SUMMER IS SLIPPING BY

 by Judy Ann Davis

QUESTION: What do you call a snowman in July?

ANSWER:     A puddle.

As I sit here, I realize our hot summer days are gliding by, or in some instances melting away, as we inch toward autumn. If you’re a list maker like I am—if only in your mind counts, too—you realize completing your summer chores and your big hope for writing that blockbuster novel are fading away in your rear view mirror. I’m kidding when I say, blockbuster novel. Insert: Even finishing five chapters of a work in progress.                                                                                    

This year, I took the rights back to one of my western romances, Under Starry Skies. I had no clue how much time and energy is involved trying to get it formatted and republished in digital and print form. Add trying to secure a more colorful and relevant cover and the days seemed to spin out of control. I lived, ate, and slept with “Under Starry Skies,” instead of enjoying being under them, lazing about on my patio during the balmy evenings.

As I reflect on the all the work, I wonder whether readers truly understand all the effort involved with writing and publishing a novel. It’s so much more than creating and writing the story. It’s the behind the scenes tasks: editing, formatting, and collecting inside materials that preface or conclude your work. It’s pounding the keys on social media. It’s advertising. It’s pricing to entice readers.

So as I slog through my many tasks, I do have a bright ray of sunshine. My historical novel,  Willie,My Love, placed as a finalist in the 2021 NEST awards (National Excellence in Story Telling Contest). It had earlier won a Book Excellence Award.

I’ll close with the blurb of my latest republished western romance in digital version—with the hopes that I just might view the real stars in Central Pennsylvania sometime after I finish the print version.

 BLURB for Under Starry Skies:

Hired as the town’s school teacher, Maria O’Donnell and her sister Abigail arrive in the Colorado Territory in 1875, only to find the uncle they were to stay with has been murdered.

Rancher Tye Ashmore is content with life until he meets quiet and beautiful Maria. He falls in love at first sight, but her reluctance to jeopardize her teaching position by accepting his marriage proposal only makes him more determined to make her part of his life.

When their lives are threatened by gunshots and a gunnysack of dangerous wildlife, Tye believes he in the crosshairs of an unknown enemy. Not until Maria receives written threats urging her to leave does she realize she is the target instead of the handsome rancher.

With the help of Tye, Abigail, and a wily Indian called Two Bears, Maria works to uncover her uncle’s killer and put aside her fears. But will she discover happiness and true love under Colorado’s starry skies?

LINK: Under Starry Skies

JUDY ANN DAVIS AUTHOR PAGE

COMPETING FOR A COWBOY

 

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Competing For A Cowboy -- Sibling Rivalry

by 

Laurean Brooks

Hello out there, fans of Smart Girls Read Romance blog. I've given considerable thought to what to post this month and finally settled on a topic.  Because it's May, and my favorite TV cowboy will celebrate his birthday on May 30^th,  I decided to devote this blog post to him.

Since heart-throb Clint Walker, better known as Cheyenne, arrived on the screen in 1963, my heart has never been quite the same. My sister Jewell and I fought over this handsome, lanky, and muscular cowboy. Every fall, Jewell and I watched for the premieres of new TV Westerns. We would watch the first shows then decide who got to claim which cowboy. We divvied them up equally. This method worked out well with Bonanza, The Virginian, and the other Westerns.

Until . . .Cheyenne Bodie trotted in on a stallion, flashing his crooked grin right at me (Jewell insists he was grinning at her). Alas, our carefully made-up rules flew out the window. One look at this cowboy brought out the competitive spirit in two normally agreeable sisters. Neither of us gave in. When I yelled, “He's mine, I saw him first!” she would yell back, “No, I saw him first!” (Not.)

After weeks of debate that did nothing to settle the matter, we knew the only option was to share Cheyenne. At night, after everyone was in bed, we lay awake in our twin beds and took turns imagining scenarios then relating them, about life in the mid-1800s and our respective courtship with Cheyenne Bodie. Usually, we incorporated silly scenes that sent us both into hysterics.

The trouble was, Mama was a light sleeper. If her bedroom had been anywhere but across the hall, our giggles wouldn't have awakened her. But, with our luck, that's exactly what happened.

She'd yell from her bed, “If you girls don't quieten down and go to sleep, I'm coming in there. And you are NOT going to like it!”

I hate to admit this, but a couple of times she did march across the hall. When she stood over us, between our beds,  pointing her finger at us, we pretended to be fast asleep. It saved us, but my heart beat so loud I was sure she heard it. After, “Okay, this is your last warning!” she swept out of our room and back to hers. Out of sheer terror, we shut our mouths and willed ourselves to fall asleep.

Clint Walker will turn ninety this month. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I still have the glossy picture of him (from his fan club) in a billfold I carried through junior high. It's even autographed, “Best Wishes.” And for what it's worth, Jewell does NOT have his picture.

Eat your heart out, Sis.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, please leave a comment and tell us who your favorite heart-throb was. Some of us were born decades later, so we will have varying ideas on which guys made the list. Still, 'm sure our blog readers would love to compare our crushes with theirs.

                                            ****************************************

If you enjoy a romance with multi-faceted characters who get themselves into  humorous situations, along with an intriguing plot, BENEATH A MACON MOON is the story for you. 

Click on link below.

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Macon-Moon-Laurean-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00UZXUL88/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

When Jaela Andrews learns distressing news, she packs her bags and heads to Macon. But if she thinks she will find solitude and a quiet place to rethink her life in the Victorian home, she is wrong. 

Enter Eric Larsen, the Handyman, who is renovating Jaela's refuge. Sparks fly over the noisy tools. And who could guess the hilarious situations they fall into? You will laugh, you will cry.

Can a rich girl find common ground with a simple carpenter? The chemistry and attraction are strong, but is their mutual love enough to make it work?

I Kissed A Boy And I Liked It!

Hey. I'm so happy you stopped by Smart Girls Read Romance today. We're talking about kissing! Yes, you heard that right. And...romance cut its teeth on kissing.

Have you noticed how many books these days have the word "kiss" in the title. I mean, I'm not personally promoting kiss books, but take a peek:

3:00 a.m. Kisses, French Kiss, Blood Kiss, Kiss Me Like This, Sealed With a Kiss

Okay, you get the idea. Lots and lots of books are themed around 'kissing'. 

Bet you didn't know that the technical term for kissing is:

                                         ~ Osculate ~

Encarta Dictionary: to kiss somebody

RhymeZone: to touch with the lips or press your lips against someone's mouth or other body part.

Oh, yeah? I'm diggin' this RhymeZone definition. *wink* Other body parts?

Little known facts about kissing

* A kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, and even euphoria.

* Kissing may have evolved from a primate mother’s practice of chewing food for her young before feeding them mouth-to-mouth.

* Some scientists theorize that kissing is crucial to the evolutionary process of mate selection.

* Lips may have evolved first for food and later applied themselves to speech.

* Scientists believe kissing can be addictive

* Five cranial nerves that affect cerebral function are at work when you kiss, shuttling messages from our lips, tongue, cheeks and nose

* Kissing unleashes a cocktail of chemicals that govern human stress, motivation, social bonding and sexual stimulation.

* Kissing boosts pulse and blood pressure; pupils dilate, breathing deepens and rational thought retreats.

Did you ever think kissing could be powerful enough to do all that? More recent studies show 59% of men and 66% of women admit there were times they were attracted to someone until they kissed them. “Bad” kisses did not factor into the equation, but rather those participating in the study indicated they just didn’t “feel right” about the kiss. The relationships ended abruptly after the lip-lock. (Otherwise known as "the kiss of death" hee hee)    

Kissing, it turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourages bonding between people. Both men and women had a decline in cortisol (a chemical associated with stress) after 15 minutes of kissing.

Men tend to think of kissing as a prelude to copulation (Come on, you're kidding me, right?) Men also prefer “sloppy” kisses. They admit to getting off on exchanging saliva to transmit testosterone, thereby increasing the sex drive in both partners. (Sneaky little devils).

Overall, the science of kissing *philematology* is still vastly under researched, but scientists are making great strides in this regard. And all along we thought we were just making contact with our mouths.

I saved the best picture for last. Ah, that first kiss. Please tell us in the comment section about your first kiss. (I just know these are going to be hilarious). You can even sign off as Anonymous.

Happy kissing!

Speaking of kissing, there's lots of it in the book I'm promoting this week:

Chasing the Dead

Western Romance/Suspense

 (of course it has a ghost! And he's scary) 

In 1884 New Mexico, Madrid Arrende finds herself kidnapped by the Apache. Determined to rescue her, her wealthy father realizes there is only one man capable of bringing her back alive...Deacon Bannister. Deacon doesn't give one whit about the large sum of money Don Erasmos Arrende has offered him to find his daughter. He only cares about bringing the woman he left at the altar a year ago home.

A ghost is terrorizing the Apache village and the young maiden, Sacheen, has been banished by her People for unleashing Uday's wrath. Now, Deacon, Madrid and Sacheen must flee for their lives across the rugged New Mexico landscape with the evil spirit in hot pursuit.

Will they make it back alive to Madrid's father's hacienda or will Deacon lose Madrid forever?

                      

           AVAILABLE AT ALL RETAIL STORES       

My Sultry Childhood Journey #romance #books

Welcome to Smart Girls Read Romance. I’m Keta Diablo, a romance writer and reader. Often writers are asked, “When did you first know you wanted to be a writer or, when did you start writing?” I’m pretty sure the writer in me was awakened in the 7^th grade. To find out how, read all about it below.

(Oh, and this is my first time posting on this FAB blog. Thanks so much to all the wonderful authors who contribute to Smart Girls Read Romance.)

My Sultry Childhood Journey . . . .

Have you ever heard a word that somehow reminds you of a certain time and place, almost like a Déjà vu? Take the word ‘sultry’, for instance. Sultry reminds some people of steamed heat or an image of Marilyn Monroe standing over a street vent, her short skirt billowing about her. The dictionary says sultry means to be hot with passion or to be capable of exciting strong desire. Sultry can also mean sweltering or torrid.

I’ll go with sweltering, the sweltering heat of the deep South and a wonderful book called To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the seventh grade, my teacher placed that book on my desk, along with a handwritten note that said: “Read this, Keta. I think the book will open many doors for you.”

At the time, I thought the note strange, but then Miss Holmquist was a strange woman. (She had too many idiosyncrasies to list here). Still, the missive piqued my interest. How could books open doors and why did I want to read about some old lawyer in a small southern town? What’s more, what kind of people  named their children Jem and Scout?

I took the book home and several days passed before I opened it and read the first line, When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. Hmm, this Ms. Harper Lee, whoever she is, had grabbed my attention with that opening. I wondered who Jem was and wanted to know how he broke his arm.

From that moment I was hooked – mesmerized with the story, in awe over the character names, Boo Radley, Aunt Avery, Dill, Atticus, Calpurnia, and even the young girl named Mayella. To this day I’m in awe of the plot, the personalities, and the vivid descriptions of the town and the people who lived there. I think I’ve read the book a thousand times (slight exaggeration).

So why does the word “sultry” remind me of To Kill A Mockingbird? Because for the first time in my life I realized that by simply turning the pages, I could feel the sultry heat of another place, taste the hostile prejudice of human beings and agonize over the hatred between black and white.

“So what did you discover after reading this book?” Miss Holmquist asked me two weeks later.  I didn’t know where to begin. Should I tell her about the rollercoaster of emotions I went through while reading it? Should I ask her why the jury convicted Tom even though he was innocent? Maybe I should tell her how much I admired Scout when she diffused an explosive situation between Atticus and the old-timers of the town with a simple, “Hey there, Mr. Ewell, how’s your boy, Henry doing?”

I didn’t ask her any of those questions, but I did tell her the book evoked feelings in me I didn’t know existed. I told her about the bitter taste in my mouth over a word called prejudice, and I told her I actually felt the hot, sultry sun of Maycomb County.

Some days, I wish I could go back to 7^th grade and ask Miss Holmquist if she knew that one day To Kill A Mockingbird would be one of the best-loved stories of all time, that it would earn many accolades since its original publication in 1960. I’d ask her if she thought it would win the Pulitzer Prize one day and be translated into more than forty languages. And Miss Holmquist, do you think it will sell more than thirty million copies worldwide and be made into an enormously popular movie? 

 You know, I think Miss Holmquist would have said, “Yes, I do think Miss Lee’s novel will achieve all those things and more, but the most important thing, Keta, To Kill A Mockingbird will transport you to the sultry heat of the deep south and will take you to places you never dreamed existed.”

And to that I would say, “Thank you, Miss Holmquist.”

Famous Quotes from To Kill A Mockingbird:

"There's too much risk in loving," said the young boy. "No," said the old man, "there's too much risk in not." Atticus Finch

"Real courage is when  you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway to see it through. No matter what." Harper Lee

"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts." Scout

"If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they all get along with one another?" Jem

I love to write about Native Americans, cowboys, animals and…ghosts. While going over my back list of books recently, I realized how many stories included furry friends and dead spirits (most of them evil).

My two most recent stories also include both.

A Ghost To Die For

Contemporary Romance/Paranormal

Do you believe in ghosts? Rooney Fontaine doesn't—or didn't until one named Stuart Granger showed up in her hotel room. Now the humorous, yet desperate,apparition is begging her to find the men who murdered him before his brother becomes their next victim.

After serving three tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq,Stephan Granger is no stranger to risk and peril. When a woman shows up at his house rambling about ghosts, murder and assassins, his first inclination is to deem her wrong in the head and send her packing. But how does she know things that happened to him and his dear departed brother in their childhoods, secrets they never shared with anyone?

Soon after he invites her in to hear more about what really happened to Stuart, gunfire splits the air and shatters all the windows in the house. Someone is trying to kill them. Now they're on the run from assassins while trying to find out who killed his brother and why they want him dead too.

Even amid murder and mayhem, sometimes you find love.

Here on Amazon 

Comes An Outlaw

When a tragic accident claims her husband's life, Jesse Santos must find a way to keep the ranch, the only home her 12-year-old son has ever known.  The ranch hands have abandoned her, a gang of cutthroat ranchers want her land and an ancient Yaqui Indian insists a spirit has taken up residence in the house.

After a fifteen-year absence, her husband's brother, Coy, returns to his childhood home. He doesn't plan on staying, and he certainly doesn't intend to settle down with a widow and her son…no matter how pretty she is.

He's an outlaw, after all, and made a decision to put an end to his gun-slinging days long ago. Will his conscience let him walk away from family, or will his heart overrule his head?

Here On Amazon 

Thanks so much for stopping by Smart Girls Read Romance.

Hope to see you next month!