What is Spring to you?

 by Diana McCollum

What is spring to you? 

Are you a Love is in the air believer, or do you start thinking about travel or are you looking forward to family time  or are you just done with winter and ready for spring and being outdoors?

Here are some pictures and quotes to usher in Spring season.

“A single rose can be my garden; a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia

“In springtime, love is carried on the breeze. Watch out for flying passion or kisses whizzing by your head.” – Emma Racine deFleur

Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.

--Gustav Mahler

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” — Pablo Neruda

“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade” – Charles Dickens

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
― Gustave Flaubert

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures and quotes!

(Credits: roses and coffee-Antone Matyukha-Deposit Photos,

Woman Holding bouquet -Dmitry Poch-Deposit Photos,

Man sitting outsidel-ArutaImages-Deposit Photos, 

Father and daughter-EdzBarzhyvetsky,Deposit Photos

Senior couple with map-HalikRedke, Deposit Photos

Wedding couple-Edzbarzhyvetsky, Deposit Photos

Happy Easter-VadimVasenin-Deposit Photos)

Everyday Heroines Who Make Life Special... by Delsora Lowe

The world is filled with heroes and heroines, many famous, but most ordinary people like you and me. Those people who plod through daily life, working jobs, taking care of families, and volunteering in their community. The unsung heroes and heroines of the world. Every now and then, one does something extraordinary enough to be called out to the world as a heroic figure
.I have many personal heroines. Some I’ve mentioned, like my aunt who was an actress, WWII pilot, as well as a journalist and a ghost hunter, to name a few of her occupations that made her interesting. But her most heroic deed, was taking her nieces under her wing, as a second mother, since she had no children of her own. Every year I sent her a Mother’s Day card. I’ve talked about her in other blogs, so know that she will always be my heroine.

My heroine, Aunt Virginia. 

     But today I’m going to talk about fictional heroines.

As writers of romance, we write about heroines and heroes every day. We share their insecurities. Show their faults. Build their redeeming qualities so that those characters around them want to share a life with them. And we show all they go through to find and believe in love.
They might not be the people who make the front page or the evening news, but they are heroines to the people they love and those who love them.

The heroines I write about are superwomen in their own worlds. No, I don’t write paranormal or fantasy. I write contemporary. My heroines are ordinary mortals, who don’t do anything more than most of us do in daily life. But my goal as a writer is to make each heroine in my stories, someone readers can relate to. That someone who will mirror the heroine (or hero) within each reader.

Not only do I want readers to relate to my characters, but I want readers to see in themselves that the ordinary things they do in life are heroic.

Lynette Mercer, the heroine in The Rancher Needs a Wife, is an ordinary woman. She’s a widow of a war hero, a single mom, a business owner, a daughter, and a friend. I won’t give away her little acts of heroism, but I'll give you a few clues. Know they have to do with caring for her daughter and a family who has befriended her in her new town. She’s also a heroine to a woman who has drifted for the last few years and needs a friend and a job. She cares for each person she touches in different ways.

Cue in a frantic bride (hint: heroine from book one) in need of a dress and wedding planning.

Our heroine helping her new friend make a wedding dress.

            Cue in a serious and sometimes controlling (in that annoying, protective way) cowboy rancher, who, yes, is a hero.

Lynette gives poor Carter a run for his money, especially when he goes into protective mode.

           Cue in a new lingerie shop in a ranching town where ranching women are excited to have a bit of frill in their lives, and strong cowboys fear to tread.

A lingerie ladies night at Lynette’s shop, the Pink Petunia.

All of the above are the little, everyday ways my heroine helps others in her new home town.

To me, the qualities of a heroine are women who are true to themselves. As we all know, in true life and our stories, this is part of growth for every individual, and part of the story arc for each of our main characters. A heroine must face problems (and in our books, we tend to throw a lot of problems at our heroines.) The more problems, the more the story holds the attention of readers. And…the more fun we have developing a character.

As I’m writing this, I have a favorite Hallmark movie on in the background. Cooking with Love is full of character development. Watching movies and reading books, for both writers and readers, is a great way to not only be drawn into another world, but an opportunity to study what challenges can be thrown at characters to make them stronger.

In the scene of the movie where the hero goes over the heroine’s head at work, then gives a lofty and somewhat cavalier apology, the heroine responds with an absolutely-no-problem type of response. As a viewer, one has to wonder why she is buckling under, until the scene progresses, and she, without apology, proves she also has gone over his head to get him back on track. The look on the hero’s face and his actions are one of I’ve just been one-upped. And that look gives the heroine courage to find her own voice, gain respect, and become a success at work. And, of course, they fall sweetly in love.

In a scene in my new book (releasing on October 20), Lynette proves to Carter that she’s not just an overly feminine, “too pink,” kind of woman, but a woman who just might have the qualities of a rancher’s wife. Loyal. Hardworking. Cares about family and work. Knows how to show love.

Cue in plumbing is not woman’s work. Note: the hero comes to the rescue to fix a sink, but, ta-da, the heroine has everything under control.

Finding a photo or clip art of a female plumber turned into an impossible endeavor. The only females associated with plumbing were on ads for a school recruiting underrepresented women plumbers and one for a plumbing company which showed a woman sitting by a sink with her palm plastered against the side of her forehead in an “Oh, what will I do?” pose. Hence the need for heroines who can plumb.

Lynette might not be a heroine in the eyes of the world that is conditioned to look for overly heroic deeds, but she is a hero in the life of her daughter. And she will prove she can be a heroine to Carter with her words, actions, and good deeds.

Of course, as an author, all my heroine’s traits mimic those of the real-life, every day heroines who are part of my family, and my work and community life.

Who, like my aunt, is the real-life heroine in your world? And what words, actions, and good deeds does your heroine do to show her heroic side?

~ 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.

The Rancher Needs A Wife
preorder now or purchase on October 20

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Heroine in Pink:

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Carter:
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An Out Of This World Wedding #scifi #romance

Hi, I'm Pippa Jay, author of sci-fi and supernatural stories to engage your emotions. Despite writing several romances, only one features an actual wedding. My debut novel (which by strange coincidence released one day before my own wedding anniversary) sees the out of this world joining of my two main characters on a tropical island far removed in space and time from either of their points of origin.

The ceremony combined the tradition of their reptilian hosts with their own chosen vows, created after researching some pagan hand-fasting ceremonies from my home country. So I'm sharing an excerpt from Keir where my star-crossed lovers finally get to make the ultimate committment...

Keir stood in M’linka’s hut and tried to still the quiver in his hands. The saurian artist sat hunched over his sketchpad, once more tracing the patterns on Keir’s back. Metraxian tradition required a groom to come bare-chested to his bride, to show the tattoo that marked his initiation into adulthood. When S’rano had given him the vows to learn and told him of the ritual, Keir had barely hesitated. He would honor his hosts and the woman he loved by going against his own inhibition and obeying islander tradition. And it gave M’linka, itching for another look at the plethora of designs carved into Keir’s skin, a second chance to sketch. The saurian had been flattered by Keir’s request to be his guide through the ceremony, though he did little to allay Keir’s nerves as they waited.
Keir watched the villagers pass by in brightly-colored clothing and woven headdresses, bearing food for the banquet or burning torches to light the feast as they went to gather on the beach. The sun was sinking in crimson splendor, turning the sea to fiery gold and the trees beyond into dark shadows. The sounds of excitement and anticipation, of talk and laughter rose above the voice of the sea. Listening to them only heightened his own nerves. He dried sweating palms on the fabric of his trousers, ran the words through his mind again and again. He prayed his tongue would not stumble over them.
A sudden hush fell. M’linka laid his drawing aside and rose to join Keir, whose mouth went dry as L’enko’s voice carried to him.
“My friends!” he cried. “Tonight we celebrate three great events. We welcome our wraith hunters back as men, ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. We welcome two honored guests, rescued by our brave hunters. And we celebrate their marriage, here in our village on this night!”
A rousing cheer and applause greeted his announcement.
“Let the ceremony begin!”
The Metraxians started clapping rhythmically, beating out a marching time. M’linka led the way out, down to the gathering, and brought Keir before the chief, who sat on a throne of bamboo. Keir waited as S’rano came down with Quin walking behind him. She had her eyes downcast, and a beautiful rose blush to her cheeks, still dressed in the flowing sarongs and with her hair braided. His body pulsed with heat as she raised her eyes to meet his, and then lowered her gaze to his bare chest. He heard her sharp intake of breath, saw her smile brighten as she understood his tribute to her.
“For you, my love.” He offered it as a gift.
Tears glimmered in her eyes, and he adored her all the more for it. She knew what it signified, and the fact that it mattered to her meant the world to him. She meant the world to him.
“You are my everything.” Her thoughts twined within his, and her love washed over him.
L’enko joined Quin’s left hand to Keir’s right, holding them together in both hands. The fact that her hand trembled as much as his settled his own nerves, and he squeezed a reassurance.
L’enko called for silence and turned to Keir. “What do you seek here?”
The words he had feared to forget came easily now, because they came from his true desire. “I seek to bind my life to Tarquin Secker, the woman I love with all my heart and soul,” he replied, his voice as steady as his love for her.
L’enko turned to Quin with the same question, and she answered calm and clear, as if she had waited all her life with those words on her lips. “I seek to bind my life to Keirlan de Corizi, the man I love with all my heart and soul.”
“The joining of your hands represents your wish to join your lives together as one.” Once more, L’enko addressed Keir. “Speak your vows.”
“I promise to share all my life with you, in love and laughter, through tears and trials. To work by your side and to dream in your arms. To fill your heart and feed your soul. To always see the best in you, and to love you always until the end of our forever.” As he spoke the words, he touched her mind, offered himself body and soul along with his vows, completely.
L’enko prompted Quin to speak, and for a moment, her voice failed and she could only stare at him in silence. Panic flared briefly in Keir’s mind. That single mote of tension, of quiet, seemed to last forever. Then Quin spoke, and a sigh passed through the gathering as she mirrored Keir’s vows. Relief washed through him as each word brought them closer to unity.
With their promises given, L’enko wrapped a cord around their joined hands. “With your pledges spoken, and your hearts and minds as one, as your bodies will be one in union, I bind you now until the end of your forever.”
A loud cheer arose as the Keir and Quin kissed each other, both hesitant with so many eyes upon them. The chief unbound their hands and bade them sit together as he proceeded with the rest of the ceremonies.

To find out if that was their happy ever after, you'll have to read the rest of their story. ;) Find them all at pippajay.co.uk

Here Comes the Bridezilla

by Madelle Morgan

I'm desperately seeking love song title suggestions for the wedding reception scene in my romantic contemporary novella Caught on Camera and need your help!

What songs are popular for a bride and groom's first dance? The characters are in their early thirties.

If you suggest a title in a comment, and I choose it, you get to name one of the fictional staff at the exclusive hotel in Muskoka, Canada where the wedding and reception take place.

Inspiration for Rachel        Image Credit

First some context. Here's the one liner for Caught on Camera: 

Star struck chambermaid Rachel Lehmann, 22, is asked to stand in for a missing bridesmaid at a Hollywood A-list actor's wedding and falls for a groomsman, Mickey McNichol, agent to the stars.

The groom is the lead actor in a Hollywood superhero movie franchise, and has a heart of gold. In my imagination the groom looks like Chris Hemsworth. Okay, I admit it. His image is my screensaver. Who wouldn't want to stare at hunky Chris several times a day? Exactly. 

In contrast, Mickey, the hero, is lean and handsome. I pinned several inspirational pics on my Muskoka Novella Series Pinterest Board.

The blonde, beautiful and deceptively fragile bride, however, is a conniving former model and word-that-rhymes-with-ditch.

So, it's obvious this couple's marriage is not going to be happy. You can see my dilemma. If I chose a song for them that I personally love, in my mind it will be forever associated with the lovesick groom's mistake in proposing a mere three months earlier. I'm hoping you will suggest a song that fits the situation. 'Cause the groom at the reception is blissfully unaware that by the end of the story he's gonna be listening to nothing but achy-breaky heart music.

The fictional wedding singer, hired at enormous expense, is modeled after famous Canadian crooner and funny heartthrob Michael Bublé, who covers a range of popular love songs from old standards to new favorites.

I also need suggestions for a love song for the reception scene when Rachel the "Cinderella" bridesmaid and Mickey the groomsman dance cheek to cheek for the first time. That song becomes "their song".

If I select your song for the Bride and Groom's first dance, you get to name the male waiter character.

If I select your song for Rachel and Mickey's first dance, you get to name the female Hotel Front Desk Clerk.

In your comment, please provide a love song title (or two), a male first name and a female first name.

Entries close Sunday, July 13 at midnight. I'll choose the winners on Monday, July 14. Check the Comments then to see if you won.

Thanks in advance for your help, and have a fun July!

Madelle

Image Source: www.voguequeen.com  CC License 

No wedding, just a funeral

B. A. Binns here, back with the Genre-istas.

I'm getting up close and personal with this post. It's about a wedding that didn't happen, and at this point probably never will. (If you don't like depressing, this might be a good time to switch to another post)

My daughter is twenty-three. She's been living with her boyfriend almost three years.  It's been a pretty turbulent relationship, on-again/off-again. But, she says she loves him and they always patched things up.

In January she discovered she was pregnant.

He agreed to marry her.

Note, I said he agreed, not that he proposed.

The wedding day was set for February 14, Valentine's day. The most romantic day of the years, my daughter said with stars in her eyes. It would be a small civil ceremony. Intimate rather than elaborate. Something to remember and hold on to, something to bind them and prepare for the new child.

I bought myself a mother-of-the-bride dress. I bought them a wedding present. Then I received a phone call.

The wedding had been postponed. Indefinitely.

Her boyfriend changed his mind. Seems he remembered that his first wife had cheated on him, and he wasn't certain the baby was his. After the kid is born, he said. After he's sure it's his. Then he would talk about marriage again.

I got one tear-filled phone call while my daughter vented. Then she was back to her old ways. She understood his need to wait. I thought he handed her the biggest insult possible, but she bravely said she could wait.  It's only a coincidence that one of the bad guys in one of my books hands the same insult to his pregnant girlfriend. (Really, I wrote those scenes a few years ago, but boy could I supercharge them with emotion now)

My daughter had a host of prenatal worries over the past few months. She had had some illnesses in her childhood that left permanent changes in her body. The doctors wanted to keep a close watch on her.

If you really hate unhappy endings, this is the place to stop reading.

I received another call last Tuesday. She was in the hospital. In spite of all the extra care and checkups, she lost the baby at six months. Her voice broke when she talked about all the stress she's been under.

In a romance novel, this would be the moment for the real hero to sweap her into his arms and make her forget the scoundrel in her past. In Women's Fiction, this would be the moment for her to decide it was time for her to stand on her own two feet and tell her scoundrel boyfriend where to go and how fast toget there. In Literary Fiction, I would kick him to the curb, bring her home, and make everything all right while she admits Mom really did know best.

But this is reality.

So there won't be a wedding. Or a baptism. Just the funeral.

My website - babinns.com
My personal blog - barbarabinns.com

A True Life Fairy Tale Wedding

Once upon a time there was a family of working-class coal miners and builders.  The grandmother, Dorothy Goldsmith, decided it was high time the family improved their financial and social standing.

Dorothy encouraged her daughter Carole to aim high, and she did.  Carole became an airline hostess with all the prestige that went with the job.  At her job Carole met a dispatcher named Michael Middleton. They fell in love and married.

By the time their first born Kate arrived, Carole had started a mail order party goods company out of the house.  With the drive that had been instilled into her by her mother, Carole was able to make enough money to send her children to private school.

The business was very successful and the family became multi-millionaires.

Neither young Kate, nor her brother or sister wanted for anything.  She did encounter bullying at not one, but two different schools, and in spite of her treatment she got outstanding grades.

She grew up and was the first girl in her family to attend college.  Kate attended the University of St. Andrews.  There she met her Prince Charming, Prince William of Wales.

After a long courtship, a break up, and reuniting all in the course of ten years, 2001 till 2011, and they were married April 29, 2011, in a spectacular fairy tale wedding.

From meager beginnings to Catherine, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, the title bestowed on her by Queen Elizabeth, Kate’s grandmother-in-law, Kate emerged at the top of the social ladder.

The Middleton family has been embraced by the Queen.  She invited the Middleton's to ride with the royal family in the Diamond Jubilee Flotilla on June 3rd, 2012.

Kate has had strong women role models.  From Grandma Dorothy with her vision of a better future and social standing for her family to her new Grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who has ruled England for 60 years and is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee this year.

Now that’s staying power!  She is still loved and respected by her subjects.

Of course, Kate’s mom, Carole, was the one who made the private schools happen.  And where would Kate be if not for her mom’s drive and determination?

Who are your role models?  Who has made a difference in your life?

Weddings are not for everyone….

I’ve never been married. Nor am I likely to. It’s something that I’ve never felt necessary in my life.  As my grandmother always said, “If he loves you he’ll stay around. If he doesn’t it’s best to let him go.”

 

However, I haven’t had the best examples when it comes to weddings. My father has been married three times, my mother twice, my sister is divorced, I’ve never married and neither has my youngest sister. My two middle sisters are married, one only married last year, and one twelve years ago. I have hope for that marriage.

Personally, I’ve never seen the need for a piece of paper—a piece of paper, not really worth the paper it’s written on. Divorces are easy and cheap to procure nowadays, ask Kim Kardashian, 76 days of marriage – what a joke!!!! Someone should teach her the word commitment or inform her that perhaps she’s too immature to know her own mind.

One exception is children. I understand that where children are involved a legalized marriage is very important to protect a child’s rights.

Often, it almost appears if women are more in love with the idea of a big, fancy wedding, rather than understanding what such a commitment actually means. I’m such a cynic. I was amazed at how many of my friends wanted big traditional church weddings, but never stepped into church ordinarily, except for other weddings and christenings. What’s that all about?

 

Weddings are nice. They are happy, joyous occasions that allow people to share their commitment to each other with their friends and family. Great, that’s what it should be—a celebration of love.  But marriage is so much more…

Love and commitment are what binds a couple together. A sense of personal pride and decency.  Love leads to wanting, and offering to, share a life with someone—the good and the bad. I don’t think couples today understand anything about personal commitment. You don’t give up and leave at the first sign of trouble. You don’t think the grass is greener on the other side. You don’t think it’s acceptable to cheat on your partner because he or she will never find out. You should have far more respect for each other than that.

You have made a commitment to each other to work as a team. To shoulder each other’s troubles, share each other joys, and to support each other in all that you do.

The pictures I've used today are of my sister, Juliet's wedding in Germany last July. She's married her German sweetheart. It's one wedding/marriage I feel will lead to wonderful things. My sister doesn't have good health. In fact she's been pretty ill the whole time Nicco courted her. Nicco has spent a lot of his time looking after my sister. He's certainly experienced the bad times and he stuck around. From the photo's I think you can see it's clear he loves her very much. But it's his actions, when they are living their ordinary lives, that speak volumes to me. His commitment to care for her in sickness and in health.  That's all I needed to see to know he loves her deeply.

Perhaps it’s not weddings that are wrong but the behavior that comes afterwards. 

For me personally, I don’t need a fancy wedding or a piece of paper to tell me I love someone. That comes from my heart, from my behavior towards them, and from my choosing to share my life with someone. From my overwhelming love for them. 

Weddings, are a moment in time, when we share that love with the world. I just wish couples would remember that feeling always. Perhaps there would be less divorce if we did.

 

Wedding Fun

Hmmm... something about weddings. As much as I like having a topic to write about, some topics are just harder to come up with something interesting. I could talk about being nine months pregnant at my younger brother's wedding. I was due that following Tuesday to go in for a C-section.

My comedic cousin and his parents had come up from California for the wedding. My husband wasn't able to attend with me, he was off driving truck to pay for the upcoming medical costs.

We were at the small church in our hometown during the rehearsal. I wasn't in the wedding party but my brother and mom wanted my advice about things. As I stood among the pews watching my mom and the bride's mom orchestrate the movements and events, a movement in one of the windows behind the altar caught my attention.

Cousin Billy was holding a sign in the window that said, No! Don't Do It! I started chuckling and pointed. Tim, my brother, turned, saw the sign, and he started cracking up. Soon everyone but the bride were laughing as Billy dropped the sign and put his hands around his neck as if choking himself. Eventually, everyone quieted down and we finished the rehearsal and headed to the dinner.

I'm surprised I didn't have the baby that night. Billy sat across from me at the rehearsal dinner. I laughed so hard all evening from his jokes and ideas he had for things he was going to do during the wedding day my stomach and face hurt.

Everyone of course was on pins and needles the following day to see what Billy would do, and you know what? The only mischief he got into was jacking up the get-a-way car so Tim and his new bride were stuck in front of the church as everyone else headed to the reception!

Sometimes I wish Billy had been at my wedding because I remember very little about the day that was the start of my wonderful life with my husband.

Do you remember your wedding day clearly? Or is it a blur?

Paty

www.patyjager.net
www.patyjager.blogspot.com