My Favorite Trips

 Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights and choose love and light.

Welcome to July! We’re now officially half way through 2022. If you live south of the equator, your days will begin to get longer. Here, north of the equator, ours begin to get shorter. Unlike many of my friends and family, I’m not a summer person. The sun is too bright, the temperatures are too hot and traffic increases as people head out on vacations.

Not to be too curmudgeonly and because our monthly theme is Vacation Trips and Bucket Lists, I’m going to share my favorite trips. I’ve had the pleasure of adding on a few vacation days to more business oriented trips than taking an actual vacation.

Because of my involvement with The William Glasser Institute International and Glasser Institute for Choice Theory-US, I’ve visited places I heard and read about and never dreamed I’d see in person – both in North American and elsewhere!

Here in the U.S.

I’ve attended conferences in

Houston and San Antonio, TX;
Copper Mountain and Colorado Springs, CO;
Boston, MA;
Hollywood and Orlando, FL;

Vacationed in Cayman Islands after
Hollywood, FL Conference where
my friend and I went to Hell!

Kansas City (twice);

Cincinnati, OH;

Chicago, IL,

New Orleans, LA;

Phoenix, AZ,

Albuquerque, NM;

Los Angeles, CA;

Seattle, WA (twice);

Portland, OR;

Jersey City, NJ with views of the New York skyline and

Philadelphia, PA. Oh and

Nashville, TN in 2010!

One of both of my granddaughters attended the conferences in italics.

In addition conferences were held in Canada (Montreal and Vancouver, B.C.). I missed the one in Toronto.

So that’s North America!

Where Else Have I Been?

Dublin, Ireland

Sidney, Australia
Edinburgh, Scotland

A typical planting of flowers. This one is in Dublin.

Edinburgh, Scotland

And as a bonus, my involvement also ended in 2 trips to the Balkans. Croatia and Slovenia which meant I spent time in Switzerland and Italy.

Bled, Slovenia - we spent a few days here to debrief
after being ordered to leave Croatia during the
Balkan Wars

What has also been a blessing is that I’ve had the opportunity to take one or both of my granddaughters on several of these trips. The Big One was the Edinburgh, Scotland trip with a week in London and sightseeing (Dover, Stonehenge, Glastonbury as well as a London tour).

Why did I, at times, take my granddaughters?

Because in the past, the organization held a “Kids Institute” so the conference was more family oriented and people could plan a vacation around it. Through the Kids Institute, my granddaughters had their own adventures while I was in workshops or giving my own presentation. 

2010 at Stonehenge

They had the opportunity to meet and interact with kids from around the world (Japan, Korea, Australia, Europe, South America as well as various parts of the U.S.A.). I believed then and believe now that when we meet and get to know people from other places in the world, our lives are enriched and we have an opportunity to see how we are similar, what we have in common and that creates a positive impact in our lives.

Bucket list? I used to think I wanted to visit Scandinavia or various places in the Orient. Japan was high on my list because in 7^th and 8^th grade I had a Japanese pen pal.

However, at this point in my life I think my long distance traveling (think international or at least outside North America) is less likely to happen. It isn’t just Covid or cost although they are a factor.

I love my house and my yard. I’m less than 2 hours from the Pacific Ocean although my favorite spot is closer to 3. I’m about the same distance from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and only 20 – 30 minutes from the Columbia River Gorge and waterfalls. A five minute walk and on a clear day I can see Mt. Hood.

Mt. Hood as seen over the trees on
the Rose City Golf Course

I’m not saying “never” to long distance traveling. Who knows what the future may bring. What I am saying is that at this point, as I sit here at my computer with my larch tree’s limbs blowing in a breeze, the geraniums and salvia adding cheerful color, the hummingbirds stopping by for a snack, I’ve no particular plans to go anywhere.

Come fall when the weather cools and, hopefully, the traffic eases, I may head off on the 2 – 3 hour drive and spend a few days along the Oregon Coast. As I’m rather weak-willed, the probability of my taking another dozen or so pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks is high. And I will remind myself of the saying we never stand in the same river…thus these will be different waves from the multiple thousands if not millions I’ve watched over the decades.

Number 1,002,010(?)

One of the additional blessing of my trips is creating believable settings in my books. Much of Elizabeth: The Lady and The Sacred Grove takes place in Ireland. The scene at the Ashford Castle? Yep, I did stay there in 1994 when I traveled there for the Dublin Conference.

Fremont, OR is loosely based on my hometown, Portland, OR. The little house you first see in Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl  is based on my own home. Some of Diana: The Queen of Swords and The Knight of Pentacles as well as Gabriella: Chaos to Symmetry take place in Italy. I spent a short amount of time in Milan and Venice but over a week along the Aegean Sea in Croatia and Slovenia. Those views are similar to the ones along the west coast of Italy.

The places I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, the lessons I’ve learned along the pathway of my life, I’ve used as inspiration and fact in my books.

You can read my Sacred Women’s Circle series to learn more about every day women and the struggles and challenges they overcome to find unconditional love.

My Staying Sane in a Crazy World, provides you with a template to create your Personal Staying Sane Plan to help you through the challenging times.

You can find all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2022 Judith Ashley

Holiday Reads ... by Delsora Lowe

I live for romantic holiday books. And I do love to write them. So, here’s my list of fun and recent holiday releases, from some of my favorite authors and a few newly discovered authors.

Christmas Baby for the Billionaire, by Donna Alward (October 1, 2019)

I love Alward’s books, and have been reading her stories ever since she handed me a free book after I missed her book signing, years ago. I tried to thrust my money into her hand. Really, I did.

After an unforgettable, summer vacation fling, an unexpected pregnancy brings the mother and unsuspecting, billionaire father together at Christmas time. Can two people from different economic backgrounds and from two countries (a small, coastal town in Canada and the heart of New York City) find common ground, and eventually love? Lovely scenes of the holidays in both rural and big city settings, great descriptions, and real-to-life characters who struggle to find love and personal happiness, but eventually do in each other.

Wrapped Up in You, by Jill Shalvis (September 24, 2019)

I’ve enjoyed this series by Shalvis and was excited to see a Christmas book. Set in San Francisco and part of a series about a community of friends bonded by their small enclave in the middle of the city, I’ve looked forward to each book about characters previously introduced. Hot, feisty, sensual, heartfelt, angsty, this book stands up to the others in the series. Although not a ton of Christmas, it does end on a sweet note on Christmas Eve (do not read further if you don’t want to know the ending overview, even though is it a romance and all romances end this way,) where both the hero and heroine finally are settled and feel fully accepted by family and friends in the series community that Shalvis has so beautifully built.

The Trouble with Christmas, by Amy Andrews (September 24, 2019)

A new author to me, I will definitely buy other books. Fast-moving, humorous, and tongue-in-cheek dialogue and internal thoughts, engaging, quirky, stellar descriptions, brooding and hot hero, and heroine who can’t seem to avoid finding and creating trouble as she finds herself, and as a result helps the hero find himself. What more could you want in an endearing holiday story about finding your true north star and an unexpected love.

Lavender & Mistletoe, by Donna Kaufman (September 24, 2019)

Donna Kaufman is another favorite author. I love this series that takes place in Blue Hollow Falls in the mountains of Virginia. Lots of snow, a baby goat, Christmas cheer, and an endearing discovery of love. This one is an extremely sweet with lots of heat novella, about two characters with the same unique experiences, who have never been able to relate to others. The perfect match, but one that takes a bit of matchmaking by friends (from previous stories) for the characters to realize they are meant for each other. A lot packed into this shorter story.

Romancing the Holidays, an anthology, by Annie Seaton, Susanne Bellamy, Monique McDonell, Ebony McKenna, Kris Pearson, Ashley Logan, Shirley Wine, Anne Kemp, Susan Downham, Sofia Grey, Gudrun Frerichs (SP) (November 1, 2019)

A variety of eleven heartwarming and steamy stories of Christmas from the other side of the equator gives the reader a fun look at the holidays from a different perspective than mine (which is cold and snow and all that goes with holiday planning in northeast USA.) I love discovering new-to-me authors and look forward to reading other books by my new-found friends, who are authors from Australia, New Zealand (one by way of the US and one by way of Germany), and the West Indies.

Cocoa & Carols, by Marianne Rice (November 1, 2019)

Marianne writes contemporary romance, located in Maine. She has several not-to-miss series. This holiday story is her second in the Wilton Hills Christmas series. A stranger to town is welcomed at Thanksgiving by a big, raucous, fun-loving family. Throw in a handsome and kind oldest son, lots of Christmas merriment, a production of The Christmas Carol, and an adorable dog, and you have a sweet tale of fulfilling a dream of fitting in and small-town hospitality with a happily-ever-after at Christmas.

Eight Nights to Win Her Heart, Ronnie Denholz (October 18, 2019)

A sweet, with a good amount of heat, novella. After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, he begs for a second chance and sets out to redeem himself over the eight days of Hanukkah. A heartfelt rebuilding of an already loving relationship, with healthy sprinkling of Hanukkah events with family and friends.

All I want for Christmas is You, by Miranda Liasson (October 29, 2019)

So much fun to revisit the folks from Angel Falls and watch the relationship between two friends grow from forever friends into the love they’ve both tried to hide from themselves and their families. Both sweet and hot, cathartic and crushing, the ride through this book is a rollercoaster of emotions and full of Christmas cheer and loving families. Oh, and lots and lots of bakery products, including a ton of chocolate.

If Wishes Were Earls, by Luanna Stewart (March 13, 2017)

This is a re-released book, but I had to add it, because I loved this book. Stewart’s underlying sense of humor permeates this story about an adventurous spinster miss who, directed by an intriguing note and an enchanted keepsake, stumbles upon a dark, isolated, and mysterious manor house and the earl who is equally dark, tortured, and mysterious. But he’s got his work cut out for him when the fearless heroine gets snowed in and proceeds to undermine every single thing he ever thought he held true, as she searches out all his secrets. A fun, sexy romp featuring a hermit, earl hero who has met his match with an unconventional heroine. Warning, lots of snow and cold weather, making for cozy, warm, and hot scenes in the Victorian manor.

It Started with Joy by Cindy Kirk (November 1, 2019)

A widowed, temporary foster mom, works to give a child a Christmas to remember. But when she falls in love with the child and a new man in town, all three find a second chance at happiness. A little bit of hot, with a lot of sweet Christmas activities, in the snowy town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And a group of secondary characters who all have heartwarming stories of their own, in this revised, re-release of one of the books in a fun former Silhouette series. PS – I read this series back when, but somehow missed this lovely story. Now I can’t wait to reread the rest as they are again released.

Do you have any new holiday reads that you recommend?

Come Dance with Me (Oct 2017) – my own holiday storyImprovisational jazz musician meets buttoned up English teacher—will the Christmas lights sparkle or shatter before the dance ends?

Amazon
http://amzn.to/2Ev2rHc
D2D
https://www.books2read.com/u/bMrQva

The Rancher Needs a Wife (Oct 2019 – new release)

WANTED: Workaholic cowboy needs hardy woman to manage household and motley family. “Girly” widows, with small children, who sell naughty lingerie need not apply.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Rancher-Needs-Cowboys-Mineral-Springs-ebook/dp/B07YXB5C4W/

D2D 
books2read.com/u/bxv56d

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet 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

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Author FaceBook page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
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

This Summer Read Won't Cool You Down

by Madelle Morgan

Summer Heat Warning: certain scenes are hot enough to heat up the Arctic!

Diamond Hunter, my geologist-in-peril romantic suspense, is set at a fly-in-only diamond mine in Canada's far north in July.

I decided to post an excerpt to bring it to the attention of Kindle Unlimited subscribers who are keen to try a new author.

Petra Paris has agreed to share her mine camp bedroom in exchange for bodyguard services from Seth Cooper, an undercover cop with the Diamond Protection unit.

In this scene, they share a bed for the first time.

“I won’t touch a hair on your pretty head. I’ll lie on top of the blankets.” When she began to protest further, Seth admitted, “My back will give out if I sleep in an awkward position.”

Sympathy dimmed the agitated lights sparking her irises. “Back pain is the worst. I’m not keen to sleep sitting up myself.” Petra made a decision. “Very well. We’ll share the bed for tonight only, due to the extenuating circumstances. Tomorrow night we’ll alternate.”

There wouldn’t be another night, but he didn’t want to rile her. Regret tugged briefly that he’d never see her again after placing her on a commercial flight the next day. His line of work meant personal relationships warranted no place in his life.

Too bad, though, in this instance. Petra, spirited and unaffectedly beautiful, lit an explosive chemical mix in his mind and belly that excited and occasionally frightened him. An undercover detective had no business allowing sexual attraction to interfere with his assignment. Petra’s safety, not her curvy body, rated his attention. End of story.

Petra extracted one of the pillows and plumped it into place on his side of the double bed. After shucking his boots and jacket, he purposely ignored her deliberate effort to create distance and instead dropped heavily into a comfortable position on his back, shoulder to shoulder. As he anticipated, Petra squirmed away from the light contact.

He deliberately readjusted his upper body, forcing her to withdraw to the very edge of the mattress where she remained rigidly quiet. To his pleased surprise she didn’t insist he move over. It reassured him to feel her safe and close. Perhaps she experienced a similar comfort.

After several minutes, a slight smile playing on his lips, he closed his eyes and relaxed in anticipation of a restful night.

“Who is Kate?”

The verbal jab convulsed his abdominal muscles. He’d never mentioned his ex-wife to anyone up north. His friends and co-workers back in British Columbia considered the divorce forbidden territory. No one dared raise the subject in his presence for fear of lighting a very short fuse. “What are you talking about?” he managed.

“Last night you called me Kate. Your exact words were, ‘Kate, come to bed.’”

“I must have been dreaming.” His firm statement broadcast a desire to end the discussion.

“Are you married?”

Dammit. He rolled onto his side away from her. “No.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No. Go to sleep.”

A small hand seared the flesh on his forearm. “Seth, in spite of my, ah, participation in this little romantic show we’re staging, your girlfriend has nothing to worry about. A few kisses for appearances doesn’t make you unfaithful.”

Seth gripped the side of the mattress and ground out, “I’m not unfaithful. There is no girlfriend. Leave it alone, will you?”

“That’s a relief. Men gossip, you know. Eventually word spreads to the—”

Seth reversed his body to pin Petra’s chest with his. “I’m a single man. Got it? Kate is my ex-wife. We divorced two years ago. Three paroled drug smugglers I’d put away attempted to kidnap her. I couldn’t guarantee her future safety, so she left. Satisfied?”

The tightly controlled admission belied the ugly truth. He’d failed at the most important job a man had—to protect his woman. He’d given her the divorce she’d asked for and thrown in the house and the car, but guilt ate a hole in his heart he refused to ever let another woman fill.

“But they didn’t kidnap her, did they?” Petra persisted softly.

“No thanks to me.” Bitterness shook his voice. “She escaped when their car stalled.” He began to pull away. “She’s alive today because the perps forgot to fill the gas tank.”

“Wimp.”

The insult stung like a slap. “Excuse me?”

“A woman who’d dump the man she loved due to an attempted kidnapping is a wimp. Marriage is a partnership.”

“Our marriage put her life in danger. She did the smart thing by leaving.”

“Cluck. Cluck. Cluck.”

Dammit all to hell. He raised his upper body on one arm, rigid with a fierce anger that erupted from a dark place in his soul that didn’t bear visiting. The woman insisted on pushing his buttons.

Careful to rein in his temper, he replied evenly, “Any sane person in Kate’s place would have done the same thing. I didn’t protect her. Yes, she was scared. She had every right to be.”

“I would have stayed.”

The stalwart declaration speared his solar plexus like a needle into a balloon, allowing the anger to escape. A sheen of moisture glistened on serious burnt gold eyes staring up into his. She meant it.

He didn’t know what to say.

***

Have a wonderful July!

Madelle

About Madelle Morgan

Madelle Morgan is a Canadian author who writes romance with heat, heart and humor. Her new release, Caught on Camera, is a Hollywood wedding romance set in Muskoka, Canada—summer playground of the rich and famous.

Subscribe to her blog at MadelleMorgan.com and follow her on  Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Wattpad. 

Introducing Encore Month Part Two

Hard to believe but true! Tomorrow, May 1st marks the beginning on Encore Month - our 3rd Blog-O-Versay Month. 

As a treat to our readers today we are encoring the most popular post in 2014. Enjoy again Sarah Raplee's The Ghost Cat. At the end of Sarah's post you'll find links to the next two most read blogs.

Thank you for your support! Judith, Sarah and the Genre-istas  

The Ghost Cat by Sarah Raplee

The Ghost Cat visited our house again last night.

We've lived with this possible pussycat for five years. Doors on cupboards full of nice soft towels and blankets--exactly the sorts of places a kitty might choose to curl up in--seem to open when we're not looking, even when our alive-and-kicking cat, Freckles, is shut in 'his' room in the basement. When we're in bed for the night, sometimes what seems to be Freckles jumps on the bed and lies down--but when one of us reaches to pet him, poof--he's not there.

That's just freaky.

Would Ghost Hunters Jason and Steve from TAPS
( http://the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/ ) suggest that vibrations we don't notice affect the cupboard doors? Maybe we dream the cat-on-the-bed incidents--but why would two people dream the same dream, sometimes at the same time?

Tonight, we had a new experience. Freckles jumped onto the couch beside me, eyes dilated, tail swishing, and spent ten minutes playing with something that wasn't there. He acted exactly as though he were playing with another cat. He's never, ever done that since he moved in with us seven years ago.

At least whatever-it-is, is friendly.

And playful.

That's good, right?

Check out Sarah's website at www.SarahRaplee.com and her author page at www.WindtreePress.com

Second is Genre-ista Madelle Morgan who shared memories of her favorite family vacations at Muskoka: Canada's Premier Summer Playground

April Guest, Contemporary Romance Author Pamela Aares and Genre-ista 
Diana McCollum co-author of Love & Magick tied for third.

We've some spectacular guests lined up for your reading pleasure in May starting this Saturday with former Genre-ista and best selling author, Opal Carew! Also up on Saturday's in May: Bob Mayer, Laura Baumbach, Cherry Adair and Cathryn Cade! 

From Page To Screen

By Marie Lilly
 

I thought it would be an easy peasy assignment--to adapt Madelle Morgan’s romance novel 

Marie Lilly

"Diamond Lust” into a screenplay, that is.  After all, Madelle did what I considered to be the hardest part--creating an engaging story from nothing more than an idea. 

 DL has a strong and sympathetic hero in Petra Paris--a feisty geologist on a secret mission to gather evidence from an isolated diamond mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada.  Her undercover cop Love Interest, Seth Lunden, is a Han Solo at his finest, and his relationship with Petra sizzles with tension.  The sub-arctic summer vistas Madelle lovingly and intimately describes made me want to go there, and her dialogue made me smile.

My first marketable draft of Rough Diamonds (the screenplay version of DL) was a romance movie very faithful to the source material.  It was immediately requested for consideration by a movie star’s production company and the response was mercifully quick:  my screenplay wasn’t what they were looking for, try the Hallmark channel instead.  My translation:  "We are looking for great scripts for our leading man to star in.  The star of your script is a woman." 

Then a local director read RD and offered to direct and produce it.   But first, he wanted to see a South African character in it.  I added an Afrikaaner, raised the stakes and created international conflict.  Seth became the main character and Petra became his Love Interest.  RD was elevated from a small screen suspenseful romance to a big screen detective story.

As of today we are continuing to develop the director's vision.  Throughout the story variations we've played with, Madelle's winning concept and characterizations for Petra and Seth survive intact.  Hmmm, if RD becomes an international hit, maybe she'll write a sequel...

 

Keys to Lasting Love

Madelle Morgan

Today is my first post as a Genre-ista blogger. Thank you so much, Judith and Sarah, for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you all every month!

I write contemporary romance and romantic suspense, with one novel and a free short story published by Ellora’s Cave and several more projects “in development”. I retired from my day job as a civil engineer and manager last June, and it is so wonderful to have ample time to write and read those wonderful books I’d purchased but have been too busy to read. My husband counted over 100 books piled on my bureau alone! Fortunately it’s a very cold, stay-indoors type of winter up here in Ontario, Canada.

The topic this month is favorite romances. Well, like many avid lovers of romance I cannot pick just one. So I decided to describe three key elements of a great romance.

1. Chemistry

Chemistry comes from powerful emotional and physical attraction. Years ago Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had smoldering chemistry on screen and off. Their marital splits and reconciliations made headlines. Today Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison (Bella and Edward) are the new Liz and Richard – they have a great love that endures despite indiscretions. Or will it? That brings us to the next key element, the lack of which often drives a stake in the heart of passionate love.

2. Tolerance of Quirks and Faults

Abuse and infidelity respectively throw cold water on a steamy relationship, extinguishing it for good. On the lighter side, if a couple can adjust to each other’s annoying habits, personality quirks and faults, they have a chance of making it as a couple.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, the female lead character in the TV series Bones, likely has Asperger Syndrome or something similar in the autism spectrum of disorders. It makes her emotionally disconnected. Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, the hunk we crushed on in Buffy and Angel), loves and accepts this beautiful but coldly rational woman despite her difficulty in being passionate and empathetic. Her logical mind, on the other hand, grounds him. Bones in turn tolerates what seems to her to be Booth’s excessively emotional behavior.

3. Opposites Attract

It’s not enough that the partners have very different personalities. In lasting relationships each person has traits that fill a lack(s) or need(s) in the other. The two personalities fit together like one of those wood 3D puzzles. Together they are whole, complete. Apart they feel like a piece is missing.

In The Big Bang Theory, the Penny and Leonard characters exemplify this crucial aspect of a great romance. Pretty, loving, living-month-to-month Penny has emotional intelligence and street smarts. Love-starved Leonard has intellectual intelligence, a stable job, and is reliable and loyal. They fill each other’s most basic needs for love and security.

What do you think is essential for an enduring romantic relationship? In honor of my first Genre-ista post and Valentine’s Day I’m giving away a print copy of my romantic suspense Diamond Lust to one commentor who lives in the US or Canada.  The deadline for comments is midnight on Sunday, February 17^th!

Postscript:

Who loves diamonds? Madelle’s debut romantic suspense Diamond Lust ebook is available for only $0.99. 

Coming soon, Madelle is working on another romantic suspense novel (the story of Sophia from the free short read The Next Big Thing) and a steamy novella. 

Find Madelle at www.madellemorgan.com and on Goodreads.