Entering 2024 with a boat load of Courage

by Diana McCollum

 

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything…” Vincent Van Goh

 

For her Christmas present this year I took my youngest daughter to see the Vincent Van Goh Immersive art show in Sacramento, CA.

Neither one of us knew a whole lot about Vincent Van Goh, other than we liked his art work and of course, that he had cut off his ear while in a depressive state.

 

He had the ‘courage’ to try many types of paintings. From his famous ‘Starry Night’ painted during one of his stays at the mental institution, to the numerous sunflower paintings. 

 

Author FineShine Deposit photo

Vincent created 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings. The majority of these were done during the last ten years of his life. He completed a painting around every 36 hours. He died at 37 years from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

A sad end to a great painter.

 

This quote resonates with me, “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything…” Vincent Van Goh.

 

My daughter has found the courage to volunteer for the disaster relief and rescue of animals. She begins training soon. This is on top of being a wife, mother and full time job. She has the courage to give back and help.

 

Her family lost everything in the Camp Fire that raged through Paradise, CA, 5 years ago. So many people stepped up to help her family and others who suffered from the devastating fire.  A kennels took in her dog and cared for her for over a month for free till my daughter and her husband found a house to rent.

 

I know it takes courage on her part to be able to do this with out triggering feelings about their loss. I’m so very proud of her.

 

My Goal word for the year will be ‘courage’. The courage to try new things, courage to meet my writing goals, courage to speak up and help right wrongs. And maybe even courage to declutter my house and my life.

 

Do you have a goal that can be represented by one word?

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be it resolved ...

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul." - G.K. Chesterton

"For last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice." - T.S. Eliot

"New Year's Day is every man's birthday." - Charles Lamb

"Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." - Helen Keller

Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

"New Year's most glorious light is sweet hope!" - Mehmet Murat ildan

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." - Edith Lovejoy Pierce

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one." - Brad Paisley

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing many flavours of romance. When not torturing her characters, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband and two hens. 

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Best Advice You Give Yourself Each January by Lynn Lovegreen

 

I don’t tell myself the exact same thing each January. But when I think of it, I can see a common theme: take care of yourself.

 

For several years, I didn’t create New Year’s resolutions so much as priorities: family, friends, writing, and so on. Listing those things helped to remind me to keep my thoughts and activities in line with what was most important to me. That’s one way to take care of myself.

 

A few years ago, I switched to watchwords for each year. My word for 2020 was Wellness. Yes, I see the irony in choosing that right before a pandemic! But it did give me permission to make my physical and mental health a priority. At the end of the year, I still needed to work on that, so I used Wellness the next year, too. 2022’s watchword was Ask, as in ask for help when I need it, ask questions to better understand people, and so on. That was a valuable practice, and I hope to continue to do that. This year, my word is Time, as in think about how I want to use my time and don’t let my time fill up with unimportant things.

 

Together, all these January exercises remind me to take care of myself. Many of us, especially women, live serving others, sometimes at the expense of our own needs. In our culture, that is seen as noble. But it’s not healthy. We need to take care of ourselves before we can help others.

 

If you need a reminder to take care of yourself, this is it.  Make 2023 your time to stay or get healthy—mentally, physically, spiritually. Nurture yourself and see to your own needs. Listen to the voice in your heart.

 

I wish you the best year ever! Take care.

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. 

New Beginnings by Eleri Grace

 

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's in terms of the big, glitzy parties on New Year's Eve. Even when younger, I much preferred to stay in with friends/loved ones, a good movie, and a glass or two of champagne.

I did, however, typically embrace the concept of resolutions. Big, sweeping ones ("lose weight" topping the list) were the norm. As with most people, the resolutions were usually out the window before the Christmas decorations were fully packed away.

This year feels different. A group of friends invited me to join them in a new goal-setting planner system. In November, we ordered the planner and met a few times to do the planning exercises and brainstorming. Though I initially worried that this would end up with the same end result (discarded and failed resolutions that were too unrealistic), I am cautiously optimistic that this system might work -- at least for many of my goals, if not all. The reason is that it doesn't allow you to simply write down "lose weight" -- it challenges you to dig deeper and break that lofty goal down into bite-sized action steps and mini-goals for daily, weekly, and monthly steps (as well as quarterly goals). So for that one, I'm focusing on hydration during January, and then each month after that, I'm adding in something else meant to spark healthier eating habits and subsequent weight loss.

2020 was such a traumatic year filled with stress, tension, anxiety, and upheaval at the micro and macro levels. My heart is full of hope for 2021 -- not only will our country take a different and hopefully more positive trajectory, but maybe I too will make incremental and positive progress toward my personal and professional goals this year.

I'm reminded of Churchill's famous quote in an address to the US Congress in late December 1941, after Pearl Harbor: "Sure I am that this day -- now we are the masters of our fate; that the task which has been set us is not above our strength and toils are not beyond our endurance."

As with my heroes and heroines, no matter how bad things have been of late, I want to focus on progress, positivity, and optimism for a better and brighter tomorrow. I want to "accentuate the positive," as the 1940s song goes. 

May 2021 bring us all much health and happiness! 

Learn more about me and my writing on my website, and you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

You can find my Clubmobile Girls books on Amazon

To New Beginnings!

 

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

You’ve probably heard me say this before. At the beginning of a new year I never make resolutions. What I do is create a vision board. The board serves as my map as the year unfolds.

There is something cathartic about looking through magazines and finding words that express the way I feel and that represent me. I get joy out of clipping out graphics and images of places that I would like to visit, hobbies that represent me, or events that I enjoy, even things I would like to learn or improve on in the coming year.

It all brings me Joy.

This 2021, my board is still a work in progress. But as I snip and cut out pictures and sayings, I find myself becoming more and more optimistic and hopeful.

For those of you who have followed me over the years, you know there is usually a theme to my board. My boards represent my life with emphasis on travel, exercise, books, wine and food.  All these things bring out the best in me. 

These themes continue this year,  but with a focus on joyful living and celebrating small moments. I am hopeful about many things this year and grateful to be here. This year, I plan on brushing up my Spanish. It’s a language that speaks to me and one I used to be fairly good at but have let go to the wayside. Spanish is considered the language of love because its passionate and sensual.  And shouldn’t we be passionate about everything we do? Without passion life wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun. 

 I am hopeful about many things this year. I am hopeful to put more passion back into my life. I am hopeful that our country can heal, and that people can get back to work and living their best lives. I am hopeful that we can travel again and see family and friends. 

More importantly, I am hopeful that we have used this time to reflect and get our priorities in order. Having gone through an experience like no other, we should realize that we are really a small speck in a vast universe. We rent space on this earth. We own nothing. And without health we have nothing.

That said, we should be living our most meaningful lives, no matter how insignificant we think that life might be.

 Writing to me represents living my best life. 

To that end, I celebrated 2021 with a brand-new release. 

Here is an excerpt from By Golly:

Elle felt and sensed Miles’ presence behind her. She could smell that citrusy scent and feel his warm breath on the nape of her neck. Even though her heart thudded, she remained resolute. Miles’s hands caressed the back of her arms before he turned her to face him. Now she didn’t know what to believe.

“Carrie’s divorcing her husband. When she found out Justin was in trouble, she reached out to me, pitching the idea of getting back together, and providing a united front for the sake of our son.”

Elle spun around facing him. “You must have given it some consideration. You broke up with me.”

“I did not. I simply asked for time and space. We were both doing a lot of traveling. I was dealing with a troubled child and an ex pressuring me. Plus, we were in the middle of negotiating an international deal. There was a lot on my plate. I needed to work through some things.”

“Can we talk about Justin?” Elle said, switching the direction of the conversation. Miles had put her through a lot of misery. Had he had this discussion with her up front, perhaps she would be a lot more forgiving.

“Sure. We might as well sit. I have the feeling this might take a while. Taking her by the hand, Miles guided her back toward the couch. “What did my son have to say for himself?”

“Well, it seems he thinks you sent him off to school to get rid of him.”

“Oh, please. Justin knows better. We talked about it. He knows why I sent him to the academy. Couldn’t have a housekeeper bringing up my son.”

“Apparently, you didn’t do a very good job of explaining. He seems to think he’ll be going to live with you and your ex, and you’ll be one big happy family.”

“He’s wrong about that.”

“I did get him to promise me he’d go to therapy.”

Miles’ head snapped back and forth. Hie squinted at her.  “And why would my son need therapy?”

“Because he has problems you and I can’t fix. He’s hurting and doesn’t understanding why you and his mom divorced.” She held up a finger before Miles could interrupt. “It’s quid pro quo. Justin stops getting high and goes to therapy. You don’t send him to rehab. Now all you have to do is talk the principal, head of school, or whatever they’re called these days, into not expelling Justin.”

Miles reached over and took her cheeks between his palms and kissed her on the lips. “If that’s all it would take, you’re a miracle worker.” Before she knew it, he deepened the kiss, and those too familiar feelings came flooding back and she was winding her arms around his neck, relishing his warmth and drowning in the citrusy smell of him.

A knock on the door, drew them apart before things ricocheted out of control and she forgot she was still mad at him.

“What Lousy timing,” Miles muttered, heading off to answer the door.

You can pick up a copy of By Golly here:

 https://www.amazon.com/Golly-H-Caldwell-ebook/dp/B08R5GN5B8/ref

Wishing you a special Feliz año nuevo!  

Live a passionate life and make it a good one! 

Please sign up for my newsletter here:

http://www.lovemarcia.com/guestbook.htm

   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 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

Be sure to join her mailing list.

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HAPPY, HOPEFUL, HEALTHY, HOMEY NEW YEAR 2021!!!

 

FROM AUSTRALIA

IN FRENCH

IN A WORD CLOUD

GOODBYE and GOOD RIDDANCE, 2020!!!

HAPPY DANCE TIME!!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

 

2019 Dream a big Dream!

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

It's the beginning of a new year and  a time when hope and  optimism abounds.  Many of us couldn’t wait to put the year behind us, because 2018 was a challenging year and a true test of faith.

Our nation saw a record of unprecedented natural disasters, ranging from the deadliest wildfire in California's history to the worst hurricane hitting the East Coast since 1969. In September, Hurricane Florence flooded the Carolinas and the amount of rain surpassed statewide records.

In October, Hurricane Michael became the strongest storm, (based on pressure,) to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Camille in 1969. It left behind a trail of destruction and brought with it the strongest winds since Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992.

2018 brought with it unexpected deaths of celebrities like designer, Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain. These tragedies shocked the world. In Parkland, a neighborhood, close to me, the Stoneman Douglas tragic shooting of seventeen students, and faculty, turned the world on its ear, making us realize how vulnerable we are.

 Less publicized were the personal struggles many people faced, and the fear that any moment we could be engaged in a nuclear war. But there were feel good moments too. 

The economy did extremely well. Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, gving young girls hope they too could have a Cinderella moment.  More women than ever entered the political arena, and the twelve Thai boys, and their coach, trapped in a cave, all made it to safety. The world let out a collective breath.   

In terms of best 2018 Romance novels (and I am a romance writer,) the usual notables made the list.  Authors like Eloisa James, Brenda Jackson, Amanda Quick a.k.a. Jayne Ann Krentz, Beverly Jenkins, and newcomer, Nalini Singh. Then there was that book that everyone put on their  holiday list - Becoming Michelle Obama; an instant bestseller.

   

On a personal note, I was fortunate to have two releases in December of 2018. Magnolia Moments, the fifth in the Eighty-Eight Mississippi series was released right before Christmas https://amzn.to/2D7y5ci, and Ring in the Holidays, a novella,  followed in time for New Years Eve.  https://amzn.to/2TNKA1Y

Here’s an excerpt from Magnolia Moments:

 “Morgan’s waiting. Won’t want to keep her, now,” Dani said, sniffing.

“She can wait. Let’s get one thing straight. I have absolutely no interest in that woman beyond getting the information I need. Now give me a kiss.”

Dani initially seemed reluctant to even get close. Eventually she relaxed in his arms. And as usual, what was meant to be a meeting of the lips, segued into a heart-shattering kiss of mega proportions. Bryce felt as if he’d been zapped by lightening. He was actually shaking. His inclination was to take Dani to bed right there and then, but the teacher was waiting downstairs, and he would have to put passion on hold. 

"We’re not done,” he said, putting Dani away from him. 

Wiping her smeared lipstick with one hand, she headed downstairs, Bryce on her heels. He followed, admiring her curves in the form-fitting dress that seemed custom-made and hugged all the right places. 

Spotting him, Morgan got to her feet. Her eyes flashed with annoyance when she realized he was not alone. 

“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by,” Morgan said, her voice way too chirpy for his liking. She held out her hand. “I came because it’s such a nice day and I thought we could ride together. And while I l show you the town, I could answer your questions.”

Bryce had no choice but to take the hand Morgan proffered. Her offer was just too good to turn down. “I’d like that.”

“Well, I’ve got to get back to work,” Dani said, giving him the side eye. “You two have fun.” 

Bryce watched her walk away, thinking he would much prefer spending the time with her than Morgan, but he needed vital information. He could finish up what he’d started later.

An excerpt from Ring in the Holidays below:

The sparkle in Stefan’s eyes when he spotted her made her regret not putting up with the cold and wearing that hot, gold dress. Stefan gave her a tight hug, almost lifting her off her feet. He smelled of pine. 

“Just, look at you. Very chic,” Stefan added, tweaking her beret when he set her down. “Shall we?” He offered an arm.

The restaurant, another popular Manhattan eatery, was only blocks away. It was decorated in a blue, silver, gold and white theme. Huge baskets of white poinsettia were strategically placed on gold-plated pedestal tables as they entered. The interior smelled of cinnamon, pine and food. They followed the hostess to the rear. Stefan had to have requested special seating, because a sparkly, white netting was swept aside so they could slide into the private booth.
 
“How did you find this place?” Rianna asked, gazing through the gauze netting at what looked to be several well-heeled clientele. She’d spotted the politically incorrect fur jackets draped over the backs of chairs, and the ladies’ necks draped in expensive pearls and diamonds. 

“A friend recommended it,” Stefan said. “I told him I needed a special place with lots of holiday spirit to take a very special lady.”

Rianna felt her cheeks heat up. She managed a mumbled, “Thank you,” and swept off her tam, shaking out her curls. Stefan swept a wisp of escaping hair out of her eyes.

Things were moving way faster than she was comfortable with. She was just starting to process her feelings for her best friend’s brother and trying to figure out whether the growing attraction could be attributed to a holiday season when no one wanted to be alone. Were these genuine feelings or brought on by nostalgia? For so much of her young life she had resented him. How could she want him so badly now that he’d become an adult?

Wishing you all many adventures in 2019. May you have reading choices that will make your toes curl. Remember you can choose to be happy or unhappy. I choose happiness, and I'm always grateful for what I have.  

 Make it a happy, healthy, and fun New Year.

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 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.

Romancing The Genres

Wishes You 

A Happy New Year!!!

In February 2011 Sarah Raplee and Judith Ashley concocted the idea of a group blog for romance writers. It was important that the writers cover the various sub-genres of romance and come from various parts of the country.

With those specs in mind, they sent out invitations until they had 20 romance writers sign on. Initially RTG covered from Alaska to the Carolinas and included Canada.

Currently RTG authors (Genre-istas) call Australia, Canada or the UK as home. Within the United States Genre-istas range from Alaska to Florida, Oregon to the Carolinas with a couple of Mid-west stops along the way.

Genre-istas write in a wide variety of genres including romantic women’s fiction, mystery with romance, contemporary romance along with contemporary Caribbean romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, sci-fi romance, military romance, fantasy, historical, time travel romance, inspirational romance, young adult and western. Whew!

Even though we did commit to being focused on diversity, over the years our definition of ‘diversity’ has changed.

We started with one writer outside the U.S., Opal Carew. When Opal left, we invited Madelle Morgan who has been with us ever since. PippaJay who writes sci-fi romance and lives in the United Kingdom joined us in 2012.

Historical romance author, Bronwen Evans, from New Zealand was one of our early international authors. Although we’ve not had another New Zealander we have had several Aussie authors. Currently Cassandra O’Leary and Michelle Somers represent our ‘Down Under’ colleagues.

B.A. Binns and Lynn Lovegreen write for younger audiences. If you have young people (mid-grade, high school, college) check out their books!

Florida is well-represented with Marcia King-Gamble and Kristin Wallace.

When we first started out, authors stretched from the west to east coast with the majority in Oregon and Arizona. Linda Lovely and Robin Weaver represent The Carolinas.

Mid-West or middle of the U.S. authors are B.A. Binns, Ishabelle Torry and Lyncee Shillard. B.A. writes young adult and middle-grade and is passionate advocate for diversity in books, especially for young readers. Ishabelle writes fantasy, historical and time travel romance while Lyncee write contemporary romance.

M.L. Buchman joined us in 2013. Matt writes military and contemporary romance along with a bit of sci-fi. Matt may be the most prolific author/Genre-ista at this time.

Matt and Courtney Pierce, who writes Baby Boomer romantic fiction, are Oregonians.

A new comer, joining us in December 2017, is PatriciaSargent. Patricia is part of The Decades Project: A Journey of African-American Romance. Check back the first Tuesday of the month throughout 2018 to see what decade is being featured. Here is a link to the first post of the first featured author, Lindsay Evans, whose novel is set in the 1900's.

You may be wondering if that is everyone – no it isn’t.

From the beginning (2011) Historical and Contemporary Western Romance and Mystery author, Paty Jager, has lead off the first Monday of each month. Also with us of the second Friday of each month is Diana McCollum. Diana writes romantic suspense with paranormal elements and paranormal romance.

And of course the Blog Queens or BQ for short have been here from the beginning. Sarah Raplee writes romantic suspense with paranormal elements and also paranormal and steampunk. Judith Ashley writes Contemporary Romance or Romantic Women’s fiction.

In addition to writing their own posts, the BQ’s check for spam and porn (although Blogger does an admirable job we both live in fear that some porn spam comment will make its way through to be published). We also put together monthly themes for the Genre-istas to write about (or not). January’s theme is “If I Was A Millionaire”—should be interesting reading!

Saturdays RTG hosts ‘guest bloggers’ and the BQ’s decide on the monthly topics and invite guests (as well as make sure the guest posts are published). Our January 2018 guests will be sharing Author Milestones.

When we started out, neither Sarah nor Judith had any idea we would still be going strong (stronger than in 2011 for sure) 6+ years later. Most of the original Genre-istas were unpublished. That has changed as each of us has at least one book available in e-book if not also print and audio.

We were so excited when we had 1000 page views. Current stats are 340,666 page views; 12,086 comments; visitors from Germany, Ukraine, Ireland, Romania, France, South Korea as well as the Australia, Canada the United Kingdom and the U.S.

Judith and Sarah invite you to stop back frequently and get to know the amazing authors who make up Romancing The Genres, a truly international group blog.

You can follow up on Twitter @RomanceTheGenre and we're on Facebook
RomancingTheGenres. So check us out!!!