Longer Days...? Or shorter...? by Delsora Lowe

The blog question for this month is whether I like winter or summer best? Do I look forward to the longest day of the year or the shortest day? Both have their positives. The longest day of the year can be sad, as it means the warmth wanes and the daylight dwindles earlier. And yet, I love fall weather and November nights with the stars vivid in clear, dark skies. And fall follows that longest day.

The shortest day means the following days will get longer, to give us more light each day. And flowers, dormant now, will soon blossom.

To choose one season over the other is impossible.

June is the month where my yard comes alive with color. The nights are still cool but the day’s air is warming up.

This year, our April showers bringing May flowers didn’t pan out. It seems the blooming flowers stayed on track, but the grass stayed brownish longer than usual. Who am I kidding? In the Northeast, where we used to get feet of snow with every storm, we had very little, and the grass had a bit of a green-brownish tinge all winter long.

The rain invaded June instead of March and April. Granted, we need the rain, so I can’t complain about cooler weather. Especially since my air conditioner is yet to be installed. The seasons continue to be mixed up these last few years.

But I do have to say, I love the longer days with more light. And I love the colorful landscape, compared to yellowed grass and no leaves, just stark brown trunks and limbs of late fall into early spring,

            

Yes, color is important to me.

Having said that, each season has its own color. In fall the leaves are bright until they are crumpled, dried up, and dull, as they decay on the ground.

But there is still beauty in those muted colors. As we move into November, the sky’s blue is more vivid, and at night, the constellations of Orion and the big and little dippers are easily identified.

In winter daylight, against the stark white snow, we see hints of color from plants now dormant. We also see magnificent sunsets and sunrises that color the sky with neon pinks, magenta, orange, or various shades of purple.

In spring, we anxiously await those first peeks of light green, as trees start to leaf out, and the first sprigs of grass shoot their way toward the sun. The tiny white blossoms of wild strawberries pop up among decaying oak leaves left from fall.

Then there is that first carpet of color as the dandelions show their bright yellow heads. I love dandelions.

My grandmother used to make wine, tea, and jelly from the flowers and sauteed the young greens for dinner. Dandelions have so many vitamins, and yet we neglect them—malign them. I welcome their sunny faces after the grays, browns, and whites of winter.

And spring and summer thunder storms, though scary and sometimes bringing hail with torrential rains, also show off vibrant double rainbows against coal black skies.

 What about you? Can you pick a favorite? Do you love the seasons of longer days? Or shorter days?

June is a month we associate with wedding season, as the weather is warmer, but not hot, and the landscape is lush with green and floral colors. And the early fall months can also be big wedding months when the weather turns cool and crisp.

Check out The Love Left Behind, a smalltown wedding romance set in Rhode Island, in a fictional town near the Atlantic Ocean and Newport.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Left-Behind-Hartford-Estate-ebook/dp/B08L5N5DS9/

Books2Read   

books2read.com/u/mglVqK

Print Books by Delsora Lowe others available in e-book

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy 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. Her newest novella is The Love Left Behind. Look for both a Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker) later this fall.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
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
Instagram: #delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/

Photo Credits:
Photos taken by the blog author.

How My World Shapes My Writing by Paty Jager

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT is our Theme this month in honor of our Eleventh Blog-o-versary! I found some very special posts from past years to repost in case you missed them the first time around.

In " How my world shapes my writing ", first published July 4th, 2011, Western Romance and Murder Mystery Author Paty Jager tells us how her personal experiences led her to the genre’s she writes. (File this one under "Writer's Life")

I’ve dabbled in different venues of writing over the course of my lifetime. First as a child writing plays for stuffed animals, then at thirteen writing stories of love and lust that my friends and I passed back and forth adding scenes, to witnessing what words can do when an English teacher read one of my assigned fiction projects to the class and all the way through writing children’s stories for my kids, writing murder mysteries when I wanted to kill someone (killed that person off in two manuscripts), writing for the local paper when it fit my lifestyle, and finally settling into western romance.

Each stage of my writing had to do with what was going on in and around me at the time so it only makes sense that I find myself writing about the west. Where I live and the American history I love. Specifically the 1800’s has always been my favorite subject. I love museums, historical sites, and finding bits of history that were so integral to life when this country was spreading and growing.

I think having grown up in a semi–isolated part of the state that was slow to get technology it brought out the pioneer spirit in me. Until I was twelve, my paternal grandparents lived with us. There were seven people in a three bedroom, one bath farmhouse. We had a woodshed where we chopped kindling and stored the wood for the cookstove. When we did get an electric range we still had a wood heating stove and used the wood cookstove when the power went out which was fairly often. The power went out often so we used kerosene and oil lamps, the outhouse, and hauled buckets of water to the house from the ditch. Looking back, it was usually in the winter that the power went out. And on many occasions the pipes from the well to the house froze, and we had to haul water to the house.

My family had a small herd of dairy cows and used an old hand crank separator to separate the milk from the cream. We used the milk for ourselves and the hogs we raised. We made our own butter from the cream and sold the rest to the creamery. We raised 100 chickens every year, butchering all but thirty, which were laying hens. I hated the smell of the wet feathers after you dunked them in the boiling water to loosen the feathers. And disemboweling them and cutting them up-I’d always offer to fold clothes, clean the bathroom, or whatever other chore I could think of than spend hours smelling the feathers and butchered chickens. My grandmother sold extra eggs to neighbors and the local grocery store.

These are all events in my life that easily happened in the era that I write about. I can feel the heat of the woodstove, hear the clank of the metal plates as grandma put more kindling in the fire. Smell the acrid smoke that slipped through the chimney standing in the middle of my bedroom. I'd stand as close to it as I could on cold winter mornings as I dressed. Growing up, I lived the life I write about in my historical westerns.

And now, ranching with my husband, I've encountered many of the obstacles that I write about in my contemporary westerns.

And I grew up in the land of Chief Joseph's Nez Perce and have always had a fascination for them and believe I saw an apparition of a Nez Perce warrior one summer day while riding my horse in the mountains. That moment has stuck with me, and I believe the catalyst that pushed me to write the Spirit Trilogy.

If you are a writer, what shaped the genre you write? If you are a reader, what is your favorite genre to read and why? 
Paty

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

Graphic by: http://www.holidaygraphics.com
Photos: Paty Jager

A Blogversation: Western Romance with Paty Jager

I'm excited the Blog Queens asked me to carry on this blogversation about western romance. If you don't know me, I'm Paty Jager the author of 45+ books half of which are western romance the other half are mysteries with a strong western flavor (there are horses, rural areas, and the cowboy qualities I admire).

Whether you are writing historical or contemporary western romance you need to know a bit about horses,  domestic animals, and rural living. Farming or ranching are a good thing as well. While you don't have to have lived that way (I do) it helps. You don't have to do as much research. But... if you do plan to write about these genres, if you haven't lived it or experienced it, you really need to connect with someone who has. 

My first critique partner was a writer back east who had ridden a horse once and didn't know the difference between a fetlock and a wither. We partnered and she helped me hone my writing skills and I helped her get horse and other ranch things correct. It was a successful pairing.

I believe half of what makes a romance book work is the chemistry and the other half is environment they are in. My first contemporary western is Perfectly Good Nanny. I made my heroine a city person running away from her life and finding a job (nanny) as far from there as possible. I put her on a cattle ranch in the middle of the SE Oregon desert country. She is out of her element but fighting to stay because she doesn't want to go back. The hero didn't hire her- his twelve-year-old daughter did. Over the internet with the help of a meddling Native American neighbor. There are two scenes in the book that happened to me with cattle that I changed up a bit, but used as ways to bring the hero and heroine together. 

What do you think? Do you read fiction, especially western romance, to live the western (historical or contemporary) life with the characters? If so, what part do you like the best?  

When Readers Demand More! by Kathleen Lawless

Like a lot of authors, I started out in traditional publishing and slowly made my way to the world of independent publishing.  I really like the direct contact with readers and the chance to respond to their requests.  I also like the ability to set my own publishing schedule and publish as many books a year as suits my writing speed and my lifestyle.

This freedom means I have the ability to listen to my readers and act on it in a timely fashion.  So when I wrapped up my popular western series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and readers weren’t ready to say goodbye to this family and this town, I didn’t lose any time.  These are sweet books with characters I love, and it’s fun to bring them back for a second round in my new series Widows of the Wild West.  Readers took a liking to Percival Bloom, an interesting secondary character in the original series, and clamored for his HEA. 

HOPE, Percy’s love interest, kicks off the new series and is available for pre order here.    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DSL7Y8H

Snippet from HOPE 

         Hope found herself scrutinized by passersby from time to time and wondered if she stuck out like a sore thumb in a town where she expected most everyone knew everyone else.  If the rumors of ten men to every woman out West were to be believed, the men must be back at the ranch, while the few town ladies went about their errands.   

         Impossible to say what she had hoped to accomplish by her trip, but being here didn’t make her feel closer to Percy.  On the contrary . . .

         Disheartened, she returned to the hotel.  There was nothing for her here.  It had been a mistake to come. 

         As she approached the hotel, the faint sounds of piano music greeted her.  How wonderful!  Someone must be playing the grand piano she had seen in the lobby earlier; a welcome distraction from her thoughts. 

         Inside the lobby, she stopped short.  Even though his back was toward her, there was something familiar about the pianist.  As if on cue, the song ended, he ran his hand along the keys in a flamboyant finale, rose and turned her way. 

      Percy!

         “Hello, Hope.  Welcome to Bullet.”           

 There is a prequel with these two that is free to anyone who signs up for my newsletter. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1

If I’ve piqued your curious about the series, Book 1, BRODY’S BRIDE, is currently on sale for only 99 cents.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SRHCQK8

 

As a lover of both summer and the beach, I jumped at the chance when I was invited to join 13 other talented bestselling authors in a brand new summer box set, LAST CHANCE BEACH: Summer’s End, currently available to preorder for only 99 cents.  https://amzn.to/3hJseeT

BLUE SKY SUMMER is part of the set, a classic second chance romance. 

Here’s a preview. 

To Alisha, the town looked different with Mark by her side, as he entertained her with a running monologue of the town’s history that she expected was at least half made up.  The sun shone brightly in a sky so blue it almost hurt her eyes.  Seated next to Mark, her heart overflowed with contentment.  The whole island looked different.  Brighter.  Special.

         She shifted to study Mark’s profile as he drove.  She’d always managed on her own, but she’d managed better with Mark.  He’d been the first one to truly believe in her. 

         Tentatively, she put a hand on Mark’s leg, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath his board shorts and the pull of his quad muscle as he accelerated. 

         “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she said in a small voice.

         She saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed thickly.  No quick grin this time.  No denial of the fact that she hurt him.

         “We were good together,” he said finally.   

         She nodded, blinking away the unwelcome sheen of tears behind her sunglasses.

         “Was that the problem?  You couldn’t handle good?”

         “I knew you would never leave me to attend med school, even after you’d been accepted,” she said finally, feeling it was time for the truth.

         He stomped on the brake and threw the Jeep into park so suddenly she was grateful for her seatbelt.  He turned to face her.  “That’s why you dumped me?”   

         She nodded.

         “So it was all a crock.  What you said about needing to concentrate on your career without the distraction of a boyfriend?”

         “I thought, if you weren’t feeling responsible for me, or committed to me, you’d look after yourself first.  Chase your dream.”

         “You never thought, maybe this was something we should have a conversation about?  Possibly even reach some sort of mutual agreement?”

         She pleated the hem of her shorts between her fingers.  “I see that now.  I see a lot of things I didn’t see back then.”

         Mark exhaled a long, pained sigh, put the Jeep back into drive and soon they left the town behind, following a narrow coastal roadway.  Alisha rested her head against the seatback.  She’d been sure she’d feel better after apologizing to Mark.  So why did she feel worse?

Join us at LAST CHANCE BEACH, SUMMER’S END, a full slate of favorite tropes and authors in one binge-worthy collection.  https://amzn.to/3hJseeT

Kathleen Lawless blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys, which doesn’t stop her from creating a wide variety of interests and occupations for her alpha male heroes.   

Not that she can ever stick to just one genre.  So many stories to tell—never enough time.

With close to 30 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction and stories for young adults.        

Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP Reader Group to receive a free book, updates, special giveaways and fan-priced offers.    http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1

 

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I Never Do Things Easy by Paty Jager

This month at RTG the theme is “Marching to a Different Drummer.” I can tell you about that!

I’ve always been an independent spirit. My mom said when I was a baby, I didn’t like to be held. I’ve always been happy to hang out by myself, which was good considering I had two brothers. One is 18 months older and the other 4 years younger. I spent most of my time either reading, listening to music, painting or working on a craft project, or riding my horse when I wasn’t doing my chores. My younger brother and I did play together and ride horses together when he was older.

I also loved to sit among the ferns under the trees between the river and the ditch not far from the house. Here I would draw in a sketch book or write stories. It was my hiding place of sorts. It’s where I dreamed up all kinds of wonderful scenarios of how my life would be.

I’m sure you’ve seen the ads where you can send in a drawing and they evaluate it? I did that. And they sent me a letter saying how they could see me as an artist or graphic designer and they could help me attain that goal with their curriculum. Mom indulged me and let me purchase the first kit. But when I wanted to go on to college for art, my dad squashed that idea out. He told me I would be going into the medical profession. That was where I’d make money.

He was adamant. I refused to be a nurse and found out it only took two years to be an x-ray technician. Needless to say, I didn’t finish. I didn’t want to be in the medical field but I didn’t know what I wanted at that point. Though my college English professor encouraged my writing.

A couple years were spent at different jobs, trying to find the one that fit. I married, started having kids, and when the two oldest started school and hubby was willing to take #3 with him trucking, I started taking college writing and art classes. The art dropped to the wayside but I was inspired by writing.

I started writing for the local newspapers, while also working on the first great American novel. 😉 Which was really a murder mystery with an amateur detective. By this time, I had read nearly every mystery book our local library had and knew this was what I wanted to write. After a bad experience with an agent, and not able to find a way to learn more about mystery writing, I turned to Romance Writers of America and started writing historical western romance.

History was one of my favorite subjects in school. Especially American history. It made sense that I’d write that when I had a bounty of workshops, conferences and people who were willing to help me learn the craft and the business of writing. My first book was published in 2006 by a small press. That book began the eventual 8 books in the Halsey Brothers Series.

But I still felt I hadn’t achieved what I wanted. When agents at a conference said they wanted historical paranormal, I came up with the Spirit Trilogy. Books historically accurate with Native American spirits. An agent loved the books but couldn’t figure out how to pitch them to the people who had asked for historical paranormal. Luckily, an editor, with the small press that published my westerns, loved the books, and they were published. Now, I not only had historical western romance but I'd added Native American romance.

Still not happy, I wrote a contemporary western romance and then another. I’d just added another genre to my list.

Then I decided to write a series with a female MacGyver/Indiana Jones character. I loved writing Isabella and Tino’s adventures. I called it Action Adventure but the books could also be classified as Romantic Suspense, with the same two main characters. I LOVED writing the Isabella Mumphrey Adventures. The first book in the series won an award and reviews were good. But they weren’t selling.

I went back to historical western romance. But the idea of finally writing a mystery series kept banging at my brain. And I finally came up with a character, where she lived, a paranormal element, and I started writing the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. I LOVE writing this series and characters. My readers love this series. The sales are doing well.

With all the great things happening with the mystery series, I decided to write another one. This one has a male protagonist, who is also Native American. Which is now becoming a worry. I have a person who connects me with the reservation and people my Shandra character is related to, but I need to make a connection with someone from the reservation where Gabriel Hawke hails from. I made a small connection last spring and plan to make it much stronger this spring.

But like I said in the beginning, I never do anything the easy way! It’s been a long trip, but I am finally in my happy place with what I am doing.

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 43 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest   / Bookbub

photo source: DepositPhotos

"If I Could Live for a Week in Any Time Period" by Delsora Lowe

When I was thirty-five, I finally graduated from college. I had an Associate Degree, earned at age nineteen, but then I went on to get married and have children. I was old enough to know what I wanted when I worked on obtaining a Bachelor Degree to finish my last two years of college, while holding down four part-time jobs and raising two young teens.

Margaret Sanger 1922

I fought with the administration of the college, and finally won the right to declare an independent major in Women’s Studies. My thesis was on women’s roles in history and sociology (my loosely-based minors to shore up my self-designed major) using, in part, my grandmother’s work with Margaret Sanger in New York City for my final thesis. I can’t remember how old my grandmother was during her time in NYC, but I will guess 20-25, so she would have been doing this work in around 1915-20.


Now many years later, my mind is foggy on the details and I cannot find the tape recording I made as my grandmother related her experiences, nor can I find my thesis (I think they are in a box in the basement somewhere). But one thing I do remember is my grandmother’s interview and her shrugging and stating her experience was no big deal. To me, a feminist and a student of women’s history, it was the biggest deal ever to know my grandmother, Dolly, was a huge part of the women’s movement history in our country.

My Grandmother "Dolly,"
Charlotte More Meloney, around 1915-20

So, as someone who has never claimed to be brave, I would love to not only put on my brave face but be able to follow my grandmother around for one week during that part of her life. She was a dynamic and brave woman, a huge role model in the way she led her life. I remember when I interviewed her, how she told me when she died and came back in another form, she hoped to be a nurse in Appalachia, riding horseback through the mountains to care for people. She would never marry. I told her that now she could be a doctor, the dream she gave up, and be married too. She shook her head and vowed to stick to her first plan of reincarnation.


My grandmother had attended college as a pre-med student, one of eight women in the course. Four went on to med school. Four married and raised families. My grandmother was in the latter group. She divorced when my mother was twenty-five. My grandfather went on to marry three more times. In Dolly’s mind, and in line with the era in which she lived, she had to make choices.


To me, going back in time and living that one week alongside my grandmother, would be an exhilarating adventure. I can’t imagine the hard work, the stress, the fear of doing work that was considered illegal at the time, all to help give women a choice in what they did with their own bodies. But I know in my heart, I could not stand up to the work and dedication shown by women like Margaret Sanger and my grandmother. Maybe it is my own fear to go out on a limb. Maybe in my younger days, I may have been that brave. I’d like to think so.

Suffragist March, 1913, Washington, DC.

I recently read a romance, Escape to the Biltmore, by Patricia Riddle Gaddis, based in the era during the time my grandmother was probably weighing her college and work options. The story is about two doctors who meet and end up working together. The heroine, an unmarried female who knew

By Patricia Riddle Gaddis

her choice to become a doctor precluded her from ever marrying. The hero, a doctor who was a product of his environment and the era in which he lived. It’s a romance, as I said, so you can guess what happens in the end. But up until then, Gaddis does a magnificent job of portraying how each character handles the life they have chosen and the societal parameters imposed on each.

Reading this novel, brought back all the memories of my grandmother’s stories. I wish she were still here today, to see that she could have had both—a career she was passionate about that would meld with the chance to include having love and a family.


Here’s to my grandmother and all the women who paved the way. And here is to generations of women who follow my generation, who will continue to work and love hard, as they make this world a better place in which to live. And here’s a salute to Women’s History Month.


P.S. Next time we have this topic, remind me to tell you about my actress aunt turned military pilot during WWII. Another brave and inspiring woman.

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine

~ cottages to cabins ~ 

~ keep the home fires burning ~

Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an upcoming contemporary western series, Cowboys of Mineral Springs, book one to be released in April 2019. And her daughter’s wedding and her son’s home, both on the coast of Maine, provided plentiful ideas for the Starlight Grille series (released in 2017 and 2018).

LINKS:

Delsora Lowe FB Page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Delsora Lowe Website: www.delsoralowe.com
Delsora Lowe Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nRx1Bs 
Delsora Lowe Books2Read Author Page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
Delsora Lowe Author Newsletter signup (only sent out when there is news): http://www.delsoralowe.com/contact.html
Delsora Lowe Author Blog; http://www.delsoralowe.com/blog
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/3829267554
Escape to the Biltmore -Buy on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Biltmore-Patricia-Riddle-Gaddis-book/dp/B07FWDFQHV/


Photo Credits: 

Margaret Sanger 1922: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MargaretSanger-Underwood.LOC.jpg; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division, reproduction number LC-USZ62-29808.

Suffragist March in Washington DC 1913, Women suffragists marching on Pennsylvania Avenue led by Mrs. Richard Coke Burleson (center on Horseback) U.S. Capitol in background (Library of Congress)

What Touches My Heart by Delsora Lowe

February is the month of Valentine’s Day. Throughout my life I have vacillated between loving the idea of the day and wanting to shove my head under a pillow. After all, love isn’t something you can conjure up with a finger-snap. Oh…unless you write romance.

This month’s theme is “what touches my heart.” I do love writing romance, but what touches my heart in a very special way are my three grandsons. So what better way to honor my loves then to combine the two.

Grandson's New Puppy, Hugging and Napping

Huh? My grandsons are 9, 10, and 12, so they aren’t hero material…yet. Now this is a personal opinion, but I am sure anyone who meets my grandsons will agree that they are handsome, of superior intelligence, and above average athletic ability, not to mention sweet and thoughtful and never naughty. Yes, there goes my vivid imagination again. But really, they are wonderful young men. So that leads me to how I combine a love of grandsons with my love of writing romance? 

Brothers Skiing on Beautiful Colorado Day

I have a penchant for writing second chance romances. And many times, either the hero or heroine has a child that factors into how that romance plays out. My grandsons are inspiration for those characters.

Hockey - a Favorite of all 3 Grandson's, Skating - a Favorite of My Character, Bunnie

In my Valentine-themed book Moonlighting, the hero’s daughter, Bunnie, plays a starring role. A precocious ten-year old, she knows the moment she spots the heroine, that Mary Beth is THE ONE for her dad. Just like my grandsons, Bunnie is innocent, but wise-beyond her years. Building her character included adding in pieces of experiences with my grandsons—the way they see the world and go about exploring with exuberance and eyes open to new adventures.

         

Moonlighting - Happy Valentine's Day

Although my grandsons are not yet teens, I swear they know a lot more than I did when I was a teen. They know a lot more than I do now! Maybe it has to do with technology and a greater access to the world. Or maybe it is only because I think they are much smarter than I am, even at my advanced, ahem, I mean mature age.

My book Come Dance With Me, doesn’t have young children, but does center around a group of teens who have formed an after-school jazz group—the setting for the meeting between my outgoing jazz pianist and the buttoned up, efficient English teacher assigned to proctor the group. Helping the group of teens throws the hero and heroine together. But it is through the eyes of and activities with the teens that the two find true love. As I watch my grandsons grow, I can see the passion they have for exploring and learning and beginning to understand what touches their own hearts—all traits I tried to show through the teens in the story.
My new release in April 2019, The Prince’s Son, features a sweet boy who has lost his mother. In the heroine, a cowgirl, teacher, and his temporary nanny, he finds a woman he can love as a mother. Jaime’s wide-eyed wonder at the world, along with his fears, mimic traits I see in my grandsons.

The Prince's Son

Currently I am editing a book with a young boy, and writing another book with a child. Both are younger than my grandsons, but the mannerisms of my dear grandsons always seem to find a way into my young characters.

Even the photo I use on my website represents my grandsons. What you don’t know is that the scenic ocean and lighthouse scene is a cropped photo. What doesn’t show is the bottom half, with a big slate-gray rock upon which are perched three boys, back-to, but looking over their shoulders with huge grins at the camera. The cousins enjoying vacation together on the rocky coast of Maine. When I look at that photo, even in its cropped state, my heart sings.

Maine Lighthouse

I realize as I write scenes with children in them, that I do channel my grandsons—their physical expressions and movements, as well as their sense of exploration, wonder, and everyday adventure in their play and school work.

So, to say my grandsons touch my heart, is indeed an understatement. They are a part of me in every way. Whether consciously or unconsciously, they are in my thoughts and drive the actions I take to be a better person, and behind my actions to treat this earth, my friends, and perfect strangers with respect and love, so the three boys will have a legacy they can be proud of.

My grandsons ARE my heart.

What touches YOUR heart?

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine ~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an upcoming contemporary western series, Cowboys of Mineral Springs, to be released in 2019 and 2020. And her daughter’s wedding and her son’s home, both on the coast of Maine, provided plentiful ideas for the Starlight Grille series (released in 2017 and 2018).

Author FB Page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthorAuthor Website: www.delsoralowe.comAmazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nRx1Bs
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