Celebrating a big birthday...by Kristin Wallace

My baby turns 1-year-old this month. I’m talking about my 4-legged fur-baby, Cocoa. She’ll officially be one on June 23. Being a puppy mommy has been quite an adventure. 

 

Here are some things I’ve learned:

 

·      She’s a “deer head” Chihuahua in that she resembles a deer, with a longer nose and face. (as opposed to an “apple head”, which has the classic round features seen in most commercials and dog shows. In fact, the deer-head is not recognized by the AKC. 

 

·      Cocoa is a bundle of energy, and she only stays still if she’s sleeping. 

 

·      She is VERY stubborn. Training is difficult. I’m pretty sure giving her a treat to get her to “stop” doing something has mostly taught her that doing the bad thing results in a treat. 

 

·      She has a BAD temper like a toddler who gets mad when she’s not allowed to do what she wants. (Her nickname is Cujo and she’s earned it.)

 

·      Unlike many Chihuahuas, she seems to like most people and animals. She tries to greet most people we meet on our walks, but then gets skittish and runs away.

 

·      She’ll bark at other dogs when they’re far away and then cower when they get close. 

 

·      Her new favorite activity is playing “chase” with my niece’s huge bunny (Bun-Bun). 

 

·      Cocoa adores my roommate and goes nuts when she comes home from work.

 

·      She loves her Gammy (my mom).

 

·      She will eat almost anything, including poop, dead lizards, wood chips from plants & grass.

 

·      She LOVES to tear up anything of the paper variety and if you try to take it away from her, she will turn into Cujo.

 

Here’s to another year of adventures, Cocoa! Now, let’s see pics of your fur-babies!

Kristin Wallace is a USA Today Bestselling author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith. She has three best-selling series: Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales, and Palm Cove Tales. Look for CHRISTMAS CHARADE, a brand-new Covington Falls Chronicles book as part of the Holiday Fake-Out box set. 

Christmas Charade - Covington Falls Chronicles

The story revolves around Magnolia (Maggie) Lewis. She left Covington Falls over a family rift and the desire to follow her dream as an artist and sculptor. Now, she has to return for her cousin's Christmas wedding. She can't go back alone, however, because everyone thinks she has a boyfriend. (It was just a tiny lie.) A non-boyfriend who has no idea he's about to get dragged into her family drama. 

Convincing Liam Sullivan to be her fake date to the wedding is only the first challenge. She needs to make sure she doesn't fall in love with him for real.

   

 

AMAZON  /  ITUNES  /  BARNES & NOBLE   /  KOBO 

Celebrate! Celebrate! It's Our Birthday

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction that honors pagan spiritual practices. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you do overcome obstacles and find your happily-ever-after.

Nine years ago, Sarah Raplee and I published the first blog post here at Romancing The Genres (actually it was Sarah who clicked the button). And here we are starting our 10^th year!

Before I share how I Celebrate, here are our some of the highlights from our first nine years.

Almost 500,000 page views

Most of our readers are in the United States but we have a solid following in Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Russian, Ukraine, China, as well as smaller followings in India, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Kuwait, etc.

When Sarah and I brain-stormed creating a group blog we knew we wanted it to be diverse in varied ways so we’ve had male and female bloggers, authors of color, and authors from around the U.S. as well as around the world. Our Genre-istas run the gamut and write in a variety of genres. Romance in its varied sub-genres is represented both in our bloggers but also in our guests.

Last month we featured former Genre-istas and got caught up on what they are doing now. Next month, we’ll feature Children’s Book Authors. Be sure to check out our Action/Adventure/Thriller authors in July.

We had our first Blog-Versation August 2019 and it was so much fun we’re doing it again. Each Saturday one of the Genre-istas will spearhead the Blog-Versations inviting our regular readers and anyone else to stop by and join the conversation. Each weekend will feature a different focus: 05/02 – Indie Bookstores; 05/09 – Holidays; 05/16 – Heritage; 05/23 – TBD; 05/30 – Friendships. Every Wednesday we’ll feature the Genre-ista and topic in our Headline. Follow us each day and be privy to what each of us do to Celebrate the big and small events in life. Be sure to leave comments to help us add to our options.

And here’s how I Celebrate my birthday:

About the right number of candles?

Before the actual date of my 50^th birthday, I decided to celebrate this milestone by doing something more than cake (actually I prefer pie) and ice cream and going out to dinner. Soo…

I chose to celebrate for 50 days. How that worked is each day I decided on one thing I’d do (or maybe not do) that was my gift to me. Sometimes I bought myself something. Other times I might spend the day in p.j.’s or go out to eat or get take out (I’m not a fan of cooking).

That is a birthday I do remember.

I’ve followed that personal tradition ever since even though I’ve made some modifications. The biggest one was changing how I counted my days. My birthday is in November so initially I kept my celebrating within the calendar year counting back from December 31^st. As I approached mid-October, that decision didn’t feel right so after agonizing (yes, my friends will tell you it wasn’t an easy decision for me), I now start on November 1^st and move forward, into the next year.

If I live to be 102, which is my goal, I’ll be celebrating into February!

What do you do that’s special on your birthday? You just might have a way of celebrating the anniversary of your coming into this world that I can add to my list.

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

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2020 Judith Ashley

My Birthday Week...

It’s my birthday!

By Bronwen Evans

I’ve turned another year older this week and I confess that I almost forgot! And no wise cracks about forgetting because I'm getting old.

It’s hard for me to forget, or perhaps I should say it’s bad when I forget, because I’m a twin. So it’s not just my birthday and I definitely have to get a present for my sister, Leigh.

I have my friend to thank for alerting me to our birthday.

I had a lovely day out yesterday with my best friend, Alison. She’s house hunting and I love going in and looking at other people’s homes. So when she asked if I’d come along, I quickly said yes.

Anyway, afterwards she gave me a card and I thought that’s a bit over the top, giving me a card for helping her house hunt, and I sort of looked blankly at her. She laughed and said, “Have you forgotten it’s your birthday on Wednesday.“ By golly I had. I usually do forget when Easter falls in the way.

So, to celebrate my birthday week (I always have a week) I’m giving away an eBook copy of To

Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood, to one lucky commenter who tells me what they want for their birthday.

To live happily ever after...

Henry St. Giles, the Earl of Cravenswood, longs to find his soul mate. Now that his two best friends, both reformed rakes, are happily married, the need becomes an obsession. When they challenge him to find a wife by the end of the season or marry his neighbor, the innocently alluring Lady Amy Shipton, he can’t believe his luck. He wins, either way.  But a darkened garden, a case of mistaken identity, a drunken kiss, and a dropped emerald earring, leads Henry on a Cinderella hunt. He knows the woman he held in his arms could be the one he's searched for all his life. He just has to find her.

Lady Amy Shipton is determined to marry for love instead of sharing her husband like her mother did. So why did she let her handsome neighbor and romantic fantasy, the Sinful Saint as he's called for his bedroom prowess, seduce her in his garden? And what can she do when in the middle of their passionate encounter; he whispers another woman's name. Now Henry is hunting the owner of the earring Amy left behind, and she's determined to retrieve it before her identity is revealed. She's not about to give her father the ammunition he desperately wants to force her down the aisle.

I confess that since I can’t have Hugh Jackman, I’d love a new lemon tree in a nice big pot for my courtyard. My current lemon tree has sadly died and I miss not being able to pick lemons when I want them, especially with winter coming on. I love hot lemon and honey drinks.

www.bronwenevans.com