Spring has sprung by Barbara Edwards

I had the first sign of Spring this week, despite the remaining snow and cold temperatures. The flower catalogue arrived. Ah, how I love to browse through the pictures of blooming flowers. I want them all.

Last fall I planted several perennials in my garden: Holly Hocks for the back border, columbine in a clump near my red rose, a pink Peony near the step onto the porch. I’m so excited waiting for the new growth.

T

his has been a mild winter and not the best for protecting the plants. I was happy the snow fell before that wicked freeze and covered over the tiny shoots draw out by the sun.

Last year I had th most productive garden since we moved into out house seven years ago. I added marigolds and sinus to fill in the blanks, but the lilies, foxgloves, phlox and a few lily -of-the-valley made me smile for the blooming season.

this year I plan to add bee balm. I love the hummingbirds and butterflies they attract.

I can hardly wait to get my hands dirty digging in my garden.

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The Struggle for Fitness by Alicia Dean

I have never exactly been a fitness guru, but now that I’m creeping up in age, I’m in worse shape than I’ve ever been in my life. But, just because I’m 54, doesn’t mean I have to give up, right? I constantly think about leading a healthier lifestyle and sometimes make a half-ass (excuse the language) effort, but now, I’m ready to get serious. Today, I’m sharing some of the steps I’ve implemented (though, we’ll see how long I stick with them…), some of the changes I want to make, and I’m asking you to share your tips.

The steps I’m implementing (or plan to implement) so far…

1. Accountability: Last year, I started a private Facebook group with just myself, my sister and two friends. We were to post what we eat each day, the amount of water we drink, and the amount of exercise we perform. It only lasted a little while and we all faded away. I have restarted it, and it’s been very helpful so far. We also post encouraging memes and sayings and so forth. Honestly, if I know I’m going to have to share what I eat with others, I’m a little more cautious about my choices.
2. Better choices: For convenience, I too often have a habit of grabbing fast food. I am working on that, and when I do choose fast food, I am choosing things like Chick fil a’s grilled chicken wrap (delish!), and other lower-calories options.
3. Zeal Wellness: I don’t know if you’ve heard of this, but my sister is doing it and she has lost 80 plus pounds in the last 6 months or so. She exercises regularly and feels better than she has in years. She was also able to get off of some of the medications she’s been on. (I posted before and after pics below. She’s my youngest sister, but she was in very precarious health, and is so much better now). I am trying the Zeal also. I don’t expect miracles, but if it can give me a little boost of energy and help me feel better, it’s worth a shot.
4. Exercise: I have a Blue Cross/Blue Shields gym benefit, where, for $27 a month, I can work out at almost any gym, any time. I’ve been paying that for a while and have yet to utilize it. I have trouble making myself get up early in the morning and go work out. By the time I get off from my day job, I am not in the mood and do not have the energy to work out. I am working to change that and will either MAKE myself get up earlier, or speak with my bosses about taking a long lunch and working out then.
5. Early to Rise: My regular time to get up for the day job is 7 a.m. Over the years, periodically, I have been able to make myself get up at 5 a.m., which give me two hours to write and/or exercise. (I think I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but now, it has to do with fitness AND writing…) This is a step I have not yet implemented, but that is my plan. I’m hoping the Zeal will help give me the energy to do that.

Here is recipe for Edamame Salad, a yummy, easy, healthy snack, side dish, or you can eat it in a wheat wrap:

-1 Bag of shelled edamame (you can find them in the frozen food aisle)

-1 Can of white shoepeg corn

-1 Can of black beans (rinsed)

-1 Can of garbanzo beans/chick peas (rinsed)

-7-10 Small sweet peppers 

-Juice of 3/4 of a lime

-1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil 

-Garlic powder & kosher salt to taste

Mix it all together. I might try adding a few other things, such as capers, purple onions, cucumbers.

My sister before and after:

She was admitted to the hospital for a few days after a scary ER trip for her heart a year ago. Can you believe the difference?

So…

What do you do to stay fit and healthy? How do you find time? What are some healthy recipes/foods you eat?

I live alone, so there is no one to cook for other than myself (my daughter is moving in with me for a few months, but she’s almost 30 and will do her own thing), so I am searching for healthy, quick and easy meals I can eat/prepare when I’m not in the mood to make much of an effort. J

You can find me, my books, my every other Friday Elvis blog, my Tuesday Two-Minute Writing Tip blog and other stuff about me here: http://aliciadean.com/

An Exciting Week...or...Help Wanted! by Jannine Gallant

I Need Help! Probably not a shock to anyone...LOL But this time I need specific help. Book title help. Let me explain what happened...

Last week was an interesting step in my writing career. I had a .99 cent BookBub ad out for Every Step She Takes on Feb. 10th, the second book in my Who's Watching Now series. The third book, Every Vow She Breaks, will be available on March 1st. Last summer, my publisher used the same sales tactic with the first book in the series to promote ESST when it released with really terrific results. But I came up just short of the top 100 overall ranking on Amazon. This time I made it! My lowest ranking was #91 overall and #3 in romantic suspense. Of course the number immediately started a steady upward climb after hitting that milestone, but I felt I'd accomplished something huge. Also, I saw a nice dip in rankings on book one and pre-orders for book three. I hope I can keep the momentum going until EVSB releases on March 1st.

So, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when I got an email from my editor at Kensington. The uppity-ups wanted a proposal for a new series from me. Was I interested? How soon could I have one ready? Wh...what? My second series with them isn't even finished. The first book in the Born To Be Wilde series, Wilde One, won't release until September. I'm currently 20,000 words into the fourth and final book. Apparently my big ranking milestone caught someone's attention. I can only assume they're banking on the Wilde series doing well to want more books from me. A thought that made me jump up and down a little.

Then reality set in. Here I was, thinking I'd finish Wilde Horses and get to slow down and take a break. Maybe clean my house... Really think about what I wanted to do next. Because I hadn't given my next project a single, solitary thought! I've been too busy writing. The good news was I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was contemporary and a series. Romantic suspense was A-Okay. Terrific! Except I had nothing to guide me in choosing a theme for the new series.

This is where I started pestering my CP, poor Margo, with dozens of emails. I like to call it thinking out loud to someone who will actually answer me, so I don't seem quite as crazy as I would talking to myself. I bounced around ideas. She gave me back a yay or nay and made pertinent suggestions. After getting no writing done for two days, I came up with a series title and rough plots for the first two books. The third is pretty hazy. Here's where the plea for help comes in.

The title for my series is Finders Keepers. The idea is each of the three heroines finds something (but doesn't realize its significance) that the villain of the piece wants back...and will do whatever it takes to get it. Book one is Lost And Found. Book two is Playing For Keeps. Book three is the question mark. I want to use either Find or Keep (or some form of those words) in the title, and I want a common phrase. My plot revolves around my heroine, who searches the countryside for antiques and collectibles for her shop. She finds something related to a crime in a box of junk she bought. Oh, this is a friends to lovers story with a lot of angst getting there. All title suggestions are welcome. Ready, set, go!

If you haven't read Every Step She Takes yet, it's still .99 cents. Buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Apple iBooks.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

You May Not Be Able To Judge... by Betsy Ashton

... a book by its cover, but you can identify a series if the covers are done right. I love series, often reading several books in a row. Covers with a common look help me zero in on the next one.

Take a look at my friend Terry Maggert's The Fearless fantasy series. Each bookmark and cover have beautiful women and muted backgrounds. Not hard to see that he writes paranormal fantasy. Not hard to identify his books on Amazon or on a bookshelf in a bookstore as belonging to the same writer and series.

Think about the great Sue Grafton. Her Kinsey Millhone mysteries are branded with a large single letter befitting a series that began with A Is For Alibi. Small changes in variations of shading on the letters, but overall the typescript is similar. Ditto are the backgrounds similar. Bold colors with no images hidden behind under the letters. No one can pass a Sue Grafton book and wonder who wrote it or if it is part of her series.

My good buddy, Michael Murphy, writes Jake and Laura mysteries set in Hollywood's heyday. His book covers scream Hollywood noir,  whether it's Yankee Club, the first in the series, or All That Glitters. The reader knows at a glance what to expect. A hint of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett oozes from the cover and flows into the pages. (Enough of the purple prose, Ashton. Get on with the message.)

And now look at the covers my publisher pulled together for my two Mad Max mysteries. The bookmark accurately depicts two different looks. The top one, Mad Max Unintended Consequences, carries the essence of a rich woman with the little black dress and pearls. The gun warns that this has mystery elements. And the pearls and drops of blood hint at violence and, well, death. That's not a spoiler, because my publisher put, "And when her daughter is murdered" on the back cover. Bad boy!

The lower one for Uncharted Territory doesn't look like it's part of a series, other than it picks up the red lips from the first book in the red lipstick shotgun shell. Again, the shotgun warns of danger.

My publisher is excellent when it comes to working with his authors on cover designs. We tried to keep the black band in the middle with the shotgun and shell in the loser third for Uncharted Territory, but we couldn't find an evocative image for the top third. Since the book takes place in post-Katrina Mississippi, we tried images of desolation, actual photos from after the tidal surge, an Air Stream trailer, a fancy RV. All are part of the story, but the images didn't work.

With book three in progress, I wonder what we'll do for the cover. Book three takes place in a hospital. I'm thinking of a hypodermic filled with blood...

###

Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max, Unintended Consequences, and Uncharted Territory, A Mad Max Mystery, now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Soldiers Make the Best Book Boyfriends by Donna Michaels

Hello!

My post today isn't about a book, or writing for that matter. It's about meeting a few authors, seeing a country singer (who is also a veteran) in a special concert, and supporting a great cause.

This April, I'll be at the Romantic Times Conference in Vegas and have the honor of sponsoring an intimate concert with rising star Jackson Young! How cool is that? It'll be in a suite at the Rio and I'd love for you to join me, and about sixty other people, including my friends, authors Sharon Hamilton, Susan Stoker, Desiree Holt, and Randi Alexander. I'm excited to hang out with them, and a small roomful of readers for a great concert, Secret Prizes, and Giveaways!  

To get in, you need to purchase this cool T-shirt, now. That's right. 

The T-shirt is your Ticket! But hurry, they're only on sale for a few more days!   http://jacksonyoungcountry.com/order-your-soldier-shirts/

 T-shirt sizing chart:

https://gruntstyle.ladesk.com/022851-Shirt-Sizing-Information

Plus, when you purchase this fabulous T-shirt, you help donate to Operation Troop Aid, an organization that makes care packages for our troops fighting overseas keeping US safe,! You help a great cause and enjoy an intimate concert by Jackson on Friday, April 15 at the Rio Suites Hotel in Las Vegas. And you don't have to be registered at RT to see the concert! So, if you live near Vegas, or will be there at that day, please join us! Jackson, and all the authors will be happy to sign your shirts, too!  http://jacksonyoungcountry.com/jackson-young-is-performing-live-in-las-vegas/

Can't make the concert but still want the T-shirt? 

No problem. You can still purchase the T-shirt and donate to Operation Troop Aid. This cute shirt can be yours for only $27, a portion of which goes to Operation Troop Aid, and it will be signed by Jackson Young and mailed to you. 

Whether you're going to RT or not, please, help support our troops in harm’s way, and have this fun shirt as a reminder of your generosity. 

Thank you. <3 

I look forward to seeing you there,
~Donna

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day! by Alison Henderson

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day! Did you celebrate? I'm a HUGE fan of Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the other holidays--not as much. 

As a result, OG and I are not big Valentine celebrators. He's never been one for grand gestures, and as I said to him, "If I don't do something to make Valentine's Day special, it doesn't happen." He didn't disagree, but merely said something to the effect of, "Are you saying every day with me isn't special?" You see what I have to deal with?

He is, however, pretty good at choosing cards. Here's one of my favorites. I think it captures the essence of our relationship after almost thirty-three years. 

Besides a card, I do try to do something nice for him on Valentine's Day. Since February is peak citrus season here in Carmel, and my Meyer lemon patio tree is loaded, I thought a fresh batch of lemon bars would be a welcome gift. I was right!

How did you celebrate the day? Were you wined and dined? Showered with diamonds and champagne? How about a sweet card from a child or close friend? I hope something happened to make your day a little bit special.

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com  

The Valentine's Day Interview

I’ve said before on this blog that I’m the Anti-Valentine Valentine. I don’t really care for the holiday, but other people surely do.

On this Valentine’s Day, I’d like to do a little research on the topic. I’d love for you to post answers to any or all of the questions below in a comment here or over on my author Facebook page HERE. I’m thinking I may use some of the ideas in future books, so you’d be doing me a solid favor if you answered any of the questions. You don’t have to answer in complete sentences, but I am a teacher so… you know… it’s what I’m expecting.  :) 

 

1. Do you like Valentine’s Day?
2. What do you like most about it?
3. What was the best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?
4. What was the worst Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?
5. Describe your idea of a perfect Valentine’s Day?
6. What famous person would you want as a Valentine? Why?
7. What fictional character would you want as a Valentine? Why?
8. Which movie would you consider the best choice to watch on Valentine’s Day?
9. Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14^th or wait until the closest weekend day to have some fun?
10. What little things do you think people could do to make someone feel loved every day?
11. Chocolate or flowers? Or both? Or neither?
12. Assuming you weren’t already madly in love with your significant other, if you received a Valentine’s invitation/love letter from a secret admirer, what would you do?

I am excited to read your responses! Do you have any questions you would add?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Books One to Five in The Maple Leaf Series, available now. Book One, More Than Pancakes is
always FREE! 
More Than Peaches, Book Six, coming 2016.