Spring - A Time of New Beginnings by Katherine Grey

Please join me in welcoming Katherine Grey as she welcomes spring!

Living in upstate NY, I’m always eager to say goodbye to the mountains of snow, wind, and icy drives to work. What I look forward to most about spring isn’t the change in the weather, though it is nice to drive to work on dry pavement rather than ice covered roads and through blinding snowstorms.  I love the new beginning that spring heralds.

While spring isn’t my favorite season (yes, it’s summer), I look forward to it every year. I eagerly watch the skies for the geese flying back from their winter homes, the birds collecting twigs and string to make nests, and of course that sure sign of spring – Robins.

To me, it’s a time of starting over or starting fresh. The flowers poke their heads through the soil and grow into beautiful blossoms, the trees begin to bud and soon the street where I live is shaded by a canopy of leaves, and every now and then I spot a fawn following its mother across the field. 

I use this time of year to evaluate where I am in meeting the goals I’ve set for myself at the beginning of the year both writing related and not writing related. Some years I’m doing really well with staying on track. Other years, well, I haven’t done so well so I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start fresh. Sometimes I make changes to the goal or eliminate it if it’s beyond my reach for that year.  It has to be pretty serious for me to eliminate a goal. For example, the year I had my knee rebuilt, I had set a goal of walking a mile every day five days a week. Due to complications, I used a walker and then crutches for five months before I was able to graduate to a cane. Needless to say there was no way I could walk a mile every day during that time.

I also use this time of year to learn or do something new or that I haven’t done in a long time. Last year I learned how to play craps so that I could write about the game of Hazard with some authority. Hazard is very similar to the game of craps. This year I’m going to try to learn how to paint using watercolors.

An Unexpected Gift
Blurb:
Known only as Lazarus to the band of cutthroats and thieves he leads, William Prescott will do anything to find his missing sister, even blackmail a fragile young woman into helping him. But he never plans to fall in love with this mysterious woman with a troubled past.
Haunted by the memories of war, Olivia St. Germaine wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But when her brother, a doctor, suddenly leaves town without a word, she is forced to use her medical knowledge to help an injured man who puts her life in danger. Can she keep herself safe as she tends Lazarus, or is her heart more vulnerable than she realizes?

Excerpt:
Olivia moved away from his touch and pulled the book back between them. She turned the page only to have a pair of dice drop onto the book.
“How about we take a break, and I teach you how to play Hazard? Unless you already know how?”
“No, I don’t, and I’m really in no mood to play games.” She set the dice aside.
“Then that is the perfect time to play. Nothing puts a body in a good mood like winning money.” Finch picked up the dice and set them in front of her.
She moved the cubes back in front of him. “I am not gambling with you.”
He looked around the room, then hopped up from his chair and began collecting various curios from around the room. He brought everything back to the table and pushed half of the items toward Olivia. “In place of blunt,” he said by way of explanation.
“You certainly are determined,” she said, feeling the corners of her mouth quirk upward.
“No more than you when I am trying to distract you from that blasted book.”
“Which is what you are trying to do now.”
He smiled at her. “Exactly. Now call a number between five and nine.”

You can find An Unexpected Gift at:
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=905
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/An-Unexpected-Gift-ebook/dp/B009Y8APVI/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1361140439&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-unexpected-gift-katherine-grey/1114371314?ean=2940016394534