Spring is my jam... by Peggy Jaeger

 I live in an area that gets a lot of snow every winter.

A lot of snow.

Like, we measure in tens of feet instead of regular feet and/or inches. Snowfall season typically starts in late October and goes until the end of March or even the beginning of April some years.

This past week, a March Nor'easter blew into town and as of today - where it is still snowing - we've gotten 27 inches of the white stuff piled onto the already six or seven inches that were on the ground.

Check out this link to me driving down my street during the start of the storm: video

Needless to say, Spring can't come soon enough for me. And I don't mean on just the calendar.

I need to see green grass, crocuses popping up, and daffodils sprouting. I'm not even mad at the dandelions that invade my lawn every year because it means things are heating up, melting, and my little world is going to be pretty again.

I love the rebirth feeling I get in Springtime. You can hear the birds now and not the sound of snowblowers. You can wear actual shoes again and not stuff your feet into all-weather boots. Light jackets replace parkas; hats go back into storage, and gloves - the ones I haven't lost - go back into their bins. 

Springtime also means something for me professionally: book releases. I tend to stop releasing new material around October or November when my Christmas romances come out. Then I spend the long winter months not only hibernating but writing, as well. Those things I've written start getting published in springtime.

This year, for example, I have a new release on March 27 ( an anthology) and then indie books scheduled for May, June, and July so far. With ten books on the publishing docket in 2023 ( some indie, some traditional) I've got a full spring/summer/fall ahead of me before the snow starts falling again and I go  back into hibernation mode.

Spring, truly is, my jam.

My Hero is Batman by Dora Bramden

Dora         ‘If you could be any superhero who would it be?’

Sam          ‘I’m Batman Baby.’ Said without a moment's hesitation.

Dora         Laughs. ‘Why Batman?’

Sam          ‘Because I always wanted to be Batman.’

He didn’t explain further but It made perfect sense to me. Heroes, Super or everyday ones, often hide their strengths behind a normal façade. Unassuming Sam quietly takes on the role of superhero wherever there’s a need.

Batman swoops in to save the day with amazing physical and mental strength. In a similar way Sam, my everyday superhero, is brave, selfless and considerate of the people around him. He says I can do that when I don’t have the strength to do things for myself. He always asks questions about what is wrong and tries to find a way to fix the problem.

When I met Sam, I’d recently come home from an extended stay in hospital. I had a long road to recovery and he was there every step of the way. Many men wouldn't have given me a chance, given my poor health, but not Sam. He said we are all broken in some way and have to be understanding.

In those early days, I struggled with indecision because my brain wasn’t working very well, so when he’d ask what would I like to do on our date, I couldn’t answer him. He wasn’t fazed, ‘That’s okay, I can make that decision for us.’ Then he’d take me somewhere lovely. When I was overwhelmed by the menu he'd say, ‘I think you might like the chicken’ or ‘I think you’d like the pasta,’ and it would be what I wanted. A true superpower if you ask me.

When I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease he was by my side. I put my head in my hands, devastated that I would never be able to enjoy the food I love. He said, ‘No it’s okay, we can do this’. He took me straight to the supermarket where we found the GF section and he purchased chocolate biscuits for me to enjoy. It was consoling to know there were foods I could still enjoy eating.

As I gradually got better, and was able to make my own choices again, Sam valued my opinion. He never stopped asking what I’d want to do when we go out and is still happy to oblige me. We recently had breakfast at a place, called Two Beans and a Farm,  that is able to do a delicious GF meal.

Now married, we are firm supporters of each other. I help him a lot with his work, as a kind of secretary. Sam, supports my writing career, proofreading from time to time and the sweet man always tells me how talented I am. He’s blatantly biased, another superpower that I love about him.

I can’t fault Sam for wishing he had Bruce Wayne’s resources, a mansion with a resident butler, bat-cave and that fabulous car. All that makes it easier for Batman to devote his time to performing superhero activities because he doesn’t have to work at making a living. Sam, is better than Batman. He works hard while still stepping up and a superhero for me.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover

The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby

Follow Dora on Instagram Facebook and Pinterest

Looking Forward to Our July Wedding by Dora Bramden

As our RTG topic is AWedding Story, how could I resist talking about my own wedding that happening exactly one month and one day from now? It’s been a very busy time, organizing our special day but as a mature age couple, we are able to plan it together and have it exactly as we want. Our day will reflect who Sam and I are now in our choice of the celebrant, songs that will be played and the words we will say.  Also, Sam’s daughter and my son and daughter are going to be sharing a reading during the service. I’m so happy they are going to do this. It feels so right to have a celebration of the family we are uniting.

Visits to our marriage celebrant, Rev. Ric Holland involves an hour-long drive to the very beautiful town of Emerald. We meet at about 11 am so that afterward we can go and have lunch somewhere nice. Our second meeting was two weeks ago, we went over the order of service and chose our readings and enjoyed getting to know Rev Ric a little better.  He also recommended a restaurant in Emerald for lunch called Elevation. It was gorgeous with views of hills and we were seated next to a wood fire. There were many Gluten free options on the menu so I got to order what I liked. We had a beautiful lunch together and enjoyed a glass of wine followed by driving home through the Yarra Valley. Delightful.

Before we met Sam and I have been through a lot of struggle in our lives but feel we have found a safe haven in love and caring we have for each other. In the first two years of being together, we had a ball, going out and enjoying life, then tragedy stuck when Sam’s mum died. It brought us closer together as I stayed at his side through this. Then less than a year later, my mum passed away also. Sam was by my side for all of it. Each of us agrees that our Mum’s were able to go, knowing we had found the person who would love and take care of us.

Last October Sam proposed. I love he did it then because both our Mum’s birthdays are in October. We began to make plans for our ceremony and reception knowing that our wedding day should be a celebration of how grateful we are to have found a deep, abiding love and our joy in the prospect of spending the rest of our lives together.

At our first meeting with Rev. Ric, he suggested we might like a singer at our ceremony. Sam loved this idea so I went online and found a beautiful singer, Sharon Crossman. From her song list, we were able to find songs that represented how we feel about each other. As I’m walking down the aisle in the little the chapel we have hired, Sharon will be singing ‘There You Are’ It sums up how Sam and I are there for each other. Later when we’re signing the register she’ll be singing ‘Bless the Broken Road’ which acknowledges that all our struggles in the past are part of the road that led us to each other. and ‘I believe in you and Me’ a sweet song from Whitney Huston.

As we and the guests are leaving the chapel Sharon will sing ‘From this Moment’ by Shania Twain and ‘Feels Like Home to Me’ by Chantal Kreviazuk. It took a long time to choose these songs but we did it together and they are perfect for the mood we wish to create.

So you can picture how it will be I’ll share what we are wearing. The color scheme for the wedding is navy and blush pink. Sam and his groomsmen will be wearing navy suits, white shirts, and blush pink ties. My two bridesmaids will be in navy lace and chiffon cocktail length dresses and they’ll be holding pink floral bouquets. I’m going full-on bride with a long almond ivory gown. The bodice is lace with little bits tailing down onto a full tulle skirt. In my hair, I’ll be wearing a gold wired hair band that is studded with crystals and tiny pearls.

Today I have the hair and makeup artist coming to my house for a trial run and I’m very excited to see what we will come up with. At first, I was very nervous about getting married and all the attention it will bring, but now I’m really looking forward to a very special day and just enjoying all the lovely things that will be happening, and having a very romantic ceremony as Sam and I pledge our love, together with our family and friends.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

www.dorabramden.com

Follow Dora on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest @dorabramden

If I could live for a week in any time period which one would that be? by Dora Bramden

I'm wearing a homemade Regency inspired dress.

Which time period would I live in if I could choose any? My first thoughts are that I’d like to live in one that has gorgeous clothes and chivalrous men, like in a Regency period novel.

But even though I’m a passionately committed romantic, I couldn’t suffer any period in time where women weren’t masters of their own lives. As much as I love the clothes of the Regency period it's not a time want to actually live in for a week. I enjoy the fantasy of a historical novel but I couldn’t bear sitting around with no TV to watch, waiting for the men to make life interesting, not for a moment let alone a week.

Give me the current day. Women are taking leadership roles in running their country. In Australia, we have had a female Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister. Male dominated sports like Australian rules football,  now have a women’s competition.  The Australian Women’s Football League games are aired on commercial TV.

The Romance genre is fantastic right now. I love to barrack for those career women heroes, balancing their goals and a budding relationship with a strong man. I love reading about a man who gets behind her and lends a hand and doesn’t expect her to be the handmaiden at his table of life. I like that the male heroes aren’t just wanting her because she’s beautiful but because he sees her qualities as a human being. These male heroes want a woman who is their equal in all things. 

As for going forward in time, I'm optimistic that things are going to get even better and I really would like to own a hover car, however, I don't want to know my future. What if I run into myself and corrupt the space/time continuum. Who knows what that might do? Said with a grin, believe me. 

I’m pretty happy to be waking up tomorrow and being alive right now. If I want to visit another time period I'll pick up a book.

Dora Bramden writes Heart Melting, Passionate Romance

How I Became an Aussie Romance Author by Dora Bramden

I’d been working for years as a bookkeeper and although there were elements of my job that I loved, doing maths wasn’t something I enjoyed. It never was a favorite subject for me at school either. My favorite class was art. Being creative lifted my spirits and I enjoyed myself. Because of missing a lot of school from illness, combined with being slow to learn to read, I struggled with grammar and spelling in English classes. But when it came time to do some creative writing I soared. I would hear other students moan when asked to write about a subject put up on the board and I didn’t get why they hated it. For me, this was the easy class. According to my logic at the time, you couldn’t get a creative piece wrong, plus I could think of a million things to write about. Most importantly, I enjoyed writing them down.

When I was forced to give up work due to illness, I wondered what I could possibly do with all my time. I’d tinkered for years with a romance novel that never got finished. I thought back to my time in school and remembered that the few A’s I got for subjects other than art, were for a poem I’d dashed off at the last minute and creative piece about a fire that we’d had at home. I’d written about the things I’d lost and how it had affected me.

I knew that there were reasons for not finishing my romance novel. I didn’t know how to finish, and I didn’t know anything about story structure. So I decided to enroll in a professional writing course. I loved every minute and learned many of the missing links to writing a story. While I was doing the course, I enjoyed the industry overview class. We had lectures from writers in all walks of publishing, but when Anne Gracie, a very talented and successful Aussie author came to speak, I felt I had found a calling. She told us about the romance author community in Australia and also said she ran a class in the city teaching romance writing, specifically.

I joined her class, and it was a major eye-opener. She recommended I join the RWA if I wanted to pursue being published,  I went to the conference in Melbourne and immediately realized I had found a group of people just like me. I made wonderful friends at that conference, years ago, and they are still good friends. I finished my book the year after I completed the course.

Since that first conference, I have undertaken many short courses online in the craft of romance writing and attended many lectures and workshops through the Romance Writers of Australia and Melbourne Romance Writers Guild.

I wrote and wrote and began to pitch my books to publishers. I came very close to a contract but didn’t quite get there. After ten years of writing, and watching the industry change rapidly from traditional paper publishing only, to e-book and then self-publishing. In 2016 I decided to move forward and join the ranks of indie published authors, and with a lot of help from my writer friends, I released ‘The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover.’ The first in a series that is dear to my heart. I had imagined three sisters who had grown up with artist parents who were busy with their careers. A secret affair had caused an enormous ripple effect in their family, and it interested me to see how this would have impacted on their daughters and their ability to have romantic relationships.

Last year I released the youngest daughter’s story, ‘The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby’ and this year I’ll be releasing the last story in the series ‘The Australian Billionaire’s Secret Proposal.’

The enjoyment I’ve had in writing the Baxter Sister Series has been tremendous. Through some really tough times, they’ve been with me, like real people living inside me, taking me out of my everyday and into a world of art, glamour and international travel.

As a young Australian woman I always wanted to travel overseas. I had to wait a long time, but I did get to Europe. I’ve enjoyed being able to relive some of those moments through my writing too.

So I hope that helps you to see a little into what makes the writer in me tick. It’s about being creative, an innate need to give expression to my ideas and exploring our capacity to love.

For more information about me and my books, you can visit my website or my Amazon author page. 

How I kept writing after Mum passed away by Dora Bramden

Mum passed away early last year and I had such a hard time being able to concentrate and keep writing. I had to accept that grief and pain was now a part of my life. Being a writer I researched other’s experiences and what was best to do. Basically, accept the excruciating pain is real and be kind to yourself. Exercise and keep going with the things you love. I went to plant nurseries and spent time with my supportive friends. I did allow myself time away from writing during the first mind-numbing stage but then a desire to move forward and let grief be there rose to the surface.

I had a story that I’d been working on for a while and guess what? The heroine was returning home to where she lived until she was only six years old when her mother passed. I’m fifty-six, a full half-century older but I felt like a six-year-old, wanting my mother. So I used what I was feeling to help me write this woman’s experience as she discovers her mother’s unchanged room. I also began looking at the story as a whole and realized I’d been tinkering with a much deeper experience, which I now had personal knowledge of, so I decided to write a synopsis to see how the emotional growth of this character could go.

I had in my grief a lethargy that was so difficult to get past. I wanted to feel energized and in my past experience professional development gave that to me. I wanted to understand synopsis writing better so I bought a book on the subject by my rtgblog predecessor, and friend, Michelle Somers and I joined her online course through the Romance Writers of Australia. That opened the place in me where enthusiasm lies. I was motivated to explore the story I was creating and adding to it.

Lastly, I took an emotional hit on this first Christmas without mum. I wrote a blog about setting goals which helped but who really got me going again this year was Anne Gracie. A dear author and writing teacher, Anne put out a call on the  RWAus Facebook group to say she was doing Dorothea Brande’s method of getting going with writing and did anyone want to join her. I signed on and started writing for fifteen minutes each morning on waking. Only a quick trip to the loo is allowed. You’re supposed to be in a half sleepy state. This is to connect your writing arm to the subconscious mind where creativity resides. Also, you make an appointment with yourself to write at a certain time later in the day. It has been great and I’m feeling like my old self again when writing.

Of course, I still miss Mum so much. Some days are very hard but writing is back and I feel like life is okay.