A Goodbye to My Mother by Bea Tifton

 My blog is late, because I have struggled to write it, dear Reader. My amazing, beautiful, clever mother passed away May 1st,  and my heart is broken. 

I have so many wonderful memories of my mother. One of the earliest is when I was three years old. Each year Mom made Christmas cookies. She made some shaped like the state of Texas, and I was thrilled when she told me I was old enough to put the little candy circle right where we lived on the cookie. I felt so grown up and privileged. My mother absolutely loved Christmas. Our house was bursting with decorations, store bought and hand made. We had things I made at school, things family members had sewn, and lovely things Mom had bought along the way. Each year we would go look at Christmas lights, and this continued into my adulthood. But when I was a little girl, Mom would make a yearly trek to this craft/hobby store called Arnold's. It was in a strip mall built to look like houses so it was like going to a little village. Arnold's was a magical place with all these wonderful displays and items to purchase. I especially loved the doll house section. Mom would let me wander and look by myself. And then we would go to downtown Dallas to drive around and look at the elaborate Christmas displays in the store windows, especially the site of the original Neiman Marcus. 

My parents treasured knowledge. Both voracious readers, they read to me from infancy, and I became a reader early on. We would go to this strip mall library branch just around the corner from our grocery store. There was never any limit to how many books we could check out, just as long as we didn't get more than we could read before the return due date. And I was encouraged to ask questions. My mother answered my questions patiently and when it was relevant, she steered me to our set of encyclopedias or the dictionary. When it was time to write research papers, I was the only one among my friends who wasn't overwhelmed. And I truly think that this learning process and encouragement is partly why I became a librarian. 

We went to museums frequently, including on our vacations, as well as numerous historical sites. My parent made history seem relevant and vivid. But when I asked an odd question, my mother never laughed. She had hung a print of a Renoir portrait, "Little Irene"  in my bedroom. I was about three or four, and I stared at that portrait  many times as I was going to sleep and wondered and wondered. One night as Mom was tucking me in, I asked the burning question, "Why does that girl have a fish in her hair?" Mom looked startled, then looked closely at the painting. She said, "It does look like a fish. I never noticed that. But it's just the way her hair ribbon is tied. It's just a hair ribbon." She didn't me feel embarrassed or foolish. 

My mother loved antiques. When my sister was in school and I was small, we would go to an antique store close to her school and look around. Mom usually made small purchases, or simply looked, but one day she asked me to help her choose something to buy for the house. I choose a brass Kwan Yin statue. Mom put it in layaway and carefully paid it out. We moved so frequently when I was growing up but that statue was always lovingly and carefully packed. I have it in my living room now. Mom brought it when she and my father came to live with me. We continued to look at antique stores my whole life and I remember our first cream tea. We all dressed up and Mom took us to seemingly distant and exotic Dallas to a special tea room and it was a real event. I still have a love of antiques. Mom and I had our own antique business for a few years and it was wonderful. 

Four and a half years ago, my parents moved in with me. My father's Parkinson's had progressed to the point of pain and he mourned having his own house. But Mom was thrilled. We are so similar that we had fun talking about everything. It was like having a slumber party every day, even as her own health declined much more than  she wanted her loyal readers and friends to know. We watched movies as a family each night and after my father passed away Mom and I continued to do so. We loved the same kind of things so we gleefully streamed old movies and British mysteries, with occasional Hallmark movies or episodes from HGTV shows thrown in. Mom's favorite movie and one of mine is "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." We watched it once a month. Every Thursday was pizza night. Nothing interrupted pizza night for us and Mom absolutely loved it for some reason. It feels weird not to order pizza now but I just can't bring myself to do so yet. We always had the same delivery man, a very nice Ukrainian man who was probably a teacher or a doctor or something in his own country. I wonder if he's noticed our absence. 

I've had vivid, intense nightmares my entire life. When I was a little girl, Mom would come and sit with me, holding my hand until I was able to fall asleep. But this last month has been a waking nightmare. A month ago Mom fell at home and broke her arm, so she spent four days in the hospital. The doctor wanted her to go  to a rehabilitation hospital, but she was too weak to stand by herself. You see, she had been grieving my father's death deeply since he died May 29, 2025. From Christmas on, though, she seemed to decline rapidly. She would sleep all day and I would wake her up to eat, then she would fall asleep again. I took her to doctors, encouraged her, and did everything I knew to do. She would rally herself to come watch movies each night. We did get a very good skilled nursing facility, the best in the city. They just happened to have a bed. She received excellent care. But that Wednesday night, the nurse called me right as I was about to go to sleep and told me they were sending her to the ER for "breathing difficulties." I met her at the ER and we spent the entire night with tests and breathing treatments, then she was admitted to the hospital late that night. The next day at 2:00 p.m. she was transferred to a hospice center. Then at 12:45 a.m. on May 1, the most important person to me in the world passed away. I had been sitting with her for two days, holding her hand so she wouldn't be scared as she fell asleep. 

Caroline Clemmons 1940-2026

Pexels.com
Olaga Solodilova "Cozy Christmas Mantel with Festive Decorations, Framed Art, and a Holiday Tree

Did You Pick A Hobby? Or Did A Hobby Pick You? by Laura Hunsaker

 I saw a meme online that said: Now that you're over 40, choose a hobby or one will be assigned to you.

Then it offered: 

Plants

Bird Watching

Hiking

Sourdough

Knitting/Crocheting

How true is this?

Birds. I seriously pay attention to birds now. Why? I never asked for this! And I enjoy it! I've been sitting in my backyard watching hummingbirds, doves, yellow finches, even a hawk! And today...boy are we in for a treat. Today I saw this cool looking bird (maybe a robin with that orangey-red chest?). I went to take a pic of him, and, well...I don't even know. Did he jump? 

I have no words for the silliness of this bird. But tomorrow morning when my dog and I sit outside after our jog, I'll have to see if this guy comes back. I've been doing my DuoLingo outside, maybe he's been listening in? I'll have to try speaking to the bird in Korean to see if he's been paying attention ;)


Tell me your hobbies! Did you pick up a new one recently? Or do you have a long-running one you'd like to share?


In my book Dangerous Past, Lark's hobby is her bullet journal, and I think she'd get a kick out of my bird buddy.

Amazon   |  Barnes & Noble   |  Kobo  |  Google Play   |  Smashwords  |  Goodreads

She’s running from her past…

Lark Seawell is the daughter of a serial killer. His reputation has long been a shadow looming over her since his arrest when she was a child. Especially since she’s the one who called the police. She has spent her entire life trying to live as anonymously and quietly as possible. She is not her father’s legacy.

He wants to be her future...

FBI agent Jay Sutherland is visiting a friend in a small mountain town when free spirit Lark asks for help with her injured dog. He is instantly enamored with her, and their one night stand stays with him far into the next morning, though Lark is long gone. When his partner realizes that she is the daughter of The Highwayman, Jay refuses to believe Lark is anything like her father.

What happens when she stops running…

When a trail of dead bodies follows Lark on her cross-country drive, the FBI believes she’s the killer. How can the sweet woman who rescues injured animals and makes him feel things he hasn’t felt in years be a murderer? The bodies don’t lie. Jay knows there’s more at play. If he’s wrong, and Lark is as much a monster as her father, he may be the next target…

*Author's Note: This book contains a sunshiney heroine, a gruff hero, a couple of goofy dogs, some intense action, and begins when a one night stand leads to more...

PRODUCTIVITY IS NOT A SYNONYM FOR HAPPINESS

    Have you recently discovered that having a stress ball isn't for throwing at people who stress you out? 

Everyone has stress. It's a response to challenges in life. And let's face it, a life without challenges would be dreary and boring.

If you’re a writer, stress manifests itself when you write and when you don’t. If the writing flows, we say we’re in the zone. When it stops, we agonize over how to kick-start ourselves. When we end a piece, we fuss over the editing process. And when we’re finally finished with it, we ponder whether our creation is worthy enough, then lapse into the insecurity of “what will we write next”?

I’ve decided, after a half-dozen books, there is no happy medium to getting the right balance in life that will completely relieve stress levels. But there are small things that everyone who is stressed can do to ease  anxieties.

We all know we have to eat healthy and exercise, but there are other things to consider. One is to stay as organized as possible, and simplify routines, commitments, and clutter. A messy desk doesn’t cause us stress. Not finding the papers we need which are buried in a chaotic heap on our desks causes us to stress.

We also need to let go of multi-tasking constantly and slow down. We’re in a society that says we can do it all. We want to accomplish a task, but not upset our family’s routine or our commitments to others, so we rush, rush, rush. Maybe it’s time to go back to the single task philosophy our parents used. Maybe it’s time to streamline our time and eliminate unnecessary commitments. Instead of the mental “to do” list which stretches for miles in our mind, it’s time to write down a realistic “to do” list and only put down five essential tasks we want to complete in a given time.                                                                                             

And lastly, here is my favorite de-stress idea. I’m giving myself permission to have free time for myself—whether it’s to do a hobby, read, travel, or just take time off from writing without guilt. Life doesn’t have to be about always accomplishing things—always placing the next word on the page or doing the next to-do chore. After all, productivity has never been a synonym for happiness.

            NEW RELEASE - Finding Love in Pine Valley  

 

 

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY  

 

New Release:  

eBook/Digital - Now Only $2.99

Print - 6.99

 

One More Time by Liz Flaherty

A couple of years ago, a book of my heart was released by a publisher that closed its doors only a few months in. The book had good reviews and good sales (by my standards), but it just didn't work out. So, in February, I released Pieces of Blue myself, as Singing Tree Publishing. 

It's still a book of my heart, it has a lovely new cover, and it's now Book 1 of Colors, the Harper Loch Trilogy. Book 2 will release in June. Because it's First in Series, Pieces of Blue is 99 cents. 

I am excited again, just as I was the first time. I'm re-using some blogs from then, too. I hope you won't mind seeing this one again. And if you missed Blue in 2024, I hope you'll give it a look in 2026. 

****

It was funny. Well, to me, anyway. I’ve lived in the same area my entire life. There were a few years of living in town when I was single and appreciated such things as convenient restaurants, movie theaters, and being able to walk to work because I didn’t have a car. Then a few more years in a subdivision because it was nice and had a good elementary school and the grocery store was just down the hill. Then—gasp—someone decided they’d build houses in the vacant lots behind us and my rural-upbringing mindset began to hyperventilate and we moved back to within five miles of my parents’ farm. We’re still here.

Oh, I forgot. I said it was funny. To me. A couple of years ago, someone mentioned Town Lake, saying it was less than 10 miles from here. But I’d never heard of it. Surely that was impossible, I insisted to anyone who would listen. I asked my sister about Town Lake. And she said, “Sure. It’s been there for as long as I can remember.”

Still fairly sure I was right and everyone else was wrong, we followed my sister’s directions. Off the highway onto the first road south of town…no, not that one, the other first one…then turn right…in, oh, a half mile or so. There might be a sign.”

There was. We had to back up to find it, but there it was. We turned right onto a little bitty road, drove back a ways praying we wouldn’t meet anyone, and voila! there was a lake! It was small and private with houses scattered on its periphery. There was a field across from it, a woods beside the road that led back to it.

By the time we turned around and headed toward home, I knew there was a story. Maybe not Town Lake’s story, but mine.

And Maggie North’s.

And Sam Eldridge’s.

A friend named the lake Harper Loch, and Pieces of Blue was born. I hope you like it.

Life comes in shades of blue...

Self-imposed loner, Maggie North, has worked for bestselling author Trilby Winterroad her entire adult life, starting as simply his assistant and ending up as his ghost writer. Through ups and downs--including a divorce from an abusive husband--he has been the one person on whom she could always rely. So when Trilby dies suddenly, Maggie finds herself adrift, not sure what she’ll do or where she belongs in the world any longer. And the confusion continues when she discovers he’s not only left her his beloved dachshund, Chloe, but a house she knew nothing about, on a lake she’s never heard of.

It only takes one visit for Maggie to fall in love with both the house and the small lakeside community. The longer she’s there, the safer she feels and the more her life begins to expand...as do her feelings toward her friend and Trilby’s attorney, Sam Eldridge.

But is she really safe? Or are the glistening pieces of her new life about to shatter as an old danger returns?

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aPNgxNO

D2D: https://books2read.com/u/491qMp

Touch Her And Die by Laura Hunsaker

 I was talking to my friend the other day, and we were talking about Alphaholes. I don't know how many of you were around for this, but in the mid-2000s the favorite type of hero was the Alphahole. He was an asshole, but he was an Alpha Male. While that term has been completely changed since then, what it meant was that he was a strong leader, who was maybe a bit bossy, didn't always explain, and sometimes he was an asshole, but he was always someone who took care of those under his protection. 

After that hero had his time, we saw so many more cinnamon roll heroes, and golden retriever heroes. But as the trends move quickly, sometimes they cycle. We saw the rises of the anti-hero, the morally gray hero, the touch her and die hero...

I think it's the same but with a new name.

I love a good morally gray anti-hero.

I realize that that's kind of an oxymoron, but I hope you all know what I mean. I'll use superheroes for my analogy lol

I think heroes like Superman, who are good, but also do things for the greater good, are the kind who would sacrifice for the world, for the greater good. Even if that meant sacrificing his love. He may never love again, but he knows he did the right thing. Heroes like Batman are married to their vengeance. But heroes like Iron Man who play by their own rules and have the power to make their own rules,  would maybe be more fitting. He would save his woman at the risk of his own self, as would all of the superheroes. They are always willing to put themselves on the line, but where he differs, is that he would burn the world down to save his love. 

That's what some of us want. Not in real life, because really, how many of these tropes/trends/heroes just wouldn't be something we'd want in real life. But knowing someone loves you so much he would let the world burn for you, is a heady feeling. My next hero is going to be one of those darker morally gray heroes and I'm so excited to write him. Especially since I'm writing a Golden Retriever hero at the moment for Echoes of the Past.

So now I turn it over to you. What type of trope or hero do you prefer? Do you love the Touch Her And Die trope? Do you prefer a cinnamon roll hero? Tell me in the comments!

And if you want the happily ever after to never end, check out my short story set in the Fatal Instincts world, Dreams of the Future. It's a wedding bonus story for Kate and Kyle from Dark Past.

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  Google Play  |  D2D  |  Goodreads

Kate Landry is soon to be Kate Donovan, if only the groom would show up…


Maid of honor Cara Nguyen wants everything to go smoothly for her best friend's wedding, yet almost immediately, the wedding turns into a fiasco. Kate and Kyle deserve to have the wedding of their dreams, and Cara wants to make it happen. How can she pull off the wedding of their dreams when the flowers are delivered to the wrong location, the groom is missing, and the lovely sunny day has become a sweltering hot mess? There’s a lot to do, and so little time to do it. She definitely doesn’t have time to get distracted by a sexy groomsman in a kilt.

Kyle Donovan is ready to marry the love of his life, but first he has to get back to the church…

Dash Helms is in the small town of Chester, California for his friend Kyle’s wedding. This should be a happy event, yet It seems everything is going haywire. A caravan of wedding guests breaks down on their way to the venue, one of the groomsmen misses his flight, and the wedding has to be moved inside. Yet the beautiful maid of honor is the only thing he can concentrate on. When Dash is asked to step in at the last minute as a replacement groomsman, of course he says yes. While the striking brunette walking down the aisle ahead of him wants nothing to do with him, even she can’t deny the sparks that fly between them.

With everything seeming to go wrong, what can go right?

In this wedding short story written for Kate and Kyle from Dark Past, the cast of the Fatal Instincts series comes together to celebrate their friends. With everyone in the same place at once, and romance in the air, can this small town handle them?

MARCH COMES MARCHING IN

                                    by Judy Ann Davis

Okay, I admit it, I’m not a fan of February. Every year, I wish it would fly by and push us into March. After the holidays, February brings holiday bills to pay, freezing temperatures in the northern regions, hibernation tendencies, snow, lack of light, more snow, colds, flu and then…more non-melting, dirty snow with ice. It’s a bleak, long, tedious month, despite the fewest number of days. But to February's credit, it ushers in March.

March in Pennsylvania is cheered on by the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, featuring rising temperatures, longer days, and vibrant, but unpredictable weather. It’s Women’s History Month, Ides of March, Johnny Appleseed Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Spring Equinox, and a full lunar blood moon that looks red on March 3^rd.

For me, it’s a joyful time. Rains will come, but they will leave.

I search my flower beds for new shoots and check the lilac buds to see if I’ll have blooms in April. Daffodils, crocus, snowdrops, tulips, and forsythia burst forth to color the dreary landscape. In the words of Bishop Reginald Heber: “Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.”

Rabbits scurry over the yard looking for tasty new shoots. The neighborhood possum checks out the fallen sunflower seeds below the bird feeder. Canada geese flying overhead sing their tunes of spring. Their sounds remind me to check my many birdhouses which may need paint or repairs before they can be hung outside.

March is the time to make time and do the things we love after a cold winter. You might find me scrutinizing the colorful seed packets on display at a local store—or staring into space and making a mental list of vegetables and herbs to plant in our bucket garden in May. Or maybe I’ll just stare at the blue sky and watch the clouds sail by in a brisk spring wind.

  

It’s March. It’s spring. Fresh breeze and warm sun. The best time for new beginnings is now.

                              NEW RELEASE - Finding Love in Pine Valley  

 

 

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY  

 

New Release:  

eBook/Digital - Now Only $2.99

Print - 6.99

Welcome, Sprinter, The Confused Season

It it Spring? It was 75° F. yesterday afternoon. Or is it Winter—it's 40° F. with a fierce north wind this morning.

My roses, azaleas, and plumbago are definitely confused. If they talked amongst themselves, they'd probably be saying, "My flowers are freezing their buns off." 

Spring? Winter? Welcome to Sprinter. Yes, here in Texas, we have 2 seasons colliding. 

In the morning, it's Winter, and after noon, it's spring, thus, Sprinter, the Confused Season. 

I'm supposed to be writing on the new book, but I've been engrossed in helping Darling Hubby design the workshop/art studio he wants to build as an addition to our garage.

Since I'm not an architectural drafter or a graphic artist, it's taken me a while to get the plans drawn up. That's my part of the project. Today we send off the plans and application to our HOA for approval.

Now, I can get back to the romantic comedy I'm writing. I should finalize the cover this week. That's taken some thought. While I was thinking about that, I did create a new cover for April Fool Bride. That's live now, and that book is on sale. I hope you'll take a look at it and tell me what you think about the new cover.

Reviews from B&N

Even though it's not sold on B&N' now because it's in Kindle Unlimited, here are a couple of reviews from readers there.

“I read a lot of books, but I only write a review on the ones I love. I thoroughly enjoyed April Fool Bride. 5 Stars!!” —Reader Review

 “The best thing about a Joan Reeves romance is that the characters come alive, making you feel what they feel.” —Nook Review

Oh, I also put up A+ Content on the Amazon book page for April Fool Bride, and I'd love to know what you think of it.

ENJOY SPRINTER

Now, I'm goint to bundle up, brave the pseudo winter weather, and go outside to work on the new "bulb" bed I'm installing on the west side of the yard next to the fence. 

I'm thinning the overcrowded purple iris bed to populate the new bulb bed. I'll probably bookend the new bed with red amaryllis, but I haven't decided yet what to plant as the background. Any suggestions?

Love to read? Subscribe to Joan's free newsletter, I LOVE READING, and receive exclusive content and news about book bargains and new releases. SIGN UP TODAY.