparent</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Mamacadabra Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 11/22/2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1733629935</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: 1733629939</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 200</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Leah Kent</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Poof! You’re a mom now!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Starting her third year of marriage, Carrie Monroe O'Keefe had already been on the roller coaster of extreme highs and lows of a newly blended family. Thinking she could do a better job of navigating marriage, step-motherhood, working full time, and all of the things, she embarked on a year of "what if."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Settling into her role as wife and mom, she tried to find ways to do things better, see things differently, and reframe her thinking to create a better home for her family and to feel more at home herself. With humor, unwavering honesty, vulnerability, and sarcasm, Carrie finds her way through the year and to her true self.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3NBR56t">Amazon</a>
<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144367657?ean=9781733629935">BN</a> <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/mamacadabra-poof-you-re-a-mom-now-carrie-monroe-o-keefe/20888592?ean=9781733629935">Bookshop</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt
From Chapter: This House is Not a Home (Currently)</span></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">It’s a bright Saturday morning and I’m looking around my kitchen wondering
when, exactly, I let it get THIS bad. The dishwasher has been run, but nobody
has bothered to unload it, resulting in piles of dirty dishes in and around the
sink. There are empty cereal boxes lined up, I assume, so I can cut out the Box
Tops for Education labels…because I’m the only one who can what…use scissors?
Break down the boxes for recycling? Throw away the empty bag inside the boxes
that once held cereal?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Speaking of recycling, there’s a bag of recycling on a stool waiting to be
taken out on our “next trip” out of the house. It’s been there for three days
and we have, in fact, left the house several times in those three days.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The clincher, though, is the kitchen table. Our puppy has a best friend that
lives next door. He comes over to our back deck door and barks for Sullivan to
come out to play. They wrestle, run around, investigate, bark at each other,
bark at passersby, lay down to rest, and then start over. When they’re out and
I’m working or writing, I bring my laptop up to the kitchen table so I can
check on the dogs from time to time.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At this very moment, I’m sitting at my kitchen table and surrounding my laptop
are:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> One little girl’s black shoe.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> One little girl’s gold shoe.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> One little girl’s pink slipper.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The Nancy Drew book we’re currently reading.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Large bag of colored pencils.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Pair of my husband’s dirty socks.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Empty napkin holder on its side.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The art project brought home by my littlest little
girl.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Pad of paper with my work notes scribbled on it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Three place mats (one was a casualty of yesterday’s
juice fiasco).</div><div style="text-align: left;"> One black marker.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Work documents of my husband’s.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> A partially completed drawing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">My kitchen table isn’t even big! How, or perhaps a better question is WHY, is
there so much sh*t sitting on it?!! And does anybody else find it a teensy bit
disconcerting that there are two shoes, a slipper, and dirty socks on the table
at which we EAT OUR MEALS? Anyone???</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If I told you about the kitchen counter, you’d have a nervous breakdown, which
I’m on the verge of, but I’m trying to hold it together. Here’s the deal. We do
not have the little girls this weekend, so we should be able to get everything
organized, cleaned, and put away, but there’s more…</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My husband is in school. He was in school last night and again this morning.
Also, have I mentioned he has a small business on the side that he’s owned
since he was 18 years old? After he bolts from school today, we’ll be
frantically preparing for his trade show tomorrow. Any ‘free’ time otherwise
used for sanity-saving-house-organization will instead be spent on
trade-show-preparation-in-hopes-of-finding-new-clients. Ugh.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Our dog is even looking at me with disgust. Yeah…YOU’RE one to talk, Sullivan…I
believe that pile of firewood on our back deck is YOUR doing. It looks like the
frigging Blair Witch Project out there.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I take issue with a disastrous house for many reasons.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> A – When it’s disastrous as it is now, I feel totally out
of sorts and stressed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> B - It wouldn’t be like this if some people didn’t refuse
to put dishes in the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, hang-up their coats,
put away their shoes, and so on, and so on, and so on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> C - We don’t have the square footage to allow for unusable
space…and as far as I’m concerned, this kitchen is NOT USABLE.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> D - It’s FREEZING outside which keeps us INSIDE this war
zone of a house.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> E - I believe our home is supposed to feel safe, and cozy,
and comfortable, and lovely, you know, as opposed to chaotic, dirty, cluttered,
and filled to the brim with crap people haven’t put away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Therefore, on a day I technically could have slept in, I’ve been up since 6:30
trying to get this house back in order. I’d rather be sleepy from a late night
and an early morning than be CRAZY because the house is so awful. For me,
sleepy is less dangerous than crazy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Which brings me to the real question: is this my gig from now on? Husband in
school, swamped at work, busy with small business, little girls here half the
time, so while they’re willing and eager to do chores, it only happens every
other weekend, leaving me to take this on and be sure this house is in fact a
home and I AM in fact sane? No, seriously…REALLY?</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Chalk this up to a question for which I did NOT want the answer.</div></span><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto-Q3QA0-FmnuN98MmNCeDLgbsH8N3DjJTEWP4tPO5j1xNujfs1pGpmiDUE3-zjgmCSx9nhQlFmYIzbsAbbX82bq5yqudGLOAjgKfl7JFUGKhIVn-aL85hie2_jfQZtkv5RT9yyJSUVovwQ5Sml2-8sMGpNl1oTA-sYz8_sA9HM6WRjKE8ojBhbfOVU8o/s1078/CMOAuthorPhoto.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="882" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto-Q3QA0-FmnuN98MmNCeDLgbsH8N3DjJTEWP4tPO5j1xNujfs1pGpmiDUE3-zjgmCSx9nhQlFmYIzbsAbbX82bq5yqudGLOAjgKfl7JFUGKhIVn-aL85hie2_jfQZtkv5RT9yyJSUVovwQ5Sml2-8sMGpNl1oTA-sYz8_sA9HM6WRjKE8ojBhbfOVU8o/w164-h200/CMOAuthorPhoto.jpg" width="164" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Carrie Monroe O’Keefe started blogging about her life by sharing stories of marriage, stepmotherhood, and how to navigate it all on mamacadabra.com in 2012. People said they loved reading the posts, so she kept writing. In addition to blogging, she released her middle-grade fiction book, The Whole Truth, in 2019. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Carrie lives outside of Minneapolis with her husband, two daughters, and dog Finlay. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://mamacadabra.com">https://mamacadabra.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/cmonroeokeefe">https://twitter.com/cmonroeokeefe</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@monroeokeefe">https://www.tiktok.com/@monroeokeefe</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mamacadabra">https://www.facebook.com/mamacadabra</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cmonroeokeefe/">https://www.facebook.com/cmonroeokeefe/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/monroeokeefe">https://www.instagram.com/monroeokeefe</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriemonroeokeefe/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriemonroeokeefe/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18816687.Carrie_Monroe_O_Keefe">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18816687.Carrie_Monroe_O_Keefe</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8tTvcoS_LSRPdQ-zWsr4seYKoYVSML_46x_dWd_88j661d9LuKA82ulu_8N3jTetzHUSOgnV7OuwGgcrzNRxDxor0VPKjfCGTu2Ql_sM_xf3eCOzcEjcS6LZ645UzGn7NtS9Mwk4nF_FnSsc7Y6g5Es09G7P9oM18sMVlJK_q7Lnifu436uo0MWFVY2u/s1080/Mama%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8tTvcoS_LSRPdQ-zWsr4seYKoYVSML_46x_dWd_88j661d9LuKA82ulu_8N3jTetzHUSOgnV7OuwGgcrzNRxDxor0VPKjfCGTu2Ql_sM_xf3eCOzcEjcS6LZ645UzGn7NtS9Mwk4nF_FnSsc7Y6g5Es09G7P9oM18sMVlJK_q7Lnifu436uo0MWFVY2u/s320/Mama%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-45289789506061285332024-01-19T05:30:00.008-05:002024-01-19T05:30:00.129-05:00In the Kitchen with Author Karen Janowsky #InTheKitchen<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BpF41mErENhHv53NZ7heIPV8HdtWcnv-2Kt7IC9FdM9W5mFx9jBKc0SUsFAeXNNTnmR-yPvdDVZPTLr7MK83PBCQ06soumDHHU94GLPRMVa_clx9nWTOc_UwpnM8pLPlcwulCFPHFY-SlQCTy5jBMKc87PoGTW8kgv6k9jXiRsmmxAp738pzjwU8gpRJ/s820/Lola%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BpF41mErENhHv53NZ7heIPV8HdtWcnv-2Kt7IC9FdM9W5mFx9jBKc0SUsFAeXNNTnmR-yPvdDVZPTLr7MK83PBCQ06soumDHHU94GLPRMVa_clx9nWTOc_UwpnM8pLPlcwulCFPHFY-SlQCTy5jBMKc87PoGTW8kgv6k9jXiRsmmxAp738pzjwU8gpRJ/w400-h153/Lola%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">LOL—I’m a terrible cook!
However, my teenage son loves baking, and my favorite thing that he makes is
gingerbread latte cookies (recipe from the <i>New York Times</i>). If I came
with a warning label for people to read when they meet me, it’d probably say,
“Is likely to eat all of your cookies.” They’re my downfall. But these cookies
are simply sublime.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: .95pt; text-transform: uppercase;">FOR
THE COOKIES<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">¾cup/168
grams unsalted butter<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">¼cup/22
grams espresso powder<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">1tablespoon/17
grams finely grated fresh ginger<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">2teaspoons
ground ginger<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">1teaspoon
ground cinnamon<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">½teaspoon
ground nutmeg<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">¼teaspoon
ground clove<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">½cup/100
grams granulated sugar<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">½cup/107
grams dark brown sugar, packed<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">¼cup/80
grams unsulphured molasses<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">1teaspoon
kosher salt<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">1large
egg<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">2teaspoons
vanilla extract<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">1teaspoon
baking soda<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">2cups/252
grams all-purpose flour<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.95pt; text-transform: uppercase;">FOR
THE COATING<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">¼cup/50
grams granulated sugar<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">2teaspoons
espresso powder<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">½teaspoon
ground ginger<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Step 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Melt the butter in a
medium saucepan over medium. When it begins to bubble and get foamy, remove
from the heat and whisk in the espresso powder, fresh ginger, ground ginger,
cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Scrape the butter mixture into a medium mixing bowl
and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Step 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Add the sugars, molasses
and salt to the bowl and whisk vigorously to combine. Add the egg, vanilla and
baking soda and continue whisking until the mixture appears smooth and it’s the
consistency of thin pancake batter, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix
until evenly incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours and
up to 2 days before baking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Step 3<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Heat oven to 375 degrees,
with racks on the lower and upper thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment
paper. Prepare the coating by combining the granulated sugar, espresso powder
and ground ginger in a small bowl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Step 4<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Using a 2-tablespoon (1
ounce) scoop, scoop the dough and, using your hands, roll into walnut-size
balls. (Alternatively, for each cookie, use a tablespoon measure to scoop 2
tablespoons dough and roll them into a ball.) Toss in the sugar mixture to
coat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Step 5<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Place the portioned dough
2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the sheets on
the racks halfway through, until the cookies have spread slightly and appear
craggy on the surface, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for
3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (The cookies will
flatten once cooled.) These cookies keep in an airtight container at room
temperature for 4 to 5 days (if they last that long).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #222222; letter-spacing: 0.95pt; text-transform: uppercase;">TIP</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Portioned
dough can be frozen in balls, then coated and baked for about 13 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw2cpm47DmTThKXi1PYSnXXFYGsOhEYtHPUARehcUbYq-2A5l_sllYETYWT4oF_RK9FUGakA1y72Il3kxNn8yRlVRc5wIHv-RquVcH7QuFWOZDzEmExsqrQkYgrCl1luSYxqk7g_8F2iww9nE0kwcmI8dczHTIvJD35HK99HdPeCHxwuTyXid2OukbZSE/s900/HERNAMEWASLOLA.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw2cpm47DmTThKXi1PYSnXXFYGsOhEYtHPUARehcUbYq-2A5l_sllYETYWT4oF_RK9FUGakA1y72Il3kxNn8yRlVRc5wIHv-RquVcH7QuFWOZDzEmExsqrQkYgrCl1luSYxqk7g_8F2iww9nE0kwcmI8dczHTIvJD35HK99HdPeCHxwuTyXid2OukbZSE/s320/HERNAMEWASLOLA.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Her Name Was Lola</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Karen Janowsky</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Contemporary Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: eXtasy Books</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 12/22/23</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-4874-4027-5</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 300 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 8,859</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Martine Jardin</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Sometimes you have to lose your heart to gain your dream.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lover of fairy tales Lola Nelsson learned at an early age that darker truths lay behind their bright facades. At twenty-two, she still hopes for her fairy tale to come true before she graduates college. But she hasn’t met her prince yet and she doesn’t know how to navigate the real world. Then a handsome man at a conference catches her eye. She’s sure he’s out of her league, but tries to get his attention anyway. And she’s successful… until she isn’t.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Only one thing matters to Professor Vance Anderson—gaining tenure. Known as Dr. Casanova on campus, he’s a true love ‘em and leave ’em kind of guy. For now though, he’s sworn off the distraction of women. When he spots a beauty of a different sort at a conference, he can’t stop thinking about her. But when she accepts his invitation to his room, his insecurities kick in. Everything goes well… until it doesn’t.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The night ends disastrously, and it’s all over. Until Lola and Vance wind up in a working relationship, making it impossible to avoid one another. The situation can only end in one of two ways. They’ll either end up madly in love or they’ll want to kill each other. Before they can discover their real feelings, they need to learn to trust themselves. Only time will tell if their fairy tale is sweet or dark.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3v7sccE">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/books/her-name-was-lola-by-karen-janowsky">Google
Books </a> <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/books/her-name-was-lola-by-karen-janowsky">Bookbub</a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203868179-her-name-was-lola">Goodreads</a> </span></b></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></b></span></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">From behind Lola, a pleasant, male alto
voice said, “Hi, I’m Vance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She turned around and found her
five-foot-four self face-to-solid-chest with GQ. Taking a step backward and
sure she’d turned pale, she looked up at him. The peeling name badge on his
lapel said, M. Vance, but his last name was hidden by a shadow. “Oh, hi. I’m
Lola.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance held a shot glass in each hand.
He was smiling, lips pulled back a little too much, as if he was unsure of
himself. “Your friend told me I was being very obvious about staring at you and
to go introduce myself. She said to give you this.” He handed her a whiskey. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">His eyes were the color of freshly mown
grass with silver flecks of dew at sunrise. When they locked on hers, her hands
began to sweat, making the glass slip through her palm when she took it from
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She grabbed it with the other hand at
the last second. “Oh. Okay.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He clinked his glass against hers,
downed the shot, then smiled at her again. His upper lip had a minutely askew
cherub’s bow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Knocking hers back as well, Lola did
her best not to react to the five-alarm fire scorching through her esophagus.
She was reasonably sure smoke was about to billow from her nose and ears. Then
that warm, melty feeling crept in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Okay, Naomi. Here goes. “To be honest,
I was watching you too.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Were you now?” He arched his eyebrows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Silently thanking Naomi, Lola asked,
“So, are you a visiting speaker?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m attending. I teach at Jewett
College. You?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m at Jewett also. Library science
department.” Hopefully he wouldn’t ask what she did there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She’d tell him the rest later…if they
hit it off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">His fingers lingered over hers as he
took the drink glass from her hand. “Another?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">One was her usual limit, and balancing
on heels after two was inadvisable. “Yes, please.” She let him guide her
through the crowd surrounding the bar. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He offered her an empty barstool and
stood next to it as he waved at the bartender. “How long have you been at the
college? I don’t recognize you.” He lowered his eyes and raised them to her
again, offering an uncertain smile as he smoothed his hand over his thigh.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Looking down, she noticed her
topped-off glass. “I’m going into my fourth year.” Lola swirled her fresh drink
and watched the amber liquid make slow, wavy circles. She saw a chip in her
pale pink nail polish and fought the urge to tuck it into her palm. “What about
you? Where do you work?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“In the English Department.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">GQ—or probably Dr. GQ—Vance—shivered a
little when he slid his hand toward hers until their fingertips were
millimeters apart. A tiny static spark jumped between them and they both
chuckled. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lola drank half of the shot. “What do
you teach?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Comparative and European literature.
My specialty is fairy tales.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’ve been obsessed with fairy
tales—the real ones, not the kids’ ones—for as long as I can remember.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance leaned against the bar. “Same.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">A new song began, and they listened as
he played with his tie for a few moments. “After watching you in action, I’m
not sure I can keep up, but feel like a dance?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lola blinked then nodded. The rest of
the room bobbed slightly with her head. She slid off the stool, and he rested
his hand on the small of her back as they wound through the crowd. Heat
radiated through the thin fabric of her dress.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He took her hand in his. They were
about five paces from the dance floor when a man caught her shoulder, causing
her and Vance to stumble backward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You’re not gonna pass by without a
hello, are you?” The tall, thin man had brown roots and blond tips. His hand was
sweaty and his words slurred.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance looked at her. “Do you know him?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Sobering, she shook her head, grateful that
the world didn’t move with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The man sidled closer and squeezed her
shoulder more tightly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Letting go of her hand, Vance took a
step toward him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lola tugged her shoulder away and
pulled a hair stick from her updo. Stepping closer, she waved the tapered end
at the stranger. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He gasped and stepped backward, letting
go of her shoulder. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Leave me alone.” She kept her voice as
quiet and stern as she could. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The man muttered, “Slut,” as he
retreated.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lola replaced the stick through what
was left of her updo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance licked along his teeth. “You’re already
full of surprises.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The night’s cool dampness draped around
the crowded dance floor, covering them like an airy shawl as they found their
way to an open space. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Remind me never, ever to upset you.”
He spread his fingers over her mid-back and held her hand to his chest. His
heart beat against her palm as he held it there, his hand cool and dry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">They looked at each other and smiled.
He said “ever.” As in future tense. As in "long term." I should
probably let him know I’m a student now. That could wait a few minutes more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She inhaled a mix of tangerines,
leather, and something else—ginger, maybe—that she could almost taste as his
scent hovered between them. She moved closer, and their hips touched.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">There was an unmistakable twitch
against her. She was sure it was a trick of the lights that made him appear to
blush.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">This might happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He took a half-step back, face pink
against the white lights that outlined him. She imagined using her finger
as a silver gel pen around his jaw, under his cheekbones, and across his
forehead, illuminating his face. He brought his hand farther down her back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She raised her voice over the music.
“So, what’s your favorite fairy tale?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He lowered his head closer to hers.
Their mouths were centimeters from each other. “What?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She asked again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He said something.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She tilted her head up. “Didn’t catch
that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Chuckling, he leaned in until his mouth
was close to her ear. Cupping it, he repeated,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It’s hard to talk here. Do you want to
go somewhere quieter?” The whiskey on his breath had mellowed to spiced
caramel, and his voice melted through her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The imaginary talking mice scampering
under her skin morphed into butterflies. “Okay.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Holding her hand, Vance led her into
the lobby. Her heart thumped like a scared rabbit’s as he threaded his fingers
between hers. She glanced toward the quieter, emptier bar, but he kept going
straight toward the elevator bank.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Grimm, Andersen, or Perrault?” Vance
winked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Lola bit her lip and released it. “Why do
you ask?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance seemed to stare at her mouth.
Narrowing his eyes, he stopped and gave her a closed-mouthed smile. “Good to
know whether you’re into physical pain, mental torture, or happy endings.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What?” Lola froze as her jaw dropped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Vance tilted his head back and laughed.
“I’m kidding.” He headed toward the elevators again, but Lola couldn’t move. He
stumbled back. “I’m harmless. I promise.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She glanced around the vast lobby, checking
for security officers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I didn’t mean to upset or scare you.”
Leaning in, he lifted the back of her hand to his lips, then smiled that same
smile that had dissolved her into a puddle the first time she’d laid eyes on
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“All right.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He led her into an empty elevator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is happening.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Inside, he let go of her hand and took
a step back. “Is it okay to go up to my room? I should’ve asked first.” He gave
that earlier, uncertain smile, revealing a tiny dimple in his right cheek and
lighter green bands surrounding his irises.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</w:wrap></span></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: times;">“That sounds perfect, Vance.” Lola’s mouth and
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in her life, she was going to say, “Yes.”<br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb26tpHAhN2gobPcqbuHdzw05WB4eUa4DXfu9u6I33y1h3pycu4m0FqYVUMAoKnHf11-PW7Jq2EPF4ieXfEmvrqzvudQu0OmQW3oOQOC2scHQdVfkl0b6USwOUYT1hOej6ltKR6UyDdM_zbGXVysgT1yD3n9Q8E_hrqAldOcRavCLZFXkE223KAmGalUGO/s900/Headshot%20Karen%202%20reduced%20size.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb26tpHAhN2gobPcqbuHdzw05WB4eUa4DXfu9u6I33y1h3pycu4m0FqYVUMAoKnHf11-PW7Jq2EPF4ieXfEmvrqzvudQu0OmQW3oOQOC2scHQdVfkl0b6USwOUYT1hOej6ltKR6UyDdM_zbGXVysgT1yD3n9Q8E_hrqAldOcRavCLZFXkE223KAmGalUGO/w133-h200/Headshot%20Karen%202%20reduced%20size.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Karen wanted to be an author and/or Wonder Woman when she grew up. One of those jobs was already taken, though. She lives with her husband, son, and six cats in Maryland, where she works as an English professor. Karen received her MA in literature and creative writing from Florida State University. When she isn't writing, she can often be found sitting at a friend's dining room table drinking wine and playing RPGs, hanging out at the local Indian restaurant with her bestie, or curled up in bed with a few cats, listening to the rain and either reading a book or watching a BBC mystery.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website and blog: <a href="https://karenjanowsky.com">https://karenjanowsky.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter Signup: <a href="https://subscribepage.io/GhxCTK">https://subscribepage.io/GhxCTK</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07QTB7FHS">https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07QTB7FHS</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/karen-janowsky">https://www.bookbub.com/authors/karen-janowsky</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authorkarenjanowsky/">https://www.instagram.com/authorkarenjanowsky/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063337293596">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063337293596</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17253893.Karen_Janowsky">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17253893.Karen_Janowsky</a></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pTiOR8Fzqs9dlV-Z1wYgB_dJhFfQ1O0x-BVol-7yHghQoxYtkYvohsnZEbSFn2GqUIm9wbBtFg8M8L0bew4pERd7HwCF1mXT3M_kB_XcCXyPij5tVBQzHQBjXXqqnBfWK7dAfK7HJn2crCFj8PPqaf-Jmfe-nMjGMTdXaiA333o1IKbwGuizv9lkrkfO/s1080/Lola%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pTiOR8Fzqs9dlV-Z1wYgB_dJhFfQ1O0x-BVol-7yHghQoxYtkYvohsnZEbSFn2GqUIm9wbBtFg8M8L0bew4pERd7HwCF1mXT3M_kB_XcCXyPij5tVBQzHQBjXXqqnBfWK7dAfK7HJn2crCFj8PPqaf-Jmfe-nMjGMTdXaiA333o1IKbwGuizv9lkrkfO/s320/Lola%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2214" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2214/" id="rcwidget_88lvsifc" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-1631665666884635982024-01-15T04:00:00.009-05:002024-01-15T04:00:00.151-05:00In the Kitchen with Author Timothy Symington - The Sausage and Rice Special #InTheKitchen <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQw5PaPLZ1mqcvcTCmzx5tGd4qRk1-bhpJ2iUZ8Xt2O0BHAWWsHLHEHyc7V6o83EJgx7AsoLQmcNkuvmBYse6LbsoDjZn594o4pkxKP1VorRXLpM9zuBJEZUF9B0D_SQpdN3yvDjQxOioS2aDDeUbDhzQWWUXXb7wH9TC16D1eR7HYAQfIcFCcIwN7kzfl/s820/Huzza%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQw5PaPLZ1mqcvcTCmzx5tGd4qRk1-bhpJ2iUZ8Xt2O0BHAWWsHLHEHyc7V6o83EJgx7AsoLQmcNkuvmBYse6LbsoDjZn594o4pkxKP1VorRXLpM9zuBJEZUF9B0D_SQpdN3yvDjQxOioS2aDDeUbDhzQWWUXXb7wH9TC16D1eR7HYAQfIcFCcIwN7kzfl/w400-h153/Huzza%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div><b>The Sausage and Rice Special</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>This is one of my favorite family meals. I made it one-time years ago when I was looking for a new way to cook sausage and peppers. I found this online, and my wife really loved it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ingredients</b></div><div><br /></div><div>1 pound of sausage (could be sweet or hot; I usually use sweet); could be links or ground</div><div><br /></div><div>One bell pepper</div><div><br /></div><div>½ onion</div><div><br /></div><div>1 cup chicken broth</div><div><br /></div><div>Butter for sautéing veggies</div><div><br /></div><div>Rice (I usually use a 1 ¼ cups)</div><div><br /></div><div>Olive oil</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Directions</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Cook the sausage. I typically put the sausage links into a pan with some water and oil. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Remove the sausage and put aside. Do not wipe the pan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cut up the pepper and onion into bite-size chunks (usually an inch). Put them into the pan that the sausages were in and add butter to sauté them nicely. </div><div><br /></div><div>While the peppers and onions are sautéing, cut up the sausages (if you used links) into bite-sized chunks. Add to the peppers and onions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Add the chicken broth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bring everything in the pan to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium again. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. During that time, cook the rice.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the rice is ready, you can either add it to the pan and stir it all up (which I do), or you can just add the mixture to the rice on individual plates/bowls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy! </div><div><br /></div><div>(my son adds parmesan cheese to just about everything, and it makes this dish really tasty!) </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbZ6gvMbBdt5B8VTFGE8g87Jf6gk7vn_me0_OMZDymSUUMPCy5gMvwyII85j9NFs4HXibwGerr4y1bPfZ8zm-YJwRAz6HB85AThNQQa2faSgMvtYHmRiL15n7RipqckWwqXRgumFXErYiUlLOBfVqO0AxvxsoNKQHDrMUgKm6mxfV414DBCHv-LhGls5K/s2700/Symington_978-1-4766-9315-6%20Cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbZ6gvMbBdt5B8VTFGE8g87Jf6gk7vn_me0_OMZDymSUUMPCy5gMvwyII85j9NFs4HXibwGerr4y1bPfZ8zm-YJwRAz6HB85AThNQQa2faSgMvtYHmRiL15n7RipqckWwqXRgumFXErYiUlLOBfVqO0AxvxsoNKQHDrMUgKm6mxfV414DBCHv-LhGls5K/s320/Symington_978-1-4766-9315-6%20Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>“Huzza!” Toasting a New Nation, 1760-1815</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Timothy Symington</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Nonfiction/History</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: McFarland Books</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: September 29, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-4766-9315-6 Print</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-4766-5056-2 ebook</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: BOCK62JP5L</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 273</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 125,000. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Drinking toasts to the American Revolution and beyond!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">During the early years of the United States, toasts captured popular sentiments regarding people and events. Sometimes they were used to spread national ideology and partisan political views. They could even be “weaponized” against political opponents, such as during the bitter election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1800. “Huzza!” Toasting a New Nation, 1760-1815 is a retelling of the familiar historical narrative, but toasts are used to tell the story of the events and people between the American Revolution and the War of 1812.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/48lxI9G">Amazon</a> <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/huzza/">Mcfarland Books</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt:</b><br />
Israel Putnam of Connecticut, who led the rebels at Bunker
Hill in June, was one of the first to be singled out for honors when the war
began. The Connecticut Gazette printed toasts from a July 25 dinner in London
attended by the Freeholders of Middlesex. General Putnam was toasted “and all
those American Heroes, who, like men, nobly prefer death to slavery and
chains.” Sons of Liberty leader Dr. Joseph Warren, who was killed on the
battlefield, received the following toast from the Field Officers of the Sixth
Brigade in Cambridge: “Immortal Honor to that Patriot and Hero Doctor Joseph
Warren, and the Brave American troops, who fought the Battle of Charlestown on
the 17th of June 1775.” This list of toasts, appearing in the August 21, 1775,
issue of the Boston Gazette, or Country Journal started with a toast to the
Continental Congress instead of to the British monarch. The officers raised
their glasses instead to all the colonies, the Stamp Act riots, Lexington and
Concord, and an end to the “present unhappy Disputes.” Dr. Warren would be a
consistently toasted figure into the early 1800s. <br />
George Washington replaced George III as the main recipient
of toasts, becoming the most toasted individual in the new nation. The King was
now the enemy. Even English supporters of colonial rights, such as John Wilkes
and Edmund Burke, were replaced by American military heroes. English support
for the rights of the colonists, however, had not disappeared. The Virginia
Gazette printed toasts the London Association made in October 1775. Association
members wished for “axes and halters, at public expence, to all those who
attempt to trample on the liberties of their fellow subjects, either in Great
Britain or America,” and that “kings remember that they were made for their
subjects, and not their subjects for them.” <br />
The former British corset-maker Thomas Paine brilliantly
explained why the colonists should no longer rely on the King to protect their
liberties. His pamphlet, Common Sense, demanded that Americans free themselves
of Britain’s control. Paine wrote that “One of the strongest natural proofs of
the folly of hereditary right in Kings, is that nature disapproves it, otherwise
she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule, by giving mankind an Ass for
a Lion.” His words reached everyone in the colonies, and so he and his work
were toasted: “May the INDEPENDENT principles of COMMON SENSE be confirmed
throughout the United Colonies.” <br />
Most colonies had already taken Paine’s advice to heart and
declared themselves to be independent states. Members of the Virginia
convention calling for a resolution for national independence gave toasts in
May: “The American independent states” and “The Grand Congress of the United
States, and their respected legislatures.” Washington attended a feast at the
Queen’s Head Tavern in New York City, where toasts were given to the
Continental Congress and the American army, and to the memory of General
Richard Montgomery, killed in the disastrous invasion of Quebec in December
1775. The final toast was “to ‘Civil and religious liberty to all
mankind’—mankind, that is, except Tories.” Tories, the conservative supporters
of the Crown, received extra abuse in the Patriots’ toasts: “Sore Eyes to all
Tories, and a Chestnut Burr for an Eye Stone.”</span></blockquote><br />
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<!--[endif]--><b style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></b><p></p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz5SpTq2Q__lTiFTMzymDfuaGEkcikJMdoO8lFLoDnP06e2n35vrq-2W6Liby_fjhr0vp5i5GYEOMyhfqHnCykfH1Z4yiAGp0DlNWgu-TMbnc2A_8SMVRTY73Fka1hjhpoXeVL4L3MC7t9b2CAhfZVGSKL8dMhfNf7baiPkvE5OKld_jKTiCnRMhV72zW/s2370/IMG_0139.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2370" data-original-width="2113" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz5SpTq2Q__lTiFTMzymDfuaGEkcikJMdoO8lFLoDnP06e2n35vrq-2W6Liby_fjhr0vp5i5GYEOMyhfqHnCykfH1Z4yiAGp0DlNWgu-TMbnc2A_8SMVRTY73Fka1hjhpoXeVL4L3MC7t9b2CAhfZVGSKL8dMhfNf7baiPkvE5OKld_jKTiCnRMhV72zW/w178-h200/IMG_0139.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Timothy Symington received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Saint Anselm College and his Master of Arts degree in American History from Adams State University. A former educator, he now contributes to the Journal of the American Revolution. “Huzza!” Toasting a New Nation, 1760-1815 is his first book.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/ToastFab4">https://twitter.com/ToastFab4</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tim.symington/">https://www.instagram.com/tim.symington/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Toastmaster-yu9eq">https://www.youtube.com/@Toastmaster-yu9eq</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iKE5bz-QmzcIn_dZF9bu1Ll61J5ybPB96eIshXGzrRVFYh5iw666ufm_FnDGJcUii_mOd93Lc79iM0rIaeB4RRC16J96AyuCvOOthb3Vm_YSuTmHwFN6iJB7O_fvkki7kk13mrdthIRje46dz7AaB3GXtwHBg6tg_QJTMjaq6x1oPGq4jMw6Jve0dy0V/s1080/Huzza%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iKE5bz-QmzcIn_dZF9bu1Ll61J5ybPB96eIshXGzrRVFYh5iw666ufm_FnDGJcUii_mOd93Lc79iM0rIaeB4RRC16J96AyuCvOOthb3Vm_YSuTmHwFN6iJB7O_fvkki7kk13mrdthIRje46dz7AaB3GXtwHBg6tg_QJTMjaq6x1oPGq4jMw6Jve0dy0V/s320/Huzza%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-72229718471603625432024-01-08T01:30:00.003-05:002024-01-08T01:30:00.149-05:00Walk-Ins Welcome by Sue C Dugan<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL7LYy_EYPDc7flLPTmONZda_yRYzbGaLou2qKBpp_L8EuCCPfq4J7u3yjCfjCibWOZ1OJ4nyhgVhOHjoJoHr7o8fHmvqN8UBwso7yQkqa-DkLLHwrLeI5phFUM9UVfrM3HCUbxPcpf2vMVIC7Q3omJ8DJQ_B7Qjf3iriUOv8HWZkO43Y8DYzbwWDXBC5/s820/Walk%20Ins%20Welcome%20%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL7LYy_EYPDc7flLPTmONZda_yRYzbGaLou2qKBpp_L8EuCCPfq4J7u3yjCfjCibWOZ1OJ4nyhgVhOHjoJoHr7o8fHmvqN8UBwso7yQkqa-DkLLHwrLeI5phFUM9UVfrM3HCUbxPcpf2vMVIC7Q3omJ8DJQ_B7Qjf3iriUOv8HWZkO43Y8DYzbwWDXBC5/w400-h153/Walk%20Ins%20Welcome%20%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>In the Kitchen with Sue C Dugan, Author of WALK-INS WELCOME </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alison and Mark eat at Italian restaurants when they first meet. They order spaghetti with meatballs. Now pasta was and is a favorite at our house, too. When my children were growing up, I made vats of spaghetti sauce. I still enjoy pasta meals but have scaled back with the kids gone. If I don’t want to make homemade sauce: tomatoes, sausage, onions, garlic, and mushrooms, I rely on Rao and some frozen meatballs with pasta (I like Trader Joe’s or Target’s frozen meatballs!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since beginning my writing and publishing journey, I’ve had to streamline many parts of my life, including meal prep. I no longer have the luxury of making complicated meals. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My big meal is usually ‘luninner’, around 3 p.m., with a snack of crackers and cheese and an apple at night. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I often use my crockpot, where I can dump and continue writing. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq67lQIqms2XvdW3hRRXqgG-Fv0Q39iZKsJYMM2kykQhXHpUh4UtMvj0tnlB85JsvmyFNfuOUkKAPCB8ObVR77fctWS35AC5f_UfSHA_-oVPMBEzSvVDhGCyPrMAXUzMOM1Y6LaO-BALhF7usi6jQhtwgCxICFk8HG4tn89mvmlsy170z8fTzAwGEuocjn/s322/JPEG%20image.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="206" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq67lQIqms2XvdW3hRRXqgG-Fv0Q39iZKsJYMM2kykQhXHpUh4UtMvj0tnlB85JsvmyFNfuOUkKAPCB8ObVR77fctWS35AC5f_UfSHA_-oVPMBEzSvVDhGCyPrMAXUzMOM1Y6LaO-BALhF7usi6jQhtwgCxICFk8HG4tn89mvmlsy170z8fTzAwGEuocjn/s320/JPEG%20image.jpeg" width="205" /></a></div>Walk-Ins Welcome</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sue C Dugan</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Paranormal Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: The Wild Rose Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: May 24, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN:978-1-5092-4908-4</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages:336</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 73,299</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Kim Mendoza</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: True love repeats itself in unexpected ways</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Adult education teacher, Alison Larkin has a second chance at love after her husband is killed in a car accident. Her new love interest comes in the form of a 20-year old student called HB, whose reputation as a bad boy and poor student has everyone questioning her attraction to him. Alison finds him to be nothing like his reputation as a drug-dealer and trouble maker. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Although HB has few high school credits to his name, he is flying through the coursework in adult education. Alison learns she and HB share a memory of a dramatic rescue at a local amusement park. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">HB has a secret he has yet to discover, but when he does, he must convince Alison to give him another chance at love.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amzn.to/4173ghd"><b>Amazon</b></a><b> </b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Sue%20c%20dugan"><b>BN</b></a><b> </b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122796175"><b>Goodreads</b></a></span></div></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She put the flowers
on the coffee table and moved her hand toward the sofa. He sat, and she did
too. “Didn’t you have something you want to talk to me about?”<br />
Momentarily, he couldn’t remember what it was.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Did you forget?” She
gave him an encouraging smile. “So much has happened. It seems like ages ago.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Then it came rushing
back to him—Dr. Sims—the things he remembered and the yearbook pictures. He sat
with his hands clasped and his head down, thinking. Was now the time to tell
her? He jerked his head up. “I’m not sure this is a good time to tell you what
I know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She frowned. “That
sounds serious.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It is and a bit
weird too.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She leaned forward
and clasped her hands together. “Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll decide how
serious it is.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">HB shifted on the
couch, trying to find a comfortable position. Finding none, he straightened and
looked at her. “You know I felt like a different person when I came out of my
coma?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Alison nodded but
remained quiet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“And I wrote about
the rescue at Cedar Springs?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She remained stock
still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I started adding one
plus one, and I came up with something bizarre out there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Clearing her throat,
Alison finally said, “You’re scaring me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He noisily let out
his breath. “I’ve been seeing a counselor, and he told me about one of his
patients, Ashton.” HB paused and rearranged his thoughts. “I talked to Ashton,
who told me he had tried to kill himself but failed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Oh, no!” Alison
cried. “Please don’t tell me you want to kill yourself!” She leaned forward and
tried to grasp his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“No, I want to live
again!” He let her touch his fingers before pulling back. Although
contemplating suicide might be easier than telling Alison he was her dead
husband—Robert.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Anyway,” HB
swallowed, “Ashton told me about soul walk-ins.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What did you say?”
Alison asked, alarm creasing her brow. “Wait!” She jumped up and hurried down
the hallway while he waited. He moved his forefinger over his thumb, wondering
what would make her leave like that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She returned with a
small book, sat, and clutched it to her chest as if protecting it. Then,
slowly, she eased the book onto her lap and opened it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He murmured the
title. “Communicating with the Dead… So you believe in that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I don’t know what I
believe. But this book mentions walk-in souls and—”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I think I have
Robert’s soul in my body,” he exclaimed before he could change his mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">HB didn’t mean to
interrupt her, but it just happened. He couldn’t help it. He watched as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Alison’s eyes rolled
back, and she slumped over.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: times;">“Alison?” He patted her hand and then her cheeks until
her eyes fluttered open. <br />
“How…” She looked confused. “Why?
What?” She fell back on the couch. “I don’t believe it,” she said with a shake
of her head, and her features turned stony. “I think you should leave.”<br />
“What?” HB cried. “No! No. I’m
sorry!” Tears immediately filled his eyes. “I knew it was a bad time.” <br />
“What a cruel and mean joke to play
on me after what I’ve gone through!” Her eyes flashed with anger, something he
couldn’t pinpoint.<br />
“I’ll let myself out.” He jumped up.
He’d blown it with Alison, and she didn’t want to believe him. And he might not
have a chance to convince her.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span><br />
<br /></p></span></div><div><span><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">About the Author </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sue writes five-star LitPick novels that keep readers of all ages turning pages long into the night. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, attending author events, or walking her dogs. She’s has two children and five grandchildren. Snack wise, Sue is a salty-type gal, but wouldn’t say no to an occasional chocolate kiss or two! She isn’t sure she’s a reincarnated novelist, but if she was, she’d want to be Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, or Emily Brontë. When her novels are run through author comparison sites, she gets Anne Rice through Mark Twain—quite a wide spread which makes for interesting reading (Tom Sawyer was a Vampire?). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/dugan_sue/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/dugan_sue/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://www.duganthewriteway.com/">https://www.duganthewriteway.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/suecdugan">https://www.facebook.com/suecdugan</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">LinkedIn: <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/sue-dugan-b59253123">http://linkedin.com/in/sue-dugan-b59253123</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="ttps://www.instagram.com/scduganauthor/ " rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/scduganauthor/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@user5606276508505 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@user5606276508505 </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRShxDwBtS7kHq6flfWUO96MWmvBVGIquzlUONroDnJCVmu4VyYiZ6mD_tvl9MIO4PqDuUlNVsf2yS5qsp4dmh4dmEs0yfvmBviPP2-_2vFkH2TSs30-Rx4t9Fof2MoGA9C5l86K1AW_E2A8pH6Quj8RwkjYduNQA7U5VT0i_8ZDNlDDy1f2bXIa3bUXU/s1080/Walk%20Ins%20Welcome%20%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRShxDwBtS7kHq6flfWUO96MWmvBVGIquzlUONroDnJCVmu4VyYiZ6mD_tvl9MIO4PqDuUlNVsf2yS5qsp4dmh4dmEs0yfvmBviPP2-_2vFkH2TSs30-Rx4t9Fof2MoGA9C5l86K1AW_E2A8pH6Quj8RwkjYduNQA7U5VT0i_8ZDNlDDy1f2bXIa3bUXU/s320/Walk%20Ins%20Welcome%20%20%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2213" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2213/" id="rcwidget_ssj1mjjd" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-84138903841726572132023-12-28T03:30:00.010-05:002023-12-28T03:30:00.138-05:00Writing With Kids Laura Engelhardt's Tips and Tricks <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlp7aJxwrFiXkDyZt0E2g7LAz-eZyiKjHnQlXjGllbCxN-k4Aq_jotkcHPhagTC8BdEsk4hosFYyueCwl7nu41MWDed1D303D8H9WG0bcykFDXFWX6PJ75nYqgaIBo09hj0KRAU3YMHp_TJIpjoaH5lmeIfl9oGQRWSoEVibB3HNedMSLtl6I3Bx0P-p4y/s820/Desert%20Enchantments%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlp7aJxwrFiXkDyZt0E2g7LAz-eZyiKjHnQlXjGllbCxN-k4Aq_jotkcHPhagTC8BdEsk4hosFYyueCwl7nu41MWDed1D303D8H9WG0bcykFDXFWX6PJ75nYqgaIBo09hj0KRAU3YMHp_TJIpjoaH5lmeIfl9oGQRWSoEVibB3HNedMSLtl6I3Bx0P-p4y/w400-h153/Desert%20Enchantments%20Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have four children. My oldest is a high school senior, and my youngest is in sixth grade. Yup, I spent my thirties pregnant or post-partum. I didn’t start writing fiction until after I quit my full-time job when my eldest was finishing fifth grade. If you are writing while holding down a paid job and raising kids … Maybe you should be writing this blog instead of me. I want to know your secret!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">School vacations are like labor and delivery: you know it’s going to be difficult, but somehow, every year, you forget just how difficult it is. Since we are in the midst of a multi-week break, with routines upset, family visitors descending, and kids insisting, “I’m bored,” despite having electronics, games, and even siblings to play with …, I decided this would be a good time to tell you my secret to sanity (and writing) over school holidays.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Know Thyself</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How well do you manage interruptions? Do you need activity around you to work or do you need quiet? Some writers I know can only work when there are people around them — they work in coffee shops and libraries; kitchen tables with kids doing homework and on the couch while the football game is on. Some writers like “background noise” like music playlists or the hubbub of a playground to do their best work. I wish I were more like them! Unfortunately, while I can manage to proofread in these situations, I can’t write new content. For me, there is a sliding scale of peace & quiet that I need to function as a writer: to come up with new fiction content, I need uninterrupted alone time. But I can write proofread a document in the midst of typical household chaos. Once you have identified your working style, it becomes easier to strategize ways to keep your writing projects progressing, even while you’re living through the holiday household disruption.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Know Your Household</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When do your kids need your attention? Is it predictable? When do your spouses, relatives, etc., need or want your attention? Most kids also have routines, and unless you a juggling changing infant sleep schedules, there is typically a rhythm to their days as well. If you are parenting a child who does not attend school or daycare, and have managed to write without holiday chaos — kudos to you! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The most successful trick I have found to writing while my beloved interrupters are around is to identify when those interrupters will be occupied. For me, this time typically falls in the early morning (which works for me, because I’m an early bird). If you are a night owl, you might be able to plan for an hour after everyone else is tucked away in bed. The trick is identifying in advance when you will most likely have one hour to yourself the following day, then identifying 1-2 different projects you would like to tackle during that hour. It’s important to have multiple ideas — the best laid plans frequently go awry: inspiration might not strike, or you might be too tired to tackle a particular scene. Give yourself options, because your time is limited, and you don’t want to waste that precious alone-time figuring out what to do. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>My Holiday Writing Routine</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used to work on a trading floor, so am used to early morning starts. When school is in session, I sometimes waste my hour of calm before the kids wake up checking emails, fixing my calendar, cleaning the kitchen … NOT during holidays! But you need to be compassionate with yourself. The holidays can be stressful, so it’s important not to create a goal for the next day that is too ambitious, and to give yourself a backup plan. Before I go to bed the night before, I think about two or three things I need (or want) to work on. I used to feel horrible when I squandered my “writing hour” by re-reading chapters, copyediting instead of working on a new chapter. Now, I’ve learned that some days I’m too worn down to tackle a new scene. But by refining and working on what I’ve already written, I’m able to keep making progress.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy Holidays and Happy Writing!</div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlwzHBinM1BeGd5V35CcekLrPLmwo81AFb4r20GPRHRa9DvovdbnEk1P4hyQmIGqkp-yhsUwsgsAHBiC953xQdRLPxXO9ju8QGPtCI4Wnbiw5i-Pm_psN-7cyOxwKVHqKBNdg7aOqjDF62UxT2aO2TcRwEgtgxOS9VZn7OXFLyas0qp8r3nlY8CxkANr6/s2700/Desert%20Enchantments-8%20Final.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlwzHBinM1BeGd5V35CcekLrPLmwo81AFb4r20GPRHRa9DvovdbnEk1P4hyQmIGqkp-yhsUwsgsAHBiC953xQdRLPxXO9ju8QGPtCI4Wnbiw5i-Pm_psN-7cyOxwKVHqKBNdg7aOqjDF62UxT2aO2TcRwEgtgxOS9VZn7OXFLyas0qp8r3nlY8CxkANr6/s320/Desert%20Enchantments-8%20Final.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Desert Enchantments</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Arabian Spells </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Fifth Mage War Prequel</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Laura Engelhardt</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Wandering Wave Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: November 16, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-957778-06-8</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CM3MMSWK </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 130 pages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 32,000 words</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Rena Violet</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Prophecies, Faeries, Djinni, and Werewolves! A New Fantasy World Awaits…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">This exciting prequel is perfect for both new readers and current fans of Engelhardt’s award-winning Fifth Mage War series. At only 130 pages, the book provides an introduction into a magical modern world filled with faeries, prophecies, werewolves and djinni. Desert Enchantment focuses on a new character, and features themes of survivor’s guilt/hope and obsessive love/self-control.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Class Five mage, Khalid developed the only long-distance magical weapon in existence: the dreaded djinni, who spin across the deserts, destroying everything in their path. Now, he faces the kind of challenge only an Oracle could have predicted.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">In Recasting Fate, we join Khalid as he attempts to rout the European invaders from the Sahara Desert. Except a faerie breezes in with an offer he can't refuse.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">In Djinn Swarm, Khalid battles for self-control when he discovers that the only thing more powerful than a djinn is love.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">These two novelettes are a perfect gateway into the Fifth Mage War series, introducing new characters and new cultures as the world moves inextricably toward a cataclysmic war. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM3MMSWK"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Excerpt</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The first djinn emerged in the night sky:
a whirlwind topped with a simulacrum of Khalid himself. Knife-sharp grains of
sand spun upward, pulled by the centrifugal force of the air that formed the
construct’s lower half. Khalid swallowed down bile as he looked at his
creation. The djinn’s outstretched arms were frozen in a gesture of welcome,
but its unblinking eyes were indifferent to the suffering it was about to
cause.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">If only he could create a living
construct, he wouldn’t be forced to watch oversized statues of himself wreaking
destruction. Before Sabha, he used to revel in the fact that his enemy would
know he had been the mage who had killed them. Now, the sight of his giant face
in the sky made him sick.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Two more djinni coalesced, dragging
roiling storms of colored lightning behind them like fringed capes. Malik shut
the spellbook, words of congratulations on his lips. But his face fell, his
compliments silenced before they could be uttered. Khalid’s heart rate sped up
as he followed his vizier’s gaze.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The three djinni should have been flying
north over the dunes to the enemy encampment, spinning tornados of wind and
lightning beneath them. Instead, the constructs hung suspended in midair, their
lower whirlwinds frozen into a stillness as eerie as their unmoving humanoid
tops.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">A rush of air rippled Khalid’s headscarf
and robe, but the desert was suddenly silent. He could no longer hear the rasp
of wind over sand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Eurus, Khalid realized, his grim fear
sinking into actual dread.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The glimmering white-gold outline of a
woman’s face emerged in front of the djinni.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Khalid swallowed as she pressed her lips
against one statue-like face before dissipating back into air.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Khalid waved Malik back to the assembled
guard. “Go,” he said. “Back to camp.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">But Malik pressed shoulder-to-shoulder
with him. “No one can contend against the air itself, Amir. It won’t matter if
we stay or go.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">That’s an unfortunate truth, Khalid
thought. For all they knew, Eurus existed within the very air they drew into
their lungs. She was everywhere but only rarely took physical form.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Humans, even other faeries, were typically
beneath her notice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Your djinni still don’t live.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The East Wind’s soft voice was impossible
to locate, though they all spun around to look for her. Eurus was air, an
elemental faerie born billions of years ago when the Earth’s atmosphere formed.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Why are you here?” Khalid called, his
voice overly loud in the stillness. <br />
Eurus, as the East Wind liked to be called, manifested into a shadowed figure
floating cross-legged as if atop a flying carpet. But of course, Eurus didn’t
need any support to defeat gravity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Khalid’s face covering blew off, and he
caught the red headcloth before responding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You told me war didn’t interest you
anymore.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Your djinni interest me.” The elemental
faerie’s voice hovered in the air around him, pressing against him like the
atmospheric warning of an approaching sandstorm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m no via-enchanter to cast spells on
living things, Lady Eurus,” Khalid reminded her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The fae demanded honesty, and he’d told
her this many times already. “I don’t know how to make a djinn draw breath.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You were working hard to modify your
spells,” Eurus said. “At least until your sisters convinced you to claim the
Sahara for your al-Saaqib tribe.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I have a duty to protect the desert’s
people. I can’t play with spell designs while we remain under threat,” Khalid
said — then cursed himself when he realized he’d given her an opening.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">She pounced. “I am more dangerous than
five thousand battlemages. Bargain with me. I can steal your enemies’ breath.
Blow their ships back from your shores. I can keep your lands safe from the
predators while you perfect your djinn spells.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m no via-enchanter, Lady Eurus,” Khalid
repeated. “I spent decades and only managed to integrate biomarkers into the
design.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">His gaze flickered up. Six vacant eyes
that matched his own stared down at him in impotent stillness. Eurus’s magick
held his unreleased djinni captive. He needed her to let them fly. Let Khalid
kill his enemy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You see how well I can keep you safe,”
Eurus said, glancing upward as well. “Even from your own spells.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Khalid hated how tempting her offer was
now. Everyone else had perished at Sabha. It had been a Pyrrhic victory, but a
victory nonetheless. If she didn’t release his djinni, this battle would end in
an actual defeat. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">There was nothing worse than defeat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Do not surrender, Al-Amir,” Malik
whispered. “With or without the djinni, we will prevail!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Surrender? Who said anything about
surrender? I’ll be your hired hand, Amir Khalid ibn Hawwa al-Saaqib!” Eurus’s
voice hung slyly in the air as she fluttered down into a full bow, her thin
frame splayed across the sand before him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Khalid
stared down at the elemental faerie. No sane person made a bargain with a
faerie, but then, no sane faerie stalked a human.</span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
<br />
</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIu9bDcN7SgGEdFb9_PO13VUigKr_-CgdMhA54q8ubvPmRTLi32bCVXNSoOzohnQKQpLpMIPfXbQdNoGoALYQMK0K4pqz5r52Tsz6NDeJDthtttxLJo5_GR6atqNc7JE9rgfIZgtzsAVhtda0_MPxQY4lpkGKJwR8AELm7qmwfbMJqny6tz2krhNtUGq4Q/s765/Screenshot%20(1619).png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="580" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIu9bDcN7SgGEdFb9_PO13VUigKr_-CgdMhA54q8ubvPmRTLi32bCVXNSoOzohnQKQpLpMIPfXbQdNoGoALYQMK0K4pqz5r52Tsz6NDeJDthtttxLJo5_GR6atqNc7JE9rgfIZgtzsAVhtda0_MPxQY4lpkGKJwR8AELm7qmwfbMJqny6tz2krhNtUGq4Q/w152-h200/Screenshot%20(1619).png" width="152" /></a></div>About the Author: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">An avid sf/fantasy reader, Laura Engelhardt writes the kind of book she likes to read: fantasy with intricate worlds and complex characters facing moral dilemmas. She started writing plays in college, then moved to Germany, where she continued to write while teaching ESL to executives. After moving back to the U.S., she supported her playwriting by teaching ballroom dance and working retail. Deciding that living in her parents’ attic wasn’t for her, Laura went to law school and then spent the next seventeen years as a lawyer and compliance officer in New York City. In 2017, she quit Wall Street and began helping people resolve disputes as a mediator and arbitrator. She now lives in New Jersey with her family.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://lauraengelhardt.com">https://lauraengelhardt.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/5thMageWar/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/5thMageWar/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/5thmagewar">https://www.instagram.com/5thmagewar</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19426998">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19426998</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU70Rt-d_aGnZTc33X_P6j9JTWh9xNQebrfWFtp5k3G9Y1XLbbsyns5P1L4ljzpwx87-KbKVA-6wrtbvm4mWQBDIiRiQnVN4yKRuXW6n4yoABKEYmCeyQFs2z0YbVkxatod6Ot_KxCqlE8Gc_CxJqCcmCAJeny2DBNIkPpqpV-ydOdjjEwJ_n_J7SXGIA6/s1080/Desert%20Enchantments%20Instagram%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU70Rt-d_aGnZTc33X_P6j9JTWh9xNQebrfWFtp5k3G9Y1XLbbsyns5P1L4ljzpwx87-KbKVA-6wrtbvm4mWQBDIiRiQnVN4yKRuXW6n4yoABKEYmCeyQFs2z0YbVkxatod6Ot_KxCqlE8Gc_CxJqCcmCAJeny2DBNIkPpqpV-ydOdjjEwJ_n_J7SXGIA6/s320/Desert%20Enchantments%20Instagram%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2210" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2210/" id="rcwidget_s3k6y25c" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-17016418626981293542023-12-22T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-22T06:00:00.141-05:00The Bridge to Magic by Alex Thornbury - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aRjTcQD4VMj6MHtQNzFxHoZzQt07B2ZVL34cPXiErl64w6lhKE-ayM8jHusmU1yhY9cAAJVz9mnzjFGr_w4EQzsgCOIeAc94SRRJ7kui0oivpTUx4OR1fsSAASVEkps-MZmuTRpcB491U-eRQ6bbuAvW4NqJ4p_ZnJpnoxqhfU8KuT7FLIPp8qSmZhA/s820/The%20Bridge%20to%20Magic%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aRjTcQD4VMj6MHtQNzFxHoZzQt07B2ZVL34cPXiErl64w6lhKE-ayM8jHusmU1yhY9cAAJVz9mnzjFGr_w4EQzsgCOIeAc94SRRJ7kui0oivpTUx4OR1fsSAASVEkps-MZmuTRpcB491U-eRQ6bbuAvW4NqJ4p_ZnJpnoxqhfU8KuT7FLIPp8qSmZhA/w400-h153/The%20Bridge%20to%20Magic%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGofm5aKEXiL6i_Mb3F5W-tLY1GCI3TBIyptt4xvB6bHcEEzqi8NsRyFdoeRA3-L1mHPpEwaOPa-WNtVZ6g4d6W2fEZOE2QzCX8heRui4ex9AZ-pWMS6cTaioEc_cbrmlNvpIn-5MtlebMYXJhm5OOpPpraCB0v8ws-sM91sm5en5OkqJU9LJk9xLQUmI/s2480/Holiday%20Recipe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGofm5aKEXiL6i_Mb3F5W-tLY1GCI3TBIyptt4xvB6bHcEEzqi8NsRyFdoeRA3-L1mHPpEwaOPa-WNtVZ6g4d6W2fEZOE2QzCX8heRui4ex9AZ-pWMS6cTaioEc_cbrmlNvpIn-5MtlebMYXJhm5OOpPpraCB0v8ws-sM91sm5en5OkqJU9LJk9xLQUmI/w400-h84/Holiday%20Recipe.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here in Australia we celebrate Christmas in the summer. For
someone who was raised in the northern hemisphere, I still cannot get my head
around that strangeness. Another interesting fact of the Aussie festive season
is that our favourite and traditional desert for Christmas is the pavlova. The
tradition is said to have started in the 1920s when the famed ballet dancer
visited Australia and New-Zealand and one ingenious hotel pastry chef created
the desert in her honour. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are as many recipes for this dish as there are
Aussies. Amongst them, my absolute favourite is the Cherry and Coconut Pavlova.
For us here, who walk upside down relative to our Northern cousins, December is
the season for fresh cherries down in the cool south, and coconuts up in the
hot northern tropics. So what better way to celebrate turning the seasons on
their heads than by combining cherries and coconuts into a tropical Christmas
dessert? This is what I will be making <a name="_GoBack"></a>this Christmas in
the sweltering heat of the summer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The credit for this recipe must go to <a href="http://www.delicious.com.au/">www.delicious.com.au</a>. </span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy_tG6GOlifJUUBA-EfI0ROpOysCTjuUvcwPQYnHvczMlF_D83u6PFIV_DRnOv6y8bLC55bude5zBsobhDjQlABoi4DGJGOk3BDNe94AyFoxyal4ggRVQkAtVBr7nZ4-i-OdvFpKPvsHq7o8NAa5EzzjYgiXsKSV-Y7mf9iRHwoc_xV9qUUJ-pczMazY/s584/image%20(11).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="584" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy_tG6GOlifJUUBA-EfI0ROpOysCTjuUvcwPQYnHvczMlF_D83u6PFIV_DRnOv6y8bLC55bude5zBsobhDjQlABoi4DGJGOk3BDNe94AyFoxyal4ggRVQkAtVBr7nZ4-i-OdvFpKPvsHq7o8NAa5EzzjYgiXsKSV-Y7mf9iRHwoc_xV9qUUJ-pczMazY/s320/image%20(11).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ingredients<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">6 egg whites <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1/2 tsp cream of tartar <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 tbs cornflour <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 tsp white vinegar <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1/3 cup (30g) desiccated coconut <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">300g jar good-quality cherry jam, room
temperature, stirred to loosen <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fresh cherries & baby mint leaves, to
serve <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Coconut cream<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">500g sour cream <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">100g thickened cream <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">100g coconut cream (cream taken from the top
of the can. Reserve remaining cream for another use) <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">80g icing sugar mixture <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 tbs Malibu or coconut essence <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Method</span></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Draw a rough 18cm x 33cm
rectangle on a piece of baking paper and use to line a large greased oven tray.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer
fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed to soft peaks. With
the motor running, add 1 tbs sugar every 30 seconds and continue whisking until
well incorporated. Whisk for a further 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick
and glossy and the sugar has dissolved. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3. Add the cornflour and whisk until combined, then whisk in
the white vinegar. Fold through coconut. Place the meringue into the centre of
the rectangle and, using a palette knife, spread the meringue into the shape of
the rectangle with waves and swirls on top.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">4. Reduce oven temperature to 100°C. Bake the pavlova for 1
hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until dry to touch. Turn off the oven
and let cool in the oven overnight or until cooled completely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">5. For the coconut cream, whisk the creams and sugar in a
stand mixer to soft peaks, then fold in the coconut liquor. Refrigerate until
ready to use.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">6. Place meringue on a serving platter and spread with cream mixture.
Drizzle with loosened jam and scatter with extra fresh cherries and mint leaves
to serve.</span></p></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBPRRmhSvo-WUWtF2cVulBX3EaHLJrpIjBG2DoEjAhg8SBgLhxmuA3taLLaDmOS7zJ5rnYDbZtS8zpYAQ5kGdYN9LDmm14CB5VfwlGuMeIHslxTTCxP8mhf22-oRTYGxuEv6ZH2I5jqwcOpiuXR1RdNgLTQit2MnwdbA-P64bg_MgpePR1_ZzeJoeLHNk/s2992/The_Bridge_to_Magic_BOOK_COVER_AT.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBPRRmhSvo-WUWtF2cVulBX3EaHLJrpIjBG2DoEjAhg8SBgLhxmuA3taLLaDmOS7zJ5rnYDbZtS8zpYAQ5kGdYN9LDmm14CB5VfwlGuMeIHslxTTCxP8mhf22-oRTYGxuEv6ZH2I5jqwcOpiuXR1RdNgLTQit2MnwdbA-P64bg_MgpePR1_ZzeJoeLHNk/s320/The_Bridge_to_Magic_BOOK_COVER_AT.JPG" width="219" /></a></div>The Bridge to Magic</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>The Sundered Web </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Alex Thornbury</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Genre: Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Publisher: Shadow Lore Publishing</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Date of Publication: 21st February 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">ISBN: 978-0-6454970-0-7</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">ASIN: B0B9GCXY5K</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Number of pages: 369</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Word Count: 105,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Cover Artist: Alejandro Colucci</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Tagline: When only the wrong paths remain, do you walk or get left behind? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">An award-winning debut for lovers of traditional fantasy and the readers who crave the dark, disturbing and original.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Men thought they had won the war against magic, when a demi-god had sundered their realm and banished magic and its keepers to the deadlands. But then another terror was born. Nothing can survive the approaching Blight. Terren, the last refuge of mankind, now stands alone in its path. Only the bridge across the great chasm offers any hope of escape... for some.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Elika has long feared the bridge to the Deadlands. It had taken her parents, and the lives of more poor fools than she could count. What's there for them anyway on the other side but more suffering and death? Though the gods had abandoned them, the king and his priests will stop the Blight. They just need to destroy every echo of magic, the source of the Blight. Then she discovers that the biggest echo of magic is hiding inside her, and through her it seeks to enact the will of its own.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Accused of being a mage, she is hunted and hated. Many doubt her loyalties. Her gang turns against her. The one man she thought she could trust and love, abandons her. Everything she knew about her past shatters, as long-buried secrets about her true birth emerge. Worse still, she may not even be human. She must race to find a way to purge herself from magic's hold. But as time runs out for the city and her magic only grows in power, can she sacrifice herself to save the last of humanity and all that she loves?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9GCXY5K">Amazon</a> <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6445461662">Apple</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bridge-to-magic">Kobo</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bridge-to-magic-alex-thornbury/1142013986?ean=2940185577028">BN</a></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p></div><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhEkh_w5upuv_j28ySKl3lReF_xovKHMAFJ2gvMeBpevBQ8w8eoYvbPV4qVYyikFvcLJXVRPPpNig5yRpuGtWfR_ibfpXWv8j9AIirD4i-vOxRBeoX2doAxE4mapmCIojTsS5LCZs8iN_IIRaFXW6LlQ2jQSsC_tbRP9DMj3br2PwmEI4eIREwr_9nWQ/s2480/Holiday%20banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></span></div><blockquote><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhEkh_w5upuv_j28ySKl3lReF_xovKHMAFJ2gvMeBpevBQ8w8eoYvbPV4qVYyikFvcLJXVRPPpNig5yRpuGtWfR_ibfpXWv8j9AIirD4i-vOxRBeoX2doAxE4mapmCIojTsS5LCZs8iN_IIRaFXW6LlQ2jQSsC_tbRP9DMj3br2PwmEI4eIREwr_9nWQ/s2480/Holiday%20banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhEkh_w5upuv_j28ySKl3lReF_xovKHMAFJ2gvMeBpevBQ8w8eoYvbPV4qVYyikFvcLJXVRPPpNig5yRpuGtWfR_ibfpXWv8j9AIirD4i-vOxRBeoX2doAxE4mapmCIojTsS5LCZs8iN_IIRaFXW6LlQ2jQSsC_tbRP9DMj3br2PwmEI4eIREwr_9nWQ/w400-h84/Holiday%20banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>There
was a time before the bridge was forged, but those stories had been mostly
forgotten. The dark history of that bygone age was now buried in the archives
of the priests. Only the echoes of it remained on the tongues of minstrels and
drunks. Elika had heard them all and each tale seemed more terrible and
unimaginable than the other.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Those
were dismal times of endless wars—men against magic, magic against men. The
time when even the storms and rains were at the mercy of magic and its fickle
moods. It might snow in the summer, or the hot winds might carry sand upon
them, burying entire cities. Honest travelers feared to ride through the
forest, lest the trees attacked them. A farmer might wake up to find his river
flowing the wrong way or dried up altogether. Those days were gone and might
have been forgotten, but for this stark reminder before Elika’s eyes.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>And
who had not stood before the dark bridge in their last moments, facing that
choice they all must one day make?</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Like
that hoary, old codger in the ale-stained uniform of the city’s Blue Guard who
had stood before the bridge for nigh on an hour; unsteady on his legs, his sour
breath steaming in the crisp, winter night, drinking deeply of the cheap gin,
which was as likely to kill him by morning as what he now faced. He took a long
swig out of his bottle as he braced himself for the unknown fate ahead.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Elika
sat huddled in the doorway of an abandoned house, watching him, needing to know
whether he would reach the other side or die crossing. Her ears filled with the
howling winds rising from the great chasm, and she did not need to imagine what
he was thinking, staring as he did at the monstrous bridge and the lifeless
bank beyond, for she was thinking the same—surely it is better than what
remains at our back. Better than what approaches.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">She
clutched the cloak tighter around herself against the biting gust of wind
trying to rip it from her. She had scavenged the woolen cloak some days ago
from a dead beggar, and it still smelled of his mustiness. She pulled up her
knees to her chest and clamped her icy hands under her arms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">The
stone wall was cold at her back. Her breath steamed. She waited and watched the
old guard take another wobbly step toward the bridge, seeking courage in his
gin-dulled mind. He took another gulp, stared at the empty bottle in surprise,
then threw it aside with a foul curse. The bottle hit the frozen ground and
rolled off the edge of their world into the chasm, to fall for eternity in that
endless darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></div><div><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oPkx6Q1ccaBctAue2IX-kh69e_nejq3b8f9imapqMfn1ZCPGmw2Amm0KlBcQC6W6aF9rlFp4_sH3Psjd6ySSCe0g4KGoQsEaRxZ5UnIpyMQr3mu3P7MOABMNgJhBO4NHebWrCE9IEvfcxp-6d8q6qB6EVYEepTDOPwiq9c9nDwTkhb6IeXRSOvwvNqhR/s4739/AlexThornbury.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div></b></span></div></blockquote><div><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oPkx6Q1ccaBctAue2IX-kh69e_nejq3b8f9imapqMfn1ZCPGmw2Amm0KlBcQC6W6aF9rlFp4_sH3Psjd6ySSCe0g4KGoQsEaRxZ5UnIpyMQr3mu3P7MOABMNgJhBO4NHebWrCE9IEvfcxp-6d8q6qB6EVYEepTDOPwiq9c9nDwTkhb6IeXRSOvwvNqhR/s4739/AlexThornbury.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3164" data-original-width="4739" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oPkx6Q1ccaBctAue2IX-kh69e_nejq3b8f9imapqMfn1ZCPGmw2Amm0KlBcQC6W6aF9rlFp4_sH3Psjd6ySSCe0g4KGoQsEaRxZ5UnIpyMQr3mu3P7MOABMNgJhBO4NHebWrCE9IEvfcxp-6d8q6qB6EVYEepTDOPwiq9c9nDwTkhb6IeXRSOvwvNqhR/w200-h134/AlexThornbury.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">About the Author: </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Alex Thornbury is an award-winning author. She grew up in Cheshire UK, and developed deep love of history and fantasy thanks to the many castles she visited as a child. Though she grew up to be an Alchemist by trade, she never stopped fantasising about other worlds, dragons and epic battles.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Website or Blog: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/">https://alexthornbury.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury">https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury">https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/">https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Newsletter: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/">https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wgVhXHn5nTsgIbX8yoaRM_OaphlL9N8OkwZB3fwvVqTbBNOrmCs2zuK5CBrrstf6sks642iZ1i0-_eFtHJjTG1Ip9D9TAZRHD-r3rgeiXwOQeGj6F-uL9GIzcuWedLdrCA_BLgWLQtfZikukllfusE92FEEcCSt3nYUraIeHZgv-9OVnApICNS_DYltv/s1080/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20%20(3).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wgVhXHn5nTsgIbX8yoaRM_OaphlL9N8OkwZB3fwvVqTbBNOrmCs2zuK5CBrrstf6sks642iZ1i0-_eFtHJjTG1Ip9D9TAZRHD-r3rgeiXwOQeGj6F-uL9GIzcuWedLdrCA_BLgWLQtfZikukllfusE92FEEcCSt3nYUraIeHZgv-9OVnApICNS_DYltv/s320/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20%20(3).png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgON0s0QvL_NCZHLLDmRgGEY1MX-PAr5OdfZjdyiFfty2vzbbfKGNWcyqJL2BzCa1ocGbFp-FtYkMetSCjDC1-6dX3uiGlMQztTLjXojrN3V5P_-Nd2YQ3JRAwKDjpvYnAiFX5LEifm1rR59C5i3CowM__ndzyRiyuYDO6NFljaUodXtDB-F1UgBTK0PuYG/s2304/Giveaway.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgON0s0QvL_NCZHLLDmRgGEY1MX-PAr5OdfZjdyiFfty2vzbbfKGNWcyqJL2BzCa1ocGbFp-FtYkMetSCjDC1-6dX3uiGlMQztTLjXojrN3V5P_-Nd2YQ3JRAwKDjpvYnAiFX5LEifm1rR59C5i3CowM__ndzyRiyuYDO6NFljaUodXtDB-F1UgBTK0PuYG/w300-h400/Giveaway.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2207" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2207/" id="rcwidget_1mtrdrw7" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-52547779467595630972023-12-20T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-20T06:00:00.137-05:00Bah Humbug Mate by Delta James - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUfT3DWRkPOsBu-bcQQenHlyXHLb_YwTR_jN8LYNL-CwVLNmQDCPZCYPUPZ1ARndTONHObjuL_PNiudwcvqzL2Poh7SCE2b_xtyen8qLWEjNl7uIHVniKQ81awxv9Kr7_cZ2Ukd6jrcK3KkxgQNkQmq-n0Y9FtpFPBeSZpbVtga6mNScynMqy-RQ3-BjU/s820/Bah%20Humbug%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUfT3DWRkPOsBu-bcQQenHlyXHLb_YwTR_jN8LYNL-CwVLNmQDCPZCYPUPZ1ARndTONHObjuL_PNiudwcvqzL2Poh7SCE2b_xtyen8qLWEjNl7uIHVniKQ81awxv9Kr7_cZ2Ukd6jrcK3KkxgQNkQmq-n0Y9FtpFPBeSZpbVtga6mNScynMqy-RQ3-BjU/w400-h153/Bah%20Humbug%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9droh-dyeXK3V8xOFS02a1lPiH42F8l8BltF-hpBhbfJ6HLqqpYlmcHOwPmV9ChZ_n4q2zH4bYyH6Ch3YWHm7tb-eJXsNuKeeWczZfS_gfxQ-hA2rBbd8EamaVf0IuCkhQ6sJbWfqryUG4TwfT6fMuLNPBkVA8i4EbPahPzfgMsBcz4F5Iwtwg/s2480/Holiday%20Recipe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9droh-dyeXK3V8xOFS02a1lPiH42F8l8BltF-hpBhbfJ6HLqqpYlmcHOwPmV9ChZ_n4q2zH4bYyH6Ch3YWHm7tb-eJXsNuKeeWczZfS_gfxQ-hA2rBbd8EamaVf0IuCkhQ6sJbWfqryUG4TwfT6fMuLNPBkVA8i4EbPahPzfgMsBcz4F5Iwtwg/w400-h84/Holiday%20Recipe.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pecan Shortbread Cookies<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Heat
Oven to 325 degrees F</span></i></b><span style="font-family: georgia; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2
cups butter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1/2
cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1
cup powdered sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1
teaspoon vanilla (I use a skoosh more)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2
eggs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1
teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1
teaspoon baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1
teaspoon cream of tartar<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1-1/2
cups chopped pecans (closer to 1-3/4 cups)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">4
cups flour<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i><u>Directions:</u></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Cream butter,
sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Beat in eggs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Set aside<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Combine
remaining ingredients and add to butter mixture<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Mix well<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Roll into 1 inch
balls OR use cookie scoop to place on cookie sheet<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Flatten with a
glass or cookie press, dipped in sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Bake 8-15
minutes depending on your oven and desired texture—chewy or crisp<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Place on cooling
rack<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Cookies are
fragile; store in air-tight containers<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEasy5f5IM0JNeU0PY7eqSuN5W-XQ-MWk-_Kzoh_cdCRyIVJdW18skfwdzxfzTl7KR5_u_2D-OTQTDPTOgkW3PWvSK2CLaqEvd5fSz-FMmOq38dc3l9K7iLt497ftbIfVMebSmg8T2ow5b23zqXjr4uqW0A8PB3s1mxuSfpCGlNR-KGte-Wxz2GZcWnGeX/s2700/bah%20humbug%20mate%20high%20res.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEasy5f5IM0JNeU0PY7eqSuN5W-XQ-MWk-_Kzoh_cdCRyIVJdW18skfwdzxfzTl7KR5_u_2D-OTQTDPTOgkW3PWvSK2CLaqEvd5fSz-FMmOq38dc3l9K7iLt497ftbIfVMebSmg8T2ow5b23zqXjr4uqW0A8PB3s1mxuSfpCGlNR-KGte-Wxz2GZcWnGeX/s320/bah%20humbug%20mate%20high%20res.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Bah Humbug Mate</b></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Mystic River Shifters </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book Seven</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Delta James</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Paranormal Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 11/22/23:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CGY63Z4K</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Wicked Smart Designs</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Will a charade under the mistletoe lead to a real love story?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dash Samuels, a grumpy reindeer shifter, is faced with an ultimatum: marry by Christmas Day or lose his cherished family inheritance. The holidays are his least favorite time of the year and now he needs to find a mate? Panicked, he devises a plan to hire a woman to play his fake fiancée, until the inheritance is secured. But what he never anticipated was the whirlwind of emotions that would follow.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Noel Brooks, a spirited dreamer struggling to make ends meet, agrees to Dash's unconventional proposition out of necessity. The holidays are her favorite time of the year. As they embark on a charade filled with misunderstandings, holiday traditions, and undeniable chemistry, their carefully constructed façade begins to crumble, revealing the cracks in their hearts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dash needs to get from a grumpy humbug to a believer if he is going to catch his fated mate before it is too late.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bah Humbug Mate is an enchanting story that reminds us that sometimes, the greatest gifts come wrapped in unexpected packages – and that true love is the ultimate holiday miracle.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGY63Z4K"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon</span></a></b></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJGlKIVf8eawUC1RH-LGOn1TX-gS-48BevJ7BthIFrUCehvtVoZcmHT4CzB2dP1TYOouL2bU6WowugABoN5dJ0SAUZBjqd8G_7VXDRt-CqD-GlKj2jjpOkiQ362Hr4MaOvyKFrABCr3aFF6iNFvS43miC5retGpTWDPnkptMcPowEIbERSs260X-LuZ8/s2480/Holiday%20banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJGlKIVf8eawUC1RH-LGOn1TX-gS-48BevJ7BthIFrUCehvtVoZcmHT4CzB2dP1TYOouL2bU6WowugABoN5dJ0SAUZBjqd8G_7VXDRt-CqD-GlKj2jjpOkiQ362Hr4MaOvyKFrABCr3aFF6iNFvS43miC5retGpTWDPnkptMcPowEIbERSs260X-LuZ8/w400-h84/Holiday%20banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Bah Humbug Mate Excerpt</span></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><div style="text-align: left;"><b>A Mystic River Shifters Holiday Novella</b></div></b><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What
do you mean I need to be mated by the winter holiday? Are you kidding me?” Dash
said as he paced back and forth in the attorney’s office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Look,
Dash, I didn’t write the damn will. Well, I guess technically I did, but your
grandmother was very particular. She was very angry you left the herd. So, if
you want to inherit what I agree is rightfully yours, you need to be married by
the holiday deadline.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Which
is?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“December
24.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You
aren’t serious.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“I’m
afraid I am. Your grandmother took these kinds of things seriously.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“For
heaven’s sake, Blitz, where the hell am I supposed to find a comely, female
reindeer-shifter in the next…” he glanced at the calendar on the wall
“twenty-three days?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Honestly,
I don’t know, and there are provisions that will have you tied to this girl for
at least ten years.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dash
plopped down in the chair. “A decade? I have to spend a decade with some girl I
don’t even know?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You
know lots of girls,” said Blitzen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“And
none of them I’d want to marry.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Dude,
for that kind of fortune, I’d marry Godzilla.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Do
you have her number?”</span></span></div><p></p></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></div>
<br /><p></p></div></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTUOD_94lSaCf11NOwdAXD7lpRmvAtU259p7ZJWXT4ZZS6-qfd3fqo0YwesCXAzS5_qGJBc2g2ToJekwMycMcD1C7WNUpr1YE2y-0s29jjSu5MRzrUZGzdoZ8Kqkb_n9o6qMjCeGaioVinq140it-zN5PIssQrzfHA6FCmQ9ZEf_U37F6i0XFqy65qeTT/s1310/delta%20head%20shot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="1310" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTUOD_94lSaCf11NOwdAXD7lpRmvAtU259p7ZJWXT4ZZS6-qfd3fqo0YwesCXAzS5_qGJBc2g2ToJekwMycMcD1C7WNUpr1YE2y-0s29jjSu5MRzrUZGzdoZ8Kqkb_n9o6qMjCeGaioVinq140it-zN5PIssQrzfHA6FCmQ9ZEf_U37F6i0XFqy65qeTT/w200-h200/delta%20head%20shot.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Delta James is a USA Today bestselling paranormal and contemporary romantic suspense author, whose goal is to captivate readers with stories about complex, curvy heroines and the dominant alpha males who adore them. For Delta, romance is more than just a love story; it’s a journey with challenges and thrills along the way. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">After creating a second chapter for herself that was dramatically different than the first, Delta now resides in Florida where she relaxes on warm summer evenings with her loveable pack of basset hounds as they watch the birds, squirrels and lizards. When not crafting fast-paced tales, she enjoys horseback riding, walks on the beach, and white-water rafting. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her readers mean the world to her, and Delta tries to interact personally to as many messages as she can. If you’d like to chat or discuss books, you can find Delta on Instagram, Facebook, and in her private reader group </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website - <a href="https://www.deltajames.com/">https://www.deltajames.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">TikTok - <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@authordeltajames">https://www.tiktok.com/@authordeltajames</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DeltaJamesAuthor/">https://www.facebook.com/DeltaJamesAuthor/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bookbub - <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delta-james">https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delta-james</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deltajamesauthor/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/deltajamesauthor/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter <a href="https://www.subscribepage.com/welcometothepack">https://www.subscribepage.com/welcometothepack</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook group - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/348982795738444/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/348982795738444/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18197022.Delta_James">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18197022.Delta_James</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-61808921822103325882023-12-14T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-14T06:00:00.142-05:00Spooky Writer’s Planner by Loren Rhoads and Emerian Rich - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN-jFYPRoWJTFGY99OkZNt-EU-w_v-0ru9UJb3PctyUDsBZMMTc-Z8PtkdEd3MixJgrTa1PMoJ5IZFDjubmXCTcuH_mj8mL8DVUwtkIqdu__thrW7enj7gibvuxcEs8E_SfPYQ6d3RFkJ8Pmkc-tfgKTynNfcsqbYnYkcafQsPdPm0LshGHM9Eqhmf1yq/s820/Spooky%20Planner%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN-jFYPRoWJTFGY99OkZNt-EU-w_v-0ru9UJb3PctyUDsBZMMTc-Z8PtkdEd3MixJgrTa1PMoJ5IZFDjubmXCTcuH_mj8mL8DVUwtkIqdu__thrW7enj7gibvuxcEs8E_SfPYQ6d3RFkJ8Pmkc-tfgKTynNfcsqbYnYkcafQsPdPm0LshGHM9Eqhmf1yq/w400-h153/Spooky%20Planner%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbABCWdQgDPv4_GmxltoK_hor-dbI-OtG814sh0XKj_CzL_cl06o0TxjBB1hnMoyuxko5JOy4OdukthmavNtp5lx-yhb5OL7NZfs3qS_GUR8Q2kC6FzjoR5hdY_9Sb1qYHh8ukFZ0dgoV_R4bmjzZtzECTp0-yl0HHRhgM6Ksp4pjmHwpVpS7dnHq2ZU/s2480/Holiday%20Recipe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbABCWdQgDPv4_GmxltoK_hor-dbI-OtG814sh0XKj_CzL_cl06o0TxjBB1hnMoyuxko5JOy4OdukthmavNtp5lx-yhb5OL7NZfs3qS_GUR8Q2kC6FzjoR5hdY_9Sb1qYHh8ukFZ0dgoV_R4bmjzZtzECTp0-yl0HHRhgM6Ksp4pjmHwpVpS7dnHq2ZU/w400-h84/Holiday%20Recipe.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Absolute Best Red Lentil Soup</b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Loren Rhoads</b></div></b>
<br />
When you’re trying to carve out some writing time on a rainy (or snowy)
Saturday, it’s great to put together some soup – and then write while it
simmers. This is one of my favorites.<br />
<br />
1 tablespoon olive oil<br />
1 medium onion, finely chopped<br />
2 medium carrots, finely chopped<br />
1 rib celery, finely chopped<br />
1 cup dried red lentils<br />
2 T tablespoons tomato paste<br />
½ teaspon ground cumin<br />
pinch of ground red pepper<br />
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth<br />
6 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt or sour cream<br />
<br />
Heat oil in medium pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery
and sauté about 3 minutes or until vegetables start to soften.<br />
<br />
Stir in lentils, tomato paste, cumin, pepper, and broth. Raise heat to high and
bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until
lentils are soft and soup is thick.<br />
<br />
Ladle into bowls and top each with a tablespoon of yogurt or sour cream.<br />
<br />
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<!--[endif]--></span><div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ430Prg0b_X04bzp014Vs3D4CzpMhcmkiyAPse7A4PAj6xdrz9Urt1xB17vx1P40Bwz-n14RVRTD-M4pK3kdchgQRYCgrEEOAWNIgpjd_p_vc0oPRHtPLKq9_Wm8r_NmJVL-Q7LwCuCEAZfCcLEgP7n4Mj9yynBDGQBC38PJjoqf-5q46v15x6kViHAm6/s1084/Rhoads%20Spooky%20Planner%20cover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="872" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ430Prg0b_X04bzp014Vs3D4CzpMhcmkiyAPse7A4PAj6xdrz9Urt1xB17vx1P40Bwz-n14RVRTD-M4pK3kdchgQRYCgrEEOAWNIgpjd_p_vc0oPRHtPLKq9_Wm8r_NmJVL-Q7LwCuCEAZfCcLEgP7n4Mj9yynBDGQBC38PJjoqf-5q46v15x6kViHAm6/s320/Rhoads%20Spooky%20Planner%20cover.png" width="257" /></a></div>Spooky Writer’s Planner</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Loren Rhoads and Emerian Rich</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: nonfiction planner</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: HorrorAddicts.net</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: November 2020</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 9798560168698</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 361</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Emerian Rich</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Get organized this year!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Are you a horror author who wants to take your career to the next level? Do you write dark fantasy, paranormal romance, spooky poetry, or morbid nonfiction? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Would you like to advance farther in the direction of your dreams?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Spooky Writer's Planner includes:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">13 months of monthly and weekly calendars</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Monthly goal and recap sheets</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Weekly check-ins and note pages</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Writing challenges, prompts, and brainstorming pages</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Trackers for submissions, pitches, and contacts </span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Marketing, newsletter, and blog planners</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Check-off sheets for website maintenance, social media updates, and expenses</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Available in Digital and Print</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkAATjLixjE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkAATjLixjE</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">See An Excerpt Here: <a href="https://dl.bookfunnel.com/noi4i2rset">https://dl.bookfunnel.com/noi4i2rset</a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The quick-download
version gives you a digital copy so you can print the pages you need and print
multiples of those you'll use the most. Create your own Frankenstein's Monster
of a planner! These black & white pages are designed to be printed on 8.5 x
11-inch paper. Put them in a three-ring binder or bind them with disks or a
spiral, your choice. Use it year after year after one purchase! <br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/920797923/spooky-writers-planner">Available
from Etsy</a><br /></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Spooky Writer's
Planner is perfect-bound with a glossy cover, printed on high-quality 8.5 x
11-inch paper. Everything you need is included in one handy book that you can
grab and go!</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3S36qQs">Available
from Amazon</a></b><br />
<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtVd0N_l9dSjpM_ZqSBOLgKEHHbh0WVrSYwM7mfKID6Fx4lvACjOCUUO5T8uoxQJIWJnRfTu_2mUxuG7tIIRjIDLnDerg4xKjQYIoi2onKSHHpX8CQRujWLQrDAodUGqAnvaeqKsWFDI2uFhlzYhr-hM2iAo6HZonkALJ4hreOfW2SO8NPlzIT4TJ0Fc/s1280/Rhoads%20SWP%20sample%20pages%201.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtVd0N_l9dSjpM_ZqSBOLgKEHHbh0WVrSYwM7mfKID6Fx4lvACjOCUUO5T8uoxQJIWJnRfTu_2mUxuG7tIIRjIDLnDerg4xKjQYIoi2onKSHHpX8CQRujWLQrDAodUGqAnvaeqKsWFDI2uFhlzYhr-hM2iAo6HZonkALJ4hreOfW2SO8NPlzIT4TJ0Fc/w400-h225/Rhoads%20SWP%20sample%20pages%201.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D4NISla-3mzA0bUZ8DLY3TkquHR7s4W38OQq0fU-_-InSzRqezA1vodACU0j8KQBCi5HQNgYehGO5gUY_x-XFrCrCg9Z9HuFWAD3xAQ6M30fW-LGw-LajRB-2-uO1yW9VI7zEJZHBB2XPyG0yjkyNLt-pxMaUySyWDfRHxdTPugki2nYiHb2cyGBg90Y/s1280/Rhoads%20Headshot.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="852" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D4NISla-3mzA0bUZ8DLY3TkquHR7s4W38OQq0fU-_-InSzRqezA1vodACU0j8KQBCi5HQNgYehGO5gUY_x-XFrCrCg9Z9HuFWAD3xAQ6M30fW-LGw-LajRB-2-uO1yW9VI7zEJZHBB2XPyG0yjkyNLt-pxMaUySyWDfRHxdTPugki2nYiHb2cyGBg90Y/s320/Rhoads%20Headshot.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Loren Rhoads writes dark fantasy, horror, and science fiction, sometimes all at once. She’s the author or editor of 18 books, including 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die and Unsafe Words. She serves as a writing mentor for the Horror Writers Association. She has taught workshops on reading your work in public and submitting proposals and pitches to publishers. Find out more about her work at LorenRhoads.com </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Blog: </span><a href="https://lorenrhoads.com/blog/" style="font-family: georgia;">https://lorenrhoads.com/blog/</a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/morbidloren">https://twitter.com/morbidloren</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/morbidloren">https://www.instagram.com/morbidloren</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/aa9545b2ccf4/lorenrhoads">https://mailchi.mp/aa9545b2ccf4/lorenrhoads</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LorenRhoadsAuthor/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/LorenRhoadsAuthor/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/morbidloren.bsky.social">https://bsky.app/profile/morbidloren.bsky.social</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Loren-Rhoads/e/B002P905PE/">https://www.amazon.com/Loren-Rhoads/e/B002P905PE/</a> </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RNHTIoFKk2FiJqadD1VlNO1HBz89x8mShghfl2Dd3wHAOXOfaeA9dDwZJYui34a4rR77r7-1dBLGdhpUKo9cUgtQ-GwpzqdnibRqDMiwIlW-JXUp7s8S8eyzEwTHc_RaGLncEAVY4NPm0mei6M0EBtsIeGp-O6wIqn1jmtrO5tcE0HpE4OsHFjXOA2zI/s1080/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RNHTIoFKk2FiJqadD1VlNO1HBz89x8mShghfl2Dd3wHAOXOfaeA9dDwZJYui34a4rR77r7-1dBLGdhpUKo9cUgtQ-GwpzqdnibRqDMiwIlW-JXUp7s8S8eyzEwTHc_RaGLncEAVY4NPm0mei6M0EBtsIeGp-O6wIqn1jmtrO5tcE0HpE4OsHFjXOA2zI/s320/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VoW0Kd_VnDqCgkMkUFEYm03IxkkquSmK-ZHZJZGEt9anAPrjLCYilQiOCV2ZG0UJzcILEUdpgUQIGtfQOpKWMd_-lOtb9MCfLgswfUBTgzgHwi3yyidSUgW1B7hLFYnE9ZGLID5o7QNyWUC9rPt_MQ4zSlB8sLl7AH_8MKrBrb2UFYR9hAgd6l3qYNum/s2304/Giveaway.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VoW0Kd_VnDqCgkMkUFEYm03IxkkquSmK-ZHZJZGEt9anAPrjLCYilQiOCV2ZG0UJzcILEUdpgUQIGtfQOpKWMd_-lOtb9MCfLgswfUBTgzgHwi3yyidSUgW1B7hLFYnE9ZGLID5o7QNyWUC9rPt_MQ4zSlB8sLl7AH_8MKrBrb2UFYR9hAgd6l3qYNum/w300-h400/Giveaway.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2207" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2207/" id="rcwidget_1mtrdrw7" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-19681620973447843692023-12-14T01:00:00.011-05:002023-12-14T01:00:00.134-05:00In the Kitchen with Nikki Rae - Recipe for Homemade Chai Tea #InTheKitchen #ChaiTea #TeaRecipe<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPN-53Jq930PoqGdYMz44IHtEnUcA0DeMlVaL0oJRLXy98g1X8NjpIISfs4oYa5_Zqw48yAFaMzavHN8j_suFSOWOe8y2mQ6C1GvPMp0nctC8qPgBLiHsZVlXYNTeFHVAULMGp1-GQQ0LGHjdFIZYIXdSMA9bnSzv62yY2LOXXzMIQWTU1VSkPyFCrpQz/s820/Slither%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPN-53Jq930PoqGdYMz44IHtEnUcA0DeMlVaL0oJRLXy98g1X8NjpIISfs4oYa5_Zqw48yAFaMzavHN8j_suFSOWOe8y2mQ6C1GvPMp0nctC8qPgBLiHsZVlXYNTeFHVAULMGp1-GQQ0LGHjdFIZYIXdSMA9bnSzv62yY2LOXXzMIQWTU1VSkPyFCrpQz/w400-h153/Slither%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This time of year, one of my favorite things to drink is Chai tea. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over the years, I’ve come up with a not-so-specific recipe. It’s anything but precise, so add as little or as much of the ingredients as you like to make it your own!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>What you’ll need:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A pot with a lid</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A strainer with small holes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A jar or other kind of storage container</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Ingredients:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Water (however much you want to make)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Your favorite black tea (3-4 teabags depending on how much water & how strong you like your tea)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ginger</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cinnamon sticks</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Peppercorns (I like mine spicy so I add a good amount)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cardamom Seeds (this is the “Chai” flavor to me)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Star Anise (optional)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step One: Prep</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Peel however much ginger you like and cut into chunks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crush cardamom seeds with the back of a spoon to release the fragrance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step Two: Cook</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Add water and all the other ingredients except for the tea (we’ll use those later to avoid burning the leaves) and bring water to a boil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Boil for a minute or two and then wait for it to simmer for as long as you want, really, but probably no more than five minutes just to be safe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Turn off heat, add tea/tea leaves, and cover for 2-3 minutes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Strain liquid into heat safe container & discard the solids.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step Three: Enjoy!</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Add milk and sugar if you like or drink it as is.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You really can customize this to your tastes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sometimes I’ll add dried orange peel or experiment with other herbs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pretend you’re making a potion and have fun! You can keep it refrigerated until you want to heat up more for up to a week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlXzlqv6DHQi01jofJL71ay3KKCG58p18Fr0F-dLvNaf5_I5kRIwLTfcw42AkBktzNMIFJwH8Dkg9NF154d1N_DgHw9dukN5Kra2RIzE69KwDZRSr_rxcmXYQmr3PBhqsJRmwyX-gmCL5P_H1fNEoLpk-Ieis_cMhFznv37Xm6NvGtZFzWnB131svLoj_/s2560/Slither%20ecover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlXzlqv6DHQi01jofJL71ay3KKCG58p18Fr0F-dLvNaf5_I5kRIwLTfcw42AkBktzNMIFJwH8Dkg9NF154d1N_DgHw9dukN5Kra2RIzE69KwDZRSr_rxcmXYQmr3PBhqsJRmwyX-gmCL5P_H1fNEoLpk-Ieis_cMhFznv37Xm6NvGtZFzWnB131svLoj_/s320/Slither%20ecover.png" width="200" /></a></div>Slither</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Shadow and Ink Series </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book Two</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Nikki Rae</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Dark Paranormal Monster Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Nikki Rae</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: December 14, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CNSFBY1V</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 340</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 98,921</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Nikki Rae</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Some cycles repeat for a reason, but is this one worth fulfilling?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plunged into darkness after an eerie ritual, Corbin finds herself torn between the reality of her life with her mother and the nights she spends with Six. Even though she wakes alone every morning, the nights they spend together are worth it. Suspicion and unease surround her, drawing Jordan closer and closer while Six disappears deeper into the shadows.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Obsessed, Corbin sketches only him. As his monstrous image becomes clearer, etched in ink and gold, the pair and Jordan are enticed into a sensual world meant to feed him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Six is reluctantly forthcoming with information about his origins and the mystical connection between the three of them. He has no control and little concern for the human world he affects with his mere presence—even when no one can stop the consequences.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CNSFBY1V"><b>Amazon</b></a><b><br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></b></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b></b></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You’re here.” I wasn’t sure whether it
was for my comfort or his, but I was relieved nonetheless.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Yesss. I heard it directly in my ear. I
smelled fire on him. Leaves, earth, and flames. Alwaysss.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">A breeze wafted through my hair,
tickling my shoulder. His presence calmed me, and I felt like for the first
time all day, I wasn’t holding my breath. I wasn’t waiting to hear or see him.
I wasn’t constantly anticipating when and in what way Six would appear because
he didn’t need to. He was with me as much as any other vital organ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">In the span of one summer, I had gone
from hearing his disembodied voice and believing I had lost my mind to
accepting that all of it was true. Now when I thought of us together, it made
no sense how we had ever been apart. Why I would try to push him away, defy
some ancient law of nature?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Can you come closer?” I whispered,
staring straight ahead, out the window. “I won’t look.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I sat on the edge of my bed and it
wasn’t long before I felt the mattress sink in on either side of me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">A soft breeze moved the curtain. A car
drove down the street. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I kept my promise and didn’t direct my
gaze anywhere but the sky outside my window. I could feel him parting my hair,
strands swaying on their own until I felt his mouth against the back of my neck
again. From the corner of my eye, I watched the shadows grow into lengths of
multiple arms that pulled me toward him, completely supporting my weight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I am right here, my love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Bands of scales wrapped around my
middle, draped themselves over each thigh. Little by little, my head inched
upward so all I could see was the pink canopy above my bed. I felt the trace of
claw marks just beneath my chin, the strong hand around my throat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Are you pleased with your gifts, little
one?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I nodded against him, surprised even
now at how solid he felt behind me. “Thank you, Six.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I have so much more to give you, he
cooed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Before I could stop anything, I fell
backwards, into a stain shaped like him. Legs splayed open, my arms were also
restrained above my head, but he surrounded me at the same time. The darkness
was weighted, warm. I wasn’t afraid to let it creep across my field of vision and
obscure everything in sight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">So many ways I could please you, my
flower. My lace of light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Warmth traveled up my back, throughout
my chest and down into my belly. His tone left no question as to what he might
mean, so I decided to feed into it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Show me, then.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">It came out more of a challenge than
I’d intended, but I liked how it sounded. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">An echo of whispers met me and I
realized it was laughter. Always demanding your proof.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><br />
<b>About the Author:</b></p></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA36FzzJyracIEd3exxye6JXvb8Ni0gRokcEm7qPOqx1TAUXF6bOmUDEsFixs7fUz6ZzWJdCQhdrPNgPy4w6_JfMFHbCLIe5zRxvv5uescKnl-QrPCc5NWgz2pVPaNf_J9KsERU4zQoi8lrFcHVQxrUb6FVEKgchnCWyGDvRowDyKbtC2GYds2O6U1zqA4/s1080/Nikki%20Rae%20Author%20Photo.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="854" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA36FzzJyracIEd3exxye6JXvb8Ni0gRokcEm7qPOqx1TAUXF6bOmUDEsFixs7fUz6ZzWJdCQhdrPNgPy4w6_JfMFHbCLIe5zRxvv5uescKnl-QrPCc5NWgz2pVPaNf_J9KsERU4zQoi8lrFcHVQxrUb6FVEKgchnCWyGDvRowDyKbtC2GYds2O6U1zqA4/w158-h200/Nikki%20Rae%20Author%20Photo.jpg" width="158" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nikki Rae is the head editor of Metamorphosis Editing Services and a writer who lives in New Jersey. She is an independent author and has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists. She is the author of The Sunshine Series and concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. She writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she'll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://bit.ly/3uAW40A" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3uAW40A </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/Nikkirae">https://www.patreon.com/Nikkirae</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tiktok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@nikkiraeauthor">https://www.tiktok.com/@nikkiraeauthor</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nikkiraeauthor/">https://www.instagram.com/nikkiraeauthor/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nikki Rae Readers: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1608190742758480">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1608190742758480</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1608190742758480/user/100063628450351">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1608190742758480/user/100063628450351</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbt4htVlUg_ifntV_Uw1jN7LY_BtvCqW1t0iFf3pvVV31xz8XZUfURH3Ofu8Mg2b0Cl4onbEHVP4rt4R3_o04hBbR8VLkygtvsRH7hDZi-D5zcuB2FbH2TbfulVrcp_MokQnNyvYcXb4mm6NGsO2rYx73LOyXg-nQC2YdzeKiBmYoNhZIks9g9kImNPA/s1080/Slither%20Instagram%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbt4htVlUg_ifntV_Uw1jN7LY_BtvCqW1t0iFf3pvVV31xz8XZUfURH3Ofu8Mg2b0Cl4onbEHVP4rt4R3_o04hBbR8VLkygtvsRH7hDZi-D5zcuB2FbH2TbfulVrcp_MokQnNyvYcXb4mm6NGsO2rYx73LOyXg-nQC2YdzeKiBmYoNhZIks9g9kImNPA/s320/Slither%20Instagram%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2212" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2212/" id="rcwidget_bvdx5e5n" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-61337839244801436422023-12-13T03:30:00.001-05:002023-12-13T03:30:00.141-05:00Cover Reveal Abandon Station by V. G. Harrison #ScienceFiction <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqfY7oKlpxrhFSMqaHW8dYfwpGw26WnV1QnaiJuLIhYtQDz020OsXu78Www57mwMLDVeV_Vm6E9us00cUajt7BPqe0DllG9XCATQ7mb2BLBjNHTg8R-jF7f66fPCyxK-ysJsskdPTvoZF_y5ONQEtJ-J-8Llh4XjLNJddhz9pvDIiU5mH3N8OCuRDkTjc/s820/Cover%20Reveal%20%20abandon%20station.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqfY7oKlpxrhFSMqaHW8dYfwpGw26WnV1QnaiJuLIhYtQDz020OsXu78Www57mwMLDVeV_Vm6E9us00cUajt7BPqe0DllG9XCATQ7mb2BLBjNHTg8R-jF7f66fPCyxK-ysJsskdPTvoZF_y5ONQEtJ-J-8Llh4XjLNJddhz9pvDIiU5mH3N8OCuRDkTjc/w400-h153/Cover%20Reveal%20%20abandon%20station.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYjOQmhFI9cBP1F87gdoAOZV3_P6GDFdUtSu3bOJaXIQw3MVE_AVGCK7pcwonjN2_BmtpgQEWRlz6i3BukijGk9_sGCUPlE21UhjQPD3Dg590S5XaQLZzDeHarQ-4RyvRivQjE5fHsxXvNsRjBr8EIQtLJY-gL4QZX1W-d52EAp1YJIXd6MPqsDqSB0Qi/s2399/abandon%20station%20bc.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2399" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYjOQmhFI9cBP1F87gdoAOZV3_P6GDFdUtSu3bOJaXIQw3MVE_AVGCK7pcwonjN2_BmtpgQEWRlz6i3BukijGk9_sGCUPlE21UhjQPD3Dg590S5XaQLZzDeHarQ-4RyvRivQjE5fHsxXvNsRjBr8EIQtLJY-gL4QZX1W-d52EAp1YJIXd6MPqsDqSB0Qi/s320/abandon%20station%20bc.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Abandon Station</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>The Dyson Bridge Series, </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>V. G. Harrison</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Genre: Science Fiction</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Date of Publication: 1/31/2024</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Number of pages: 84</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Word Count: 22,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Cover Artist: Maya Preisler</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Tagline: Some planets just aren't worth saving.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">An explosion rocks the Bridgeway Space Station. Mechanical Engineer Meridia Vail and her crew wake to find themselves on an alternate Earth where the technology is decades behind theirs, and so are the politics. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">When she realizes their space station survived the interdimensional transport to an alternate space and time, she and her crew have only one mission. Get back to the Bridgeway so they can return to their real home.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Time is running out. If the metabolic changes that come with their teleported space station don’t kill them, the politics and secret agendas will. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Returning home makes sense, but that’s assuming there’s a home to return to. When Meridia learns the Bridgeway’s decaying orbit threatens to annihilate the planet, the Earthers will be more than happy to take their chances by destroying the greatest technological marvel of all time.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">With members of Meridia’s international crew scattered across the planet and being detained, she must escape her “caretakers”, if she and her people ever have a chance at saving the one thing that might be able to save everyone.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><a href="https://mochamemoirspress.com/">https://mochamemoirspress.com/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><p class="normalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></p><blockquote><p class="normalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The door opened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I sat up and reached for the light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Don’t,” a familiar voice said. “They don’t know I’m here
and I want to keep it that way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Who doesn’t know you’re here?” I asked as panic swept
across me. “Who are you and what do you want?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“It’s me, Meridia. It’s Julio.” The older man appeared in
the light reflecting from the TV. He looked every gray-hair of his age, but
there was something about his eyes that weren’t right. His entire visage seemed
worn and weathered beyond his fifty-nine years. He continued toward my bed with
sweat dripping from his short, gray curls. “We have to get out of here. They
want to use us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Use us for what?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Don’t you hear them talking? They want to suck the
information out of our brains. They’re going to attach us to machines that will
take the wormhole knowledge out of us, then use that information to build
bigger weapons. They won’t rest until they’ve brought the rest of the world to
their knees.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Oh boy.</i> I jumped out of bed and hurried toward him to grab his
arms. “Calm down, Julio. These people don’t want to hurt us. They want our
knowledge, so it would hurt them to hurt us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“No,” he said, shaking his head. His gaze pleading. “You’re
wrong. I’ve seen the machines. They do it round after round after round. You
had your first tests today, didn’t you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Julio it was just—”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">He tore away from me. “Don’t you get it? The wormhole is <i>ours</i>. We created it. It belongs to us.
Not them.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">This wasn’t the same Julio Ferrera I knew. A fusion
physicist who was already on his way to greatness even before he joined the
astronaut program, he was our Chief of Scientific Research and an accomplished
Air Force Major. This guy in front of me was a lunatic who needed more care
than they could ever hope to give him here. Seeing my friend and colleague like
this wrenched my heart. I wanted to hug the fear out of him but knew it
wouldn’t make any difference. He needed more help than I could give him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Relax, okay?” I started toward the small desk where there
was a phone. “I’m going to call someone to help you. Maybe they can give you
something to help you sleep.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Julio tackled me to the floor. “You have to listen to me,
damn it! Listen! They’ve hidden away more Americans than just us, so they can
experiment on them more. Some of them are still up there on the Bridgeway just
waiting at the beck and call. Leave them frozen until they’re needed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I squirmed away from him enough to grab the leg of a small
side table. I smashed it across his upper back and head. Dazed, his grip
loosened. I wiggled my legs out from underneath him, but he charged again, grabbing
the back of my nightshirt. Threads tore as he dragged me down again. This time,
he clawed his way on top of me and got his hands around my throat. He squeezed
hard like he wanted to snap my neck in half, yelling for me to listen to him. I
punched and clawed at his arms, fighting and kicking. Anything to free myself
as a burning sensation heated up my lungs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">“You’re one of them!” He shouted, his eyes crazed. “They got
to you. You can’t tell them anything—I won’t let you!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">My bedroom door slammed open. Several people ran into my
bedroom and wrestled him off me. I rolled onto my side and grabbed my neck,
struggling to suck air into my writhing lungs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="normalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times;">The orderlies threw Julio on my bed where a man wearing a
pair of black slacks sedated him. Dr. Tommen knelt on the floor next to me, but
I waved him away. I didn’t want anyone touching me. For all I knew, they did
this to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</blockquote><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison, enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can't sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she's not writing, she's an IT manager for a healthcare information systems company. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, and connecting with her daughter, A.J., on a cool level. Building Lego sets at night with milk and cookies on the side come in handy for that. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.vgharrison.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vgharrison.com </a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.vgharrison.com/blog-1">https://www.vgharrison.com/blog-1</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyxPEstBdzoitEdN2TnbxZ7Xf2uNpd3Iu0se4LL-SpalyG0CpgWYvSt1QFjZCBD-h8jmLsBPYH4FPMy9zLo6PjvnnXtxQPCwO8KMTk7XRFzrcsv91PElasKQjSZBNlPbUegRyGrfpVMW0cW0zFDZRK6rWvay3JjE0rYnGy1-rEMCV8tseA2Dsgj6a11P_/s1080/Cover%20Reveal%20%20abandon%20station%20Instagram%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyxPEstBdzoitEdN2TnbxZ7Xf2uNpd3Iu0se4LL-SpalyG0CpgWYvSt1QFjZCBD-h8jmLsBPYH4FPMy9zLo6PjvnnXtxQPCwO8KMTk7XRFzrcsv91PElasKQjSZBNlPbUegRyGrfpVMW0cW0zFDZRK6rWvay3JjE0rYnGy1-rEMCV8tseA2Dsgj6a11P_/s320/Cover%20Reveal%20%20abandon%20station%20Instagram%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2211" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2211/" id="rcwidget_rb22x7km" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-50609958941680956892023-12-11T06:00:00.015-05:002023-12-11T06:00:00.146-05:00In The Garden with Alex Thornbury #InTheGarden #AuthorsGardening<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y8q9_BiLBGOS_-ZyakvkHzcVyBiVP9KvKsMi6Uy-Ftu8n9hoALxx3gjU5bA0OinOeDUHW-dS_ivDF2S_B0fkQsDhmj38poN4fITAyQySY5yssQRfcGboDzD6xZNhqtRu9BTlI5TNVW89kYwfr3tKpIb3kIG0PbLGTbMDDZG-Tx65QJMR66qJnQAYlVVP/s820/_Rogue%20Mage%20Tour%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y8q9_BiLBGOS_-ZyakvkHzcVyBiVP9KvKsMi6Uy-Ftu8n9hoALxx3gjU5bA0OinOeDUHW-dS_ivDF2S_B0fkQsDhmj38poN4fITAyQySY5yssQRfcGboDzD6xZNhqtRu9BTlI5TNVW89kYwfr3tKpIb3kIG0PbLGTbMDDZG-Tx65QJMR66qJnQAYlVVP/w400-h153/_Rogue%20Mage%20Tour%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Gardening with Alex Thornbury. Why gardening is a perfect companion to writing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When asked about my hobbies outside of writing, my first and most unreserved reply is “gardening”. Spending long hours behind a computer, I find there is a natural draw to being in the outdoor space during my breaks. It is where I go to allow my mind to wander into new realms and their inhabitants, as I clear the space for new seedlings, or simply enjoy watching the fruits of my labor grow into something beautiful or edible. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have always been a gardener, whether I lived in one room as a student, in an apartment with a balcony or on acreage, as I do now. I have grown in pots on windowsills, balconies, even tree stumps, and every inch of soil I could find. Saying that, don’t get me wrong, I am not a good gardener. Actually, I am pretty dreadful. Trouble is, I am inherently too lazy to weed my garden regularly enough, and to feed my plants often enough. Then I end up half-killing myself trying to bring the garden back to scratch at the end of the growing season. I have lost more plants than I could name, through either dreadful neglect or just not knowing how to meet their inexplicable and unvoiced demands. Simply watering them just does not seem to work. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, as a largely inadequate and lazy gardener, who loves gardening with a passion despite that, I have some tips I would love to share with others like me. These are personal learnings from decades of gardening in different spaces and different climates. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFZjSU60cu7ywJ2KQpBVUJFmhBRA88UPDDofePTuFjfcuVLvTXx4sVeCfHZ41Kh9TRDhba8G5ZHcml3D3LXKT0wSMZqweB7KVwM7INinFJ2C598KYYeehiRrFAVfJI4JKBCqBVx343jeD8-EX25KLNOulsFqE89YxcZMREqQA_JH9HE0pecI7uVUbkRk/s664/image%20(11).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="664" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFZjSU60cu7ywJ2KQpBVUJFmhBRA88UPDDofePTuFjfcuVLvTXx4sVeCfHZ41Kh9TRDhba8G5ZHcml3D3LXKT0wSMZqweB7KVwM7INinFJ2C598KYYeehiRrFAVfJI4JKBCqBVx343jeD8-EX25KLNOulsFqE89YxcZMREqQA_JH9HE0pecI7uVUbkRk/w320-h240/image%20(11).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first tip is to start a worm farm, no matter how small or large, if you have any outdoor space, even a balcony. Mine is just a store-bought box with three layers for worms and a tap for taking the worm juice. Easy. This is a perfect way to turn your kitchen scraps into an absolute miracle potion and the best compost you’ll ever find. Sickly plants will be brought back from near death to take over your garden. Be careful not to overfeed, though, especially in hot weather. I lost a few edibles like that. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9sXxSMYkRbzylLZMVVpuHEvMy_vw6lBoLmeS_D6NSDn_84ZNUg2a-Xn0GDCUiP_iTbeM6XRxGbo5SOF0fgrffcs3Prfe4yISN2cobVw1_5fa992s-Wp-LeMTqwbNlRo5O4Nw44Pa5Xc8pzoNXP5lGq156B6wN92Q3K3-mhk6iuZnBufHUYgx3ndfk4c/s708/image%20(12).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9sXxSMYkRbzylLZMVVpuHEvMy_vw6lBoLmeS_D6NSDn_84ZNUg2a-Xn0GDCUiP_iTbeM6XRxGbo5SOF0fgrffcs3Prfe4yISN2cobVw1_5fa992s-Wp-LeMTqwbNlRo5O4Nw44Pa5Xc8pzoNXP5lGq156B6wN92Q3K3-mhk6iuZnBufHUYgx3ndfk4c/s320/image%20(12).png" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The second tip is to grow what grows best in your climate, soil, or location. Honestly, I have tried with endless enthusiasm to grow my favorite ingredients, such as tomatoes, in my weedy back garden. I failed each and every time with the same unfaltering disappointment. So, I found new favorites to grow in my climate, like pineapples, mangoes and bananas, exotic and delicious. Why fight it?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And my last tip … Do regular weeding. Even if it's just a little. This one is mostly a reminder for me. I have so far ignored this sage advice and will likely continue to ignore it, for I am inherently lazy and would rather sit back on a hot day with a cool lemonade (oh who am I kidding? It’s a cold white wine spritzer I am sipping with a slice of pineapple on top.) and watch the weeds grow. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_xVbbYEWUSGpy9E_kNUrgG07WxaWIiy1QsSGYoVhyD1PNtNc26tZyzCQPo0bov5eu77l1og3YPxLHDOy2-s94r96GgNnaof1101Pns5CF1Q4WvhD16U3nkSZOahq-VX4g2Ao1DTupWREnciU_dRf6D_tQlqj2tpds2kuxSCGqjCoTUHDZECXFXm4tI2N/s3264/The_Rogue_Mage_eBOOK_COVERv2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="1973" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_xVbbYEWUSGpy9E_kNUrgG07WxaWIiy1QsSGYoVhyD1PNtNc26tZyzCQPo0bov5eu77l1og3YPxLHDOy2-s94r96GgNnaof1101Pns5CF1Q4WvhD16U3nkSZOahq-VX4g2Ao1DTupWREnciU_dRf6D_tQlqj2tpds2kuxSCGqjCoTUHDZECXFXm4tI2N/s320/The_Rogue_Mage_eBOOK_COVERv2.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>The Rogue Mage</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Sundered Web </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book Two</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Alex Thornbury</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Shadow Lore Publishing</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 5th December 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-0-6454970-4-5</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0BW35KXPZ</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 550</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 190,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Alejandro Colucci</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: For humankind, she would be the monsters’ monster. She would be their fear in the night. She would be the terror come for them. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elika crosses the Bridge to Magic to find the world ruled by magic, where nothing is as it seems. Mages run the streets, whilst the tsaren, their masters, war with each other. Though it is men who pay the price with their lives.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Faced with the injustice of the mages and the new world order, Elika discovers her own untapped gifts that may yet shift the balance of power back into the hands of men. But her dabbling in the power she does not understand draws the attention of the dreaded demigod Syn’Moreg.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elika must now outwit the shadow that hunts her, whilst seeking a way to free mankind from their oppressors. Yet dark grows her heart, and to darkness it reaches for that which the shadow denies.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">As whispers of a newly found heir to the Sacred Crowns grow to cries of war, Elika comes to realize that she may not be the savior of mankind after all. Mite has proclaimed himself King Northwind, and marches on Terren to claim what is rightfully his. Elika is certain he will fail, unless she can vanquish the one power standing in his way. But to do that, she must convince the court and the archmage that she is the demigoddess Arala returned.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW35KXPZ">Amazon</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b></b></p></span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: times;"><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Excerpt:</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Aeon-Greengrass’
house was easy to find, illuminated as it was with moonlight. The chimney was a
weave of branches, and grass grew from the walls. She peered down from the edge
of the roof to a small balcony, and silently lowered herself onto it. The tree
branches stirred under her feet, then stilled. Instead of a window, an airy
opening, with black webbing barred her way inside. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘Open,’
she commanded in a whisper, pushing her will into the surrounding essence, and
felt the answering quiver. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The
black strands parted, and she strode inside into a darkened lounge. Had she
come here to rob, she would have needed ten sacks for all the loot. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Every
surface was crowded with silver ornaments in strange shapes and flowing forms
that resembled nothing you’d find in nature. She was drawn to a figurine that
resembled a twisting, spiralling shape of a man, as if his body was made from
water. Another figurine was of a dog, his earthly form also looped and
stretched around itself, a grotesque torment of the natural order.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">There
were trees and flowers and animals, all twisted and bent. Yet there was an odd
beauty in the grotesqueness that tugged at her primal heart. Was this how they
saw her world? Strange that these ugly beings searched for beauty and crafted
it in their own appalling way. <br />
What do you want from our world? she pondered. Surely your own is of much
greater splendour, abound as it is with magic and wonder. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Dangerous
musings, she thought, and abruptly turned away before her resolve wavered. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Inside
the house, there were no doors, only archways in the walls of branches with
strange, whimsical fruit sprouting from their tips. No fruit was the same, and
when she touched one, it felt hollow and light as if spun from dust and wishes.
Under her foot, there was a carpet of grass. In it grew small flowers, akin to
those a child might draw with a stick in the mud, both extravagant and clumsy
in their form. The petals were of different sizes and irregular in shape.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Everything
here gave an impression of simultaneous worship and corruption of nature, as if
the Laifae did not understand how it all fitted together. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">At
the end of the hall, she came to a doorway. A black web barred her way. Beyond
it, she felt his essence, the creature who gave this house its form. She
focused on that essence, placed the hand on the webbing and whispered, ‘Do not
resist me.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Warm,
slick strands trembled under her fingers and parted before her, allowing her
entry into the majren’s bedchamber. A light glowed in a lantern beside his bed,
illuminating the youthful face of the sleeping mage. He was a youth … no, the
body he had stolen belonged to a youth whose limbs still had not developed the
bulk of a full-grown man. It was an absurdly wrong body for the man who held
such an important position in the archmage’s dominion. Curled on his side, he
looked like a child in peaceful slumber. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The
child is dead, she reminded herself, willing the anger to grow. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Still,
she could not look at him and do what must be done. She sent a black tendril to
extinguish the flame in his lantern, and the room was plunged into darkness. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Aeon-Greengrass
startled awake and sat up. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘Who’s
there?’ He moved his face searchingly, back and forth, past where she stood. <br />
She froze, realising that he was blind in the dark of night. His ears were
sharp, however, and he must have heard her intake of breath, or perhaps the
frantic beating of her heart. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘Guards!
Guards!’ He shouted from inside the dead man’s chest, a sound akin to a
strangled roar. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Without
further thought, she grasped the threads of his essence and pulled. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘No!
Spare me. I have gold and riches.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘Riches
you earned by selling the lives of men.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘Who
are you, mistress?’ he gasped.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In
reply, she pulled harder upon the threads. He groaned and writhed and finally
fell lifeless back onto his bed. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">‘A
life for a life.’ She uttered the mantra from long ago, which they had lived by
on the streets.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">And
something inside her grew cold and dark. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A
crack under her feet … she plunged through the floor and hit the lower level
with a rough thud. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She
groaned, rolled, noting that nothing was broken, and looked up. But of course,
she thought, with the Laifae gone, so was his magic. The grass floor morphed to
rotting wood, decayed and barely holding the house together. The walls of the
house were wilting and vanishing, and the stones which had been held firm by
black webbing began to crumble and crash around her. <br />
Elika scrambled to her feet, raced to the window and jumped out. Behind her,
the house fell to rubble and dust chased her down the street. Shouts and calls
came from the folk as they emerged to gape at the rubble she had left behind.
When she was out of their sight, she slowed to a walk.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A
wind brushed her hood. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She
stopped, and her heart raced with recognition and fear.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The
wind blew again, stronger this time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She
knew that wind. Knew it as well as her own breath. She had lived beside the
dark chasm most of her life, had listened to the shrill screams upon it. But
she was far from the chasm, and the wind of the Abyss did not travel far past
it. Yet here it was, filled with biting rage, swirling around her. And on it,
she felt a dark presence. Something followed her that was not a man.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She
spun around and probed the deep, lurking shadows of the night, straining her
ears to listen to the silence hidden by the wailing wind. A terrible power drew
near. She felt its approach in the depths of her bones. The very essence of the
world bent and trembled beneath it. It charged the air with its rage. A pulse
of that rage went past, and a tremor shook the ground beneath her feet. She
staggered but managed not to fall, turned again, trying to see where the
nearing storm was coming from. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">It
stilled, as if also listening. Then, as if it caught her scent, the terror
charged towards her. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She
darted for the closest rainwater pipe and, in an instant, scrambled up it to
the roof, lay flat on her stomach and peered over the edge. No one was there.
No sound, no movement in the faintly lit street. Still, the sense of danger
prickling her skin was a physical sensation she could not ignore. Something was
there, seeking her, scanning the roofs where she had climbed. Aye, there were
eyes searching for her, brushing past her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Darkness
moved, and she saw it, a shadow darker than the night untouched by moonlight.
It moved and vanished. And the winds of the Abyss grew still.</p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She rolled away from the edge and stared up at the
moon, waiting until she was certain the shadow had left. Then she rose and ran
home.</p></span></div><div></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB06iceP7hCYp8VSeCv9hZlUP2n1H1dY4g0lePlH6zuGXx-IWTDIK_3QNsRVAVpVB0zr0nNm1R41oyzwmTo_-WCs87Yj2yJdM7W632WRVmdDaN0F9z-6q2WBXQQ7hxJO2jbm_phhJzOqMk_RdUJ4w8f1WZWNE1gJWjNte-ozlmJ7hTsChQovxcwNWgHhPN/s4739/AlexThornbury.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3164" data-original-width="4739" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB06iceP7hCYp8VSeCv9hZlUP2n1H1dY4g0lePlH6zuGXx-IWTDIK_3QNsRVAVpVB0zr0nNm1R41oyzwmTo_-WCs87Yj2yJdM7W632WRVmdDaN0F9z-6q2WBXQQ7hxJO2jbm_phhJzOqMk_RdUJ4w8f1WZWNE1gJWjNte-ozlmJ7hTsChQovxcwNWgHhPN/w200-h134/AlexThornbury.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Alex Thornbury is an award-winning author. She grew up in Cheshire UK, and developed deep love of history and fantasy thanks to the many castles she visited as a child. Though she grew up to be an Alchemist by trade, she never stopped fantasising about other worlds, dragons and epic battles.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website or Blog: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/">https://alexthornbury.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury">https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury">https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/">https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/">https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKIobxsJ0bE_Q8UOkfM3sTULJtZH-KANll5MAjNspeMpDqdGfuDGEOhRtOH9VrFKEqxe04KHeaLVkKFo4qOZAJ6DkssJe1FlbDU0CKKKl5MbFf3GFuiYCCq1TvtcfweBH1UQeAyt8nOtOcDNr9g9lqj9iPVzXkclOFstP1kGd_x7TCpDXJGQmiuiM6imN/s1080/_Rogue%20Mage%20Tour%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKIobxsJ0bE_Q8UOkfM3sTULJtZH-KANll5MAjNspeMpDqdGfuDGEOhRtOH9VrFKEqxe04KHeaLVkKFo4qOZAJ6DkssJe1FlbDU0CKKKl5MbFf3GFuiYCCq1TvtcfweBH1UQeAyt8nOtOcDNr9g9lqj9iPVzXkclOFstP1kGd_x7TCpDXJGQmiuiM6imN/s320/_Rogue%20Mage%20Tour%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-81027057759776406382023-12-08T06:00:00.011-05:002023-12-08T06:00:00.142-05:00 In the Kitchen with J.N. Sheats #InTheKitchen #ChocolateToffeeBitCookies <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS5kfzyAcAp1mJRGpqnGAhT29L0rHg6K0Xi0xtsSEKyZ6SGJoAXcDim6EYT7428814r9XAaeAMepgnDMPev-9zXASU-07ufzojZ2aEwodhtj0SY3undKWK1FFiIMfR8H-I9GsozxxNWgFnwdNs2iKmxIC1MVf3fXxy4mvmgsHqw_MUrz-OmUZpjIcmYJB/s820/Dreamscape%20Tour%20Banner%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS5kfzyAcAp1mJRGpqnGAhT29L0rHg6K0Xi0xtsSEKyZ6SGJoAXcDim6EYT7428814r9XAaeAMepgnDMPev-9zXASU-07ufzojZ2aEwodhtj0SY3undKWK1FFiIMfR8H-I9GsozxxNWgFnwdNs2iKmxIC1MVf3fXxy4mvmgsHqw_MUrz-OmUZpjIcmYJB/w400-h153/Dreamscape%20Tour%20Banner%20(1).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since Christmas is right around the corner I want to share with you guys my Chocolate Toffee Bit Cookies!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 1/4 cup Flour</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 tsp Baking Soda</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1/2 tsp Salt</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, Softened</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3/4 cup Sugar</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3/4 cup Brown Sugar</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 tsp Vanilla</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 Eggs (room temp)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 cups Chocolate Chips</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 cup Toffee Bits</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Instructions:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Preheat oven to 375 degrees.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mix eggs, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until creamed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mix flour, baking soda, and salt and combine.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Add dry ingredients to creamed eggs and sugar. Combine until completely mixed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fold in chocolate chips and toffee bits.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Scoop out with spoon onto cookie tray, and bake for 10-12 minutes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Enjoy warm with milk, coffee, or tea!</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcHAMPt5MHmU4GVVUPtqpggrodO0dv5TUSwq23CJLi_pofR9zRnkwCZ9AjhtItE-KLAvIJDR4KxdIIgaJytW3evWGblgmGl1MlSjCf-9mHfOHIJPZJSLx9q0DR8RnNNttYw7J35z1lLGpp9ymbkqjkgRgPr1hSHbIOJcp4e9qBzpm3H3TXUXChcbj4Sur/s2625/Dreamscape_ebookcover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2625" data-original-width="1622" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcHAMPt5MHmU4GVVUPtqpggrodO0dv5TUSwq23CJLi_pofR9zRnkwCZ9AjhtItE-KLAvIJDR4KxdIIgaJytW3evWGblgmGl1MlSjCf-9mHfOHIJPZJSLx9q0DR8RnNNttYw7J35z1lLGpp9ymbkqjkgRgPr1hSHbIOJcp4e9qBzpm3H3TXUXChcbj4Sur/s320/Dreamscape_ebookcover.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>Dreamscape</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>JJ Morris Series </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book 2</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>J.N. Sheats</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Mystery/Horror/Paranormal Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: J.N. Sheats</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 12/05/2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0CKB8Q4HZ </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: J Edward Neill </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Supernatural meets Witches of East End in a twisted dream.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now a college student, Joey is finding college life comfortable. But studies prove to be more difficult than facing down a horde of black dogs. Struggling with her average life now that the supernatural world has been opened before her, Joey is constantly distracted. Pulled between wanting the standard life of a college student, and the allure of the paranormal. Unfortunately, Portstown has been quiet since the “Great Hunt” of last year, that is until a random fire on campus occurs, and people start going missing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Disregarded as a student prank, Joey brushes the incident off until she catches Gwen looking into it. Why would one of the guardians from the mysterious Warner family be looking into a silly student prank?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">More questions arise when fires start popping up all over campus, and Joey’s dreams turn violent under the control of the Dream Conductor with their twisted intentions. Gathering the group back together Joey must figure out what is happening to the missing people, who is starting the mysterious fires on campus, and what does the Dream Conductor want all while conquering finals. Will Joey pass this semester or will she fall into her deepest fantasies?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKB8Q4HZ"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Amazon</span></b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6jqLCBonY7eB-h2gKDjyoi6yxGroGQaRt5VwYQsaRBlx0AubcBklt_MPWkhhp5jsoGTBBRF6k5rcWLF2lp8CFeqOjTfBwrtLn2JOFNR_C3PFxUTwGScbgUoZYMr7Gl9lIjxqmvQYNvB43UDTJZKVWDW7wxU83buG5ga2UmqCD-Hn32SAfDpbSgLK-CQ/s851/DreamscapeBanner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="851" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6jqLCBonY7eB-h2gKDjyoi6yxGroGQaRt5VwYQsaRBlx0AubcBklt_MPWkhhp5jsoGTBBRF6k5rcWLF2lp8CFeqOjTfBwrtLn2JOFNR_C3PFxUTwGScbgUoZYMr7Gl9lIjxqmvQYNvB43UDTJZKVWDW7wxU83buG5ga2UmqCD-Hn32SAfDpbSgLK-CQ/w400-h148/DreamscapeBanner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">In the history of insane ideas, this was high on the list as I stood at the edge of the cemetery looking out over a sea of headstones. This was the last thing I wanted to face down, but I had to know if I was right about the fire. If I was then someone was in trouble. I heard it in the dream, someone calling out for help. Then again I heard a lot of people calling for help the other night in my dreams, still I had an anxious feeling about this fire.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I tried calling the police and the firehouse, but I couldn’t get a word out. I didn’t want to send them to the chapel if there was no fire. What if the fire wasn’t going to be for awhile? Like the other night. It took hours for the fire to happen after I woke from my nightmare. The time before that it was within moments. Which was it going to be this time? They could come, find nothing and leave. Then the fire starts and they respond too late. Too late for what, Joey?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">It was a building, an old building. So what if it burned down, there would be no harm done and there were no houses in danger around it. Who cared if the crappy little chapel disappeared, but that cry for help nagged at me.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">The idea of calling Gwen crossed my mind, I even stood there with my finger hovering over her number, but what was I going to say? “There is going to be fire because I said so”? I couldn’t explain how I knew where the fire was going to happen, I simply knew. Deep in my subconscious somewhere I knew without a doubt the chapel was going to burn, and the longer I waited the stronger the feeling grew. Instead of making the call I settled on checking out the chapel for myself first. If I found nothing then fine, I would go back home and call it a bad dream. If I did find something, well I had my phone with me. I could call Gwen right there. I simply had to make it through the graveyard. At night.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Daring a step forward I took a deep breath and shored up what courage I had. Inside I prayed I didn’t run into any black dogs, or fire demons, if those were a thing. Taking another step I let out the breath and ventured another step. One right after another I made my way across the graveyard toward the chapel half a mile away. I could have avoided the graveyard and walked up to the sidewalk parallel to the cemetery, but this was the fastest way to the chapel. In the back of my mind it felt like time was running out, so through the graveyard it was.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Shadows danced off of the gravestones as I walked, making me flinch from time to time. Once or twice I let out a little yelp as the breeze picked up and shifted the long grass that needed to be mowed. It didn’t help that it felt like someone was watching me. The little hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, and the smolder of eyes on me chilled my blood. Coming to a stop short of the chapel I stood near one of the mausoleums and looked at the chapel more carefully. I mean, running in when it could burst into flames at any moment wasn’t the best idea. So I took time to study the outside.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">The windows were dark, no light came from within. Outside it was quiet, dead quiet aside from the winter wind blowing. Dry and arctic, but refreshing against my heated skin. I stood there studying the lines of the old chapel and the curling paint chips that were flapping against the wind. Everything looked normal and fine, quiet and still.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">“Meow!” Jinx yelled next to my ear on the mausoleum. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">“What the hell, in heaven.” I gasped, jumping away and feeling my heart in my throat.</span></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaaNwLHtZuiH9rO7j1pdti4eneXUVtNgMD13B_-CFmxarjuB-Ac_SDaoAuMaHshsg2G3SQsb1AhNBbaESB6_wddR2I_-OJbEfiyK-AEgOdEpBQdgtCpj6xu-Tg9f5Q9UuGDWju5EaCGq4oq60VWlcD4HRmCrTfkCbXLYKdxEnXzHKGtu5dgOghyphenhyphenHj4e9CB/s1194/author_pic.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="922" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaaNwLHtZuiH9rO7j1pdti4eneXUVtNgMD13B_-CFmxarjuB-Ac_SDaoAuMaHshsg2G3SQsb1AhNBbaESB6_wddR2I_-OJbEfiyK-AEgOdEpBQdgtCpj6xu-Tg9f5Q9UuGDWju5EaCGq4oq60VWlcD4HRmCrTfkCbXLYKdxEnXzHKGtu5dgOghyphenhyphenHj4e9CB/w154-h200/author_pic.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">J.N. Sheats is an artist turned author. Living in Maryland with six wild cats, and her husband, J.N. spends her days designing book covers and teasers for other authors. At night she is at the mercy of her demanding characters, and their wild fantasies.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dark Paranormal Fantasy is her preferred genre of writing, but anything is game. Maybe even a lovely romance novel or two in the near future.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When not writing, designing, or drawing, J.N. spends her time doing a host of other activities. Including: gardening, jewelry making, cooking, and watching far too much television.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Author Website: <a href="http://www.authorjnsheats.wordpress.com">www.authorjnsheats.wordpress.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Blog: <a href="http://insidetheinsanitycm.blogspot.com/">http://insidetheinsanitycm.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jsheatsart">www.facebook.com/jsheatsart</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/jnsheats">www.amazon.com/author/jnsheats</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jnsheats">https://twitter.com/jnsheats</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvzTr9WMpRLEhKRC6vx4z_5079TYKRc9N1RGZZzIxiTHvGE1vwg4b4CAmevQmgJZL1rFkB9s0gzShiBZ13rrXZnLg6oeLYTz5MjGbp0ekK0Y7eRp7dv6asqEq4u6act3v8QRP2KgqX8qeIk2kr9hL4GFwQjGAQxdfPzpA4b9ydgI-xB0dCgynKSzfuYIF/s1080/Dreamscape%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvzTr9WMpRLEhKRC6vx4z_5079TYKRc9N1RGZZzIxiTHvGE1vwg4b4CAmevQmgJZL1rFkB9s0gzShiBZ13rrXZnLg6oeLYTz5MjGbp0ekK0Y7eRp7dv6asqEq4u6act3v8QRP2KgqX8qeIk2kr9hL4GFwQjGAQxdfPzpA4b9ydgI-xB0dCgynKSzfuYIF/s320/Dreamscape%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2209" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2209/" id="rcwidget_c4vv2qkm" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-83676003727390747282023-12-06T01:30:00.001-05:002023-12-06T01:30:00.143-05:00Boss Level by Allyson Lindt - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhVhf0NgVvDXham_t6toFKPBud7Ke3wshBsZogJevTq02O3BJHFROSipbiAr94bO0MS1f27csVOkLFF7weFam3mYd0g4vKcFjlj7L3m1bKaMPGTvZ-5LFu73pg4LCQce0f3I083utxyzNsVJ5Gs4WorsJrLlvhkslfpDOOTPKTAP2n5xPZ3qt14Dl7Hke/s820/Boss%20Level%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhVhf0NgVvDXham_t6toFKPBud7Ke3wshBsZogJevTq02O3BJHFROSipbiAr94bO0MS1f27csVOkLFF7weFam3mYd0g4vKcFjlj7L3m1bKaMPGTvZ-5LFu73pg4LCQce0f3I083utxyzNsVJ5Gs4WorsJrLlvhkslfpDOOTPKTAP2n5xPZ3qt14Dl7Hke/w400-h153/Boss%20Level%20Deck%20the%20Halls%20Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXC8GrM4OcT1pZwCiDL2lMqKJbjZGpincpnXLZP_kR12pGHjPzdRIOlOaudMM4rdHgQv8t8tEWeVDYTT08aM5DKYh9mpVAyQohp9sb3ejQd4Wp1IuwCIEXaxMbFiW9WUapi0bZ0dMzQiO5sAtFGk4QZSKIg9QfQmOrfomYYmcZkmhkJgxgifH-Gs27Ai0/s2480/Holiday%20Recipe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="2480" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXC8GrM4OcT1pZwCiDL2lMqKJbjZGpincpnXLZP_kR12pGHjPzdRIOlOaudMM4rdHgQv8t8tEWeVDYTT08aM5DKYh9mpVAyQohp9sb3ejQd4Wp1IuwCIEXaxMbFiW9WUapi0bZ0dMzQiO5sAtFGk4QZSKIg9QfQmOrfomYYmcZkmhkJgxgifH-Gs27Ai0/w400-h84/Holiday%20Recipe.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Holiday
Lemon Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christmas is getting close, and it’s always
been one of my favorite holidays. I love picking the perfect gift for the
people I care about and then seeing their faces when they open it. In my
younger, less anti-social (or rather, less filled with work during normal
hours) days, I could wander the malls forever (back when we had more malls
here. And not really forever, but for a while). I love the lights, the people,
the sounds, the smells…</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">And the cooking. I get all kinds of domestic for
Christmas. Or at least, a little. I like making sweets. The years have taught
me that working with a bunch of guys (is it possible I pull story ideas from
previous jobs? I’ll never tell </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😉</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">), a lot of them single, means that food
makes great gifts for my coworkers.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">One year, two of my best friends at work were
single guys. I found this cookie recipe and pretty much tried it out on them
disguised as a Christmas gift. It went over so well that I’ve made it my go-to
every year. I think the response was something like ‘next time you get bored,
if you wanted to make these again…’. Making these will occupy my kitchen this
weekend, at least for a little bit, because fortunately they’re really quick
and easy to make.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="background: white; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Lemon Cream Cheese Holiday Cookies</span></b><br />
<br />
<i><span style="background: white; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Ingredients</span></i><br />
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<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1/2 cup butter, softened<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 3oz package cream cheese,
softened<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 tablespoon milk<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 teaspoon lemon extract (you can
substitute any kind of extract here. I’ve used cherry and orange as well.
Sharper flavors stand out better)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 1/4 cups flour<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3/4 cup mini m&m’s<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Red and green food color
(optional)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<i><span style="background: white; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Preparation</span></i><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Preheat the oven to 350 F (176 c),
grease 2 baking sheets<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beat together cream cheese and
butter at medium speed<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beat in sugar, milk, and lemon (or
other extract)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(optional) split mixture into two
bowls. Add 2 drops of red food color to one, and 2 drops of green to the
other. Divide flour into two equal parts.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beat in flour, 1/4 cup at a time
until blended.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stir in chocolate chips and
M and M’s</span></li></ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto
greased baking sheets, 2 inches apart.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Using a spoon, flatten each cookie
slightly<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bake cookies for about 10 minutes,
until set and golden.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dd38CbvuByatx8ebYVySsv4RSSabGL2gubloinHJoSEsDIUF5rn_l26pAyOR-fqEUyBBQ8A8AURPrNFON2fcPLph2LkaJ3uZ_fjDJcmAqsyCKCHQlhAQebyCNe94dA1j1V3-OFJV6DV9qz_BZEOwQ7ERSP_BGb9WTK22a8Jt9Sw9d85lWzMqbrXCVVFr/s2700/9781955518291.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dd38CbvuByatx8ebYVySsv4RSSabGL2gubloinHJoSEsDIUF5rn_l26pAyOR-fqEUyBBQ8A8AURPrNFON2fcPLph2LkaJ3uZ_fjDJcmAqsyCKCHQlhAQebyCNe94dA1j1V3-OFJV6DV9qz_BZEOwQ7ERSP_BGb9WTK22a8Jt9Sw9d85lWzMqbrXCVVFr/s320/9781955518291.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Boss Level</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Three Player Tag-Team </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Book Six</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b>Allyson Lindt</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Genre: Erotic Romance</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Publisher: Acelette Press</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Date of Publication: 12/24/2022</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">ISBN: 9781955518291</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">ASIN: B0CJ83FY8P</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Number of pages: 350</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Word Count: 76,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Cover Artist: Romance Premades</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Tagline: Her Fake Fiancé is Her Childhood Sweetheart’s Husband</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Judith</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">It’s lonely at the top.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">I knew it would be when I clawed my way up here, trading away favors and any personal life to get to where I am today, the head of the hottest new video game company in the industry.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">When an old friend calls in one of those favors, I’m happy to help Xander out. His partner, Dominic, needs to impress some conservative clients, and showing up to get-to-know-you dinners with a heavily tattooed man on his arm isn’t the way to do it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">And there are far worse things in the world than pretending to be Dom’s fiancée.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">When the fake kisses with Dominic start to feel real, I realize there’s something missing in my life. Worse, I’m starting to realize I never should’ve let Xander get away.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">But the three of us together will bring everything we’ve worked for toppling down around us. There’s no way love is worth that kind of sacrifice.</span></div><div><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="books2read.com/ALBossLevel">Books2Read</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/46iCSSD">Amazon</a></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMOMvYaiQdaaMy8X8198Da2_BC7-eeavepyZU0KHR_QBx-w6PgbYjKdBZA2o2Hcy-zBwcnaRxkkAn3MX9ydUfz9WBCb-TL27MesliYgjDKgTF4SMaLa55wkZDnGJEP6ElCKK9d4DIN-eoeBekxtnfbno2W2cbTpvRbUACgRb5NwVSLlZb_X3bHj__Hm6L/s1404/AllysonLindtBioPic.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="1075" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMOMvYaiQdaaMy8X8198Da2_BC7-eeavepyZU0KHR_QBx-w6PgbYjKdBZA2o2Hcy-zBwcnaRxkkAn3MX9ydUfz9WBCb-TL27MesliYgjDKgTF4SMaLa55wkZDnGJEP6ElCKK9d4DIN-eoeBekxtnfbno2W2cbTpvRbUACgRb5NwVSLlZb_X3bHj__Hm6L/w153-h200/AllysonLindtBioPic.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Award winning and USA Today Bestselling Author Allyson Lindt is a full-time geek and a fuller-time author. She likes her stories with sweet geekiness and heavy spice, and loves a sexy happily-ever-after. Because cubicle dwellers need love too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Website: <a href="http://allysonlindt.com">http://allysonlindt.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/AllysonLindt">https://twitter.com/AllysonLindt</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Newsletter: <a href="http://newsletter.allysonlindt.com">http://newsletter.allysonlindt.com</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AllysonLindt">https://www.facebook.com/AllysonLindt</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/allysonlindt">http://www.amazon.com/author/allysonlindt</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Goodreads: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7024176.Allyson_Lindt">http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7024176.Allyson_Lindt</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFcG7NQ6K830dY5IgYWqOrfKPTa0WF1iW7FWUn1GCQxCjfaUJPvxN5zDrEnW55g2G6mQnCYJYn_jEcqvjZaMFCNHZfh-5LaUIa8MNC8cmIap6KhNokBbuhWJ40fdgodebDttnUxqu109T9GUT4mxPCkxR7aShwl8MPv9U2B_bUa1DcIo55jDVMmgXOtZA/s1080/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20%20(2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFcG7NQ6K830dY5IgYWqOrfKPTa0WF1iW7FWUn1GCQxCjfaUJPvxN5zDrEnW55g2G6mQnCYJYn_jEcqvjZaMFCNHZfh-5LaUIa8MNC8cmIap6KhNokBbuhWJ40fdgodebDttnUxqu109T9GUT4mxPCkxR7aShwl8MPv9U2B_bUa1DcIo55jDVMmgXOtZA/w320-h320/Deck%20the%20Halls%20Insta%20%20(2).png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZ0dxprpHpyDB_iWI9Dy7QksBDxyRhC3jo5I2-wD0S0vM9bB14-lErtAhoc_4NM4nNqk8yrpqmiaKUXyu_5A5crScN7KUto86O3e7YBo-bsiHniAXaqchuGPXxl4SFCLBz0OQvmYSoVl9TeEP7jClH5HQq0NcFtP5VfMEvYP8aX3XwdaeI4JaUO77f4NB/s2304/Giveaway.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZ0dxprpHpyDB_iWI9Dy7QksBDxyRhC3jo5I2-wD0S0vM9bB14-lErtAhoc_4NM4nNqk8yrpqmiaKUXyu_5A5crScN7KUto86O3e7YBo-bsiHniAXaqchuGPXxl4SFCLBz0OQvmYSoVl9TeEP7jClH5HQq0NcFtP5VfMEvYP8aX3XwdaeI4JaUO77f4NB/w300-h400/Giveaway.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2207" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2207/" id="rcwidget_1mtrdrw7" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-19811692704951811792023-12-05T03:30:00.001-05:002023-12-05T03:30:00.132-05:00Release Day Blitz The Rogue Mage by Alex Thornbury<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtefkHsJJxjBbNiSIUCERRkIFHjb08eznEWyKfGZIYYrtXpETXyfCoSKy-QuWQLzZDh3DdIauPGdYP_NE_ZGdZLIRPKU4ew6YhDNqfaOEM2r63IGHufqgWvH3yyZyJxxlfLtrcaSBBQr6ug1hyphenhypheniGJ3etkLTuv7jhdMSYNq4NZh5b4TyxVwLojG5Pcroq0f/s820/_Rogue%20Mage%20RDB%20%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtefkHsJJxjBbNiSIUCERRkIFHjb08eznEWyKfGZIYYrtXpETXyfCoSKy-QuWQLzZDh3DdIauPGdYP_NE_ZGdZLIRPKU4ew6YhDNqfaOEM2r63IGHufqgWvH3yyZyJxxlfLtrcaSBBQr6ug1hyphenhypheniGJ3etkLTuv7jhdMSYNq4NZh5b4TyxVwLojG5Pcroq0f/w400-h153/_Rogue%20Mage%20RDB%20%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_xVbbYEWUSGpy9E_kNUrgG07WxaWIiy1QsSGYoVhyD1PNtNc26tZyzCQPo0bov5eu77l1og3YPxLHDOy2-s94r96GgNnaof1101Pns5CF1Q4WvhD16U3nkSZOahq-VX4g2Ao1DTupWREnciU_dRf6D_tQlqj2tpds2kuxSCGqjCoTUHDZECXFXm4tI2N/s3264/The_Rogue_Mage_eBOOK_COVERv2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="1973" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_xVbbYEWUSGpy9E_kNUrgG07WxaWIiy1QsSGYoVhyD1PNtNc26tZyzCQPo0bov5eu77l1og3YPxLHDOy2-s94r96GgNnaof1101Pns5CF1Q4WvhD16U3nkSZOahq-VX4g2Ao1DTupWREnciU_dRf6D_tQlqj2tpds2kuxSCGqjCoTUHDZECXFXm4tI2N/s320/The_Rogue_Mage_eBOOK_COVERv2.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>The Rogue Mage</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Sundered Web </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book Two</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Alex Thornbury</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Shadow Lore Publishing</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 5th December 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-0-6454970-4-5</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ASIN: B0BW35KXPZ</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 550</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 190,000</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Alejandro Colucci</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: For humankind, she would be the monsters’ monster. She would be their fear in the night. She would be the terror come for them. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elika crosses the Bridge to Magic to find the world ruled by magic, where nothing is as it seems. Mages run the streets, whilst the tsaren, their masters, war with each other. Though it is men who pay the price with their lives.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Faced with the injustice of the mages and the new world order, Elika discovers her own untapped gifts that may yet shift the balance of power back into the hands of men. But her dabbling in the power she does not understand draws the attention of the dreaded demigod Syn’Moreg.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elika must now outwit the shadow that hunts her, whilst seeking a way to free mankind from their oppressors. Yet dark grows her heart, and to darkness it reaches for that which the shadow denies.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">As whispers of a newly found heir to the Sacred Crowns grow to cries of war, Elika comes to realize that she may not be the savior of mankind after all. Mite has proclaimed himself King Northwind, and marches on Terren to claim what is rightfully his. Elika is certain he will fail, unless she can vanquish the one power standing in his way. But to do that, she must convince the court and the archmage that she is the demigoddess Arala returned.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW35KXPZ">Amazon</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB06iceP7hCYp8VSeCv9hZlUP2n1H1dY4g0lePlH6zuGXx-IWTDIK_3QNsRVAVpVB0zr0nNm1R41oyzwmTo_-WCs87Yj2yJdM7W632WRVmdDaN0F9z-6q2WBXQQ7hxJO2jbm_phhJzOqMk_RdUJ4w8f1WZWNE1gJWjNte-ozlmJ7hTsChQovxcwNWgHhPN/s4739/AlexThornbury.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3164" data-original-width="4739" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB06iceP7hCYp8VSeCv9hZlUP2n1H1dY4g0lePlH6zuGXx-IWTDIK_3QNsRVAVpVB0zr0nNm1R41oyzwmTo_-WCs87Yj2yJdM7W632WRVmdDaN0F9z-6q2WBXQQ7hxJO2jbm_phhJzOqMk_RdUJ4w8f1WZWNE1gJWjNte-ozlmJ7hTsChQovxcwNWgHhPN/w200-h134/AlexThornbury.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Alex Thornbury is an award-winning author. She grew up in Cheshire UK, and developed deep love of history and fantasy thanks to the many castles she visited as a child. Though she grew up to be an Alchemist by trade, she never stopped fantasising about other worlds, dragons and epic battles.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website or Blog: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/">https://alexthornbury.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury">https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alex-thornbury</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury">https://www.facebook.com/author.alexthornbury</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/">https://www.instagram.com/alexthornbury.author/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Newsletter: <a href="https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/">https://alexthornbury.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22845843.Alex_Thornbury</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYCbR6mmbXLw5ny0jeSHu7e9kW17ZYJjvUrBfjk45K2X7H3qNqfB2JcIo8RJgNSYcifaHaJcYQw9DGkDhFUFjY3MvuB7dSF1idGtpoYy0jAsbQJYKwdLRsTzWFqg7-nU1MdLSMvuouBmgQQh9eefmuhiFcaRufflJ1wYaXjnw9-bs8FRpRBslD0ca4-1G/s1080/_Rogue%20Mage%20nstagram%20RDB%20Post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYCbR6mmbXLw5ny0jeSHu7e9kW17ZYJjvUrBfjk45K2X7H3qNqfB2JcIo8RJgNSYcifaHaJcYQw9DGkDhFUFjY3MvuB7dSF1idGtpoYy0jAsbQJYKwdLRsTzWFqg7-nU1MdLSMvuouBmgQQh9eefmuhiFcaRufflJ1wYaXjnw9-bs8FRpRBslD0ca4-1G/s320/_Rogue%20Mage%20nstagram%20RDB%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-7012631589873918482023-12-04T05:00:00.007-05:002023-12-04T05:00:00.137-05:003D Printing with Sean R. Frazier #UrbanFantasy <p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9LCqWAyu6Mjvw1My_TZvh4E8xYxZeh9Tw00ZAwsCtN17PLlQSlis-00OejZxvGIfJTmt9Ev542Ft3W3BwVOCZ61gIYydaCpuTlyZ5DT9FBC7X_37BNK3TgEVXEcl9uYme-4A6JV8DgpYcQDh6Y-pfPCuXFWGgcwsET4AjvVYhChT0XnM9K0mcgcoMfwA/s820/Mage%20breaker%20Banner%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9LCqWAyu6Mjvw1My_TZvh4E8xYxZeh9Tw00ZAwsCtN17PLlQSlis-00OejZxvGIfJTmt9Ev542Ft3W3BwVOCZ61gIYydaCpuTlyZ5DT9FBC7X_37BNK3TgEVXEcl9uYme-4A6JV8DgpYcQDh6Y-pfPCuXFWGgcwsET4AjvVYhChT0XnM9K0mcgcoMfwA/w400-h153/Mage%20breaker%20Banner%20.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I love my hobbies, but I don’t feel any of them are
really unique. Gaming, reading, running … nothing out of the ordinary there.
I’ve been fooling around with archery for a couple years so I guess that’s
probably a bit more niche than the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When the pandemic began, however, I got a bit
restless and splurged on a 3d printer. I had no reason to get one, and
certainly no need, but it felt like a good time to branch out into something
new. If was going to be stuck in the house, I may as well have something new to
play with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">3d printing is both an art <i>and</i> a science. There’s
a lot of trial and error and searching the Internet and asking questions.
Sometimes it’s easy, but sometimes a print will fail repeatedly as you try to
determine what’s wrong. It’s both incredibly fun and painfully infuriating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But the things you can do with a 3d printer are endless
and, before you say “oh, you’re just printing toys and useless things,” I will
tell you I have printed useful objects! Among them are a magnetic sign for the
dishwasher that indicates dirty or clean dishes, a replacement clip for roman
shades, shelf pegs, and even rails to hold my filament spool so I can print
more things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Of course, I’ve also printed videogame weapon
replicas, statues, and various toys and trinkets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The most useful prints, however, lie in between
these two categories. Being a writer, I’m always thinking of new ways to
enhance my presence at events or new goodies to include with book orders. A 3d
printer is absolutely <i>perfect</i> for these endeavors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I was able to create miniatures of my characters, so
I printed and painted them. I now display them when I attend events. I’ve also
printed items that have particular relevance to my books and I use them as swag
and bonus items when shipping books. I’m not the best painter on the planet,
but such an activity adds fun to the process.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I even printed replacement nocks for the arrows in
my other new hobby, because I somehow broke several while learning how to use a
bow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When I started down the 3d printer path, I had no
intention of blending my writing with printing—that just sort of happened
because, every so often, I have a decent idea. 3d printing is only limited by
one’s imagination and it can be considered both fun and practical. There is joy
in both “look at this cool thing I printed” and “I fixed this thing by printing
a new part!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Possibly the best thing about 3d printing, however
is, just like the things you might print, it’s all what you put in. You can be
a casual printer, just dabbling and experimenting, or you can go all out and
decide to print an entire suit of Iron Man armor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It obviously helps to have a friend or two who knows
a bit about the realm of printing but, even if you have that luxury, the 3d
printing community on the Internet is even more helpful, and they’re always
happy to provide advice or help with a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Not that I have any experience with printing
problems…no way, not me. I definitely didn’t break my first 3d printer. Nope.
(it was still under warranty and it was replaced)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I often forget this is a hobby of mine, since I have
blended it with my author side, but it remains a fun distraction and I’m
planning to try my hand at creating my own ideas to print and expand my
horizons.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/143qHjyhgaE?si=bwi_59iB0J16ebMc" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div><br />
<div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Zld2bi_KMqDZwoNJ8L7Ut70ZrAzQZIy3l-i9xqB1ojOOSvFhwW-zExwz9C9yldVy59yjvDVFc0F0NDE34ZBOA5eUgI3NekRzPzaksrMF48oQFG6AW6MX9oIIw5PftsOl1uMae7gkpOu0NK6VUOEfaN_QAo9CGRUWNETieyrmOMaT7a1mQlW7mTuDO4U8/s2560/Mage%20Breaker%20Kndle%20thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Zld2bi_KMqDZwoNJ8L7Ut70ZrAzQZIy3l-i9xqB1ojOOSvFhwW-zExwz9C9yldVy59yjvDVFc0F0NDE34ZBOA5eUgI3NekRzPzaksrMF48oQFG6AW6MX9oIIw5PftsOl1uMae7gkpOu0NK6VUOEfaN_QAo9CGRUWNETieyrmOMaT7a1mQlW7mTuDO4U8/s320/Mage%20Breaker%20Kndle%20thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Mage Breaker</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Mage Breaker Saga </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sean R. Frazier</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Urban Fantasy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Creative James Media</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: November 28, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-956183-56-6</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 350</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 95,030</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Dark Angel Graphic Design</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Magic isn’t a gift, it’s a prison.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The planet Seralune runs entirely on magic, a powerful force regulated by an Alien race known as the Kithrak. An ancient prophecy predicts their downfall at the hands of the most powerful mage ever to live.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ellyne is a gunslinger who reluctantly agrees to assist a woman named Nicole, who is the answer to the prophecy, when the Kithrak discover that Nicole is the Mage Breaker.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Their quest to bring down this powerful threat leads them to the discovery of magic's dark secret. How will they cope when their mission must shift from one focused on their survival to one that must ensure the endurance of the entire human race?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/mB8Oek">Books2Read</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/45Ul2VJ">Amazon</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt:</span></b><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ellyne gently closed her eyes and breathed deeply, listening to the man mutter
his incantation. His deliberate and careful pronunciations were a stark
contrast to Nicole who simply teleported on a whim—as effortless as blinking
her eyes. The Kithrak, too, were more skilled at certain types of magic, though
their ability came nowhere close to Nicole’s. For a brief moment, Ellyne
wondered if Nicole really could have beaten everyone here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> It was an interesting
thought—a thought that was interrupted by hot, searing pain erupting from every
part of her body. She opened her eyes and screamed, feeling as if she would be
torn apart.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “What’s wrong?” someone
asked.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “I … I don’t know!”
Torval replied. “The spell failed! Why’s she screaming?”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “What the hell is going
on?” someone else shouted.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Ellyne would’ve liked
to see the looks on their faces, but she only saw spots across her vision as
the pressure within her mounted, came to a head, and burst outward with a
deafening explosion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The hands supporting
her fell away and she slumped to the ground, her vision dark and her ears
ringing. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, her trying not to pass out,
and she was fully prepared for someone to hoist her back to her feet and drag
her away at any moment.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> But as her vision began
to clear and her hearing returned, she neither saw nor heard movement. There
was no magic battle, no shouts or yells, no flashes of light from spells being
cast—nothing. The sound of her own breathing was deafening by comparison.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> As she struggled to her
feet, standing on shaky legs, she began to see what transpired and wasn’t sure
whether to laugh or be appalled. She staggered forward, stumbling but catching
herself on the bench she’d just a few minutes ago used as cover. It was now
bent, the metal having been twisted and shattered by the car that fell on it mere
moments ago.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “It’s like the Metro
all over again,” she muttered.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[endif]--><span style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fBohvz-JrPHRry12iqps0eqTNQq9MlCHRKzJ5Gj5BBRSQfBRs16eHSMg9JGjjHM15ZHOS5y9CilGOOqZF_hyzVJ1AVjgpiXxC6MX2aPqcnprjP7uw_kbSfS0CGxSV0XqN50HyKa9e8ODrcpY7CGsHhW52zPpU5w7fTIyA7tYj7aeUgoWh1cpFPfEy_2n/s710/Author.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="710" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fBohvz-JrPHRry12iqps0eqTNQq9MlCHRKzJ5Gj5BBRSQfBRs16eHSMg9JGjjHM15ZHOS5y9CilGOOqZF_hyzVJ1AVjgpiXxC6MX2aPqcnprjP7uw_kbSfS0CGxSV0XqN50HyKa9e8ODrcpY7CGsHhW52zPpU5w7fTIyA7tYj7aeUgoWh1cpFPfEy_2n/w200-h120/Author.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Sean Frazier was growing up, he never really paid attention to the written word. It wasn't necessarily something he enjoyed at the time. Once he graduated college, however, the spark ignited and he decided to write something and try to get it published. And it was...well, not-so-great. Truly, it wasn't the highest caliber material ever produced. But the spark was still there, even if it was simply buried deep within.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eventually, that overly-loquacious, meandering work of wordsmithing became his first book, "The Call of Chaos". It took many, many years, but Sean finally rekindled that drive and found that he did, indeed enjoy writing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When he's not writing, Sean enjoys running, playing video games, and spending time with his family. He is a bona fide Halloween zealot, loves hot wings, is a grand master at telling terrible jokes and, oh, his cat can beat up your cat.(He's a total dork.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://seanrfrazier.com/">https://seanrfrazier.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://twitter.com/TheCleftonTwain">https://twitter.com/TheCleftonTwain</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SeanRFrazierAuthor">https://www.facebook.com/SeanRFrazierAuthor</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16064722.Sean_R_Frazier">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16064722.Sean_R_Frazier</a> </span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3UKIPQaln94OT6EBjD9kshlC7xcEkD9kiHxA0cA0RPwaXBZyUxnyzHPby5C3u-pw9Q6LGZoBk1zH8YUJynYyBFauhcE-w-TS5ehBtE9Mb6w6i6jQCSUzpCBPrj_1E2dn_DbH7wRkHmuA1xfk9-c-jKKpHfT6Z5VG0CTZWzVAPRns-O3EpC2kTkm1f7C1/s1080/Mage%20breaker%20Instagram.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3UKIPQaln94OT6EBjD9kshlC7xcEkD9kiHxA0cA0RPwaXBZyUxnyzHPby5C3u-pw9Q6LGZoBk1zH8YUJynYyBFauhcE-w-TS5ehBtE9Mb6w6i6jQCSUzpCBPrj_1E2dn_DbH7wRkHmuA1xfk9-c-jKKpHfT6Z5VG0CTZWzVAPRns-O3EpC2kTkm1f7C1/s320/Mage%20breaker%20Instagram.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2206" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2206/" id="rcwidget_umuqijlt" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-22683915821953397802023-11-30T05:00:00.001-05:002023-11-30T05:00:00.128-05:00Lords of LA #2 by Frank Zanca #GraphicNovel #Vampires #Horror<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWLLpOCON-_7baG-fVDSQl0Gjg-q0ZzB4QCNzFOHenR6MY9Y8bomPTkjzl5a6YVxEq20GKfBEINNpje6MCbXarF_n8tBJyH8CBy6D4hYefaYnmObCkQkxZC3LT8YsNGRSqllFoK9Xb8O9svLaqjYoDLuynKXN7qLVQ7APkKsUITg4AnvLgJp0C8i2-k7n/s820/Lords%20of%20LA%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWLLpOCON-_7baG-fVDSQl0Gjg-q0ZzB4QCNzFOHenR6MY9Y8bomPTkjzl5a6YVxEq20GKfBEINNpje6MCbXarF_n8tBJyH8CBy6D4hYefaYnmObCkQkxZC3LT8YsNGRSqllFoK9Xb8O9svLaqjYoDLuynKXN7qLVQ7APkKsUITg4AnvLgJp0C8i2-k7n/w400-h153/Lords%20of%20LA%20Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpAMGtpzS06484TC8eUGpF9sfX5_-XtAsgNNzzgjhF7iqnQokOhNFKuO3482NbCZPE9WH0OGDMU-LJ97ySWUNTkaszoG58b5JiVkJwCjCZ-He3mAFwsdEb13kWehuIdznWbXdUOV7IzfbGEvNJB9uaAStePRkSm8JqVEKqsm-EvcA0YpCbYYMQwu1x0_b/s5100/Asian%20Girl%201%20with%20text.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5100" data-original-width="3300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpAMGtpzS06484TC8eUGpF9sfX5_-XtAsgNNzzgjhF7iqnQokOhNFKuO3482NbCZPE9WH0OGDMU-LJ97ySWUNTkaszoG58b5JiVkJwCjCZ-He3mAFwsdEb13kWehuIdznWbXdUOV7IzfbGEvNJB9uaAStePRkSm8JqVEKqsm-EvcA0YpCbYYMQwu1x0_b/s320/Asian%20Girl%201%20with%20text.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>Lords of LA #2</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Frank Zanca</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Graphic Novel, Action/Horror</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Destiny Horizons, Inc.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: 11/5/23</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 48</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Joe Sanchez</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: Vampires, the Mob, 1950s Hollywood = Awesome</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lena Morgan was an exotic-looking lounge singer with hopes of achieving the Hollywood dream in 1952. Here dreams were dashed when she became entangled in a lust triangle between the two mob bosses who ruled the city. She found herself turned into a vampire and was forced to leave her newborn son behind for fear of losing control and hurting him. She spent sixty years training to live among humans, building a fortune, and learning not only to fight, but to dominate. Returning to LA, she has one thought, one goal – revenge on both crime families.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Back
this Project on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1169263915/lords-of-la-issue-2-vampire-the-mob-in-1950s-hollywood?ref=5z5b7d">Kickstarter</a></b><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Book
Trailer: <a href="https://youtu.be/yE_UTGba3NE">https://youtu.be/yE_UTGba3NE</a></span><o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_62oMUJVOlUzY3Ybs7rJMnLdwAZVAVNDYPoWNnIzrBGZct3lhO7nDFAP-v7VxE6SygbwWNQ_95rNgrCeEGoTp-iS2PIH2ZULyAPUKf-vQtZXz4yOiGNLPSZItY8SAEUOpTTnC31xEzUUaFvbTTMMl6cC3BXF88SYbwz_sHANwwDkKVA3f3oP165PeLc8c/s1035/ee51a72a9138a23b4b980b7a6239b3bb_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_62oMUJVOlUzY3Ybs7rJMnLdwAZVAVNDYPoWNnIzrBGZct3lhO7nDFAP-v7VxE6SygbwWNQ_95rNgrCeEGoTp-iS2PIH2ZULyAPUKf-vQtZXz4yOiGNLPSZItY8SAEUOpTTnC31xEzUUaFvbTTMMl6cC3BXF88SYbwz_sHANwwDkKVA3f3oP165PeLc8c/w421-h640/ee51a72a9138a23b4b980b7a6239b3bb_original.jpg" width="421" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UI5Htccv6WzZmF7-JTqA05VRlBBMOo-2nQ5r1PsE_6rgInBXxmJnY7AIzE1fOUJEkPcG7XLuB-tTDIZVNtkneTn42j6rjtEwuA3AcBW_tmcKY5vI5XEpm4sRS84h_hM0UKqphRCUhafLrfD1wflYjrAHbotWJjV6ghixzvGudJH002xq4T-3VaRzfX9_/s1036/d2db546328b8db8d60603e88615dbb5f_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UI5Htccv6WzZmF7-JTqA05VRlBBMOo-2nQ5r1PsE_6rgInBXxmJnY7AIzE1fOUJEkPcG7XLuB-tTDIZVNtkneTn42j6rjtEwuA3AcBW_tmcKY5vI5XEpm4sRS84h_hM0UKqphRCUhafLrfD1wflYjrAHbotWJjV6ghixzvGudJH002xq4T-3VaRzfX9_/w420-h640/d2db546328b8db8d60603e88615dbb5f_original.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Frank Zanca is an award-winning writer and producer with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Frank’s first published work was the Shadow Raven comic book in 1995. He has since created the Destiny Aurora franchise, which has been wildly successful in both novel and graphic novel forms. It also spawned a board game, and the audiobook is now available on Audible. Also available on Amazon is Frank’s acclaimed WWII biography Escape from Berlin based on the life of Diane Jacobs.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Frank wrote and produced Six Gun Savior, the Supernatural/Western, starring Eric Roberts and Martin Kove (Cobra Kai), along with Star Trek: Renegades.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Website: <a href="https://www.destinyaurora.net/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.destinyaurora.net/ </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/fzanca">https://twitter.com/fzanca</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/frank.zanca.9/">https://www.facebook.com/frank.zanca.9/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/zancafrank/">https://www.instagram.com/zancafrank/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DestinyHorizons/videos">https://www.youtube.com/@DestinyHorizons/videos</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Frank-Zanca/author/B0B9FNCXXK">https://www.amazon.com/stores/Frank-Zanca/author/B0B9FNCXXK</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goodreads - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14242583.Frank_Zanca">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14242583.Frank_Zanca</a></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE7Ek4ToK7LdYvng4jIkoXl62s_n63zJa_atiMpm05MF4MKpzFzNneLz9EO9DlK_v3cZBqSr3fylQlk23EHm7lCJjbFsLYkdiALVlf6Uq2Vm7KB5dd7XA6LYv8S5RG_wpupsDSPnzGgoYY9FCXoP4_TVlyI6kbHoliqP-mxibYgFJCN698knI80VtyTEI/s1080/Lords%20of%20LA%20Instagram%20Post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE7Ek4ToK7LdYvng4jIkoXl62s_n63zJa_atiMpm05MF4MKpzFzNneLz9EO9DlK_v3cZBqSr3fylQlk23EHm7lCJjbFsLYkdiALVlf6Uq2Vm7KB5dd7XA6LYv8S5RG_wpupsDSPnzGgoYY9FCXoP4_TVlyI6kbHoliqP-mxibYgFJCN698knI80VtyTEI/s320/Lords%20of%20LA%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>
Wenonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06314329676811664257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207426109701329486.post-7892949760733472402023-11-29T05:30:00.008-05:002023-11-29T05:30:00.139-05:00In the Kitchen with Vicki-Ann Bush #YAParanormal<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBowmKko2s4r-caB3CxdaqfmZ9CxgvGiNctX1bdo3Ni04nS21m1u_LteNHgFfpXWpV_aBo7OcExtn01CG2wAGKszxTsmDq1M2FcPZGFH6z2MLwObEoZOgOhM-Ygcfi9wfy4J50zhXT-HwPoTHiGYpK4Df1JuHMcjbauxyYVjDs9vUrDS2IDnHwxC9xEE2/s820/CGeranium%20Deaths%20Banner%20%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBowmKko2s4r-caB3CxdaqfmZ9CxgvGiNctX1bdo3Ni04nS21m1u_LteNHgFfpXWpV_aBo7OcExtn01CG2wAGKszxTsmDq1M2FcPZGFH6z2MLwObEoZOgOhM-Ygcfi9wfy4J50zhXT-HwPoTHiGYpK4Df1JuHMcjbauxyYVjDs9vUrDS2IDnHwxC9xEE2/w400-h153/CGeranium%20Deaths%20Banner%20%20(1).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Great-Great Gram’s Olio e Aglio with Ricotta</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 lb. Angel Hair or Spaghettini Macaroni</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Olive Oil</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Salt</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Black Pepper</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4 Fresh Garlic Cloves – Sliced</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">15 oz. Whole Milk Ricotta</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Large Pot</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Small Pot</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Colander</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fill the pot ¾ full of water put on high flame. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let boil and carefully pour macaroni from box into the water, lower to medium flame. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cook until tender. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pour the macaroni into the colander and drain thoroughly. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pour enough oil in small pot to cover bottom. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Add cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brown the garlic and pour the mixture over the macaroni. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stir and serve with a dollop of ricotta.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note: This seems to require a lot of salt and pepper. You might need to add more to your individual serving</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvOEPgjVeVZXwni-0mPUnagT1daWcmSB2DTJctTIO0DATiq-6oQDIUPF1-ycpBIqmqSzQCDHhcM88xdwD-7sS6Bgb5gcN0W2dxv4n35VlFBOn8Djqgu_4VwLVwwC5oKojzplkgvkVvxo3Y0kSjuCVeAL7h3OzSnvjaLmR1XlfNltQK1TVFLdI0jWoy2E9/s2560/Alex%202023%20Kindle%20thumbnail%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvOEPgjVeVZXwni-0mPUnagT1daWcmSB2DTJctTIO0DATiq-6oQDIUPF1-ycpBIqmqSzQCDHhcM88xdwD-7sS6Bgb5gcN0W2dxv4n35VlFBOn8Djqgu_4VwLVwwC5oKojzplkgvkVvxo3Y0kSjuCVeAL7h3OzSnvjaLmR1XlfNltQK1TVFLdI0jWoy2E9/s320/Alex%202023%20Kindle%20thumbnail%20(2).jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Alex McKenna and the Geranium Deaths</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Alex McKenna Series </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Book One</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Vicki-Ann Bush</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: YA Paranormal</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Publisher: Creative James Media</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Date of Publication: October 17, 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">ISBN: 978-1-956183-42-9</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Number of pages: 316</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Word Count: 87837</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover Artist: Dark Angel Graphic Design</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tagline: The Dead Need Him</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Book Description: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The dead need him.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Seventeen-year-old Alex McKenna is a transgender boy who comes from a rich history of Strega witches. Possessing the ability to communicate with the dead, he uses his talents and understanding of what it means to be different to bridge the gap between the living and the beyond. With his girlfriend Margaret and his spirited great-grandmother by his side, Alex helps lost souls resolve their earthly connections and move on.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When a series of murders plagues his neighborhood, Alex discovers the gruesome truth behind a sixty-year span of deaths and the sinister being responsible.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Will Alex save the next victim and stop the murderer for good? Or will this be his final case?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/bOeG2o">Books2Read</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/4645zmg">Amazon</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><div><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Excerpt:</span></b></p>
<span style="font-family: times;"> The shadow slowly turned its attention to
Alex. He stood tall, not showing the fear that was ravaging his body.<br />
“Alex, be careful,” warned his mom. <br />
“It’s okay.” Alex stood firm.<br />
The dark figure let out an ear-piercing screech, and Alex
buried his head in his jacket. Again, it changed its focus and twisted toward
the back seat of the car—Wilby. It held the statue down toward the earth, and
the car started to rock back and forth.<br />
“Wilby!” his mom screamed as she struggled to break free.<br />
Alex’s heart pounded; the death freeze of the dark spirit
was coming, and it was very close.<br />
“Ma, that thing is summoning the beast!” Alex’s voice
dripped with fear.<br />
“Alex, I don’t know what to do. I can’t move. Is Wilby
still sleeping?”<br />
“Yes.”<br />
“Good.” She wiped her upper lip with her sleeve. “What if
he wakes up?”<br />
The vibration in his front pocket distracted him. Alex
slipped out his phone; his gram’s picture lit up like a beacon.<br />
“Gram, we’re in trouble,” Alex whispered.<br />
“I know. Listen carefully, Bonzetta. Tell your mother we
are going to use the prayer of light. I will do what I need from here.”<br />
“What do I do?” Alex’s palms dripped with sweat from
anxiety, and he nearly dropped the phone.<br />
“Just repeat what we say, okay?” <br />
“Okay.”<br />
He didn’t want to shout their plan, so he texted it to his
mom. “Ma, look at your phone.”<br />
She slipped it out of her purse and read the message.
Then,nodding in agreement, she waited.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: times;"></span><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlf2oZsCaZLVlfAKaPpswy9DDZKBi70qcrj_fWF_I5ffg5_V_sr9H-hqwL1OGjkYOYMcyPL4gVTiDTRUPjUNUUd-4a3hvR09-0p9qi5FXXvCO3A8alAQCe5NzVpe9rCxJkB4FgpMokM97UrkIBagu2t4LPLuHGfMXy_N07PZoxi9VKDYEGnxNeZcsqTi_O/s3993/Author%20pic%20(3).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3993" data-original-width="3005" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlf2oZsCaZLVlfAKaPpswy9DDZKBi70qcrj_fWF_I5ffg5_V_sr9H-hqwL1OGjkYOYMcyPL4gVTiDTRUPjUNUUd-4a3hvR09-0p9qi5FXXvCO3A8alAQCe5NzVpe9rCxJkB4FgpMokM97UrkIBagu2t4LPLuHGfMXy_N07PZoxi9VKDYEGnxNeZcsqTi_O/w151-h200/Author%20pic%20(3).jpg" width="151" /></a></div>About the Author: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Originally from New York, Vicki-Ann currently resides in Nevada. Writing Young Adult paranormal, she finds inspiration from events that have been in her life for as long as she can remember. Inheriting the sensitivity to the supernatural from her family, they continue to be an endless source of vision. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">When not writing, she enjoys watching movies with her husband, their loveable great Dane, Cuba and their baby girl, Curie, a little Chua Chua/Yorkie mix. Other past time faves include, dinner with family and friends, going out to breakfast, and sipping wine on the patio of a lovely Italian restaurant.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">In 2022 Vicki-Ann signed a two book publishing deal with CJM Publishing. Coming in 2024, the YA paranormal romance, The Darkest Light, and a New Adult sci-fi, Liminal Space.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.vickiannbush.com " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.vickiannbush.com </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://twitter.com/vickiannbush">https://twitter.com/vickiannbush</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/VickiAnn.Bush.Author">https://www.facebook.com/VickiAnn.Bush.Author</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2947321.Vicki_Ann_Bush">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2947321.Vicki_Ann_Bush</a></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0J-Rve6PNHdYOJhT0RERtVjBdTbnlZRKZUpx8Sksxk8cRGMNnoYqi4_gYX4bLroZ2hbMBvlepLHee5ls__fbQTZZ0ghDGWFZ21jhRE6c-yfpbHma5TSWSgOIuzll31l5Nl3PYqPGTTlLQ-iu74LiwNqTRkCblKsYhqeR4MuJlnsZZq3S4UG8jJAcrCgE/s1080/CGeranium%20Deaths%20Instagram%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0J-Rve6PNHdYOJhT0RERtVjBdTbnlZRKZUpx8Sksxk8cRGMNnoYqi4_gYX4bLroZ2hbMBvlepLHee5ls__fbQTZZ0ghDGWFZ21jhRE6c-yfpbHma5TSWSgOIuzll31l5Nl3PYqPGTTlLQ-iu74LiwNqTRkCblKsYhqeR4MuJlnsZZq3S4UG8jJAcrCgE/s320/CGeranium%20Deaths%20Instagram%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ba112ffc2205" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc2205/" id="rcwidget_9lye4agj" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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