My Three Favorite Backyard Visitors

In the My Favorite list, I'm coming in with my three favorite backyard visitors. 

 

1. Colorful insect life. Mom and I wanted to plant flowers that would support pollinators. We've succeeded. The bees love our yard. As a bonus, we've seen a startling array of fluttery, colorful butterflies and moths. The runner up for this stunning blue butterfly is the hummingbird moth. They visit to feed on my salvias  in the early morning, but there's no hope of getting a photo of them.

2. The bird life. The sand hill cranes wander through all the time hunting for frogs, snakes, and other tidbits to eat. We also see ibis, pelicans, great blue herons, little blue herons, little green herons, cormorants, anhingas, and all kinds of ducks. It's a never ending parade.

3. Then there's this doofus and all of her brothers and sisters. That's the bbq grill she's stuffed herself underneath for a snooze. They are definitely my favorite wildlife.

Favorite Things ~ 2021 Edition!

 This week is an absolutely wonderful topic: Favorite Things! 

So far my favorites list has grown. Charissa had some excellent choices and reminded me it's writing glove season, KAK left me craving ice cream, and Jeffe made me realize it could be fun to write a short for an anthology! 

Without further ado, I give you three things I’m loving right now:

BlueNose Coffee has the best hot drinks around. If you're ever in Minnesota, best make a swing through the southeast metro. My newest addiction is their eggnog chai latte—pure heaven! And it tastes even better while hiking in the snow.
 

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is one of the top places I order my seeds through. I’ve always had excellent germination rates and receiving their annual seed catalogue is akin to the Sears toy catalogue arriving in the mail as a child! If you enjoy growing things you won’t be disappointed in their variety, or their beautiful seed packets!

Last but not least, a book. Pie Academy by Ken Haedrich is my go-to pastry book. There are pies in there I’d never heard of—but you can be sure I’m going to try them all out. If you’re a pie baker, or maybe you’re interested in giving it a go, Haedrich’s recipes are simple enough and the images drool-inducing enough to make it all worth the effort. 

There are a few of my faves…what are some of yours? What has you hooked right now?

Three Reasons I've Loved Doing FIRE OF THE FROST!

 

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is our three favorite... anything!

Since I'm down to the last few days of coordinating the upcoming FIRE OF THE FROST midwinter holiday fantasy romance anthology, I'm thinking about my three favorite aspects of putting together this annual project.

The anthology releases next week on December 22, 2021 and you can still preorder it for the special sale price! The price goes up on release day. 

    

Working with My Friends

I always say one of the perks of being an author is getting to be friends with your favorite authors! While I love chatting with them online, putting together these group projects is the most fun. We get to collaborate in the best of ways. This year, working with Darynda Jones, Grace Draven, and Amanda Bouchet has been a real treat. 

Getting to Read the Stories

Did I mention these friends are all authors I love??? I just finished Amanda's delightful Of Fate and Fire, and am diving into Grace's The King of Hel. I can't wait to read Darynda's foray into fantasy, A Wynter Fyre.

Sharing the Cross-Promo

What makes this project so great, too, is that we share the promotion and cross-pollinate with our readers. It's super fun to see readers say "I discovered this author through your anthology!" It's a celebration of each other and something lovely to share with our readers. 

Only a week away!

    

My 3 Favorites: Ice Cream Parlors

 

In honor of my two towns, I'm going to share my three favorite ice cream parlors.

1. Graeter's Ice Cream -- Greater Cincy

Ice cream is their thing, particularly thick, satiny ice cream and huge chocolate chunks. Their flavors are fairly traditional, no lavender avocado here, but Buckeye (peanut butter n' chocolate) is absolutely a thing. Black raspberry chocolate chip is their mainstay and cinnamon shows up with peppermint stick during the holidays. They ship nationwide, have distribution via some major grocery chains, and have dine-in and drive-thru parlors in the greater Cincinnati area. Many parlors have bakeries too for those of us who take our coffee frozen in a pint and our apple strudel to go. 

2. Aglamesis Bros. -- Greater Cincy

Okay, it's another ice cream shop. Their champagne sorbet is absolutely delightful and their milkshakes make me trill with glee. That said, they're my favorite for their chocolates. Yep, bonbons. Buy them by the pre-packaged half or whole pound or build-your-own. Dark or milk chocolates, their confections are silky and flavorful without being too sweet. They don't skimp on the stuffings either from mint truffle to opera creme to coated nuts, their chocolates are divine.

3. Casa Rosada -- Old Town Alexandria, VA

Yep, going three for three with ice cream, but not quite ice cream. It's gelato based on the family's Argentinian roots. The shop is a classic a small biz run by a husband and wife team. What started as a hobby became an avocation. During the pandemic, they offer pick-up at the street-side window. Among the traditional flavors, uncommon flavors abound from haroset to sweet corn to malambo. For the vegans out there, they've got you covered too. It's a special treat for my family to get a multi-layered tri-flavored "cake" from here (ordered a week in advance). 

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

This week at the SFF Seven, our topic is Favorite Things. I'm supposed to share three items that I love, and they can be anything. Funny, I started making a Favorite Things guide on Instagram to share with readers prior to the holidays, but I never finished it, so I'll post three things here--other than my family, my pups, and my laptop ;) Take a look! You might find something you like!

This West Elm blanket. This might seem like a weird Fave Thing, but I cannot live without it. It's so soft, cool in the summer, warm in the winter, organic cotton, and it washes so well. I would give loads of these blankets as gifts if I could. I'm obsessed and recommend it ALL THE TIME. I have one on every bed in my home, and I hope they never stop making them.

Storiarts Gloves. I love these so much! Storiarts carries a wide selection of fingerless gloves and other apparel and home goods with excerpts of classic novels (and some modern tales) printed on the fabric. They're a very soft cotton and wash well with no shrinking. No itchy wool. I'm always cold, so these fingerless gloves save me when I'm trying to write during Tennessee's icy winters.

Last but not least: All things Papier. If you're a writer and would like a nice note card that says FROM THE DESK OF {Insert Your Name}, this is where you need to shop. You can personalize the note cards any way you choose, and at a 5x7 size, they're large enough to write as much as you want. Papier also has planners, notebooks, stationary, invitations, and journals, all of which are excellent quality. There are so many lovely prints too, and most of their items can be personalized. I'm sharing this planner (which I don't have--yet), but I do have FROM THE DESK OF note cards that have a beautiful magical vibe with gold foil, and I love them.

That's it! Maybe you found something you like, or a good option for a gift. Christmas will be here in no time!

Happy Holidays,

Fluffy, Fun Mind Candy Self-Promo

Ah, the self-promotion thread. This was a post I did not want to write. Not just because I'm uncomfortable with self-promotion (because I'm a socially awkward dork) but because doing this post forces me to admit that the past two years have been a creative wasteland for me. Am I sitting on a work in progress where I know what happens? Yes. It is on contract? Yes. Have I been able to make a damned bit of progress on it? Not so far. Working on changing it - on changing me. Until then, if you want a low cognitive lift, fun and games story, I've got you covered.

The last thing I wrote and published is a fluffy little bit of mind-candy about a witch forced to work with a vampire to solve a murder.

Someone is sacrificing innocent people in the Seattle Underground. The murderer is trying, and succeeding, to raise a rogue vampire assassin. Rose Buchanan has the magic and the will to stand toe to toe with Vampire Magic. Including that possessed by the gorgeous blue-eyed vampire assassin who kidnaps her in a bid to pull a suspect list from her mind. When he can’t overcome her will, he releases her and sets out to woo it from her instead.

When she’s freed, Rose is more than ready to stake herself a vampire, but he’s a witness to the three murders. She can’t destroy him. Yet. Worse still to have to try to work with him when he keeps dialing the charm to 13.

Gethin is a vampire assassin forged long ago to police the Vampire Nation under the control of the Vampire Council. Now, the council believes the time of the assassins has passed. One by one, Gethin’s fellow assassins and their Blood Knives have been destroyed. Only he remains, his Blood Knife in the hands of a murderous, unhinged human.

Rose has a choice to make. Destroy Gethin or find a way to free him and make the entire Vampire Nation her enemy. 

Character Driven Sci-Fi: THE MARS STRAIN

IF YOU’VE GOT A ROAD TRIP IN YOUR FUTURE

AND YOU ENJOY YOUR SCI-FI DRIVEN BY THE CHARACTERS

WITH COOL, NEAR-FUTURE TECH

INVOLVING MARS

FOUND FAMILY

AND MEDICAL THRILLERS…

THEN STAVE OFF YOUR AUTOPILOT AND DOWNLOAD THE MARS STRAIN!

THE MARS STRAIN

Narrated b: Morgan Hallett

Length: 10 hrs 28 min

We’ve colonized Mars, but we never should’ve come back.

When the first astronauts of the Mars Colony returned to Earth, they brought a mysterious, metal box they had found half-buried in the red dirt, called the Mars Cube. The scientists assigned to uncover its secrets tested it, scanned it, tried to blow it up, and everything in between. Then they accidentally opened it.  

Biosafety level-4 laboratories, BSL4, hold the most deadly viruses on the Earth, and Juliet handled them daily. Her research at the CDC landed her a position on the Mars Cube Investigative Team in the world’s only BSL-5 lab. The only drawback: Her ex was one of the astronauts that brought back the Cube. 

What was held inside the Cube shouldn’t have gotten out. It shouldn’t have ever been exposed to our planet because the Mars Strain is now loose and killing at a 100 percent mortality rate. Juliet is fighting for our very existence, Jake is working with the Mars Colonists to decipher the Cube’s holographic message for a clue, and someone wants to take over the Mars Program for themselves. They’re all watching the clock, and it's about to run out.

FIRE OF THE FROST Fantasy Holiday Romance Yumminess

This week at the SFF Seven we're doing a little winter holiday self-promo! Many of you know we had to push back the release of FIRE OF THE FROST, but it's coming soooooon! We are on target to release on December 22. So if you are someone who celebrates Christmas, this should hit your eReader just in time to relax and enjoy some holiday downtime. 

And if you don't celebrate Christmas, there's lots of midwinter, romantic holiday goodness for you, too! Only Amanda's story is literally Christmas. Everyone else's is a fantasy midwinter holiday. Mine includes a magical sleigh race and elemental festive lights. It's a story that takes place in the Bonds of Magic world, roughly after DARK WIZARD and semi-concurrent with BRIGHT FAMILIAR. It takes place at Convocation Academy and you just miiiiigght see some of the characters in GREY MAGIC. 

The delay means you have just that much longer to preorder the anthology for the special preorder price, before it goes up on release day.

    

Here's the official (still in progress) blurb:

A midwinter holiday fantasy romance anthology…

From Darynda Jones, a standalone novella set in a world where vampyres are hunted for sport. The only thing standing between them and total annihilation is Winter, a warrior bred to save them from extinction. Forbidden to fall in love, Winter cares only about her oaths… until she meets the devilish prince of the underworld.

Of Fate and Fire by Amanda Bouchet

The Kingmaker Chronicles meets modern-day New York City! Piers, an exiled warrior from Thalyria, finds himself in the Big Apple just before the holidays. The world and everything in it might be utterly foreign to him, but that won't stop Piers from helping to complete a vital mission for Athena and protect Sophie, a French teacher from Connecticut who's suddenly knee-deep in inexplicable phenomena, danger, and henchmen after an Olympian treasure that should never have ended up in her hands—or remained on Earth after the Greek gods abandoned it.

The King of Hel by Grace Draven

A novella-length expansion of a stand-alone short story in which a cursed mage-king from a frozen kingdom is obligated to marry a woman of high-ranking nobility but meets his soulmate in a lowly scribe.

Familiar Winter Magic by Jeffe Kennedy

It’s holiday time at Convocation Academy, but best friends Han and Iliana are finding it hard to celebrate. As a familiar, Iliana is facing her assignment to a life of servitude to a wizard, very soon. And Han… despite being tested by the oracle daily, he is still uncategorized. As Iliana and Han face being separated forever, they at last find the courage—or desperation—to break the rules and acknowledge their deeper feelings for each other. But it will take more than true love to save them from the laws of the Convocation…

    

 And here's a little snippet from my story, Familiar Winter Magic:

Once the races finished, Iliana let Han talk her into more dancing. With the excellent whiskey warming her blood, not to mention the heady glow of Han’s undivided attention, she could hardly resist. She loved him so much and he was right: this was their last Founding Festival together. Rather than try to hold him at arm’s length, in anticipation of their imminent parting, she decided to enjoy his company while she could.

Han at his most charming was impossible to refuse. Which would be a major problem when he manifested as a wizard, but she wouldn’t think about that tonight. Since it was a holiday, the thought-seekers gave everyone a break—and were celebrating themselves. The festival was a rare excuse for everyone to loosen up.

A little bit tipsy, the lights and dancing making her feel giddy, she danced with Han until she was so warm she had to shed her cloak. Among his many skills, Han was also an excellent dancer—far better than she, but he was so skilled that he made his partner look good—and they found themselves more than once in a circle of cheering spectators as he whirled her through the vigorous dances.

Then the music slowed, and she fanned herself, blowing out a breath, and headed off the dance floor. Han caught her hand. “Hey, where are you going?” Expertly he twirled her under his arm, then snugged her close, a hand on the small of her back as he led her through the dreamy rhythm.

Iliana braced one hand on Han’s chest, his heart thumping rapidly beneath her fingertips, his blue eyes lambent in the starry light. “We never dance the slow dances,” she breathed.

“A grievous lapse of judgment on my part,” he murmured, gaze traveling over her face. “You feel perfect in my arms, lovely Iliana. I want you here forever.”

She tore her gaze from his heartbreakingly beautiful face, focusing on his throat instead. That wasn’t much help, as his skin begged to be kissed and nibbled. “I don’t understand what’s changed between us, why you’re being so…”

“Seductive?” he suggested in a warm purr. “Devastatingly handsome and charming?”

Snorting, she made a face at him. “Aggressive. And annoyingly persistent.”