MY FIVE GREATS by Michelle Somers

Family. Friends. Writing. Health. Inspiration.

My five greats for today.

I rounded up 2017 by finishing a book – The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon.

 

Have you read it? If not, it’s an absolute must. It made me laugh, it made me cry. It made me love the characters, and at times, it drove me to frustration. It stirred up the whole gamut of emotions that come from reading a story that touches your heart and moves your soul.

I won’t go into the specifics of this novel. I’ve posted a link below and you can take a closer look if you think the story might draw you the way it drew me.

So why have I mentioned this book?

I’m glad you asked J

I mention this story, as we move into 2018, because it contains themes that fit well with the new year and new beginnings. 

 

In The Law of Moses, lead character Georgie talks about what she does when she feels like life is dragging her down. She stops, thinks, then lists her five greats for the day. Five ‘things’ that make her happy and grateful to be alive.

 

Romancing The Genre’s theme for this month – the month of January – is ‘If I Were a Millionaire . . .’ Such a grand idea, and one that leads to a wealth of possibilities. But how much would one million dollars really change? Sure, it would shower the recipient with creature comforts and fulfil a wish or several. Provide them with material possessions and experiences they’ve but dreamed of previously.

What it won’t do is help them appreciate the simple pleasures they can – and should – appreciate every single day.

That’s where Georgia’s five greats come in. The simple things. Things that a million dollars – several million dollars – can’t buy.

Butterflies. Warm embraces. Happy smiles. Laughter. Friendship.

 

Choc chip ice cream. Sticky hugs. Children’s giggles. The sun’s rays through the window. Hubby’s thoughtfulness.

 

What a great way to start the year – acknowledging things that enrich our lives, and attracting more of the same.

I’m not saying I’d knock back $1M. That’d be crazy.

But while waiting for all those crisp green notes to hit, why not focus on the simple things. The things that bring happiness and make it great to be alive.

Those five greats.

So, tell me, what are your five greats today? Your five greats of all time? Five greats that bring meaning to your life and make every day worthwhile? Please share your greats and begin 2018 on a high.

Today is my last post on Romancing the Genres. I’m leaving RTG and focusing my sights in a new direction, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be back. I plan to pop by once in a while to say ‘hi’ – you can’t get rid of me that easy J

Much as this move is tinged with sadness, it brings with it another great – I get to introduce friend and fellow Melbourne Romance Writers Guild member to you all.

Dora Bramden is an Australian contemporary romance author of two short sexy novels, with her third due out this March. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her Italian heritage partner, in her newly renovated house, where she’s working on creating the perfect espresso and the garden of her dreams.

You can find out more about Dora here.

Dora’s first post will be on February 1st and I hope you’ll all make her feel as welcome as you’ve made me feel J

Thank you all for stopping by and sharing your lives and stories with me over the past year. I hope you move on to great and wonderful things.

Michelle xxx

Michelle Somers is a bookworm from way back. An ex-Kiwi who now calls Australia home, she's a professional killer and matchmaker, a storyteller and a romantic. Words are her power and her passion. Her heroes and heroines always get their happy ever after, but she'll put them through one hell of a journey to get there.

Michelle lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her real life hero and three little heroes in the making. And Emmie, a furry black feline who thinks she’s a dog. Her debut novel, Lethal in Love won the Romance Writers of Australia's 2016 Romantic Book of the Year (RuBY) and the 2013 Valerie Parv Award. The second in her Melbourne Murder series, Murder Most Unusual was released in February 2017.

You can find out all about Michelle, her adventures and her books at www.michelle-somers.com

Please pop by and say 'hi' 😊

And if you’d like to find out more about The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon, click here.

Different can mean Gifted!

By Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

Happy Easter! Happy Passover!  At last spring is here!

Admittedly, this month’s blog topic had me thinking long and hard.   What exactly is an “other abled person”?  It prompted me to look up the definition again.

The phrase was initially coined in the 1980s in an attempt to come up with politically correct verbiage for the disabled or handicapped. It was meant to turn something not so positive  into  something positive and hopefully reduce discrimination. 

 

That said, there’s a particular story line that resonates over the years; a book I just love.   Patricia Gaffney’s, Wild at Heart is an unforgettable read and one you should add to your "Must Keep" pile. The moment I picked up that book  I became a diehard fan of the author.  What a sensitive and brilliant execution of the old Tarzan story.

Here is a sneak preview of what to expect.

Set in 1893,  Sydney Darrow,  returns home after the death of her young husband, to find that her anthropologist father is involved with an astonishing discovery. He’s experimenting with the “Ontario Man”, a young man found in the Canadian wilderness, and said to be raised by wolves. Her father and his assistant Charles are researching whether a man in a feral state can be altruistic. 

Sydney is appalled that a human is still being treated like an animal. Michael is guarded and not able to interact with humans. With her little brother’s help, Sydney learns that the “Ontario Man” can speak. She coaxes him into revealing that his name is Michael MacNeil.

We find out Michael was lost as a boy.  As a man raised in a different environment he doesn’t understand social mores and simply reacts on his feelings. There are no boundaries of what’s acceptable or unacceptable. When he falls in love with Sydney, his reaction is all animal. He wants to feel, touch and do the deed, no preliminaries.  This poignant and touching story is of a man who has no idea how to play games and the woman who accepts him as he is.  

And here’s a quote from Amazon below.

“They called him the "lost man." Raised in the wood, without speech, without civilization, he was beautifully, wonderfully wild. And when he was captured and locked away to be studied by scientists, he was treated more like an animal than a human being.

Only Sydney, daughter of a renowned anthropologist, looked beyond the wildness to see the man.”

To this day, I cannot see the Tom Cruise movie, Born on the 4^th of July again. This is the story of anti-war activist Ron Kovic who lost his ability to walk during the Vietnam War.  Watching the movie was a painful experience, and one I care not to repeat. It was a horrible reminder that in a blink of an eye, a person’s entire world can change.  The only upside of Ron Kovic's experience is that he made some positive changes and became an activist for peace. After meeting him and reading his memoir, Bruce Springsteen was inspired to write Shut out the Light.

My own experiences with an “Other Abled” character was one of my better selling books - Change of Heart. It later underwent a title change when I got my rights back. It is now titled His Golden Heart. http://a.co/9bRc84V and it continues to be reviewed well.

As a writer, I often think what if?  And so I thought, what if a champion skier, and America’s great black hope for gold at the winter Olympics, takes a tragic fall that leaves him wheel-chair bound, broken, and losing most of his endorsements.   And that was how Beau and Shayna's story was born. It takes a  special kind of woman like Shayna DaCosta to put Beau back together physically and mentally. 

While doing research and crafting this story,  I learned that men’s identities and egos are closely bound to their careers. Take that away from them, and they feel less of a man.  I used that knowledge to explain Beau Hill’s personality change when he loses his ability to walk. I needed to do so to make him a  likeable character.  He reacted to the way he was being treated.

Films and books like the ones mentioned made me realize how the non-ambulatory, and disabled are viewed.  We go out of our way to avoid the wheel-chair bound. We talk to the accompanying caregiver (if there is one) rather than the person. We seldom look that person in the eye, and we don’t extend the same courtesies as we do to a non-challenged person. For example, we take possession of a wheelchair, or arm without asking. We act as if this person is an inanimate object.

Here’s an interesting article that may drive home my point - http://www.bbc.com/news/education-11139534

Moving forward then, perhaps when we think of the words “Other Abled” we should think of the savant.   

Oh, to be that gifted!

About Marcia King-Gamble

Romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive and current world traveler has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling to exotic locales, and caring for her animal family.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS