Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Goals and Self-Forgiveness ... by Delsora Lowe

Goals: Am I setting myself up to learn something new, OR setting myself up to fail?

Every year I set a goal vowing to pay attention to social media. That includes updating my website, which I do so infrequently that, each time, I have to relearn how. <SIGH>

Then there is reengaging on Instagram, which I always enjoyed, and learning TikTok, which I still haven’t tried to tackle. And forget learning how to work on Twitter – See!?! That is how long it has been since I thought about conquering what is now X. Even my FB engagement lacks, and that is what I use the most.

I haven’t just learned that I am horrible at staying caught up on any type of social media. I have been reminded of that defect in my character—HA—year after year, when I have to assess my old goals and reaffirm new goals for a new year. To me, navigating social media is like trudging uphill, one plodding step at a time, and never reaching the top.

So, as you probably guessed, social media is my least favorite goal to achieve.

I recently wrote a writer friend of mine about proclaiming goals to achieve THE WIN, versus setting hopeful expectations for a new year. If you consider every goal accomplished as a win, then what is the opposite? A Fail?

I have always considered goals to be about hope. Expectations you seek to attain. A mission. Something you write down and tell others, so that you’ll make a concerted effort to achieve, either by yourself or as part of a team or coordinated with workplace colleagues.

Seeking Forgiveness:

Some goals, in the workplace or in your community, are important or essential to attain no matter what. But personal goals… Well, my philosophy is life gets in the way. If something comes up that is more important—a make-or-break, a family emergency, or a task in your day job that will affect the next steps of a project, or even changes in a writing project—well, those intervening tasks must be attained. And at times to the detriment of achieving other goals.

When setting personal or writing goals, I believe there is room to delay reaching that goal. And, in some cases, it is perfectly fine to say this goal no longer seems top priority or necessary to achieve this year. Or this goal can just as easily be pushed forward to achieve at a later date.

Hence, my need to just hit DELETE on Social Media goals. I hope by taking this off my list, I will just wander into achieving that now, unspoken goal, without feeling the pressure. <SHRUGS> One can hope. But one can also be relieved without that added pressure.

Although, in reality for 2024, I believe I have set myself up to most likely “fail” in tasks I have never tried before. It all depends on my energy to learn something brand-new to my toolbox of writerly skills. But they are also skills I have always been intrigued to try. If I can’t conquer how to achieve leaning these skills, at least I will have tried. 

Yes, I am setting myself up to learn something new. And yes, my chances of failing or not totally achieving 5-star competence, is high. But hey, I’ll still learn something—anything—new. One step at a time… And, no pressure.

The exciting part of setting “reach” goals is that I know I’ll probably need a little help along the way from my writer friends. So, watch out—I might be needy in 2024.

 Do you like the idea of setting annual goals? Or does committing to accomplishing 
a long (or short) list 
of annual goals give you “hives”?

 


Moonlighting

Starlight Grille ~ Book 3

A blast from the past, a ten-year old matchmaker with a valentine wish, an omission, and a villainous man…a recipe for disaster? Or love against all odds?

Amazon Kindle (only in print as a collection: Starlight Grille)

Books2Read

 

Starlight Grille

A Serenity Harbor Maine Collection

Welcome to Serenity Harbor, Maine, a small coastal town where the Starlight Grille is a favorite meeting place. This sweet, with a touch of heat, collection includes a new bonus short story and a Starlight Grille recipe.

Amazon: (also in print)

Books2Read

 

 ~ 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. The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker) were released in late fall 2022. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, in 2024.

 

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:
Free Goals Cliparts, Download Free Goals Cliparts png images, Free ClipArts on Clipart Library (clipart-library.com) 
free clip art shrug shoulders - Search (bing.com)   
Pin on Education/School - Clip Art Library (clipart-library.com) 

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

More Holiday Reading for December and this Winter ... by Delsora Lowe

 More holiday books…

As you can see, I have an endless supply that will take me halfway through 2024. But, hey, IMHO reading holiday books is a great activity any time of the year. And here in New England, we tend to get more snow in the early months of the year, than we do in November and December.

Books I Read in December:

A Last Chance Christmas (Sons of Chance) – Vicki Lewis Thompson – December 2023

Christmas Miracle for the Frosty Marquess – Sally Forbes – November 2023

A Very Merry Monday (A Dickens Holiday Romance) Gracie GuyNovember 2023

Jingle Spells – Vicki Lewis Thompson, Kira Sinclair, Andrea Lawrence – November 2023

Snowed In at the Ranch – RaeAnne Thayne + Plus (bonus story) A Kiss on Crimson Ranch– Michelle Major – November 2022

Christmas at the Inn on Bluebell Lane – Kate Hewitt – October 2023


Currently Reading:

Chasing Holiday Tail: A Holiday Rom-Com Charity Anthology – Kameron Claire, Melonie Johnson, Tracery Pedersen, Amy Award, Dylann Crush, Christina Hovland, Hope Ellis, MK Meredith, Brenda St. John Brown, Sylvie Stewart, Arell Rivers, Stina Lindenblatt, Tawdra Kandle, Kilby Blades, Serena Bell – October 2023

 

Holiday Books Still on The List to Read:

Christmas in New England (3 novella package) – Kari Lemor – November 2023

On a Snowy Night – Debbie Macomber – September 2022

Lights, Camera, Christmas Town! – Melinda Curtis, Anna J. Stewart, Cari Lynn Webb, Beth Carpenter, Cheryl Harper, LeAnne Bristow, Liz Flaherty, and Tanya Agler – October 2023

1001 Dark Nights (Christmas in Cape May) – Jennifer Probst – November 2023

Love for Christmas (10 novel set) – Alexa Verde – October 2023

Rodeo Romance Series (3 book package) – Shanna Hatfield – September 2020

A Perfect Match – Sabrina Jeffries – September 2023

The Holiday Heartbreaker – Maisy Yates – September 2023

Chasing the Mistletoe – Mary Waterford – October 2022

Treasure Coast Christmas – Leigh Duncan – October 2023

Snowed in for Christmas – Sarah Morgan – September 2022

This Christmas in Paris – Sophie Claire – August 2023

Home Sweet Christmas – Susan Mallery – October 2023 – Two small-town romances in Wishing Tree

Jingle All the Way – Sarah Everly – February 2023

Holiday Heat – Piper Cook – November 2020

The Christmas Pearl – Dorothea Benton Frank – October 2009

The Winter Cottage – Rachael Lucus – October 2021

Christmas Chaos Paty Jager October 2023

A Merry Bramble Christmas – CJ Carmichael – December 2023

Promise Me Please, Cowboy – CJ Carmichael – September 2023

Rodeo Romance Series (3 book package) – Shanna Hatfield – September 2020

Lights, Camera Christmas Town! – Melinda Curtis, Anna J. Stewart, Cari Lynn Webb, Beth Carpenter, Cheryl Harper, LeAnne Bristow, Liz Flaherty, and Tanya Agler – October 2023

Christmas Miracle For the Frosty Marque – Sally Forbes – November 2023

Honeymoon in the Works – Jodi Payne  December 2023

 

Do you prefer to read seasonal books within the season? Or do you read any book, no matter the subject, any time of the year?

 




~ 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. The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker) were released in late fall 2022. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, in 2024.

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: Book Covers from Amazon

Friday, December 8, 2023

Happy Holidays

 by Diana McCollum


I have found some charming pictures of the holidays and winter. I hope you enjoy them.



Our Christmas tree 2023


Antique ornament the middle spends around. Passed down from my mom.


Free from Deposit photos


Deposit photos


Author Vitalk Redco


Author Alla Serebrina


Author Igor Velushko


AuthorOleksin Alebtosha


Author Alla Serebrina


Author Hay Dmitriy



I hope you've enjoyed these holiday and winter pictures!
All the best to you and your family this holiday season.

What do you like best about this time of year?




Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Greetings from Lunenburg


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

Website  Bookbub  Instagram

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Dreaming of Sun and Sand…OR…Silently Falling Snowflakes? … by Delsora Lowe

What a choice!

It’s July. And everyone who knows me, knows I love Hallmark and especially Christmas in July, where they run holiday movies all day long. Okay – full confession. By the time I get to the third week of July, I am pretty numb and holidayed-out. However, I still love to read holiday books while sunning by the ocean. And…I love writing holiday books.

As an author who has written three Christmas-themed romances and one that is Valentine-themed, when do I usually do most of that writing? You got it, during the warmer weather of spring and summer.

And many times, when I am working on books that take place in warmer weather, that writing takes place as the weather-gods open up the skies to that cold, white stuff.

The hero and heroine in Come Dance With Me, an interracial, intercultural story about a uptight high school English teacher who has trouble opening up to anything, much less love, are both based on actors I have seen on Hallmark.

As I wrote the hero, I had in mind an actor I saw on “Christmas in Homestead,” a Hallmark movie. Aaron also reminded me of a guy on whom I had a major crush in high school. I watched Aaron “Quick” Nelson when he played the role of a bodyguard to a well-known actress. His role was so sweet as he interacted with the innkeeper hero’s young daughter who loved the movies made by the actress. Plus, in real life Mr. Nelson is a New Englander, so…what’s not to like. I envisioned the actress being Autumn Reeser, a well-known Hallmark staple. And I searched high and low for the perfect cover photo of how I envisioned what these two characters might look like, as I wrote the story.

But I digress…

To address the question about whether I like snow better than sand, or vice versa is a tough question. I can be gazing at a blizzard outside my window and writing a hot, summer scene. That stream of fluffy and frozen, white stuff brightens the sky in its own way. The day is beautiful, cocooning, and comfortable, especially when I know I can stay inside with a cup of hot cocoa, and write, write, write. With a bit of a shiver, I imagine a cozy comforter, snuggled on the couch in front of a roaring fire.

As a writer, it is good to have an imagination, since I do not have a fireplace or a woodstove, so instead I have to crank the heat up and know I’ll be using more fuel to stay warm. I also know that were I to succumb to cuddling on the couch with a comforter wrapped around me, I’d doze off and not get any writing work done. Instead, I crank up the electric heater by my desk and crank up the fire under the kettle, and imagine myself in that sunny clime, as I finish tapping out a romantic, engagement, beach scene that could bring my beach-wandering couple to their inevitable happily-ever-after.

The warmth of the radiator takes my imagination away to a pristine white sand beach, sailboats, and the aqua blue ocean or bay gently lapping against the shore. A couple strolls, hand-in-hand. When the sun becomes too much, they run into the bathtub-warm water, splash around, and cool down before they continue their leisurely walk, picking up beautiful shells as they go.


And occasionally, they stop to turn toward one another for a sun-drenched kiss. And maybe, just maybe, the hero, pulls from his swim trunks pocket a shiny, glittering gemstone, attached to a ring. He slips to his knees in the packed sand and proposes. Okay, since I just had the hero taking a dip in the ocean, I better add that his swimsuit’s inside pocket has a zipper, so that precious engagement ring doesn’t float down and get buried in the murky depths of sea and sand. That would be a total downer for the couple. Or…it could create some tension in a scene that is supposed to be sweet. Hmmm…ideas percolate

See what happens when I crank the heat and imagine, in the middle of winter, sand and sky-blue water and dining outdoors and moored boats? 

The downside of being a fiction writer, the imagination can run wild at any given time. So, picking a snowy day snuggled by the fire, over a breezy, sunny day at the ocean…well, for me, it depends on the mood of the story I am writing, and not the actual season flashing its attributes outside my window. Because in the winter I dream of sand. And in the summer, I dream of sipping hot cocoa by a fire.

Do you have a favorite season?
Do you prefer snow over sand, or vice versa?

 

Amazon

The Inn on Gooseneck Lane - Kindle edition by Lowe, Delsora. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

                       Barnes & Noble

                         The Inn on Gooseneck Lane by Delsora Lowe | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

                    Apple Books

                 TheInn on Gooseneck Lane on Apple Books

Amazon

HolidayHitchhiker: A Sweet, Heartwarming Holiday Romance: Christmas in Angels Glen -Kindle edition by Lowe, Delsora. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @Amazon.com

Books2Read

https://books2read.com/u/mez9AE

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Come-Dance-Me-Serenity-Starlight-ebook/dp/B074N95RGK/

Books2Read

books2read.com/u/bMrQva


~ 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/

Monday, July 10, 2023

Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

Good news all -  My latest, HotShot Doc is on Kindle Vella. You can read the first three episodes of HotShot Doc free. Two episodes are already published. Find the info below.

https://kdp.amazon.com/kindle-vella

Episode 1


Episode 2


Now down to  business.

Snow or Sand? Both have their pluses and minuses. Snow we associate with biting cold. Sand we associate with heat. Both snow and sand come with some level of discomfort.

Of course, the optimist in me associates snow with winter sports. Those of us who are skiers, tobogganers and skaters anxiously await the first snow or sign of cold. Not me, unfortunately my three attempts at skiing left me flat on my back, so I much prefer the coziness of the lodge or cabin where I can cuddle up with a good book.

It’s not that I mind the cold. It’s the slipping, sliding, and driving in the snow that comes with it. What I do like about winter (especially up North) are new shows (Ballet, Broadway) and fun things to do in the cold.  A good snowball fight can be invigorating.



I currently live where there is permanent summer and can safely say scalding hot sand is no picnic either. Give me pool life to the ocean on a hot, muggy day. In the Dog Days of Summer, a dip in the ocean can feel like dousing yourself in tepid bath water.  

The good news though, is living in eternal summer forces you to keep your arms and legs toned. We are out of the house more often than in, so shorts and spaghetti straps become a way of life. Music is pretty much everywhere. A downside of that is these events center around alcohol. Not that I don’t enjoy a good glass of wine or beer.

Sand or snow comes with its Pros and Cons. Still, I would take Spring over them both. I like balmy breezes, blooming flowers, and budding trees.  Give me fresh greenery any day. Air conditioners aren’t cranked up yet and people are so much more optimistic. It’s a hopeful time of year and who can’t use a little hope.

As Shakespeare says :  

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date…




About Marcia King-Gamble

USA bestselling romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean Island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. She has contributed to Michael Fiore’s DigitalRomanceInc and served as a moderator on the now defunct eHarmony advice boards. Having witnessed the bad, the ugly, and the not so good in relationships, she still prefers to write about happily ever after. Caring for her animal family keeps her grounded and sane.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

Be sure to join her newsletter mailing list.

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