Another Blast From The Past

I'm Judith Ashley, co-founder of Romancing the Genres along with Sarah McDermed. 

I'm also Blog Queen this week and in that role I'm having fun looking back over the years. Sarah and I published the very first Romancing The Genres on May 1, 2011. We'll be celebrating the beginning of our 14th year this May 1st.

And over the decade plus we've been around, things have changed although not as much as one might think. 

We still post more days of the month than not although we no longer post every week day and every weekend. 

We still celebrate readers, authors and books . 

We still have a variety of authors/books represented by our Genre-istas and guests. 

We aren't as International as we were when we first started and Sarah and I miss that aspect of our vision.

In 2024 we had 415K views.

High on the list of all time views are

Laurie Schnebly Campbell's "Her Bonus Step" and

Eleri Grace's "May All Your Christmases Be White"

These two posts are a small representation of the variety of themes for which RTG is noted.

I hope you take a moment to click on the links and revisit or perhaps read for the first time two of our more popular posts.

Blast From The Past and More

I'm Judith Ashley, co-founder of Romancing the Genres along with Sarah McDermed. Every now and then I look at RTG's stats. I did that this morning and this is what I saw.

Page Views: 1,289,205

Posts: 3700

Comments: 2,772

December 2024 we had 59,195 page views

So far in January 2025 we've had 11,755.

The blog posts that have garnered the most views with over 4K each?

# 1 - A Victorian Halloween by Mae Pen

#2 - Eton College During The Regency by Bronwen Evans 

Enjoy this Blast From The Past. Step back in time to see what  our readers say are our best.

And check back in over the next couple of weeks as we continue to shine a light on the posts our readers loved.

What do Puzzles, Painting and Crocheting have in common?

by Diana McCollum

First off I take a break from technology. Put my phone in my purse or another room, turn off the tv and shut down the computer. 

I do put my phone in my pocket if I'm taking a walk or working in the flower bed. And I do use the computer if I'm doing a YouTube exercise or yoga video.

Sometimes I put on instrumental music. I can listen to it while I crochet, work on a puzzle or paint. Doing things with my hands such as crocheting or painting really relaxes me. 

(current puzzle I'm working on. There must be 100 pieces of just the bear, and it is hard)

I forget about my stress and concentrate on what I'm doing. Those are my three best go to relaxers.

(took some watercolor classes over the holidays)

Now I practice the tecniques at home.

Outside I enjoy going for a walk and getting some fresh air along with exercise that I do 3-4 times a week and I try to be in the moment. Watching as squirrles scurry across the sidewalk and up a tree, listen to the birds singing,  and stopping and sitting on a bench to just listen to the wind in the trees.

I'm a much happier and relaxed person when I include some of these things in my daily routine.

What is your go to relaxer?

My “Go-To” Activity by Lynn Lovegreen

 This month’s blog topic is “My ‘go to’ activity when I want to relax and take time out of my real life.” The obvious answer is reading, but since most of the Genre-istas (and writers and readers in general) could say that, I’m going with my number two answer: physical activity.

 

I usually participate in a virtual yoga class twice a week. I discovered yoga several years ago. I started for the mental health benefits—it helps me stay centered and take a brain break now and then. But I also enjoy the physical advantage of keeping my strength and balance as I get older. Yoga is great because you can modify poses or do alternatives if your body doesn’t like to do certain things. (In my case, downward dogs bother my wrists, so I replace that part of class with other poses.) Each of us is different, and it’s good to listen to what your body is telling you. 

 

I also like to walk when I need to get out of my thoughts and be in the moment. That usually means a walk around the neighborhood, or walking at the gym if the weather doesn’t accommodate that. Taking a walk helps me notice the world around me and think about something other than my troubles or whatever writing problem I’m stuck on. Looking at the sky, trees, and birds helps me get out of my head. The best times are when I can walk someplace more exciting, like on a trail or other beautiful place in Alaska. And my husband and I walk when we travel, too—we hiked in the Lake District and on the Hadrian’s Wall trail when we went to England last year.

 

Maybe you choose a different physical activity for yourself—no problem. But I do encourage you to find something that moves your body while helping you relax and take time out of your daily life. It’s one of many forms of self-care, which is super important in today’s world. You can’t help others if you aren’t taking care of yourself, too! 

 

Hope you find the perfect “go-to activity” for you. And happy 2025!

 

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for most of her life. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. 

 

At the Tipping Point - a personal history

 I am aware I'm supposed to be writing about something relaxing this first month of 2025. But if you've read any of my other posts, you probably already know that I tend to wander off target. This is you're warning that I'll be doing the same for most of this year.

 I have lived a long life. A very long life. During those endless decades I've watched the evolution - expansion - mutation of the tiping culture. I'm not old as dirt, so I wasn't't around when tipping was first invented. But I do remember when the standard tip was ten percent. And that was for great and timely service. The wait staff arrived at your table with a smile and a pot of coffee so hot steam rose as they filled your cup. They never messed up orders, kept water glasses filled and cheerfully replenished the coffee cups. You never had to ask for butter for your bread or cream for your coffee. They were serious about customers, and, in return, for many customers that ten percent was only a starting point.

Decades passed. I looked up one day and realized the standard had grown to fifteen percent. Some restaurants had little cheat sheets for those too mathematically impaired to calculate the fifteen percent on their own.  Smart phones with calculators were not yet a thing. [I realize some millennials are having trouble visualizing the world I describe, but I promise it was real."

I rolled with the flow. As a girl who always loved math, and who ended up working as a computer analyst in a Fortune 100 company, I never had trouble doing the math in my head, easy-peasy. As long as I got good service, they got their tip.

The next step in evolution was the twenty percent mark. Suddenly things were serious. Customers began voicing annoyance at the whole tipping concept. More people were expecting tips as their right. The friendly server was disappearing, replaced by unhappy workers who used social media to inform customers they shouldn't go out to eat if they could not afford to add on that twenty percent. I fell in on the side of customers who feel that restaurants should not list artificially low prices on the menu when they expect customers to routinely pay more to support their workers salaries. Obviously they restaurants must be overflowing with customers so they can afford to keep doing this.

Things are worse now. Apparently some feel the standard tip should be thirty percent [twenty-five was completely bypassed]. As  a result, I have not eaten in a restaurant in over a year. It's not a protest. I doubt my absence has been noticed. It's not about money, either, I have money for a tip. Just no incentive to keep patronizing this business model. Even when my daughter and her boyfriend offered to take me out to eat over the holidays, I chose not to go out to eat. 

I agree that servers have a right to a living wage. But I don't agree that their employers should expect customers to make up the pay they won't give. In the back of my head I still hold the childish belief that tipping should be my choice, a reward for great service. Not a requirement because the boss pays sub-minimum wage.

Relax and Unwind by Paty Jager

It's the beginning of a new year. I always find it invigorating to know I have another year to entertain myself and my readers. I've lived 12 years longer than my mom did so I tend to celebrate each year, month, day, and hour I have on this earth. 

One of my favorite places to go to relax, unwind, and yes, write, is the Oregon Coast. The sound of the waves, the smell, and walking on the beach all rejuvenate and relax me. I usually go twice a year for a week at the coast to work on projects, enjoy friends, and walk the beach. 

My hubby isn't a beach person. He'll go and stay with me for a night or two but then he's had enough. but he know that I enjoy it so he tells me to take a week and enjoy myself. He knows that writing and the beach are two of my favorite things. 

It doesn't matter to me what the weather is like. I enjoy a stroll on a sunny day as much as I do on a windy or rainy day. The waves sound different, they burst into the air or roll in lazily. It doesn't matter to me, I find the different sounds and swells interesting. 

While I only do that twice a year, I use walks on the ridges and hills on our property for my relax and unwind time. I like being in nature, taking photos, and enjoying the fresh air, blue skies, and plants. 

I usually walk every day after I feed my horse and the two shop cats. But if the ground is slippery with snow, ice, or just greasy from too much rain, I don't walk. I took a couple of falls last winter and don't want to do that again. I usually get up unscathed but it jars my head and that shakes up the crystal in my head and I feel yucky for a couple of days until the crystal settles. 

The walks are good for my soul as well as my health. Most days I walk two to four miles depending on the route I take. some days it's mostly flat and some days it's a lot of uphill climbing. My little dog likes to go with me, and has learned how to navigate around the sagebrush with her leash. 

I have to keep her on a leash so she doesn't get too far away. We have large birds of prey that might think she's a rabbit and coyotes who could snatch her up. 

Walking, being in nature, and breathing in the scents of the area are my favorite things to do to relax and unwind. 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50+ novels, 11 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

Website: https://www.patyjager.net

Blog: https://writingintothesunset.net/
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