All Things Pumpkin and Fall…And Romance .......... by Delsora Lowe

Romance novels and films have been maligned or mocked as being frilly and frivolous and feeding a false narrative on life.

Hello! Why do you think romance novels are the highest selling category of book than any other genre—fiction or non-fiction? We all want to dream about a wonderful and loving life. And, no, romance novels are not based on a false narrative. But yes, the entire genre is meant to boost hope for a feel-good future; however that is defined by the reader.

Watching “seasonal” – as in any season – Hallmark movies, or Lifetime Christmas movies, or reading a seasonal book by one of many best-selling, or newly discovered, romance authors, is a guaranteed FEEL-GOOD.

In fact, a book will not be classified as a romance without a Happily-Ever-After ending, or a Happily-For-Now ending—which infers a Happily-Ever-After beyond the end of the book.

So, what does this have to do with pumpkins, you ask? In my mind… romance. Fall-themed romance books and movies. Turn on Hallmark and you will be accosted by pumpkins, colorful leaves, actors in sweaters, and participating in fall activities, despite the fact they film these movies in the heat of summer.

I love the fall season. The air is crisp — allowing for the comfort of a sweater to snuggle into. The leaves change from vibrant green to a medley of colors, depending on the type of tree. The flowers are sturdier and have deeper, richer colors, than the dainty pastels of spring. The pale sky blue of summer turns into a deeper blue before darkening to a vibrant azure in late fall and winter. The shadows lengthen as the sun drops below the horizon earlier each day. Even the nights seem darker and brighter with brilliant stars and distinct constellations. And pumpkins abound, with their beautiful and happy orange color.

But I digress. Back to books.

I scour new book listings that will embrace the fall season—their covers resplendent with colorful leaves, crisp, blue skies, and the promise of cooler temps. That means we can bring out our favorite cozy sweaters, and brew fun hot liquids. Do you know how many ways you can doctor a simple cup of hot cocoa, especially when you add spices associated with fall? Ever try the combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne in a cup of coco? Heavenly—with a subtle hint of heat to add to the warmth of the liquid.

As a romance novel enthusiast, I am also a romance movie fanatic. My dear friend and I critique every movie, as we watch and compare notes. Then we Google “Stream It or Skip It” to see if our take on the movie matches the “expert” reviewer. You would be amazed how many times, we “nail” the gist of what the reviewer says.

Extreme fandom? You bet! But I prefer to call the activity of watching romance movies “a must-research” for writers of romance. And…I’ll let you in on a little secret…ever since I saw my first Hallmark movie, back when I was in Junior High—a LONG time ago—when the movies only came out three or four times a year, I dreamed of having a Hallmark movie made from one of my books. Not that I ever thought of actually writing one at that age. 

Full disclosure—I still dream that dream. Only now, I’m actually writing romance novels. And if I’m honest, in the back of my head sits that little—okay—gigantic dream egging me on.

Another way of researching romances is through reading. I religiously buy Woman’s World every week. Although, I used to be a caterer and restaurant cook, so I do love their recipes, I still flip toward the back of the magazine first. You know why? The 5-minute romance! I’ve even sold 4 stories to the magazine since my first in 2010. And right now, I am madly editing for the umpteenth time two stories, one for Christmas and one for New Year’s Eve. I just sent in a Thanksgiving story. It’s a tough market, but with all the almost sixty shorts I have written over the years, I am now assembling an anthology. So, eventually those stories will get a home.

November 2018 - "Bright New Beginnings" - My Story
About Organizing the Local Thanksgiving Parade

But I digress. What does my love of romance movies have to do with fall and pumpkins, besides a plethora of pumpkins in the movies at this time of year? Not much, except my writing is in full, fall-themed mode. And my tastebuds are clamoring to tell the “artistic” part of my brain that it’s time to cook my favorite pumpkin or squash enhanced recipes.

So, let’s talk food! Pumpkins, in particular. I am immersed in reading fall-themed romance books and watching movies that seem to have plenty of pumpkins. And…I am buying ingredients to make my favorite fall soups that include winter-type squashes or pumpkins. And who doesn’t love to sip a fall-flavored and pumpkin-spiced hot tea on a crisp fall day. Or, in my case, as I write this and stare out my window, a typical fall day filled with skittering white clouds in a bright blue and sunny sky, followed by graying clouds and intermediate spits of rain. A great day for fall-flavored soup and tea.

Yes, folks…Fall is here, and the pumpkins are piled up in front of the local grocery store. Enjoy the season!

 

What do you like about pumpkins?

Do you enjoy pumpkin-flavored

 food and drinks? Or are there other foods, drinks,

 and scenery that remind you of fall?

Do you like reading romances set in the fall?

 

 

The Rancher Needs a Wife

Amazon (also in print)

Books2Read

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns, from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine. The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker) were released in late fall 2022. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, in 2025.

Social Media Links:
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram: #delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/

Image Link Credit: 
Photos: taken by blog author  
TV: https://clipart-library.com/1950s-tv-cliparts.html  
Dancing Couple: 
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The Joy of Autumn

Autumn. A time of soups, pumpkins, Halloween and leaves changing. A beautiful and welcomed time of year.

Enjoy these pictures and I'm wishing you all a joyful autumn.

I make soups all winter long out of our pumpkins.

Fun and games at Halloween time!

Get out and enjoy the fall weather and the gorgeous changing leaves! It's good for the soul.

My front porch. I love decorating for Halloween, even though we don't get trick or treaters.

The contrast of yellow leaves and blue sky is so pretty.

My mums.

The other side of my porch with my witches broom hung up.

Always fun to go to the farm for pumkins too. Love the animals there.

Our deck off the bedroom. Enjoying a mocktail with the vampire pig.

Have a wonderful autumn and Happy Halloween everyone!

Freedom of Choice!

I decided this blog is worth repeating. Keep in mind that there are people who want to take away our right to choose what we want to read. More books are added every year to the ban lists. Different states have different lists but a lot of the books are the same. 

You can Google your state and banned books to see what is banned in your state.

I recognized and have read 29 of these books. Freedom is the right to choose, no matter the choice it should be the indiviuals choice.

By Diana McCollum

Something worth looking at and thinking about again---

American Government does not censure writing or ban books. However, libraries, churches, schools, book stores, and online retailers such as Amazon do ban books. America bans less books than other countries worldwide.

 There is even a Ban Books Week https://library.ucsd.edu/news-events/banned-books-week-2021/. During this week libraries across the country review challenged or banned books. This is a time the entire book community-librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers and  yes, readers, can share in the support of the freedom of authors to express ideas, even if their readers don’t agree with them.

 

The most common reasons books are banned from schools or libraries etc. are: 

 

Racial themes or dialogue : The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Encouragement to destruct lifestyles: This includes drug use, co-habitation without marriage or homosexuality: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboskey

Blasphemous Subject: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Intimacy issues: Sexual content or dialogue, Fifty Shades series by E.L. James

Violence or negativity: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Presence of Witchcraft: books containing sorcery or witchcraft: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Political Favoritism or extreme political groups: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Inappropriate age group: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Think about the books you write. I write about the witches of the Coastal Coven. There are spells and magical creatures in my books. Could my books be banned? Probably, if Harry Potter was banned from certain places, especially certain churches because of the sorcery and spells!

 I was surprised by some of the books on this list of one hundred most challenged/banned books in America. Remember, not challenged/or banned by the government, but by schools, libraries, churches, bookstores, online retailers and parents.

The First Amendment of the Constitution protects our right to freedom of speech. To be able to write about any subject, to offer our opinions on any subject. That other people or entities try to control what I read I find deplorable.

 One thing that was mentioned on the Banned Book site banning books tend to make the books more popular. If a person wants to read it, there is always somewhere you can buy it here in America, thanks to an underground market for both legitimate or pirated copies.

 Other countries are not so lucky. Many governments forbid the banned books to even be printed, and absolutely don’t allow them to be sold. People have been jailed because of reading banned books.

 Here’s the 100 top banned books in America in 2019.

 I’ve heard of or read 29 of these books and marked them in bold. I was surprised that some of them made this list. I don’t think writing or reading books should be restricted in any way.

 Freedom to read what we choose is as important as the freedom to write what we want.

 How many do you recognize and/or have read?

 

1.   Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling

2.    Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

3.    The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

4.    And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

5.   Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

6.   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

7.    Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz

8.    His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman

9.    ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle

10.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

11.  Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

12.  It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris

13. Captain Underpants (series) by Dave Pilkey

14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

15. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

16. Forever by Judy Blume

17. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

18.  Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

19. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

20.  King and King by Linda de Haan

21. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

22.  Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar

23.  The Giver by Lois Lowry

24.  In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

25.  Killing Mr. Griffen by Lois Duncan

26. Beloved by Toni Morrison

27.  My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier

28.  Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

29.  The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

30.  We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier

31.  What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

32.  Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

33. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

34.  The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

35.  Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

36. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

37.  It’s So Amazing by Robie Harris

38.  Arming America by Michael Bellasiles

39.  Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

40.  Life is Funny by E.R. Frank

41.  Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

42.  The Fighting Ground by Avi

43. Blubber by Judy Blume

44.  Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

45.  Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly

46. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

47.  The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey

48.  Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

50. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

51.  Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan

52.  The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

53.  You Hear Me? by Betsy Franco

54.  The Facts Speak for Themselves by Brock Cole

55.  Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Green

56.  When Dad Killed Mom by Julius Lester

57.  Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

58.  Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

59.  Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes

60.  Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

61.  Draw Me A Star by Eric Carle

62.  The Stupids (series) by Harry Allard

63.  The Terrorist by Caroline B. Cooney

64.  Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park

65.  The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

66.  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

67. A Time to Kill by John Grisham

68.  Always Running by Luis Rodriguez

69. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

70.  Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen

71.  Junie B. Jones (series) by Barbara Park

72. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

73.  What’s Happening to My Body Book by Lynda Madaras

74. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

75. Anastasia (series) by Lois Lowry

76.  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

77.  Crazy by Benjamin Lebert

78.  The Joy of Gay Sex by Dr. Charles Silverstein

79.  The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss

80.  A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

81.  Black Boy by Richard Wright

82.  Deal With It! by Esther Drill

83.  Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds

84.  So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Watkins

85.  Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

86.  Cut by Patricia McCormick

87. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume

88. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

89. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissenger

90. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

91.  Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

92.  The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar

93.  Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard

94. Goosebumps (series) by R.L. Stine

95.  Shade’s Children by Garth Nix

96.  Grendel by John Gardner

97. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

98.  I Saw Esau by Iona Opte

99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

100.                America by E.R. Frank

 

How many do you recognize and/or have read from the list? ma

ny do you recognize and/or have read?