A Calming View and Dreams .... by Delsora Lowe

Visiting my son’s house with the wonderful view of a cove that leads out to the Atlantic Ocean, with sailboat’s white sails bobbing on the water beyond the jut of land and a tiny bridge leading to an island, always calms me.

On a very hot day in Maine, I sit under the ceiling fan in the cool living room that lets in the ocean breeze but not the heat of the sun. And I listen and watch and dream about my bucket list, which includes my own house with such a view. A place that inspires me to write.

But alas, even though I love my little landlocked view from my writing desk, these water views inspire me to write. So, with a day off from computers and writing, and with words and images insisting on churning through my mind, I grabbed my phone and wrote a stream of consciousness…

 

The continuous, high chirps emanating from the leaf cover.

 

West bound wind off the ocean furling leaves bright green to dark, depending on how deep the sun penetrates the canopy of the huge oak standing between me and the ocean.

 

The water a constant movement of ripples headed toward beach.

A white gull’s lazy travel, swooping and landing on the barely submerged sandbar.

 

The water morphing from the color of cement gray to a tailored, summer weight, wool-gray to light turquoise to yellow-green and back to a darker turquoise as the ocean laps against the opposite shore of the cove.

 

The barrier of bright pink and deep red blossoms gracing bushes of dark green-leafed, sea-side roses in the yard across the street.

The hum of the nearby interstate traffic weaving from one end of the city to the other, broken by sirens racing down the highway and a plane roaring into the summer sky from the nearby airport.

 

Then back to the consistent chirp, chew, chew, chirp, chirp buzz of birds.

 

Saturday afternoon, away from computer and household chores and headline news I want to make disappear. The news that makes me regress to my innocence, fifty years ago when I was first old enough to understood policy and politics, hate and love, kindness and cruelty…

Today, I concentrate on the sounds, and the feel of comforting breezes and hot sun and water rippling from the light puffs of wind and nature living its life in the sheltered trees.

Those thoughts, scribbled to clear my brain, allowed creativity to be unlocked.

The tranquil view and the quiet of the house and neighborhood with only sounds of wind and birds and an occasional meow as Luna wandered into the house and plopped down next to me on the couch, her head gently pushing against my leg as she leaned into my caress, helped to settle me.

Views and pets calmed my anger at the world we live in that can’t treat every human being with respect and love.

Thank goodness for serene scenery, nature’s sounds, and dreams of a room with a view where I can get lost in words that will lead to a story with a happy ending. My escape from a harsh world. And…the reason I write romance.

What is on your bucket list?

Amazon: (also in print) https://www.amazon.com/Starlight-Grille-Serenity-Harbor-Collection-ebook/dp/B07CN8JV2Z/  
Books2Read   books2read.com/u/3yDjWe

~ 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: Delsora Lowe

Chickens to Ice Caves

by Diana McCollum

I have traveled to many different places inside our borders and out. This year our big trip will be the Mexican Riviera. Our grandson is getting married in Puerto Vallarta. I’ve never been to Mexico and we will be traveling with 37 family and friends of the bride and groom. We’ll be staying for a week. My daughter has booked a boat excursion to an outlying island for one day. Not sure what else we’ll be doing, besides enjoying good food, snorkeling and catching up with friends.  

 

I have two memorable trips that we have taken in the past. Number one is the visit to our nation’s capital when my son was in the Marine Corps and stationed in WA, DC. We stayed with my son and his marine corps roommates in their rented town house. Everywhere we went we had one or two marines with us. Usually my son for sure. 

 

They took us to restaurants that the locals went to, to little bars for music and where one of my son’s friends was asked to play the piano. It was awesome. When my husband and I were on our own we’d walk the mile from the town house to the museums. The town houses all had little front yards with beautiful wrought iron fences. The architecture was old and beautiful. Front yards full of flowers and everyone we passed would say good morning to us.

 

Then there is the Capital, and the mall, and all the museums! Made me proud to be an American. I remember we sat on a bench on the mall and workers from the capital and offices did their walks at lunch time in office clothes and suits and tennis shoes. The air seemed to vibrate with action, knowing in the building’s around us bills were being debated, sent to committees, researched and maybe one day impacting our lives. The hub of American Democracy. 

 

The second favorite trip was through Arizona and New Mexico. We took many side roads rather than the highways.

 

In New Mexico we pulled over at a small shopping center parking lot to look at our map. In the far corner of the lot was a station wagon with a crowd of a dozen people or so. We walked over to see what was going on.

 

The man who owned the station wagon had cages with chickens in, giant Iguana on his roof top and snakes, ugh. His wife walked around with a boa  around her arms. All these animals were for sale. People were bidding on the live chickens and roosters.

Somewhere in NM we went over a 5,000 ft pass and it was snowing in the summer time!

We saw a collapsed lave tube with stairs, about 20, down to a solid ice cap. The owner said it never melts and the college said it was over 10,000 years old.

 

The museum in Albuquerque, NM, was well worth stopping for and we spent several hours in there. Then on to old town, and fantastic food.

 

We saw the Grand Canyon on this trip also. And Sedona, AZ, beautiful place and as the motel sign said “101 things to see in the area”, I think we saw most of them. Lots of Indian cliff structures, Montezuma’s well, etc.

 

In Arizona we found a state park, no trees just rocks, hills and hiking trails. The sign at the parks entrance  said “You may take only ten lbs. of rocks from this park”, never heard of such a thing. It seemed kind of off. We did fill our backpack with some pretty rocks though.

 

We’ve always tried to find to off the beaten path restaurants and sights to see.

 

Do you plan your trips ahead or just head in the direction of your ultimate goal?    

 

 

 

 

February 2022 Images ... Delsora Lowe

Welcome to the Romancing the Genres February blogs. Our February blog topics are:

 Romantic Gestures 
Treasures vs Stuff 
Is Love All We Need?

I hope you enjoy the photo journey of my family treasures, as well as depictions of what I consider romantic, grand gestures.

Two examples of proposals at the beach – how romantic is this?

You can’t go wrong with a trip to a local winery for a romantic excursion.

Family bible owned by my children’s great, great, great, great grandmother, according to the note written in my grandmother’s hand and found tucked into the bible. Behind the bible is an old coal bucket my grandmother stenciled and turned into a trash can. My grandmother was great at turning “stuff” into family treasures.

My grandmother around age 20-25, early 1900s - she was my treasure, as well as the keeper of family treasures and their history.

The tinsel painting was made by Diana Trask, my great, great grandmother for her SIL, Deborah. Although my name is spelled without the “H”, it seems that the name Debora and Deborah run in the family. On the back is the history of the painting written by my grandmother.

Sweet, romantic gesture of locking thumbs, and another of holding hands and baby shoes. Each tells a story.

Love is all we need, shown in the simplest act of just being together.

Photo Credits:
https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-wedding-happy-couple-sunset-1934732/
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-romantic-relationship-together-3581038/  
15162365471578128442wine-grapes-clipart.hi - Google Search
8iE64oria
man and woman holding hands photo – Free Holding hands Image on Unsplash
Wallpaper Couple, Hands, Baby Shoes, Cute, Romance (wallpapermaiden.com)
other photos by Delsora Lowe

Ten Fun To-Do Activities to Celebrate Getting My Vaccine! ... by Delsora Lowe

May is a special month, as the weather warms up, flowers bloom, and folks start putting in gardens and getting outside. And May 10 marks several different things in my life.

It’s my dad’s 102nd birthday. I miss him so much. I know if he were with us, he’d be celebrating mightily. Before he turned ninety, he decided he would throw himself a big party. My sister and I already had big plans underway, so we ended up telling him about the surprise. Instead of being disappointed he had ruined our surprise, he threw himself into helping us organize. Luckily, everything he wanted, we already had on our list. It was a great party. He passed away a few weeks prior to his ninety-first birthday. But I’ll always have my memories of that fun time—both the organizing and the partying.

On May 10, 2019, I released the first book in my Cowboys of Mineral Springs series. At the time, I had written drafts for five books in the series and started a draft on book 6. I released book two in October 2019. I really need to get back to editing the rest of the series.

On May 10, I will have had my second Covid vaccination and will have quarantined for 2 weeks! Yay! So, without further ado, I will list ten things I really want to do this year—all, sad to say, still masked. But best to continue to be safe. Besides, I discovered when I wear my mask walking, it helps keep the allergens in the air at bay and I am able to walk without wheezing. All good! It’s important to focus on every little positive thing we can and not obsess on the negative.

So, in no particular order, my top ten things to do this year (and in honor of RTG’s Ten Year Anniversary):

1)      Enjoy a backyard cocktail or cup of tea with friends.

2)      Hit the local food truck scene and sit on a bench in the sun on the town mall to enjoy whatever I buy.

3)     Spend the 4^th of July (and my grandson’s birthday, later in July) with my family, watching fireworks over the water, from my son’s front deck.

4)      Enjoy the beach with my 3 grandsons later this summer as they attend surf camp (cancelled last summer.)

5)     Enjoy time spent with my daughter and family when they visit from Colorado (cancelled last summer.)

6)     Sit outside in the sun with my mom at her retirement community. We haven’t had face-to-face time since last summer - except waving to her through her apartment window.

7)     Go to the farmer’s market and other outdoor events.

8)      Get together in person for monthly fall meetings with my writers’ group (also cancelled.)

9)    Attend a fall conference (also postponed from last year.)

10  Attend my daughter’s wedding (which means getting on a plane without freaking out, and still having to wear a mask for the five-hour trip.)

Here’s to a good rest of 2021. 

And huge congratulations to the Romancing the Genres blog on ten years of success!

What is something you really look forward to?

  The Love Left Behind

Amazon

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

 Books2Read   

books2read.com/u/mglVqK

 

 ~ 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.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Author Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Author Books2Read Page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe

Author BookBub Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518

Author Goodreads Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe

Author FaceBook Page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/

Author Instagram: #delsoralowe

Author Website: www.delsoralowe.com

Author Blog: http://www.delsoralowe.com/blog

CLIP ART:

Fireworks - free fireworks clipart - Google Search

Food Truck - Free Food Truck Cliparts, Download Free Food Truck Cliparts png images, Free ClipArts on Clipart Library (clipart-library.com)

Cocktails - free cocktail clipart - Google Search

Farmer’s Market -  free farmer's market clipart - Google Search

Engagement - https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-romantic-relationship-together-3581038/

 

Steamy Christmases in Australia

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…

Well, one day I might see a white Christmas if I travel to the other side of the planet during the holiday season. But as an Aussie, my experience of Christmas is quite different to many of my American and European friends and readers.

I’ve been thinking about Christmas in Australia lately, since I’ve just written and released a Christmas-themed novella set in my home city of Melbourne, Australia. There’s shopping and mayhem, plus a little romance. Also, steamy weather changing from thunderstorms with lightning to hot sunny days over 35 degrees C (95 degrees F), maximum strength sunscreen and hat required. This is Christmas to me!

As I write, we’re experiencing a spring heatwave with temperatures over 30 degrees C already. I can tell you I don’t feel like doing any Christmas shopping. Or writing. I must admit my brain turns to mush in the heat, so it's just as well the holidays are coming.

Christmas as an Aussie kid

Leading up to Christmas, we often made our own paper chains and Advent calendars at school and then decorated our lounge room with them. My favourite decoration was the pretty angel doll that went on the top of the tree. It was always exciting to decorate our Christmas tree in December. When I was younger we had a massive pine tree in our backyard, so Mum and Dad would cut off a good sized branch to be our tree. The whole house would be filled with the scent of fresh pine.

Our family usually went to Catholic Mass on Christmas Eve. I’ll admit it wasn’t much fun – too hot, too crowded and too many hymns and long-winded readings were boring to a child. But some years we went to the children’s service when kids would dress up as Bible characters like shepherds and angels, and that was fun.

As a kid, we’d often have a barbeque lunch for Christmas dinner or Boxing Day, when we’d see a few more members of our extended family. Lots of sausages (snags) in bread, hamburgers and salads, seafood platters and cold ham.

My favourite Christmas desserts were always Pavlova (fruit and cream-topped meringue dessert) and cheesecake, maybe ice-cream too. I never did care for hot Christmas pudding or fruit cake.

Despite being from England, my mother doesn’t like the traditional English hot dinner in the Australian heat. I don’t blame her – I wouldn’t want to cook roast beef and Yorkshire pudding in stifling hot weather with no air-conditioning either. My cousins and I would sometimes play a backyard cricket match after lunch. None of us were very good players but it was still fun.

Later, after Christmas dinner, we’d relax and eat leftovers, play with our new toys and then go to the beach over the next few days. I loved when we’d go to our family holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula, a gorgeous spot close to the ocean beach. Since it was also school holidays, we’d sometimes stay there for a week or two.

Christmas Eve – making our own traditions

As an adult, my boyfriend (now husband) and I started our own tradition of hosting Christmas Eve parties at home. We have lots of food and wine, catch up with old friends and family and the kids run around outside until late. The Christmas Carols in the Domain (a Melbourne live concert) is usually playing on TV. We do a Kris Kringle exchange of presents for all the kids. Last year we gave everyone water pistols, so they all got soaked but it was hot weather and good fun.

My two little boys love laying out their Christmas pillowcases ready for Santa Claus to come after our party winds down. We also leave out a few snacks for Santa and his reindeer near our Christmas tree. We’ve found Santa likes red wine and chocolate cake, while Rudolph prefers a carrot.

Last year my boys received BMX style bikes (still with training wheels at the time). This year it might be skateboards as well as Lego and other fun bigger kid things. Exciting! I'm sure we'll be riding and skating at the local park on Christmas day.

Getting ready for summer holidays

The kids will be on summer holidays for six long weeks from the end of December, so it will probably mean a slow-down in my writing. It will probably also be hideously hot and sticky, so I’m hoping to take off to the beach somewhere for a while.

I won’t be travelling anywhere white or snowy this year, but I’ll watch a couple of Northern Hemisphere Christmas movies and live vicariously through them…while I sip white wine or eat gelati by a beach somewhere!

What are your Christmas traditions and favourite holiday treats? I'd love to hear from you all.

Christmas novella - Heart Note

My new release is titled Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella. It's out now at all major ebook retail sites and already has some wonderful reviews. The story is about Lily, a perfume counter manager at a major Australian department store. In the lead-up to Christmas, it's all about gift sets, keeping the grumpy customers happy and maybe...finding romance and catching some criminals!

Blurb

A funny, romantic comedy Christmas novella, perfect for fans of Love Actually . . . from the award-winning author of Girl on a Plane.

Love is like a fine perfume. The top note draws you in, an instant attraction, but the Heart Note is the true essence. Like true love – a great perfume should be a woman’s perfect match.

At least, that’s what perfume counter manager, Lily Lucas, tells her customers in one of Australia’s largest department stores. 

It’s almost Christmas, the store is bedecked with baubles and Lily has about eleventy billion gifts to wrap and sell. She and her team of spritzer chicks are glamorous, professional and hoping they don’t have to wear the hideous red onesies and reindeer antlers the store manager has in mind.

The high point of Lily’s work life is Christos Cyriakos, ex-cop, security guard, possible Greek god. He's a mystery box she’d love to unwrap. But can she trust him?

All Lily wants for Christmas is to kiss Christos (and more), catch a band of thieves running amok in the store, and live happily ever after. Is that too much to wish for?

Buy links - books2read.com/HeartNote 

About Cassandra O'Leary

Winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest. Nominated for Best New Author in the 2016 AusRomToday Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction. 

Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and women's fiction author from Melbourne, Australia. You'll find her drinking coffee, dreaming of Italy and Spain, and raising two mini ninjas with her superhero husband. 

Cassandra loves romantic comedies and is having fun writing her own romcom books. Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella, was released in November 2017. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was released in July 2016. It's also being translated into Czech!

In 2015, Cassandra won the global We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. She was also a 2015 finalist in the Lone Star contest, Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America, and a 2014 finalist, First Kiss contest, Romance Writers of Australia. 

Read more or sign-up for Cassandra's newsletter at cassandraolearyauthor.com

My Favorite Place(s)... Some of the Time

By Robin Weaver

When I first attempted to identify “my favorite place,” I sat on my couch, snuggled under a blanket watching the snow fall. For a brief moment—that was truly my favorite place.

Let me clarify.  I live in one of those Southern states where even the mention of snow sends us into a Chicken Little it’s-not-a-snowfall-it’s-a-falling-sky-panic. All was not dire, though.  All  falling sky events immediately prompt a cancellation of work. Yep. Favorite Place identified.

Only… What if the power went out? How could I have a favorite place with no internet? Ye, gods! And shouldn’t a favorite place include Bon Jovi music? Preferably a private concert? Now we’re talking.

Since my brain quickly leaped from an actual favorite place to the realms of fantasy, I decided my most-beloved location should include a hunky guy under my blanket? With big shoulders and... a sense of humor, and... mesmerizing eyes, and...

Then I came back to the reality. I had no groceries in case the sky really did fall! Yikes.  Thus I sent my darling daughter on a grocery run. Perhaps I should mention that my daughter’s favorite place is anywhere there’s an abundance of salsa.  See what she acquired for our "we’ll never be able to leave the house again, 'falling sky'" weekend.  

Sigh.  And I thought I’d been quite specific about needing bread. And  coffee.

My idea of a favorite place was rapidly disintegrating. Which made me realize how a favorite place is highly dependent upon your mood. And who you’re with. And a host of other factors. For example, I love the beach, but not in Charleston on a 102 degree day. Nor when the temperature hovers near freezing. I also love the mountains, but not if my motion-sickness soul has to travel there via a back seat, sans Dramamine.

But I’m sure I’m taking this theme of favorite place to the wrong—well, place. Thus I’ll attempt to rein in my renegade brain and focus on some actual favorites.  I loved Switzerland. And sitting in a deck chair watching the tide come in beneath a full moon was pretty terrific.  But the hospital where my daughter was born ranks as one of those magical places, too.

So my favorite place? Please don’t ask this schizo-writer a question like that.  At least not before I find some bread. And coffee.

Fabulous Vacation--Not So Great Novel Setting

Amelia Island is a hidden gem of a beach, just south of the Florida-Georgia line. One of the chain of barrier islands stretching along the east coast, Amelia Island is 13 miles long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Named for Princess Amelia, daughter of George II, the island changed hands between colonial powers and has claimed French, Spanish, British, Patriot, Green Cross, Mexican, Confederate, and United States flags.

You might find a more stunning tropical beach at some posh destination, but for the price of lodging and ease of access (assuming you live in the Southeast U.S.), you can't beat this little beauty. Amelia Island is also the site of one of my best vacations ever.

Why? For starters, any beach—by its very nature—immediately conjures images of fabulous holidays. There's something about the ocean, the salty air and sound of the waves that takes your cares away and makes life somehow better. Seriously, have you ever heard anyone say, “We went to the beach and it was awful”?

No way. You may get some complaints about rain, although most of us love walking on the beach in an afternoon shower, but in general you have a head start to a great vacation if there’s a coast in your destination.

Yet this particular beach vacation had more—so much more. In addition to the advantages of sand and sea, my hubby was healthy, my almost-twenty daughter wasn’t grumpy, and the accommodations were awesome. My spouse and I spend a full day simply making a sandcastle—although when you’re married to an architectural drafter, there’s nothing simple about seaside construction.

So being a writer, what’s the first thing I did when I got home? You guessed it, set a story on the island.

But it didn’t work. I’m guessing my error was my inability to associate conflict with this particular location--I couldn't associate the location with anything bad. I think I had better luck with a different beach town in my young adult thriller, The Secret Language of Leah Sinclair. My critique partner, Linda Lovely, created an awesome, conflict-rich story set in a seaside community in her page-turner, Dear Killer, but my endeavor didn’t have the same outcome.

What do you think? Do beaches make good backdrops for novels?

 

Robin Weaver

Author of Blue Ridge Fear, Artifact of Death, & The Secret Language of Leah Sinclair