tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71697899356119073982024-03-07T03:43:18.734-05:00Romance Can Be Murder - Author Glenys O'ConnellWhere Romance, Mystery, Murder and Comedy Roam The Web Together - Along With News, Writing Tips, And More.Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-72629175660356951942022-05-06T16:54:00.003-04:002022-05-06T16:55:01.354-04:00<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> I just love this pretty layout for The Bride's Curse, Book One in The Wedding Bliss series.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the blurb: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Kelly Andrew's store, Wedding Bliss, is the one-stop for all a
bride's needs. Abandoned by her own fiancé, she hopes to make it easier
for brides by planning their ceremonies down to the last detail. But one
little problem keeps her from being successful. Three brides have
brought back the same vintage gown saying it was responsible for dashing
their dreams. Brett, the nephew of the original owner of the dress,
needs to get the gown back. Impossible since Kelly sold the garment and
claims the gown is cursed. Brett's confusion at her words deepens when
he discovers she communes with ghosts. Yet, when a contrite spirit comes
forward, with a message, Brett goes along on a wild-bridegroom chase.
Passions flare as they work to break the wedding hex before another
bride's dreams goes up in flames.</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Many Thanks to The Wild Rose Press and to Renee Johnson!</span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img alt="Image" class="css-9pa8cd" draggable="true" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E25AIITVkAQG-_f?format=jpg&name=small" /> <br /></p>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-84780077210955340862022-01-28T13:30:00.001-05:002023-05-16T16:30:28.289-04:00<p style="margin-left: 120px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My Writer's Life: Rise and Fall & Rise Again!</span></span><br /></p><p> </p><h2 style="border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch;"></h2>
<div style="border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-dX3bfT1epHjBFXP2YoJuAXQkv8MCXiIjgj4DVrhgXLPxuKn4eigk0PNC9SaVo989uDEPujbH0wf619ll30CrHrZ4xmnXIdA8HpTbAq0OrfnpAVv-NLDxuFbHe5jmhrh5BGl1KyjXzKPRWjBQ02fWWGCLsSAlX2LmQ0NEjFbhJQO6dCmJNaXgjPH_=s273" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="273" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-dX3bfT1epHjBFXP2YoJuAXQkv8MCXiIjgj4DVrhgXLPxuKn4eigk0PNC9SaVo989uDEPujbH0wf619ll30CrHrZ4xmnXIdA8HpTbAq0OrfnpAVv-NLDxuFbHe5jmhrh5BGl1KyjXzKPRWjBQ02fWWGCLsSAlX2LmQ0NEjFbhJQO6dCmJNaXgjPH_" width="273" /></a></span></div>
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</div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That's pretty much the story of my life as a writer. Rise & Fall and Rise...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I knew I was a writer when I was four years old, and the need - yes, it's a need - never quite left me. My patient father had taught me to read and write when I was about three, but he didn't expect the course of those events. Like when my first essay was a challenge to my Sunday School teacher's insistence that God would send bad people to suffer in Hell. At four, I nearly became the youngest person to be thrown out of Sunday School in disgrace...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, as time went by, I decided I was going to start my writing life working as a journalist. It seemed to fit, somehow. When I was about ten I wrote to one of the biggest daily newspapers in the UK, asking for a job. I must have pleaded my case quite well, because I got a letter back from a senior editor telling me I wrote well, but perhaps I should wait until I was about 18 and reapply...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But jobs were in short supply. I got out of school at 16, needing to make a living. I went to work for the National Health Service...and that didn't last long. Seems I had a bit of a problem questioning procedures I thought could be done more efficiently.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ditto for the auto parts service I worked at for a while...until I finally irritated the managing editor of another newspaper by calling him every week to ask for a job.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"We don't really employ women," he told me.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ooh, yes, that was like waving a red flag to a bull. Persistence ran high. I had a job with his newspaper within two months...and he hired more women after me.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I loved being a journalist, worked for a variety of big newspapers and will always look back fondly on the people I worked with and (most) of the people I interviewed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But something was missing.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I realized I needed to write fiction (no snide remarks about newspapers, please!)<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So I wrote my first & second books, contracted to a small company at the very birth of ebooks.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That company scammed its authors. All the signs were there, but I was an innocent in the cut throat world of publishing.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Still, on to another publisher...and another...until I finally reached one of the Big Five. Simon & Schuster.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I was soo very happy there...until they closed down the division that published my books - and those of about100 other authors. With less than a couple of hours notice.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Like I said, it's pretty cutthroat out there.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At the same time, I was undergoing treatment for stage three breast cancer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Chemo fog had me in its grip. Couldn't think, couldn't write, didn't know what the future held.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thought my writing days were over.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But apparently it wasn't so. The books that S & S abandoned were picked up by another successful publisher, and another great publisher took a couple of my other books.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm writing again, even though at times it's a struggle.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The up and down and up of a writer's career can really wear a person out.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But writing is like a virus in the blood - there's no cure.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You just keep on and on...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if you're a writer going through one of those down times, don't give up. Keep on writing! </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Sure, you just put pen to paper, or open a computer file and start tapping away. Or, as a well known writer whose name slips my mind at the moment (happens a lot these days) said,"You just open up a vein."</span><br /></p>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-62625939297139996292021-05-10T14:45:00.002-04:002021-05-15T15:15:06.758-04:00<h2 style="margin-left: 120px; text-align: left;"> Take a Peek at The Bride's Curse!<br /></h2><p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Delighted to announce that The Bride's Curse, Number One in the Wedding Bliss Series, is now published by The Wild Rose Press and available for pre-order! </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What do a Wedding Planner, a Jilted Bride, a Missing Groom, and a Ghost With a Bad Conscience have in Common? <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>https://tinyurl.com/yg6cq8fp</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's the Blurb:<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mhbP19oMYZdUuveOYWMDs-jyBBQeacP1VpcLekip-x8zweDg5Q-iU5N4_QQtSkEtC1yfUGHizqsniIJ-ZPhhYtfouJ1D-_SDFMeMQ_31gNzAEdc5vy9gX4kT439xvC1_AabGO-WVEGo/s300/TheBridesCurse_w9240_300+pic2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mhbP19oMYZdUuveOYWMDs-jyBBQeacP1VpcLekip-x8zweDg5Q-iU5N4_QQtSkEtC1yfUGHizqsniIJ-ZPhhYtfouJ1D-_SDFMeMQ_31gNzAEdc5vy9gX4kT439xvC1_AabGO-WVEGo/s0/TheBridesCurse_w9240_300+pic2.jpg" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Kelly Andrew's store, Wedding Bliss, is the one-stop for all a bride's needs. Abandoned by her own fiancé, she hopes to make it easier for brides by planning their ceremonies down to the last detail. But one little problem keeps her from being successful. Three brides have brought back the same vintage gown saying it was responsible for dashing their dreams.<br /><br />Brett, the nephew of the original owner of the dress, needs to get the gown back. Impossible since Kelly sold the garment and claims the gown is cursed. Brett's confusion at her words deepens when he discovers she communes with ghosts. Yet, when a contrite spirit comes forward, with a message, Brett goes along on a wild-bridegroom chase. Passions flare as they work to break the wedding hex before another bride's dreams goes up in flames. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But all's well that ends well - the fun is in getting there! <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p></p><br />Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-84717474930939110072021-05-06T13:58:00.009-04:002021-05-06T14:25:47.389-04:00<h1 style="text-align: center;"> If a Kind Word Means So Much - Why Are We Afraid to Give One?</h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLen15RF4TFdIjpyryKYRowTaf_CEz4PEq6WlxdhxNu9TyEfazQTjJyrykN892mf9qka5f9ndTcZlbOyUY7ufWRz_V0TecBHccnOuOAbcMJMpX_YceIaclrgCIPoWSl3_vV_Ncthqh2w/s130/blog+graphic1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="130" data-original-width="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLen15RF4TFdIjpyryKYRowTaf_CEz4PEq6WlxdhxNu9TyEfazQTjJyrykN892mf9qka5f9ndTcZlbOyUY7ufWRz_V0TecBHccnOuOAbcMJMpX_YceIaclrgCIPoWSl3_vV_Ncthqh2w/s0/blog+graphic1.gif" /></a></div><br />How do you react to being praised? How do you feel if you give a kind word or admiring comment to someone else?</span></span></span></h1><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />An article in Psychology Today, reveals an interesting bit of research first published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. They suggest that we tend to underestimate how well another person will feel about a compliment, and we overestimate the cost to us of giving one. The result is that we hold back the kind word or bit of praise we thought of uttering.<br /><br />Yet praise or a kind word can mean so much to all of us at one time or another. <br /><br />That could be anything like a comment of how well they looked, how well they'd done a job, through to how pretty their shirt was or how much their hairstyle suited them. You know, everyday compliments that we all give or think of giving - sometimes. <br /><br />Following up on this, participants in research by a group of scientists were asked to offer a 'sincere' compliment to a stranger. The participants were asked how they felt about <br />approaching someone and giving them a compliment, what their own mood was like, and how they thought the stranger they were speaking to would react.<br />The researchers then looked at the results: The compliment recipients reported for the most part that they were happy, flattered, and pleased to receive the compliment.<br />It was a two-way street - the compliment givers reported that their own mood improved after giving the compliment or kind word, even though they had underestimated how pleased the people on the receiving end would be.<br />See? It was a win-win situation. Those who gave the sincere kind words or compliments felt in a much better mood, and those who received the compliments reacted positively.<br />So next time, when an opportunity comes up to say something nice about one of our fellow humans, maybe we should take a chance and not hold back.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />So, thank you for being smart enough to read my blog :-) <br /></span><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h1>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-69200317912800759192021-03-15T15:55:00.001-04:002021-03-15T15:55:32.392-04:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Uhmmm-Yum! Traditional Irish Soda Bread. The perfect accompaniment to your St Patrick's Day Meal!</h1><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I lived an worked in Ireland for a few years and saw a great change in the Irish culinary attitude, due in main to the membership of the European Union. Travel on the continent, and the influx of people from many different countries, led to an explosion of different cultural gastronomic delights. Even the small town I lived and worked in had one of the best Indian restaurants I have ever had the pleasure of dining at - and there've been a few!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> But on food item that still holds sway in the country is the traditional brown soda bread. This is how I was taught to make it, and it's perfect for St. Patrick's Day, whether you're going the whole way and having an Irish stew, or just enjoying slathering a home made jam on the bread as a simple tea.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Irish Brown Soda Bread:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">250g wholemeal flour (sometimes known as wholewheat or brown flour)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">100g plain flour</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">50g porridge oats</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">1 level tsp alt</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">1 heaped tsp of bread soda (I sometimes used baking soda as a substitute)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">200 -250 ml buttermilk (you can add a teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to fresh milk if you don't have buttermilk!)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">1) Preheat oven to 210C (approx 375 on most Canadian ovens)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">2)Put wholemeal flour, oats, and sugar into a bowl, sieve in the white flour, salt & soda.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">3) Mix well, using a wooden spoon or your hands.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">4)Add buttermilk slowly and until a dough is formed. You may not use all the buttermilk.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">5) You want a dough that is not very sticky and that you can form into a ball.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">6) place on a floured surface and knead gently for a couple of minutes.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">7)Form into a ball again, place on a greased, floured baking sheet, and press gently to flatten just a little into a round shape. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">8) brush lightly with milk, then with a sharp knife, cut the traditional cross deeply into the dough. Some people like to cut right through.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">(9) Bake for about35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy the lovely scent of baking bread! </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Your soda bread is done when it looks risen and sounds a bit hollow when you tap the bottom.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Put on your table on a wooden bread board with a sharp knife. Cut slices as needed, slather them with butter for a stew or butter and jam for an afternoon treat! Enjoy!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And for a bit of Irish atmosphere, my Irish detective novel, Winters &Somers, is on a fantastic 99c sale at Smashwords from now until the 18th of March as a St Patrick's Day special. The Smashwords coupon code is MT29A and the link is </span><a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smashwords.com%2Fbooks%2Fview%2F444879&data=04%7C01%7C%7C9d368394503a43dcc4ed08d8e7d206e8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637514236533414353%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=e7PKHt6QqhTyIHkysO0NrHG6fSTNQDhrhPM7LTKHgtY%3D&reserved=0" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/444879</a> if you want to take a peek!</div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-62544803080503923462021-02-23T14:23:00.000-05:002021-02-23T14:23:19.887-05:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">The End
of The Writing Dry Spell?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I have heard
a number of writers say that the lockdowns, instead of giving a lovely spread
of clear writing time, have actually been dry and uninspired. I’m one of them.
I really thought that I’d write like the wind – I have so many books in various
stages of unfinishedness (is that even a word?) So there certainly wasn’t a
problem with finding something to work on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">But.It.Just.Wasn’t.Happening.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s cold
and grey and snowing outside. Snow too deep to make trekking enjoyable. Even
the chickens were staying on their perches and cuddling up to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And I was
home, cuddling up to a few good books – ok, many good books – when I should
have been producing something myself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Then, hallelujah
– I got the final galleys for The Bride’s curse from my lovely editor at TWRP –
the book is heading for publication and suddenly, writing became possible
again. I sent off Dark Revenge, a romantic suspense, to the publisher in an act
that felt like desk clearing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And I sat
down to write again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">What to
choose from the list of ideas that seems to have grown longer and longer?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</v:shape><![endif]--></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgXQDCT8R7ejHZKReVNSeiXekQYzv_sqTttzJcxexrkFXXXUrUmB-mqjQ2A_8UXEoyyZRRdseQVmnqxiShTCvga0ZmWqQeU6MLDBAljRN88kxokUrkvc7xr8vHdq8KDKy__9_zQzYMY4/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgXQDCT8R7ejHZKReVNSeiXekQYzv_sqTttzJcxexrkFXXXUrUmB-mqjQ2A_8UXEoyyZRRdseQVmnqxiShTCvga0ZmWqQeU6MLDBAljRN88kxokUrkvc7xr8vHdq8KDKy__9_zQzYMY4/" width="160" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The answer is obvious, really. I
wanted something fun, and it’s almost Sit. Patrick’s Day. Soooo, what could be
better than the sequel to Winters & Somers, my Irish detective tale? In
this latest adventure, Ciara Somers, the Dublin Based PI, and her lover, New
York Homicide cop J.V.Winters, get involved with organised crime and stumble
over some very disorganised crime, as well….with help (or hindrance) from two
grannies, a couple of pot smoking friends, and a cynical Dublin cop. Did I mention the weird bed and breakfast lady? And an assorted list of characters from the
first book.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh, yes,
this writing is going to be fun!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s the
link for Winter’s and Somers, the first book: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OConnell_Glenys/winters-somers.htm">Tirgearr
Publishing - Winters & Somers By Glenys O'Connell</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">or <b><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://tinyurl.com/y8g2yhua">https://tinyurl.com/y8g2yhua</a> for Amazon</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-39569540412339916412021-02-02T10:00:00.001-05:002021-02-02T10:00:04.818-05:00<h1 style="text-align: left;">February - The Month We Have A Love/Hate <span> </span><span> </span>Relationship with. </h1><h2 style="text-align: left;">"<i>Every Day is a New Beginning - Smile, and Start Again!"</i></h2><div><i><br /></i></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZYlJKPlRoj5YpNbHGSNeToZg_XC8Z0IweUWqkzyN4g6VR6A771_KWpQRiTEVUDGClv2naIE4v8osQigsQ3bWtLfT2hU5vJy4nPJsBkkoOtqZMLdLWZp81AePSl9zLBwD13tAD9_yZU/s2048/Frozen+Pine+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZYlJKPlRoj5YpNbHGSNeToZg_XC8Z0IweUWqkzyN4g6VR6A771_KWpQRiTEVUDGClv2naIE4v8osQigsQ3bWtLfT2hU5vJy4nPJsBkkoOtqZMLdLWZp81AePSl9zLBwD13tAD9_yZU/s320/Frozen+Pine+Tree.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ah, February - love it, hate it, look forward to it, dread it....so many feelings about this, the second month of the year. It trails along after January, which has usually pelted us with bad weather, with cold, snow, ice...depending, of course, on where you live.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">February holds out the promise that Spring isn't far away. And then dumps a foot of snow on you, just to make the point. Pictures abound on calendars and magazines, tempting you to believe that any minute now, bright daffodils and sweet smelling lily of the valley are going to spring into being...and then reality dawns. Living here, in Ontario, these poor wee signs of spring would need a power hammer to beat their way out of the snow and ice that covers them.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But there are some special things about February. St Valentine's Day, the most romantic day of the year - well, maybe you have other choices, like New Years Eve or your birthday, whatever - just bear with me on this for a while.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">One good thing about the month is that it's shorter than the others - because when the calendars were being put together, the creators used lunar months. They wanted to get an even number of days in the months, so it looks to me like poor old February was short changed amongst all the 30 and 32 day contenders. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1507GxyG0sKAeur05wSiyPdhx5eNb-k611fJVHLkup2fnzwQPhJOgt-QVEJb-BOI3dtz9NC6fTLzz5oQqXCRjqziJSazHAFjpYEhiHgxVggx5OmTuGrmLoUBc4H_r2J8fiPKW9QFq5CU/s1200/20151231_132520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1507GxyG0sKAeur05wSiyPdhx5eNb-k611fJVHLkup2fnzwQPhJOgt-QVEJb-BOI3dtz9NC6fTLzz5oQqXCRjqziJSazHAFjpYEhiHgxVggx5OmTuGrmLoUBc4H_r2J8fiPKW9QFq5CU/s320/20151231_132520.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">It's the only month on the calendar, though, that has the compensation of being able to add a day, once every four years. Interesting for most of us, but possibly a bit frustrating for folks born on - yes, you've guessed it - February the 29th. It could mean that you only get a birthday party once every four years. Alternatively, you don't age as fast as the rest of us. If you're a leap year baby, when your friends and relatives hit, let's say, 40, the leap year baby is only 10 years old....figuratively speaking.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">February didn't exist in Ancient Roman times, when the calendar didn't have months and the time was just referred to as 'Winter'. <i>Shiver</i>, can you imagine having no time markers between months, just one long period of cold, dark winter making it hard to comprehend when will the summer come....</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl8tcXe3GGrhgpQu_BmNHUvtRW1qVs2Ys92aQLmSpy1s9om-SP0iCD-aOYqChvaynD1knLIULGBGfKQy9gv73V73rtr45yuFA2Os4FFpj09R44OETIT3zqAX__zrOVyd8mFwK1xP9QcI/s4608/20201111_170146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl8tcXe3GGrhgpQu_BmNHUvtRW1qVs2Ys92aQLmSpy1s9om-SP0iCD-aOYqChvaynD1knLIULGBGfKQy9gv73V73rtr45yuFA2Os4FFpj09R44OETIT3zqAX__zrOVyd8mFwK1xP9QcI/s320/20201111_170146.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;">That all changed around 700 BCE, possibly because people needed the sense of hope that </span><span style="font-size: large;">ticking off those much shorter calendar months gave them, rather than having</span><span style="font-size: large;"> just one long, long Winter month. It's a psychological thing :-) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Here in Canada, February is claimed to have more sunshine than other winter months, and the sun shines on the snow and makes it look pretty. Oh, the deceptions of nature.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">February is also Heart month, when we're bombarded with reasons why we need to get more exercise (really? In three feet of snow and windchill of -OMG?) and to eat healthy (sure, we can add chocolate and wine to our lettuce leaf salad, yes?)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It's also now Black History Month, from Feb 3 - Feb 20. An interesting addition but sounds like that's a bit short changed, calling it a month when there's only 16 days....but that's February for you.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And then there's Winterlude - a huge festival which takes place in our capital city, Ottawa, with skating on the Rideau Canal, ice sculpting, and lots of things happening all over that very beautiful city.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And don't forget the Hôtel de Glace in Quebec, where you can book rooms in a genuine ice palace, the only one known in North America. Dress warmly...</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme2AnEC05nF5GVuP_QnO1avd0rt-xBZXVa0YXLsm5kBUYtbFFGScb9fRoSGJiaDaKrlmrZS0LXGALZeDIOECh2QD0DhdL7J9ZZHadIHSorgGri2q__3l2r7s7vFGtBD5prSjLYUIw6Tk/s2048/cars+%2526+stove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme2AnEC05nF5GVuP_QnO1avd0rt-xBZXVa0YXLsm5kBUYtbFFGScb9fRoSGJiaDaKrlmrZS0LXGALZeDIOECh2QD0DhdL7J9ZZHadIHSorgGri2q__3l2r7s7vFGtBD5prSjLYUIw6Tk/w238-h318/cars+%2526+stove.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>Meanwhile, my friends, </span><span style="font-size: large;">I'll be cuddled up to a blazing woodstove with a good book and waiting Winter out.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-18141161237103676272021-01-25T14:12:00.001-05:002021-01-25T14:12:25.711-05:00<p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Never Finished Book - My Dark Little Secret</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>They whispered to her: "You cannot withstand the storm."</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>She whispered back: "I am the storm."</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/s500/image002.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="500" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/w200-h188/image002.png" width="200" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />I started a book - a romantic suspense-back in 2014.</span><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjxneVsJye3cDyJBGuhwAJ711LoT0y_yiZkTv5Tde3dKplUa0tmOWiis3xna7Os0IDt6Gfz7XNUmSFA4wPPJTv-KhkZGAzm1HHt0iX-Pj5eprjlCv_r0MwmkQmu1bzhVoG_72IQtr57s/s160/ResorttoMurder_w3228_300%255B1%255Da.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjxneVsJye3cDyJBGuhwAJ711LoT0y_yiZkTv5Tde3dKplUa0tmOWiis3xna7Os0IDt6Gfz7XNUmSFA4wPPJTv-KhkZGAzm1HHt0iX-Pj5eprjlCv_r0MwmkQmu1bzhVoG_72IQtr57s/s0/ResorttoMurder_w3228_300%255B1%255Da.jpg" /></a>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, you read that right. 2014. More than six years
ago. And it’s languished on my computer, getting a quick titivation here and
there, but never actually being finished. I have excuses—at least four of those
years have been a nightmare for many reasons too depressing to note here. But I
have finished other books that have been published, made headway on several
others. But this book? I felt like calling it Dark Depression, rather than Dark
Revenge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One simple problem that I have never, in all my
writing career and all my completed books, come across before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I COULDN’T GET THE ENDING.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, strange
as it sounds, I woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago, and I just
KNEW what the ending should be, made some notes, and I’m about to sit down and
get that in gear. It will require a fair bit of rearranging of events, but yes,
it looks like Dark Revenge will be finished and available for sale sometime soon!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So, the moral of this story is never give up on an
idea. You’ll never know how close I came to deleting all the files for this
book because seeing them every time I started to work, seeing all those
stunted, unfinished pages, was undermining my writing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Now I feel like the elves in </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Snow White – hey-ho, hey-ho, it’s off to write I go!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">You can visit some of my <i>finished</i> books at </span></span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">https://tinyurl.com/yyb5uz8r</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><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/AVvXsEiVQqlIk01NhQiW2SdY8u01BygdBwV4BlGDqU-qrsGRQGJpeadoC5FurqxzJ7LN8qfU2H10VzXavr6xRu2BPKqxPOI6G7bfxet2sP85B1S_BUgN9o9I6Y-KHAfqz2qBW-Z9sqMTvjeTfZU/s640/print+cover+no+sex+clause+%2528427x640%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQqlIk01NhQiW2SdY8u01BygdBwV4BlGDqU-qrsGRQGJpeadoC5FurqxzJ7LN8qfU2H10VzXavr6xRu2BPKqxPOI6G7bfxet2sP85B1S_BUgN9o9I6Y-KHAfqz2qBW-Z9sqMTvjeTfZU/w134-h200/print+cover+no+sex+clause+%2528427x640%2529.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8l7W2fZIq_y-gwRLvgrQexk8v8LM-KQxHdPEUW6CdSX0ZksT1Gh3zPnqe_OLV_oJYI6miHFPCGGPTQTIAdB_Z04YMTFQe0HRhs0R2pa44eGoA-GhtrTKq2bLRT3c5ACLJaIXp3tpt1g/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell1800HR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8l7W2fZIq_y-gwRLvgrQexk8v8LM-KQxHdPEUW6CdSX0ZksT1Gh3zPnqe_OLV_oJYI6miHFPCGGPTQTIAdB_Z04YMTFQe0HRhs0R2pa44eGoA-GhtrTKq2bLRT3c5ACLJaIXp3tpt1g/w133-h200/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell1800HR.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><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/AVvXsEjimAHXjMY_pHqySgvGZJFetoDZeuDbxQG2B1MdVo2G2-_evL0-1JpT75DWbMv3UqPnbL93sx76gUzbQQlP2oOuAU8jU0bckVHSbUB_0AqljpRfauXku4rpJI-soHTG6reDl2_UmezK0R0/s300/AnotherMansSon_w9047_300+medium.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimAHXjMY_pHqySgvGZJFetoDZeuDbxQG2B1MdVo2G2-_evL0-1JpT75DWbMv3UqPnbL93sx76gUzbQQlP2oOuAU8jU0bckVHSbUB_0AqljpRfauXku4rpJI-soHTG6reDl2_UmezK0R0/w133-h200/AnotherMansSon_w9047_300+medium.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjxneVsJye3cDyJBGuhwAJ711LoT0y_yiZkTv5Tde3dKplUa0tmOWiis3xna7Os0IDt6Gfz7XNUmSFA4wPPJTv-KhkZGAzm1HHt0iX-Pj5eprjlCv_r0MwmkQmu1bzhVoG_72IQtr57s/s160/ResorttoMurder_w3228_300%255B1%255Da.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjxneVsJye3cDyJBGuhwAJ711LoT0y_yiZkTv5Tde3dKplUa0tmOWiis3xna7Os0IDt6Gfz7XNUmSFA4wPPJTv-KhkZGAzm1HHt0iX-Pj5eprjlCv_r0MwmkQmu1bzhVoG_72IQtr57s/s0/ResorttoMurder_w3228_300%255B1%255Da.jpg" /></a><br /></div></div><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-f81LZVLa4A1OFKvHIuq5l04NM8AGz5U91ckwOfDE0W3M9RHbMQQ3C9EKEtGMgXShsCwy_Mn9-maYxLY443fAzsVq2-xwDVrRiGvrmzwUHS92T-D3SZCrYFkfwks0MMwbx3tX2tXRb4/s1600/winters%2526somersfinalcover+%25283%2529%2528427x640%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-f81LZVLa4A1OFKvHIuq5l04NM8AGz5U91ckwOfDE0W3M9RHbMQQ3C9EKEtGMgXShsCwy_Mn9-maYxLY443fAzsVq2-xwDVrRiGvrmzwUHS92T-D3SZCrYFkfwks0MMwbx3tX2tXRb4/w213-h320/winters%2526somersfinalcover+%25283%2529%2528427x640%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span><p></p>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-85783244240582091302020-05-24T11:08:00.000-04:002020-05-24T11:08:44.457-04:00
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Come, Travel With Me.....To Capri:</h2>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
We can go there in our imaginations, at least:</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Funny thing about this self-isolation/lockdown/shutdown,
whatever you want to call it – we find ourselves missing the little things – the monthly bookclub meeting, real coffee in a café,
people watching at the park, browsing the stores, family get-togethers and
visits, dinner out to celebrate a birthday or anniversary…things we might have
taken for granted suddenly seem so desirable. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And intertwined with this is daydreaming about …’when this
is all over’ travel. So many people have had to cancel travel plans this
summer, sometimes for dream vacations. This trip to Capri was one of my dream trips, back in 2006. We usually have a couple of weekend in Niagra on the Lake each year, and hoped to
repeat last year's trip to Newfoundland….and next year, maybe to revisit Europe.
But right now England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Greece – they may as
well be a million miles away rather than a plane ride or two.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To feed this longing for travel, I've been taking an
armchair journey through some of the places we've visited and loved. Why not join me, take
my hand and we’ll travel…for example, how about a trip to Capri?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-image: none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We set out from Napoli in the rain, with Vesuvius scowling over the docks...and the smell of sulphur with a yellow haze over the water. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But it seems in no time at all we were looking at this welcoming view of Capri...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The town itself is quite beautiful, full of history and flowers..and very steep. There is a funicular railway that gets you up the steep sides of the island. What is a funicular, you ask? Here is the Collins dictionary definition: A funicular or a funicular railway is <strong><span style="color: #767676;">a type of railway which goes up a very steep hill or mountain</span></strong>. A machine at the top of the slope pulls the carriage up the rails by a steel rope. People like myself, who don't like heights, may be suspicious about that steel rope, but believe me, it's safe and well worth the trip to get the views from the perch at the top.</span><br />
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Speaking of steep, this photo doesn't really do justice to the views...</div>
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This pretty little garden was once the favorite relaxing place of one of the Roman emperors - Claudius, if memory serves me right. Just imagine, strolling in a garden where an emperor and his entourage once rested and played! Not that the emperors were very nice people, but still...</div>
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Have you ever seen water this beautiful color of aqua green? It's something to do wit the minerals in rocks, I believe.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufcvpLrqJLDV1jVbf8OxeYSzV5Kosvlv41efU8UJNzLffJeO5e8MzfqLKuN5iGcDHOFO37OCzQ9CrldvH5aSx0XMBaslzWb4RJVBx5T4VfCnZyN6ptw_caiYgr7BsfNWb96nA5xpRS2I/s1600/IMG0139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufcvpLrqJLDV1jVbf8OxeYSzV5Kosvlv41efU8UJNzLffJeO5e8MzfqLKuN5iGcDHOFO37OCzQ9CrldvH5aSx0XMBaslzWb4RJVBx5T4VfCnZyN6ptw_caiYgr7BsfNWb96nA5xpRS2I/s320/IMG0139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Capri is an island, so boats of all variety are part of the lifestyle. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YyLfG8tlq5Ct0yzuEIpdHHP3rVIMQvHAtfQdyzVLOSwr2vZcZmw2mLQRwyMqN1HebYfPi6PJLCxA90yOj79I7KIxjfP3C7ndJfE4_I8YYJfe2ItEl5-BsG7SdsY_EQwK1SqznJ54FSk/s1600/IMG0127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YyLfG8tlq5Ct0yzuEIpdHHP3rVIMQvHAtfQdyzVLOSwr2vZcZmw2mLQRwyMqN1HebYfPi6PJLCxA90yOj79I7KIxjfP3C7ndJfE4_I8YYJfe2ItEl5-BsG7SdsY_EQwK1SqznJ54FSk/s1600/IMG0127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
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Look closely - you'll see the figure of a woman at the very top f this cliff. Sorry, but I can't remember who or what she was...I think something to do with keeping the sailors safe?<br />
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I was fascinated by these huge billionaire mansions on these daunting cliffs, retreats for their very wealthy and privacy loving owners. Apparently, attempts to visit are discouraged...:-) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Mk0AeEMkqHPLAuDMBxJnfpPNNuvSdUW-5ZNFGfRScFuktyyshdfiZHHyFd0DClI32V4zK8B8wIQ6JNXXxzTkZrATfPAgmzBtSTicXhWMgyLUwro1C61k47Mqc8DlNAjJdEPO0Dmcy-o/s1600/IMG0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Mk0AeEMkqHPLAuDMBxJnfpPNNuvSdUW-5ZNFGfRScFuktyyshdfiZHHyFd0DClI32V4zK8B8wIQ6JNXXxzTkZrATfPAgmzBtSTicXhWMgyLUwro1C61k47Mqc8DlNAjJdEPO0Dmcy-o/s320/IMG0157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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As I said earlier, much of the life around Capri is oriented to the sea...these tall rocks have a romantic story...apparently, if you sail between them and kiss your companion, your love will last forever. Sorry, hon., looks like you're stuck with me...</div>
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And then, Goodbye to Capri and back to Naples & Vesuvius.</div>
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Another item ticked off the bucket list!</div>
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Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-80172873578003659072019-12-22T13:04:00.000-05:002019-12-22T14:36:23.704-05:00Monday's Inspiration: What to Give the Writer Who Has Everything (In Their Imagination).<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jNF4YGAiMa6-PC6LcZ5mbSlJp2QEkOk7PUOWWlkIt9xEHLfq04bAFtT4n7jl4prlCNTJKcwH_PDn6LzIv17g2fSVRgejEU5Bq5XUrPBqniwjeiwKW7gtPGW7HTxj-Z5p26M3qzwqTE4/s1600/woman+typing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jNF4YGAiMa6-PC6LcZ5mbSlJp2QEkOk7PUOWWlkIt9xEHLfq04bAFtT4n7jl4prlCNTJKcwH_PDn6LzIv17g2fSVRgejEU5Bq5XUrPBqniwjeiwKW7gtPGW7HTxj-Z5p26M3qzwqTE4/s200/woman+typing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Have a writer on your Christmas gift list?
Stuck for ideas? That’s not surprising, considering you’re dealing with a
person who can have anything he or she wants – in their imagination, of course!</span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" unselectable="on"></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But buying
for writer friends or family needn’t be a chore. And it needn’t be expensive,
either. Of course, the latest word processing programmes, computer technology,
a library full of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPyYCasaSwjxuWcHGQ6L5sTpRY3CJSjYREOXdflxzW5Zhp4B3Pb_-HOL4bdiJLaSmOndpGNXjmzIOraNd9xcKSVmobT2CzS-SwRsfxxmWLRJe66uRgI21R42A-LV15OPifTdaXJyJxCU/s1600/Naked+Writing+Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPyYCasaSwjxuWcHGQ6L5sTpRY3CJSjYREOXdflxzW5Zhp4B3Pb_-HOL4bdiJLaSmOndpGNXjmzIOraNd9xcKSVmobT2CzS-SwRsfxxmWLRJe66uRgI21R42A-LV15OPifTdaXJyJxCU/s200/Naked+Writing+Cover.png" width="133" /></a>books or a year’s rental on a retreat to a villa in France,
would all be welcome gifts. Bear in mind that the latter could be very pricey
indeed, because most of us writers are broke much of the time so you’d
definitely have to throw in air fare and stock the place with food.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But for more
realistic purposes, here are a few writer pleasing ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Fancy pens, pencils, cute notebooks,
or other desktop gadgets. Sure, we know we’re in the age of high tech, but
there’s nothing like the allure of a clean, virginal page or a fancy new gel
pen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A really good diary with at least a
page per day for notes. Or more than a page, to help keep track of word counts,
deadlines, book signings, talk events, submission dates, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18YqRQBXc6TKJ3G-cvqenCgN9KDzj0w7vgk9GTc8D_mgZxYi4no8bLnnyU2qFg0LKFHDlPzIDsagtN6XIvU2gH5nJBIV2lkRMkCqAiqD-Bp-oZC-7ibzGIWokFVzcWNFH8q6ZrGObxto/s1600/Writing+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18YqRQBXc6TKJ3G-cvqenCgN9KDzj0w7vgk9GTc8D_mgZxYi4no8bLnnyU2qFg0LKFHDlPzIDsagtN6XIvU2gH5nJBIV2lkRMkCqAiqD-Bp-oZC-7ibzGIWokFVzcWNFH8q6ZrGObxto/s200/Writing+poster.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">The online version of The Writer’s
Market.</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The online version of Writer’s
Digest<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A comfy cushion for the desk chair –
you’d be amazed just how numb one’s posterior can get after a few hours of
typing madly, butt in chair….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of those little desk puzzles, to
give the brain a break from words. Careful with the choice, though – nothing
too difficult. Writers are all too familiar with failure, and not being able to
do the Rubik’s Cube, for example, can begin a slow slide into depression as
fast as any rejection letter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">7)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">A pair of those woolly fingerless
gloves, for typing when the power is out – or has been cut off – and there’s no
heat.</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">8)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Woolly socks with tops that will fit
over flannel pajama bottoms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">9)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Flannel pajama bottoms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">10)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A gift card for Starbucks or Tim
Horton’s, so that your writer won’t get black looks after sitting in the warm
café for hours, typing without buying…..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2"
o:spid="_x0000_s1027" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;left:0;
text-align:left;margin-left:42.6pt;margin-top:14.55pt;width:61.2pt;height:61.2pt;
z-index:251659264;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;
mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;
mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;
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mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;
mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;
mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:/Users/ACERCU~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image003.jpg"
o:title="MC900439308[1]"/>
<w:wrap type="square"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br />
<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07Bqn4LpatRUBeY2xOi8lP52i0mNWGyOx8_zLL3rWea3jWPVh80dGWif3bgazmRxC1KsEGHQgbuRehge5X6S7tZe79nWy62tWnWMV1UU8fsnkB09PIwW2z-qa8-pSE9jJw7QL53bBAic/s1600/blog+graphic1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07Bqn4LpatRUBeY2xOi8lP52i0mNWGyOx8_zLL3rWea3jWPVh80dGWif3bgazmRxC1KsEGHQgbuRehge5X6S7tZe79nWy62tWnWMV1UU8fsnkB09PIwW2z-qa8-pSE9jJw7QL53bBAic/s1600/blog+graphic1.gif" /></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">11)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;
left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:466.8pt;margin-top:109.8pt;width:45pt;
height:52.8pt;z-index:-251658240;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;
mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;
mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;
mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:absolute;
mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;
mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;
mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:/Users/ACERCU~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image005.png"
o:title=""/>
<w:wrap type="tight"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-CA">Probably the very best gift for a writer costs nothing: Time. Yes,
time to write without interruption is such a gift! Be a friend. Don’t take
offence when your writer buddy rolls her eyes at your suggestions that the two
of you go out, when you know she’s on deadline. Offer to take the kids for a
couple of hours, cook a meal, pick up groceries, dry cleaning, kids from
school. Don’t talk for hours on the phone. Listen when she needs a sounding
board, otherwise give her some space. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Trust me,
she or he will eventually emerge from the writing cave, eager and ready for
human interaction again……one the writing is done. Until the next book, of
course….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-17257807016894635472019-11-25T15:54:00.000-05:002019-11-25T15:58:41.990-05:00All About Winters & Somers - My Irish Detective Novel.<br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #1c1c1c; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Winters-Somers-Glenys-OConnell-ebook/dp/B00KRPTT6E/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=Glenys+O%27Connell&qid=1574714976&s=digital-text&sr=1-11" target="_blank"><img alt="Winters & Somers - My Irish Detective Romantic Comedy" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeVb4P4GnGGZQgb5jy2OLFoDtUEU0ZKkjvnoXPul6OqNYH3AYm7zZD9ZTn2fakxaI_QWo7iSSU8SyCNfDuWtK0WO4fvC16j7CK69PtzUFGdA2qncAwyrU2w9zI-jlAiBWRwkOHvhLrGtg/s1600/Winters+and+Somers+by+Glenys+O'Connell+-+500.jpg" style="border-image: none; border: currentColor; position: relative;" width="213" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #1c1c1c; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Irish PI, Cíara Somers, makes a good living testing the ‘temptability quotient’ of men for their insecure lovers…but when NY homicide cop and author of red hot romances, Jonathon Winters, makes her take him on as a partner in her Dublin agency, he gets the wrong message from her raunchy style . . . especially when he wants her for himself.<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
Somers isn’t the type to let a man push her around – the incorrigible Grannie Somers raised her to be her own woman. But when she discovers that even Grannie drools over the sexy Winters, she can’t help but wonder what it would be like to indulge in one of the fantasies that have millions of women reading his romantic books.<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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And when Somers finally gets her first real case – to capture the notorious jewel thief dubbed The Diamond Darling – she has to survive the help of her weird relatives, the landlady from hell, two stoned friends, a stray dog – and Winters himself . . .<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Cíara Somers prowled among the top drawer clientele of the exclusive Dublin nightclub, her scarlet lips pursed in a sexy pout.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">When a hearty male hand slapped her bum, she clamped down on her instinctive reaction to impale the man’s foot to the shiny wooden floors with her wicked four-inch stiletto heel. Instead, she cracked a sultry smile and batted her dark eyelashes provocatively.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">After all, she was working tonight. And you could hardly blame the poor darlings. Frankly, any man who didn’t respond to her artfully designed siren’s call had to be dead. At least from the neck down.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The nightclub catered to very rich business and professional Dubliners – the place positively reeked of money – but she was after a specific fish, so it wouldn’t do for a woman like her to draw too much attention to herself. If the eagle-eyed club management copped on to what she was up to, she’d be thrown out on her mini-skirted rear end.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">She spotted her prey over by the bar, drinking alone and looking sorry for himself. Bingo! He looked exactly ready for the company of a beautiful, sympathetic blonde. Straightening her back to accentuate the rounded swell of her breasts, Cíara sashayed up to the bar with a hip-sway that would raise any healthy hetero male’s blood pressure off the charts.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">She leaned on the bar, the action pressing her cleavage into a picture that instantly mesmerized the barman and several other men. But here was the tricky part – to attract only the one she wanted.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Attracting him wasn’t hard at all. The tall, thin man on her right turned his head to follow the barman’s gaze – and was hooked immediately. Slowly, his eyes traveled from her chest to linger on her mouth, before taking a slow detour to her toes while taking in other vital areas along the way.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">“Well, hello there,” he growled. A wolfish smile lit up his face and he treated her to a display of crooked teeth. She suppressed a shudder. This was work, after all, but just occasionally it would be nice to work on a guy she really fancied.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Later she’d remember the old saying about being careful what you wished for in case it came true, but tonight she was just another working girl.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">So she returned the smile, twitching her lower lip into that full ruby pout that men found so irresistible. She let a wave of blonde hair fall forward over one eye as she languidly stretched out a sun-tanned hand and drew a blood-red fingernail down his shirtfront.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">“Hello, yourself,” she purred, and watched with satisfaction as he swallowed the bait.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Thirty minutes later, she extricated herself from her target’s roaming hands, giggled throatily and excused herself with the need to powder her nose.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">“Don’t be too long, baby, I’m having a hard time waiting!” he leered, and gave her an indulgent slap on her behind as she walked away. Cíara turned to wink at him and blow a scarlet-lipped kiss in his direction.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: blue;"><span style="background-color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="color: #f9cb9c; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">He’d already invited her back to his place for a nightcap ‘…and whatever else we fancy!’</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-16423023079304514412019-11-11T15:31:00.000-05:002019-11-11T15:32:46.621-05:00Shockingly, Yes, This Is Me, Praising Winter....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEP43ZXJKbFhclz8dV1ZTew2sDEwJKeLjo1sIwx_SjnLegrIPcXuVGyQtRGuqJZTHPLbyLD2Xp2jCbnUDx5MIcz4MHqXeNQEEW2Qn-xgXly_VtjSAqp4SvcZ7pOW_qppV-qABZJ5gz9iw/s1600/Winter+Pond.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="448" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEP43ZXJKbFhclz8dV1ZTew2sDEwJKeLjo1sIwx_SjnLegrIPcXuVGyQtRGuqJZTHPLbyLD2Xp2jCbnUDx5MIcz4MHqXeNQEEW2Qn-xgXly_VtjSAqp4SvcZ7pOW_qppV-qABZJ5gz9iw/s320/Winter+Pond.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I live in
'cottage country' in Ontario. We have lots of temporary residents &
tourists in the summertime, and then in the winter many of our friends head
south to escape the snow and ice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the
spring and summer we have bugs as big as pterodactyls, and the humidity is something
else again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do love the fall, when the
leaves in this wooded area put on their beauty pageant.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I like
winter. Yes, I do. Ironically, I don’t do winter sports – Did you ever see that
Disney film about Bambi? Remember Bambi on ice, when the poor little critter
was slipping& sliding everywhere? Well, that's me. Can't keep my balance to
save my, er, dignity. I did try cross-country skiing once, but it was too embarrassing
to watch the four and five year olds skiing past me as I sat on my rear in the
snow, skis pointing skywards…</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what, you
may ask, makes me sing the praises of winter?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Well, aside from the sheer beauty of it all, there's a serious snowstorm coming in – they say it will be a bad one. Tomorrow's trip to <span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ottawa will be white knuckled at times, and we'll bless every snow plow we meet. Sometimes the bad weather wipes out our satellite internet connection, possibly for as long as several days. Yes, I hate that – oh, but all the extra time I find in my day…</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And it's quiet. I'm sitting here now, in my office, and watching the snow which started as a few flurries, gaining in strength until it becomes a thick curtain which will almost obscure the chicken coop on the other side of the driveway.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I am writing. This is my first blog in months. My first writing in months. There has been a lot going on in life, distractions good and bad, that have meant taking some sort of action. Now, with the snow building, it's quiet and peaceful. All the worries and pleasures demanding attention have to be set aside – everything comes to a halt.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's cozy and quiet in my tiny office with the huge window looking out onto the landscape that's rapidly changing into a winter wonderland. There are three cats sleeping on the pillows beside me, the computer is working - the power hasn't gone off yet - and I've a hot cup of tea right here...</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's peaceful and did I say how good it feels to be writing again at last?</span> </span></span></span></div>
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Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-58964409212751117532019-09-29T17:11:00.000-04:002019-09-29T17:11:36.522-04:00<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">When Did You Know You Were a Writer?</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Xsgo7KpAJvnMyJKSEhWnSI0UJvzFyCj7z0uIhZbFG9mYplXTctBogcnipA-1GJaii7kSiJNDbZTd59R6hTPh_N1L62P9wwlT-srwlkLLda2raa0qb2ggBbPRs-nzcoHyLfSHGdOL4k/s1600/womanwriting_thumb3" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Xsgo7KpAJvnMyJKSEhWnSI0UJvzFyCj7z0uIhZbFG9mYplXTctBogcnipA-1GJaii7kSiJNDbZTd59R6hTPh_N1L62P9wwlT-srwlkLLda2raa0qb2ggBbPRs-nzcoHyLfSHGdOL4k/s1600/womanwriting_thumb3" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">There are probably as many answers to this question as there are writers! It's something that has interested me for a long time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And the question that goes with it, is what makes a person a writer? Some argue that only writing fiction makes a writer. Others say writing books. Novellas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some argue that writing for commerce, such as copy writing, advertising writing, web content, business emails, landing pages, grant writing, publicity... all these, too, are writing. journalists are, without question, people who write.But are the people who do them actually writers?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And do they harbor a closet ambition to one day be a "real" writer, with a stack of books to their names?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Because isn't that what most of us think of as being a writer - someone who writes books, whether fact or fiction?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You'll laugh at this - I wrote my first essay as an angry (and perhaps precautious) four year old. I'd been told at Sunday school that God forgives everyone. Then one Sunday, the teacher told us all that there was a Hell for sinners, a horrible place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And my four year old self couldn't get the discrepancy out of my mind. Would an all-loving, all forgiving God throw badly behaved kids intro the flames?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Why, or course not. I filled several pages of my tiny notebook, and handed them in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My Sunday school teacher was not impressed. I dropped out soon after that...:-) </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzl3LIkt8M6NG6bvClnsQJOSeqTY_Ct_SPJOypabQRcUAIrut2rzeINioDtd_g0RemgtCcGw1R7KhCUOyL7LZ3WFFSv3DVEs5RyvJQtom8K-ffboVwp13x5kZ5kbil7NtpU6RohDQjrk/s1600/typewriter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="572" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzl3LIkt8M6NG6bvClnsQJOSeqTY_Ct_SPJOypabQRcUAIrut2rzeINioDtd_g0RemgtCcGw1R7KhCUOyL7LZ3WFFSv3DVEs5RyvJQtom8K-ffboVwp13x5kZ5kbil7NtpU6RohDQjrk/s200/typewriter.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">So, for a while, my writing was confined to school work. But I read newspapers voraciously from the age of seven or so, and I so admired the men and women whose words filled those pages. I did apply for a Fleet Street - the London, England, Mecca for journalists - job on a national newspaper. They kindly suggested I try again when I was a little older and had some journalistic experience....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I started small, persuading our local newspaper editor to hire me. He didn't think women were cut out to be journalists, told me he'd give me six months trial and then I'd be out. That was a challenge I eagerly accepted when I was 17. After three months, he paid for my college courses and I became one of the youngest senior reporters around.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-R-CZmQ6JfCcRmxZSBsS-NOL7wWYKwysXljl0Nmd4lyF-BUC9OsHttNwh_HATE97-YlNjRrwQ9r6rwzxqUw0ajyZoN1S6zgB0yTCQzSWh5IjSXbtUCzC0R_yU3sDOKSLCMCxPmzA7RA/s1600/Funny_Lady_Receptionist_Desk_Working_Computer-1md%255B7%255D" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="255" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-R-CZmQ6JfCcRmxZSBsS-NOL7wWYKwysXljl0Nmd4lyF-BUC9OsHttNwh_HATE97-YlNjRrwQ9r6rwzxqUw0ajyZoN1S6zgB0yTCQzSWh5IjSXbtUCzC0R_yU3sDOKSLCMCxPmzA7RA/s200/Funny_Lady_Receptionist_Desk_Working_Computer-1md%255B7%255D" width="170" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I worked for a number of publications, national magazines, etc., after that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But there was an itch I couldn't scratch, even with the best of stories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until one day I sat down and started to write a book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And that was that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">With some breaks due to work, travel, health problems, children, all the usual stuff that everyone has to deal with, I have been writing steadily. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg1IHt6Vq4dLRSAAxGye1LASGxWENfpSONYww-edkuKhnGCeEo5-E5GSJysa-YvRXO4pXtovLYqA-lZOvptNwxfDVOp-1v6HLK_LNGwPNWwMTUvzfjJ4r9ZHnHbmgy9X1JkfskLBsyAQ/s1600/Naked+Writing+Cover_thumb%255B2%255D" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg1IHt6Vq4dLRSAAxGye1LASGxWENfpSONYww-edkuKhnGCeEo5-E5GSJysa-YvRXO4pXtovLYqA-lZOvptNwxfDVOp-1v6HLK_LNGwPNWwMTUvzfjJ4r9ZHnHbmgy9X1JkfskLBsyAQ/s1600/Naked+Writing+Cover_thumb%255B2%255D" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I've written mysteries, romantic suspense, romance, children's books, books on mental health and on travel. I even wrote a book on writing: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Writing-Frills-Write-Your-ebook/dp/B0087WTAGS/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550436976&sr=1-9&keywords=Naked+Writing" target="_blank">Naked Writing, The No Frills Way to Write Your Book.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And have no problem now in answering the question "What do you do?" by happily saying:"I'm a published writer."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, I'd love to hear your views on what makes a writer - and how you came to be one!</span><br />
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Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-61634169641560231882018-12-23T11:45:00.000-05:002018-12-23T11:46:05.867-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">DEAR GOD, Jehovah, Allah, Goddess - sorry, I know You have many names and it’s my journalistic soul that wants to cover all of them. Forgive me if I get it wrong – I’m rushing the research a bit here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do appreciate Your taking the time to listen, as You have done so many times in the past. You must be extra busy with deadlines at this time of the year, because fires, floods, famines, storms, droughts, wars and general stupidity do not stop even in this holy season. With all that going on, I hope You can also find the time to celebrate with us the joy and peace that belong to this season.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There have been so many times when You have pulled this tattered manuscript of my life out of the heavenly slush pile, and even when Your reply has been a gentle rejection note, there is always been encouragement to go on using the talents You have loaned to me. You have forgiven the times I have been grouchy on life’s deadlines, when I failed to appreciate the wonder of the opportunities in new contracts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have offered, and the many times I have ignored Your submission requirements in hopes that You would see past my mistakes into the willing prose of my heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having said all of that, I feel selfish even asking for more, but here goes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s a bit of a cliché, but I would join with so many, many others to ask You to give Mankind – and I say MANkind because the male of the species seems to be more inclined to conflict than we females, but maybe I’m biased – if You would just give them all a bit of a shake and tell them it’s time to make peace not war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Please ignore the mean things I said about the intellectual abilities of publishers or agents who rejected my work – I didn’t really want You to strike them. Honest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnoOcbk7QH7g04s4A0458R_DjLfyJRvj6xdiG8k_WPvAOT0MKBvOONFLPyu6P-TRkYxRZtdIdnbk87yJEAfTGpvJf4-ORi3HuLTN6ocQB6Qh0k9jQi3n_OcNRv0QCePz7TMadZYlOH4Y/s1600/Christmas+Church.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnoOcbk7QH7g04s4A0458R_DjLfyJRvj6xdiG8k_WPvAOT0MKBvOONFLPyu6P-TRkYxRZtdIdnbk87yJEAfTGpvJf4-ORi3HuLTN6ocQB6Qh0k9jQi3n_OcNRv0QCePz7TMadZYlOH4Y/s200/Christmas+Church.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many of Your people in need, hungry, homeless, afraid, in pain. Maybe You could inspire those of us who have so much to heed Your teachings and work towards a more equitable society. Perhaps You could even slip a little extra blessings into the Christmas stockings of those who have been courageous enough to stand up for what is right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<div style="border-image: none;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Please forgive the times I’ve cursed at my computer; the technology You have given us is truly a blessing and it was just the heat of the moment;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t mean a word of it. Really.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<div style="border-image: none;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of course, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t invest this prayer with a little personal self-interest. First, I want to thank You for all the people who have bought my books – the nice reviews always feel like a warm GodBreeze to my soul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<div style="border-image: none;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Then maybe You could run to a dollop of forgiveness for all the times I left undone the things I ought to have done, and done those things I ought not to have done? Let’s not get into specifics now, eh? That would be a bit embarrassing and take up too much of Your time. We both know what they were. However, if you could see your way to making me a better person, and a better writer, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of help in getting through the edits for the next book, I would be very grateful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t promise that I won’t screw up some more, but Dear Lord, I’m trying to be better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Thank You. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-68021402220671017902018-11-07T12:40:00.001-05:002018-11-20T13:44:32.408-05:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><u>New Romantic Suspense Release!</u></span></h2>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Maggie-Glenys-OConnell-ebook/dp/B07HHV3LG1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Saving Maggie</a><em>. Read the first page here:</em></span></h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_jmX1FsNSboYNWf5VIip8OCucnrue9Hh6ANVe9Ih9TnFSyGW2bpVlgYCSlriI87vPXAmjISkfEWeP5OcVBTtDAKIjz27LWNRBcW-bnX3PPcC7AyeD8I45QfYz2-behMSkdGWgcvnO8Ss/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_jmX1FsNSboYNWf5VIip8OCucnrue9Hh6ANVe9Ih9TnFSyGW2bpVlgYCSlriI87vPXAmjISkfEWeP5OcVBTtDAKIjz27LWNRBcW-bnX3PPcC7AyeD8I45QfYz2-behMSkdGWgcvnO8Ss/s200/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell500.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OConnell_Glenys/saving-maggie.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Saving Maggie</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter 1</span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></strong><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">The woman in the sexy
little red convertible looked perky from behind. Her glossy long hair was
pulled up in a careless pony tail and swayed from side</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">
to side</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">like a cobra charmed by
an Indian flute</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">
as she bopped to the music from the car radio. </span></i></span></strong></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></strong><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">Even at a car's length away</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> the driver behind her
thought this was the sort of hair a man could run his fingers through and grasp
playfully…</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">He
wished now he was piloting his own expensive roadster</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> rather than the sedate
brown sedan he'd rented especially for this trip. His own car was the sort that
would impress the kind of girl who drove a bright red convertible with the top
down on a windy spring day.</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He imagined himself
overtaking her, seeing her look over at him, her eyes widening in admiration as
she took in his expensive ride and wealthy, groomed good looks.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then she'd remember him
and smile…</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">He gunned the accelerator</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> and with a disdainful
purr the rental spurted forward, pulling alongside her. He glanced over, hoping
to catch her eye. But she stared straight ahead, singing along to some mindless
muzak and oblivious to his look of longing.</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He didn't matter to her.
She didn't remember. She didn't smile.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Irritated now, he jabbed
the accelerator and zoomed past her. He knew that soon they'd meet again.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then he'd refresh her
memory.</span></span></i><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCk9NyqojpBrI-cXzhg0EDF-5nfFWjLmDFuoJo1y1KMzMTVUPZYFWOF533vZZtPER_EcIGeXQXztSC741NsWx7iGWtfNuAFAypHBk6k3ozTzPz3W6BkA8NHc8AzfTdAokk2WpdeBebVI/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1500" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCk9NyqojpBrI-cXzhg0EDF-5nfFWjLmDFuoJo1y1KMzMTVUPZYFWOF533vZZtPER_EcIGeXQXztSC741NsWx7iGWtfNuAFAypHBk6k3ozTzPz3W6BkA8NHc8AzfTdAokk2WpdeBebVI/s400/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Maggie-Glenys-OConnell-ebook/dp/B07HHV3LG1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Saving Maggie</a> is on Amazon, Kobo, Walmart Online, B & N, and most good ebook outlets!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></em></div>
<br />Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-43201803410797714862018-11-07T12:40:00.000-05:002018-11-16T14:58:16.081-05:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><u>New Romantic Suspense Release!</u></span></h2>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Maggie-Glenys-OConnell-ebook/dp/B07HHV3LG1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Saving Maggie</a><em>. Read the first page here:</em></span></h4>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_jmX1FsNSboYNWf5VIip8OCucnrue9Hh6ANVe9Ih9TnFSyGW2bpVlgYCSlriI87vPXAmjISkfEWeP5OcVBTtDAKIjz27LWNRBcW-bnX3PPcC7AyeD8I45QfYz2-behMSkdGWgcvnO8Ss/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_jmX1FsNSboYNWf5VIip8OCucnrue9Hh6ANVe9Ih9TnFSyGW2bpVlgYCSlriI87vPXAmjISkfEWeP5OcVBTtDAKIjz27LWNRBcW-bnX3PPcC7AyeD8I45QfYz2-behMSkdGWgcvnO8Ss/s200/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell500.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OConnell_Glenys/saving-maggie.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Saving Maggie</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter 1</span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></strong><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">The woman in the sexy
little red convertible looked perky from behind. Her glossy long hair was
pulled up in a careless pony tail and swayed from side</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">
to side</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">like a cobra charmed by
an Indian flute</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">
as she bopped to the music from the car radio. </span></i></span></strong></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></strong><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">Even at a car's length away</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> the driver behind her
thought this was the sort of hair a man could run his fingers through and grasp
playfully…</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">He
wished now he was piloting his own expensive roadster</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> rather than the sedate
brown sedan he'd rented especially for this trip. His own car was the sort that
would impress the kind of girl who drove a bright red convertible with the top
down on a windy spring day.</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He imagined himself
overtaking her, seeing her look over at him, her eyes widening in admiration as
she took in his expensive ride and wealthy, groomed good looks.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then she'd remember him
and smile…</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">He gunned the accelerator</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;">,</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"> and with a disdainful
purr the rental spurted forward, pulling alongside her. He glanced over, hoping
to catch her eye. But she stared straight ahead, singing along to some mindless
muzak and oblivious to his look of longing.</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He didn't matter to her.
She didn't remember. She didn't smile.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Irritated now, he jabbed
the accelerator and zoomed past her. He knew that soon they'd meet again.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 34pt 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then he'd refresh her
memory.</span></span></i><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCk9NyqojpBrI-cXzhg0EDF-5nfFWjLmDFuoJo1y1KMzMTVUPZYFWOF533vZZtPER_EcIGeXQXztSC741NsWx7iGWtfNuAFAypHBk6k3ozTzPz3W6BkA8NHc8AzfTdAokk2WpdeBebVI/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1500" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCk9NyqojpBrI-cXzhg0EDF-5nfFWjLmDFuoJo1y1KMzMTVUPZYFWOF533vZZtPER_EcIGeXQXztSC741NsWx7iGWtfNuAFAypHBk6k3ozTzPz3W6BkA8NHc8AzfTdAokk2WpdeBebVI/s400/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Maggie-Glenys-OConnell-ebook/dp/B07HHV3LG1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Saving Maggie</a> is on Amazon, Kobo, Walmart Online, B & N, and most good ebook outlets!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></em></div>
<br />Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-44896199057481064102018-11-04T15:45:00.000-05:002018-11-04T15:45:22.459-05:00
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd14_uN0Iuhkbohu6-e_MK4_3AHu_QIX3HkZHID0vTHQmQQ_Y5GIWMRk5oy7bYc7q53hyaas33_ukklZ8g7YzwRstcgmJv1ZtRGxE7naUSyKN1wJ4T-OXLIdpv_Qfvz3gMK8LNrPU_Vs/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1500" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd14_uN0Iuhkbohu6-e_MK4_3AHu_QIX3HkZHID0vTHQmQQ_Y5GIWMRk5oy7bYc7q53hyaas33_ukklZ8g7YzwRstcgmJv1ZtRGxE7naUSyKN1wJ4T-OXLIdpv_Qfvz3gMK8LNrPU_Vs/s320/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
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<h2 style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Sometimes, Disappearing and Making a New Life Sounds Like a Great Idea...</h2>
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="500" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHsWvV2YHiEqwfNdKh5qSesuHCQeg7eG8zQ84XWFgEwVXeLykstPek2jrLwVsDbTnp1WB6VvOkIV0iUXbtpzqA57Z0SMgd-Y_VeFBZrs67_AAblf7yLJzwonOpdS8Ujsh-7rEE2SkfauE/s200/No+Frills+Cover.png" width="200" /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Imagine you're being stalked by a psychotic killer. No-one
believes your story of being hunted and threatened. Disappearing seems like the
only way you can escape, by becoming someone else and praying that the madman won’t
find you.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For most of us, leaving our lives and starting over is an impossible
daydream. There are lots of reasons why people do this – being really unhappy
and seeing no way to correct things, being really bored and wanting to live a
life with more excitement, having creditors constantly harassing you, family
issues, and many more. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WswsXTSMGsG76NxWHD0x1W4jeSLqNeqaRutBCkyM0y1rhTkZoULIVmnUsiJO04Xf5Qv2YS8BHfLQRwjCJ0WJliqSdcKuxhqViXNdOlMdAYHbg0Ot4qZUfHCqCf9Rf7ofFQk8lUPvjEs/s1600/jail+%25282017_11_15+14_46_17+UTC%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="294" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WswsXTSMGsG76NxWHD0x1W4jeSLqNeqaRutBCkyM0y1rhTkZoULIVmnUsiJO04Xf5Qv2YS8BHfLQRwjCJ0WJliqSdcKuxhqViXNdOlMdAYHbg0Ot4qZUfHCqCf9Rf7ofFQk8lUPvjEs/s200/jail+%25282017_11_15+14_46_17+UTC%2529.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having committed a crime – say you embezzled millions from
your company and they're about to bring in the auditors – getting out of your
life is one way to try and avoid prison. Don't bank on being successful,
though! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Witness Protection is probably the best, because all the
work of creating a new persona and a new life is done for you – although you
still have to be careful not to give yourself away. And you've probably
witnessed something traumatic before you're accepted into the program as a
witness, so maybe it's not so much fun.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrmGKBgeu6BWv_69iUUGmlJJCaQIdxIX_NpBOhM6VlwNJr-02Dr-yIpiO9BF4XkWykpXs4USAvaNaoKUjzr1gAFOJ5qU0Icsg1p-sdzh74wpmhJplYxtMjqFiZgSr5_aU_98Nw517jV8/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrmGKBgeu6BWv_69iUUGmlJJCaQIdxIX_NpBOhM6VlwNJr-02Dr-yIpiO9BF4XkWykpXs4USAvaNaoKUjzr1gAFOJ5qU0Icsg1p-sdzh74wpmhJplYxtMjqFiZgSr5_aU_98Nw517jV8/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnell100.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For Maggie Kendal, there was really no alternative but to
disappear. She knew she was being stalked, but there's a twist – the psycho was
killing people he thought had hurt Maggie in some way. He dreamed that one day
he and she would be together, but in the meantime, he was 'protecting' her from
people who he considered had done her harm. Being a little psychic didn't help
Maggie at all – no-one believed that the murdered dead called to her,
especially after they'd dug up dump sites she claimed the psychos victims were laid,
and found nothing. Maggie had to flee to save the lives of other people she
cared about.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But Maggie is a wealthy heiress with the means to move and
keep moving, to pay for new identities and finally, to find peace in a small
Ontario town. She purchased a community newspaper and resumed the work she loved
as a journalist. But she knew that he would find her eventually and she'd have to stand and fight - or run again.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Disappearing is harder to do if you’re poor. You need money
to travel, money to buy a new identity, money to live on and keep moving around
until you feel your trail has gone cold. So you have to have a lead in time
when you can quietly liquidate any assets you have before disappearing. Or, as
some people have done, you simply get on a Greyhound bus and go, picking up odd
jobs and hoping to one day feel safe enough to settle down in a new identity.
You'll probably need several new identities as you go along in order to
completely wipe out your trail.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ns7-od4HGUw4fGX8XOu6TVdtRDAjXDF5MCgGsUMqZ2IoWyNEIx-ZwuPPaT35aNiSu6m9pc2nLRvmouJ8v0dKoYeNp7VpPCN8eUZN9TODvh3ARq1u7qM9RXBH4JflcLXaa5iJemgkVGY/s1600/careerwoman+%25282017_11_15+14_46_17+UTC%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="90" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ns7-od4HGUw4fGX8XOu6TVdtRDAjXDF5MCgGsUMqZ2IoWyNEIx-ZwuPPaT35aNiSu6m9pc2nLRvmouJ8v0dKoYeNp7VpPCN8eUZN9TODvh3ARq1u7qM9RXBH4JflcLXaa5iJemgkVGY/s200/careerwoman+%25282017_11_15+14_46_17+UTC%2529.png" width="95" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can check graveyards, find the name and birthdate of a
child who was born around the time you were…and go and try your luck at getting
documents in that child's name. Sure, you can say your paperwork was destroyed
in a flood or hurricane, but most government offices have tightened up on this
once tried and true method of getting a new identity.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You'll need to keep moving and changing your identity, losing
yourself in cities in the beginning. You'll also need to keep a cash flow
going, unless you've got a suitcase full of money from your previous life. Even
the disappeared need to eat. That means working at low level jobs where pay is 'under
the table' and there's no paper trail. Sure, you may be super well educated and
have qualifications out the whazoo, but high powered jobs require
documentation, and right now you're just concerned with not leaving a paper
trail.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Later, like years later, you might feel safe enough – and savvy
enough – to find a way to document your qualifications, perhaps by getting an expert
forger to rework your certificates and degree information into your new name,
not your old one. But remember, many institutions have become wary of hiring
people who aren't who they say they are, and they will check with your previous
employers or your alma mater, and then the doo-doo will hit the fan.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, the grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence
that's got you boxed in – but maybe it's all an illusion and home, sweet home,
is the best place for you. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can read about Maggie Kendall's journey to escape her
psycho stalker and the courage it took for her to save the life of the man she
loved and to make a new life for herself with him in<a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OConnell_Glenys/saving-maggie.htm" target="_blank"> Saving Maggie,</a> to be
released on November 7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOVERlDNASNZ2_xfoZTSYLBYznbVPSqURPxPjvGbw50_t6L7DvombPuA4qKK6HezywpFmGF_ggL79_OVTtUIjSAJBaZlccBQw1R1GfLapZWzLINp6sLLGsHVysV-MIp0Todw1jnl1jv8/s1600/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1500" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOVERlDNASNZ2_xfoZTSYLBYznbVPSqURPxPjvGbw50_t6L7DvombPuA4qKK6HezywpFmGF_ggL79_OVTtUIjSAJBaZlccBQw1R1GfLapZWzLINp6sLLGsHVysV-MIp0Todw1jnl1jv8/s320/SavingMaggiebyGlenysOConnellTWITTERbanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OConnell_Glenys/saving-maggie.htm" target="_blank">Saving Maggie</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-65636682799866179622017-12-14T15:27:00.000-05:002017-12-14T15:27:37.570-05:00Have You Looked At What's In Your 'Ideas' File Recently?<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/s1600/image002.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="500" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/s200/image002.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">My (writing) life was
in danger of becoming an unfinished symphony.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m an Aries, and we
love to start things. Unfortunately, finishing isn’t a strong point. I have sweaters,
quilts,</span> <span style="font-size: large;">paintings, gardening projects….well, you get the picture. All
unfinished.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Perhaps more importantly,
I have a huge file on my computer of novel ideas and, even more alarming, about
seven novel manuscripts in various stages of completion.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">And then I signed up, as
I do every year, for Nanowrimo. You know what I mean, that challenge where you
try to sweat out 50,000 words, or an entire novel, in a month. Self-inflicted
torture.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1A0tkMZUEq1J8_MhOIOkbUjWbx4ggnwRvf304EaydAqqEac58SVMPhBeiqL4ZHfuSE_KbcTNnSFpxt0abz_t02uVTRc_3OR1cpyF91NmR2gkwVxb5ulTNJa8ddss7IUwLVZ9wreSVZFw/s1600/typewriter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="572" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1A0tkMZUEq1J8_MhOIOkbUjWbx4ggnwRvf304EaydAqqEac58SVMPhBeiqL4ZHfuSE_KbcTNnSFpxt0abz_t02uVTRc_3OR1cpyF91NmR2gkwVxb5ulTNJa8ddss7IUwLVZ9wreSVZFw/s200/typewriter.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">And I went through my
ideas file to try to figure out what I’d like to work on. And found two mss
that had been done to first draft in previous Nanos. And then abandoned like
unwanted children.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Oh, dear, my poor
babies.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Because they were actually
good children, interesting plot lines, characters who sobbed on my shoulder
when I told them they’d have to wait to tell their stories.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I felt like a monster.</span></span><br />
<div style="border-image: none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QsH0M2_xcuYFZlLaHJvSip3Ot4gp1RDp2Tk8A5dLAR7-vwFbd42F26sDLQlsXO0JBfpYek0oc8EzdVMVlYbpRO90Io6X7AlTDmzjFRegRQ3P5y6laV5KmqNskgFDEwrSYUWxhdlHj60/s1600/Writing+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="96" data-original-width="96" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QsH0M2_xcuYFZlLaHJvSip3Ot4gp1RDp2Tk8A5dLAR7-vwFbd42F26sDLQlsXO0JBfpYek0oc8EzdVMVlYbpRO90Io6X7AlTDmzjFRegRQ3P5y6laV5KmqNskgFDEwrSYUWxhdlHj60/s200/Writing+poster.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">So, I quit Nano and
dusted off a couple of these unfinished stores and got to work.</span></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">And it’s going well.
The poor things are so happy to see me, they just blossom with words.</span></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">My unfinished symphony
of a (writing) life was highlighted by talking to a friend who was clearing out
all sorts of things. “If anything happened to me, I know my kids and grandkids
would just dump this stuff,” she said philosophically.</span></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">U</span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">hmm, I started
wondering what my kids would do – or think – about a series of unfinished murder
mysteries with a couple of hot sex scenes thrown in.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgQNsteiTEizf5H1QMhFEhDeQ_v5lddOP4ukpdtwZEUhV8AL_GbRpTg-cx14zOqBHlaCoI3iNGq0orLU4iOP6u9J_AsfFAReBnYwR6VIn7fpJ7jbrnIdPwkPJD8rpwfYPBgwGwNJidI0/s1600/Naked+Writing+Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="231" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgQNsteiTEizf5H1QMhFEhDeQ_v5lddOP4ukpdtwZEUhV8AL_GbRpTg-cx14zOqBHlaCoI3iNGq0orLU4iOP6u9J_AsfFAReBnYwR6VIn7fpJ7jbrnIdPwkPJD8rpwfYPBgwGwNJidI0/s200/Naked+Writing+Cover.png" width="133" /></a></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Much better solution is to
finish them (the books, not my kids) and get them out to take their chances in
the big world. </span></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">As for the unfinished
craft projects, well, who knows what fate awaits them?</span></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So, have you checked what novel ideas are lurking in your 'ideas' or 'strays' file? You might find almost finished gold, right there!</span></div>
</div>
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<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</h2>
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-53930602907921721822017-09-26T14:44:00.003-04:002017-09-26T14:51:06.102-04:00Too Busy Chasing Success To Have A Life?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/s1600/image002.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="500" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi201hn4WjaotZ_eDxvanPPgKl3uCok1yz5oFM-fXh2gPpke4LY8LPrSQ5kqtmxtEUhThtpENtKSYkMlSVNYE7xfHpzZU49DQsheEZ6iIuAsysFzBFFNn5PM5EdBz3GBQRTERaXLrhuPdY/s200/image002.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is your writing becoming more like a word mill, churning out
stories just to keep up with a publisher's requirements – or your own eagerness
for success? Nowadays it's not unusual for writers – particularly those writing
romance, series, and cozy mystery series – to turn out four books a year. Or
more. Yes, that was FOUR a YEAR or MORE.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe if all your writing is fiction, you could do that. But
if fiction and non-fiction, articles and blogs and promo content all meld into
that mixture, then burn-out may be lurking on the horizon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sure, it's flattering when publishers accept one book,
insist on edits, and offer a three-book contract with killer deadlines. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wow! They love me! My readers can't get
enough!</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But pause for a moment. Think about your life. Think about
the lives of those intertwined with yours.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJRhj0bW9LF9Z2uETOepafGJ1L_WAkEQ-4IXD6bmwI-rrZY24c7pEicZ6rd84PCHIW-xz6EwYvYQLvV7Wm3zqYfDLlZSVjdTDWp8UFLvf_EebLiuy8lWwh7oGa5Z0Gu-h8h35xVmOFj8/s1600/rhodedrendron.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="207" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJRhj0bW9LF9Z2uETOepafGJ1L_WAkEQ-4IXD6bmwI-rrZY24c7pEicZ6rd84PCHIW-xz6EwYvYQLvV7Wm3zqYfDLlZSVjdTDWp8UFLvf_EebLiuy8lWwh7oGa5Z0Gu-h8h35xVmOFj8/s200/rhodedrendron.png" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do you have time to spend with them? To be there for them as
they are for you? Time to smell the roses, see the change of season, relax? Hug
a child, grandchild, friend, or stranger in need?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And, of course, for many writers there's always the day job. The one you've sworn to give up as soon as writing pays enough to pay the bills. But when is 'enough' actually enough?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In other words, are you so busy rushing pell-mell after what
looks like success, only to miss out on your Real Life? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Remember, when you get
to the top of one mountain, there's always another waiting to be climbed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter how busy you are, take time to celebrate the
successes, big and small. Reached the top </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of a mountain? Yippee! Happy dance! And
include others in your joy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That joy and zest will spill over into your work, making you
a better writer, more engaging to your readers, than yet another book churned
out that may actually seem an awful lot like the previous one that was still percolating
in your head when you moved on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And take time in your writing to write the book of your
heart. The book you're writing for yourself, without peering over your shoulder
at what the competition is doing, at what the publishers are looking for. The
book which may never see the light of day – or may prove to be your biggest
success yet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because, at the end of the day, success in life is a robust
thing, a many-sided thing, rather than a one-horse race with no-one there to
applaud.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em>Glenys O'Connell is a former journalist, mental health counsellor, and now a multi-published fiction author. She is also the author of non-fiction including Depression: The Essential Guide and PTSD: The Essential Guide.</em></span> </span></div>
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Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-48455465025841388342017-03-27T09:30:00.000-04:002017-03-27T09:30:31.259-04:00Monday Inspiration: What Inspires You? My First Blog After a Long, Dry Spell! #glenysoconnell #inspiration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddxTEECHrDlzGok1bFhf2ARxIf1qCR23322m4q2upx60FbKFNDtTJQwS6mQPdW9N7D-58oDS98ThT5PscR9RYmA7xLmX3GQkDD-8bBhHadOCPwa2tKq4CPTkCffpXCZyv27iY5Sdf7Vw/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddxTEECHrDlzGok1bFhf2ARxIf1qCR23322m4q2upx60FbKFNDtTJQwS6mQPdW9N7D-58oDS98ThT5PscR9RYmA7xLmX3GQkDD-8bBhHadOCPwa2tKq4CPTkCffpXCZyv27iY5Sdf7Vw/s200/IMG_0313.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mostly when we talk about 'inspiration', we're talking about the sudden insights that grab a writer, artist, dancer, musician, and lead (hopefully!) to some beautiful piece of art. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, as a writer I do value those insightful moments very much! But to be honest, I think there is a kind of inspiration that affects everyone, although sometimes we have to open our hearts and minds and look for it. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">These little joys are the simple, precious moments that keep us going through a humdrum day, and sometimes through the dark days and nights when worry assails us and sleep eludes us. Here are some of my favorites.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm talking about the things that bring us sudden joy. Often these are small things with a big impact, times that make you smile both when they happen and in memory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For me that includes the tiny chickadee that perched on my hand as I filled the birdfeeder this morning. Something so tiny, so alive, so confident and full of joy itself brought a smile to my face and yes, that little jolt of joy that is inspiration. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">An unexpected card from a friend I'd lost touch with. A neighbour dropping by just to say hello. A texted funny forwarded by a friend who'd taken the time to let me know he or she was thinking of me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyOozSYyRK6T7eZ5ye8ZJADGMBXZTCM6yDUKHWN6VyRv74YeQdsIHphqZma02uM23ChHFg8HxHnd86QGE6j2s-kGWcJccOTL34H1iRNDy657WgjPuL0MGTzqfIpjCc1JpZ01xyPeqdpI/s1600/Garth+%2526+Caleb%252C+March+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyOozSYyRK6T7eZ5ye8ZJADGMBXZTCM6yDUKHWN6VyRv74YeQdsIHphqZma02uM23ChHFg8HxHnd86QGE6j2s-kGWcJccOTL34H1iRNDy657WgjPuL0MGTzqfIpjCc1JpZ01xyPeqdpI/s200/Garth+%2526+Caleb%252C+March+21.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I still remember with joy the first time I held our newborn children, and now our newborn grandchild. It's a feeling that still swells with emotion so rich that it can take my breath away. Especially now they're all grown into good people and the grandbaby is a strong and healthy toddler with a great line in kisses and hugs!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of those moments of joy come when you'd least expect them. My husband reaching to take my hand to anchor me as I went through medical tests; when he reaches over on an ordinary day to hug me as if I'm precious. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOzgXHDzX7zZqcKMnkeNB0s1ixRFYAE1oJULoMutHQCtupUZAoYCoJAeEKFrews6Tdf1iPirf4e3Ic6LkfoYcvhb4mSqfW4x-pgAnEDhGBtPC3oDwY4BRelTfxfm-naFZWImG61VUei4/s1600/rhodedrendron.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOzgXHDzX7zZqcKMnkeNB0s1ixRFYAE1oJULoMutHQCtupUZAoYCoJAeEKFrews6Tdf1iPirf4e3Ic6LkfoYcvhb4mSqfW4x-pgAnEDhGBtPC3oDwY4BRelTfxfm-naFZWImG61VUei4/s200/rhodedrendron.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The first flowers that poke their heads up to herald the end of our long Northern winter. Stepping outside our country home on a bitterly cold winter's night to see a clear night sky crowded with a billion bright stars and a huge yellow moon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I could go on and on. But we all have our moments of inspiration, moments that make the ordinary extraordinary and keep is going </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICt2m2y0zuCi0R-er1L0bxuXldnGOBqodF_cUwuUwZDt0OQRovvFrEwYjESjUgIT08DuO3SGKkMBLzvK_RLLdj5K6DCcFFAgvhklQsF9bx-PVf5GsvbZaDwOYULc9OtZ1qjeRaELMqPE/s1600/blog+graphic1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICt2m2y0zuCi0R-er1L0bxuXldnGOBqodF_cUwuUwZDt0OQRovvFrEwYjESjUgIT08DuO3SGKkMBLzvK_RLLdj5K6DCcFFAgvhklQsF9bx-PVf5GsvbZaDwOYULc9OtZ1qjeRaELMqPE/s1600/blog+graphic1.gif" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">even on the dullest of days. Sure there are the big events, like when you got the job, when your book was accepted for publishing, when you finally got to make that life-changing trip you'd been planning for so long.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But to me it's the little moments of joy, ordinary moments in an ordinary day, that inspire me to get through the day. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Whatever yours are, seek them out and hold onto them. They're very precious.</span>Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-41955862439210767042016-04-26T18:01:00.002-04:002016-04-26T18:01:45.118-04:00Wednesday's Writing: What If Your Name Really Was 'Famous Author'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYnrTeCYL1uDwqvsVUtetGauZcX-xKnyX_38v9bIbWToCVFg2sbh_uZRktvAiYV8D3WJji3wMPg1_8YKxVFORlYWFnLYfPLPkWvdWAYWnznRTM_G05jJwnatCnl8bE76WDMZ7R3Z_gGo/s1600/woman+typing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYnrTeCYL1uDwqvsVUtetGauZcX-xKnyX_38v9bIbWToCVFg2sbh_uZRktvAiYV8D3WJji3wMPg1_8YKxVFORlYWFnLYfPLPkWvdWAYWnznRTM_G05jJwnatCnl8bE76WDMZ7R3Z_gGo/s200/woman+typing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
No, I don't mean what if you were actually christened Famous Writer, although I guess there would be some comedy value in that...<br />
Something to think about from a situation I came across on Amazon recently. What if you're a writer who has the same name as a famous writer? Suppose your real name was Nora Roberts, Louise Penny, Harlan Corben, Barbara Erskine, J.K. Rowling? <br />
Would you publish your books under your own name, as would be perfectly within your rights? <br />
If your books suddenly started to sell like hot cakes, would you just think <em>eh, well, that book was plenty good enough for stardom, after all, I sweated my heart and soul to produce it?</em><br />
Or would there be a sneaky feeling in the back of your mind that maybe, just maybe, some of those sales were from readers who thought you were actually that Other Famous Writer?<br />
This situation has been tickling my brain ever since I came across this when looking for the latest Stephen King book. Yes, I freely admit, I'm a Stephen King fan and have pretty much an automatic reaction to purchase his latest book.<br />
Which is why I was shocked when, on Amazon, I noticed that my hero had apparently written a whole bunch of books I'd never heard of before. Wanting to add them to my King collection, I busily clicked on the covers. The books did seem kind of King-ish in style, but...I don't know. So I checked out the reviews.<br />
What I didn't understand was how the books could have mostly one star and two star reviews. Was Stephen King losing his touch? Why had I never heard of these books before?<br />
So I scrolled down to the actual reviews, to discover complaints from reviewers, readers who had looked at or bought the books, that apparently this was not the REAL Stephen King. At least, that's what the reviewers thought. <br />
This Other Stephen King writes in a similar genre to the really famous one and his books certainly seem to be selling, but there seems to be a lot of ire among the reviewers. I'm not going to quote them here, because I think if this guy really has that Famous Writer name, he's probably entitled to use it. Just note that one book alone, Awaken, had 69 per cent one star reviews. Uhmmmm....no idea if these were about the quality of the writing or that fans of Stephen King were disappointed to discover these were not the kind of books they expected from Stephen King. <br />
If that makes sense.<br />
You can take a peek at that page here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B01ACLW2KW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1461707007&sr=1-1&keywords=Stephen+King">http://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B01ACLW2KW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1461707007&sr=1-1&keywords=Stephen+King</a><br />
I have no idea if there are other instances of this apparent name confusion, but I imagine it must exist.<br />
So tell me, what would you do if you had a Famous Writer's name? Would you be comfortable writing under it, or disgruntled that people objected to you using your own name? Or would you simply choose another name and get on with your writing career?<br />
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-78215001423039872292016-03-23T08:30:00.000-04:002016-03-23T08:30:29.412-04:00Wednesday's Writing: Do You Talk Yourself Out of Success?<br />
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By Glenys O’Connell @GlenysOConnell</div>
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*This was first published two years ago, but I thought it was worth repeating!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>“Argue your limitations and sure enough, they’re yours.”</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> #Richard Bach #quote</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieLBKOGwZ_dZH-qigX7Xg4xVRvOo4cgVocPX4A5ljwnl_g6DEXSobehaJP9kFxjCH5ClvDYXOiXox3B_SFrU6600fu8V9sJJky2yDXrVbqYJ4W3HnRLJVtpdu8Pj_xxJdfRbGoPLdUgbs/s1600-h/lao%25255B2%25255D.jpg" style="font-size: medium;"><img align="left" alt="lao" border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4NsHVhwsTLmenwDFJ1K1UNVqV6qBNnv1jHpBRE4SnTjlFVLAIiRjAAXOiZGl4ZTVdCvfBVyGGSrQdIN2BRN1wuvczU2PPCGuwIYlyqZ6VR0cWagNn9eUQhi3LhJz9xlTP5EfbgMcBLU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="lao" width="244" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;">Do you talk to yourself? Most writers do – and we’re not alone. Most ‘Normal’ people talk to themselves, too. Not always out loud, but there’s that inner voice in your head that comments on just about everything you do, advises you, comes up with great (or not so great) ideas, comforts and inspires.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Or not.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Because lots of us have voices in our heads that talk us down. Sometimes they may even sound like someone in our past who has told us our ‘limits’. Your mother, another relative, a teacher, a friend, an employer, people who may have said things ‘for your own good’ or to ‘stop you getting big headed’. Perhaps people who were afraid to step out on Life’s High Wire themselves, and passed that fear on to you. Or people afraid they’d lose you if you became successful, or who were genuinely afraid you’d be hurt if you strove for high dreams and fell flat on your face.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAPFJdqEkKXh75Fy7gYNsuz5AGb4-E-eW94-7TrMRWn7efkDcr5alQJ6vKpC2RI_pGsMnnD-AzI8U3LI2xV3T4bW4Wo-jp4jruQc6RDdfg0b-njNqxusKIBgKEkvkDdSamPwVXwpnlJg/s1600-h/guy%252520on%252520skateboard%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="guy on skateboard" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitnFvC1ZdBP1VJjldRDwUUNARwfO4Rz6gLSDsGFGceMSh4mJOZpqr4AjzHe-gMGfNQCXD0Yp3JD4glBge7SHjL-nW7L9Bj_mM6PXwS-Px-kFGJlLZ7inmbqkqzVTeOqC7tL2l522JVm-8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="guy on skateboard" width="229" /></a>But now that self-talk is firmly embedded in your mind. You want to write a book? <em>It’s too much work…I’m not talented enough..who would want to read what I have to say…it’s silly, everyone would laugh….no-one from my social class has ever…I’m too old….</em></span><br /><em><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></em> <span style="font-size: medium;">You want that beautiful home, that fulfilling job? You want love? Success? Happiness? A healthy inner voice cheers you on, tells you that you do deserve good things; but that negative inner voice will come up with all the reasons why it’s a bad idea, you don’t deserve it, who would love you anyway,. and why can’t you just settle for, well, second best?</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Or fill in the blank here for what your little voice says:__________________________________</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">It may be a little voice, but it puts huge limits on you. It may help you stay within your comfort zone, but it doesn’t help you achieve the dreams that are in your heart.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <u><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Negative Self Talk Limits You.</b></span></u><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></u> <span style="font-size: medium;">Basically, your mind accepts what you tell it. If you say you can’t, well, you can’t. </span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Say you can, then that wonderful organ, your brain, will have all its neurons scurrying around for ideas and plans to help you do what you want to achieve.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Q3hZIqjgmKywH0t6dXsWaYyrwY915YOUZ7itLTXDiT9mgcSqaC-0tCjsdU9StW0mHrY_faRTr_rqGB7B1EW-uzK2leJUvq063E4kt84D2pyipnZSdt5C3CpCewoxheFf7oq48k6Y2ks/s1600-h/never%252520lose%252520hope%25255B2%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="right" alt="never lose hope" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTC9qQvrQOZARcAPZexmEQ7cjmlyKcyLnCYoIoDNGfU7XMYEEgS81O1i8tNKMziC5DB5E8tCGaYjVzC3VMmAmawsJQwlFnj0uRPmx3dRhYArqVvczArn0GZC_gaNYyTmAwh_UuHYI9TH8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="never lose hope" width="244" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, it’s not that simple;sometimes you want something that just won’t work out for a number of different reasons that may be beyond your control. Funnily enough, if one dream doesn’t work out, your clever brain often comes up with a substitute dream much more suited to you, and do-able.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">So, spend some time every day having a chat with yourself; tell yourself that you are a smart, caring, competent, deserving person. </span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">It won’t be easy, it won’t be painless, but you can erase the limitations that experiences and other people have encouraged you to put on yourself. Talk nicely to yourself, be positive, and believe that you can.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">I leave you with one of my favorite quotes. Write it out and hang it where you’ll see if often:</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it – boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”</b> Johann von Goeth #quote</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Glenys O’Connell is a trained counselor and the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Essential-Guide-Need2Know-Books-ebook/dp/B009UZEIEK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1412541487&sr=1-1&keywords=Depression%3A+The+Essential+Guide" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Depression: The Essential Guide</span></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder-Essential-Need2Know-ebook/dp/B009G4MB1C/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1412541529&sr=1-3&keywords=PTSD%3A+The+Essential+Guide" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">PTSD: The Essential Guide</span></a></span><br /></div>
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-60180449270817603562016-03-19T14:28:00.000-04:002016-03-19T14:34:01.434-04:00Monday Inspiration: I'm Not Pleased With You, Larry the Lump (Cancer Diaries)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cL5s3PQFkKSX7ltIDOiIKzlsWVkLg4FAtl86gz1fKBASjKB8qQ1NetiII8DH-YlrUBwDu13gtUNHfyDee4elYf4xGLlZhDSI3RA4SU99FsutbSn2QGQpfcUfcndqYaIKghUcNF-reUo/s1600/final+destination.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cL5s3PQFkKSX7ltIDOiIKzlsWVkLg4FAtl86gz1fKBASjKB8qQ1NetiII8DH-YlrUBwDu13gtUNHfyDee4elYf4xGLlZhDSI3RA4SU99FsutbSn2QGQpfcUfcndqYaIKghUcNF-reUo/s200/final+destination.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Oh, my, Larry the Lump! You've done some mean things in your time, but this beats all! I am not at all pleased with you.<br />
Since you were diagnosed at Stage Three last August, I have tried to look on you, not as a malignant creature, but as some of my own cells that are confused and disaffected. Good cells gone bad, you might say.<br />
But there's definitely a mean side to you. Like the fact that you are a species that doesn't always or readily show up on a mammogram, so I went through all those uncomfortable boob-flattening mammograms, year after year, just so that I could feel safe from the likes of you. I actually felt I was taking care of myself, going through the necessary tests that would sound the alarm bells the moment just one tiny cell started to misbehave.<br />
How innocent I was! How mean you are! No doubt you had a good laugh about that, Mr. Meanie.<br />
Even my own doctor dismissed my anxieties about pain in the breast with the comment: "Oh, your mammogram was clear, so there's nothing to worry about."<br />
It took a breast scan and a biopsy to decide just what you were. And MRI tests to keep track of you.<br />
It's cold comfort to hear that if a professional didn't know this, it doesn't seem so dumb that I didn't know. Invasive lobular carcinomas can be difficult to diagnose as they are generally symptom free or have few symptoms, are difficult to feel and don't show any changes in breast shape until they've grown big and strong. Even when they can be felt, they don't necessarily show on a mammogram. They account for about 15 per cent of all breast cancers. Read more <a href="https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/information-support/facing-breast-cancer/diagnosed-breast-cancer/primary-breast-cancer/invasive-lobular-breast-cancer" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
Apparently Larry had been around for up to six years before being detected. That was the first nasty trick.<br />
The second was the side effects in response to the drug I began to take to shrink him. Larry did not enjoy being on a diet (he has estrogen receptors and the drug blocked his daily intake so he was starving and even more mean.) This left me feeling more fatigued than before the diagnosis, with symptoms of menopause like hot flashes, memory lapses, occasional depression, etc.<br />
But it seemed it was all going to be worth it. Larry had shrunk by about 70 per cent and it looked like I could do a lumpectomy, a much less radical surgery than a mastectomy or the removal of the whole breast.<br />
That's where another mean trick came in - as he shrank, Larry broke into several smaller pieces, little Larrys, I guess you'd call them.<br />
But they inhabit the same space that the large tumor did, and the odds of them all being removed, along with all possible cancerous tissue, plummeted.<br />
So it's a mastectomy now.<br />
That means an eviction for you, Larry.<br />
No more warm and cozy nest.<br />
I suppose, in a grim way, I have the last laugh.<br />
<br />
<br />Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-87386207724271582772016-01-03T15:01:00.000-05:002016-01-03T15:01:02.588-05:00Monday's Inspiration: What Are You Doing With Your Marbles?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jNF4YGAiMa6-PC6LcZ5mbSlJp2QEkOk7PUOWWlkIt9xEHLfq04bAFtT4n7jl4prlCNTJKcwH_PDn6LzIv17g2fSVRgejEU5Bq5XUrPBqniwjeiwKW7gtPGW7HTxj-Z5p26M3qzwqTE4/s1600/woman+typing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jNF4YGAiMa6-PC6LcZ5mbSlJp2QEkOk7PUOWWlkIt9xEHLfq04bAFtT4n7jl4prlCNTJKcwH_PDn6LzIv17g2fSVRgejEU5Bq5XUrPBqniwjeiwKW7gtPGW7HTxj-Z5p26M3qzwqTE4/s200/woman+typing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Ah, New Year's. The time we make resolutions we probably won't keep, and then be disappointed in ourselves. Or maybe embarrassed because we told everyone what our resolutions were. Nothing like announcing you're going to lose thirty pounds this year and then being spotted slurping down a super-fattening dessert at a fast food place, while everyone knows that you've not lost an ounce - and why!<br />
Many of us will make resolutions about working harder, seeking success - or more success - earning more money, or whatever seems to be necessary to help us get further, faster.<br />
Have you ever thought that perhaps we neglect the fun experience factor? Sure, you may resolve to spend more time with your family, to exercise more, etcetera, and no doubt these are laudable goals.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCibg_vIgIwTS3TrkSKW_sRX_mpO-4Y9XbQjZBGMKAFn7RJS0hFlP9NHyAzOAST61cxgjeGQgEuVWBDl_0NGUkS5Olyk2YV4T4WyIbxCXGGlvtDz4WQMuEKKtO6DsO39nfACkfSo3YLE/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCibg_vIgIwTS3TrkSKW_sRX_mpO-4Y9XbQjZBGMKAFn7RJS0hFlP9NHyAzOAST61cxgjeGQgEuVWBDl_0NGUkS5Olyk2YV4T4WyIbxCXGGlvtDz4WQMuEKKtO6DsO39nfACkfSo3YLE/s200/IMG_0313.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
But when put into the context of a <strong><em>Resolution</em></strong>, don't they sound just a little bit like work? Like an obligation? A duty? Lacking in the fun part of spontaneity? What about choosing a different route?<br />
This blog by <strong>Lori Allen</strong> on <strong>Great Escape Publishing</strong> made me think. It's both sobering and inspiring.<br />
What if you woke up every Saturday, knowing you were taking the day off from anything remotely like work, and just going to go out and grab experience quite spontaneously? Looking for fun without obligation?<br />
Allen retells the story of the 1,000 marbles which, for the teller, represented every Saturday <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKMlPJ68WEXfgGu8G_tcq62asZqZukWSA8AsAIhNcVtXTjG-jANMI2j6j_RoC9W1bBD7utJtqz7FEsvc5iOOfQAt0ZixkoBApBG2RHoa9LmsLLUaijTgAs9epE7l9PZ6JxDtF-8WmPzk/s1600/Charlie+Brown3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKMlPJ68WEXfgGu8G_tcq62asZqZukWSA8AsAIhNcVtXTjG-jANMI2j6j_RoC9W1bBD7utJtqz7FEsvc5iOOfQAt0ZixkoBApBG2RHoa9LmsLLUaijTgAs9epE7l9PZ6JxDtF-8WmPzk/s200/Charlie+Brown3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
remaining in his life if he lived to be 75 years old. Each Saturday he would take one of those marbles out of the jar, and seeing the dwindling number left behind, be inspired to have that one day as something he'd always remember.<br />
Here's the link - read it. It may just change your attitudes. <a href="http://www.greatescapepublishing.com/1000-marbles-story-change-your-saturdays-from-now-on/">http://www.greatescapepublishing.com/1000-marbles-story-change-your-saturdays-from-now-on/</a><br />
So, what are you doing with YOUR marbles?<br />
<br />
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169789935611907398.post-59977681100226530852015-12-24T07:30:00.000-05:002018-12-23T11:40:25.019-05:00A Writer's Christmas Prayer<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbJYz-77HOxCVT6K6O-WnoHdBanIDGJrN2AJtzhFGoVpCPQ5w58y-ob6dQUCkmqXytXW8EOwINA1N8UUil7cpBShSAPw0zMwqBJgwKakwvZI4oxWJyBO-2z8eKEjNkdgZ3l1A08dp03o/s1600/DSCF1265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbJYz-77HOxCVT6K6O-WnoHdBanIDGJrN2AJtzhFGoVpCPQ5w58y-ob6dQUCkmqXytXW8EOwINA1N8UUil7cpBShSAPw0zMwqBJgwKakwvZI4oxWJyBO-2z8eKEjNkdgZ3l1A08dp03o/s200/DSCF1265.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">DEAR GOD, Jehovah, Allah, Goddess - sorry, I know You have
many names and it’s my journalistic soul that wants to cover all of them.
Forgive me if I get it wrong – I’m rushing the research a bit here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do appreciate Your taking the time to
listen, as You have done so many times in the past. You must be extra busy with
deadlines at this time of the year, because fires, floods, famines, storms,
droughts, wars and general stupidity do not stop even in this holy season. With
all that going on, I hope You can also find the time to celebrate with us the
joy and peace that belong to this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There have been so many times when You have pulled this
tattered manuscript of my life out of the heavenly slush pile, and even when Your
reply has been a gentle rejection note, there is always been encouragement to
go on using the talents You have loaned to me. You have forgiven the times I
have been grouchy on life’s deadlines, when I failed to appreciate the wonder
of the opportunities in new contracts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
have offered, and the many times I have ignored Your submission requirements in
hopes that You would see past my mistakes into the willing prose of my heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having said all of that, I feel selfish even asking for
more, but here goes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="border-image: none;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s a bit of a cliché, but I would join with so
many, many others to ask You to give Mankind – and I say MANkind because the
male of the species seems to be more inclined to conflict than we females, but
maybe I’m biased – if You would just give them all a bit of a shake and tell
them it’s time to make peace not war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Please ignore the mean things I said about the
intellectual abilities of publishers or agents who rejected my work – I didn’t
really want You to strike them. Honest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnoOcbk7QH7g04s4A0458R_DjLfyJRvj6xdiG8k_WPvAOT0MKBvOONFLPyu6P-TRkYxRZtdIdnbk87yJEAfTGpvJf4-ORi3HuLTN6ocQB6Qh0k9jQi3n_OcNRv0QCePz7TMadZYlOH4Y/s1600/Christmas+Church.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnoOcbk7QH7g04s4A0458R_DjLfyJRvj6xdiG8k_WPvAOT0MKBvOONFLPyu6P-TRkYxRZtdIdnbk87yJEAfTGpvJf4-ORi3HuLTN6ocQB6Qh0k9jQi3n_OcNRv0QCePz7TMadZYlOH4Y/s200/Christmas+Church.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
so many of Your people in need, hungry, homeless, afraid, in pain. Maybe You
could inspire those of us who have so much to heed Your teachings and work
towards a more equitable society. Perhaps You could even slip a little extra
blessings into the Christmas stockings of those who have been courageous enough
to stand up for what is right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Please forgive the times I’ve cursed at my
computer; the technology You have given us is truly a blessing and it was just
the heat of the moment;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t mean a
word of it. Really.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of course, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t
invest this prayer with a little personal self-interest. First, I want to thank
You for all the people who have bought my books – the nice reviews always feel
like a warm GodBreeze to my soul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Then maybe You could run to a dollop of
forgiveness for all the times I left undone the things I ought to have done,
and done those things I ought not to have done? Let’s not get into specifics
now, eh? That would be a bit embarrassing and take up too much of Your time. We
both know what they were. However, if you could see your way to making me a
better person, and a better writer, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of help in getting
through the edits for the next book, I would be very grateful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can’t promise that I won’t screw up some more, but Dear Lord, I’m trying to be
better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Thank You. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Romance Can Be Murderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12660460297680900886noreply@blogger.com0