Safe and Sane Thanksgiving by @JoanReeves #SmartGirlsReadRomance

I'm posting something completely different from what I had planned. I feel compelled to add my voice of caution to many others in the hope that readers will heed this advice.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and find a way to celebrate Thanksgiving without risking anyone's health.

Yes, COVID19 is on the rise again. Many have grown complacent and aren't as vigilant as back in the summer when we were all trying to flatten the curve.

The cases in Texas have exploded, especially far west of here in the El Paso area. After reading a post by my friend, Bonnie Edwards, who revealed how COVID19 surged after the Canadian Thanksgiving, I changed our holiday plans.

I've postponed my trip to visit my brother. Our family get-together for Thanksgiving and Christmas will now be by video. I don't want to be responsible for risking the health of anyone I love.

No Norman Rockwell Holiday

That's okay. We'll make it special. In the afternoon when everyone is digesting the big dinner and/or napping, read a romance novel and be swept away to a land where there is no COVID.

All of the authors of Smart Girls Read Romance, including me, have an Amazon Author page with their books listed. Pick one to read and have a wonderful holiday!

NEWSLETTER

I'm online! Follow me or just say hello!

Joan's Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Facebook 

Twitter | Website | YouTube.

"These are the Times that Try Men's (And Women's) Souls" ~Thomas Paine

July 2020 is one of the warmest I recall in the Shire, as I call our idyllic valley, and it's dry with hit or miss (mostly miss) thunderstorms. Covid remains a threat, seemingly forever. I almost expect reports of zombies, considering how this year is going. But the mega challenge in our family is my dear daughter Alison undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer at 38. She's also on oral chemo, but the IV infusion is the bad boy, administered over a period of hours with a calcium magnesium drip before and after and mega anti nausea meds. It still hits her hard. A bigger worry than the nausea and exhaustion is the effect this med is having on her nervous system, which is why the timing of the dosage is being tweaked.

I spend much of my time at Alison's house (only a short distance from mine) helping out with her, my three grandchildren, and the house--mostly the kitchen, under frequent assault. The kids, already heavily curtailed by Covid, are more so with an unwell mom who really doesn't need it. Keeping boredom at bay is a daily thing, but they are creative children. Yesterday, nine year-old, soon to be ten-year-old, Chloe fashioned herself a bow and arrow from sticks, tape, and twine. She and her cousin, my ten-year-old grandson Owen, who also made one, strode off with their bows and arrows like young contenders in the Hunger Games. They were proud.

I often bring Chloe and her older brother, Colin, to the farm in the afternoons. Their other braver grandmother keeps two-year-old Charlie on Alison's bad days, and for her medical battery stuff. He's as cute as he can be but tantrum prone, depending on how he's feeling, and an exceedingly busy boy. He 'gets on my nervous' as big brother, Colin, used to say, climbing on the tops of things and leaping off. Plus plus. Colin did the same. Have you hung out with a moody super active two year old lately? It's not for the faint of heart. They don't have the sense God gave a goose and I envision accidents at every turn. Then Charlie smiles endearingly and gives me a hug and I wonder why I have a problem?

About Covid, I've been hiding from this monster for months and see no end in sight. My hair is more silver than brown now and longer than it's been in years. I may never see my hairdresser again. But that doesn't really matter. The main thing is that Alison gets to the other side of this cancer journey, victorious, and we escape Covid. My daughter-in-law, Charity, an ER nurse, had it this spring and thought she might die. Noooo thank you.

We're all just doing our best to get through a rotten time. Alison's treatments should end by Christmas--we hope. Guess that all depends. Meanwhile, the enthusiastic support of friends, family, and the community is very heartening. People regularly bring meals to Alison and her family, do the laundry, bring flowers and little gifts, send cards, run errands, boost morale and uplift her (and us all) in prayer. It's kind of like when Winnie the Pooh was stuck in Rabbit's hole after eating too much honey and his friends rallied round and sang sustaining songs. That's the only way to manage in these challenging days. I don't know how anyone gets through anything without support. I call it circling the wagons. Country people do that very well. And of  course, I've got my furbabies.

As ever, the garden uplifts me and many others, despite the heat and bugs. After the beetles pass, the roses will bloom again in a flush of glory before frost. Zinnias are coming on strong, as are salvia and dahlias are setting buds. The sunflowers are a golden forest. And I've ordered more tulip, crocus, and hyacinth bulbs to plant this fall, as I'm of the opinion you can never have too many. I don't recall a spring where I failed to be cheered by crocus shining in the sun, or daffodils bending in the breeze.

Beauty is never wasted. Remember that. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever..." John Keats

I should mention that I actually managed to do a little writing this past week, but my opportunities are limited these days and I'm often too tired to be creative. But it will come.

#StayAtHome is great for #reading! by @JacquieRogers

Stay At Home:

A Challenging Opportunity

by Jacquie Rogers

So far, 2020 has been a challenging year for me, not just personally but also world-wide with the COVID-19 pandemic.  There are few people alive who remember the last pandemic of this scope: the Spanish flu in 1918.  Most of us live in states with a Stay-at-Home order, or some call it "shelter in place."

Looks like it's time to prepare for planting!

Whatever you call it, we're home and we'll be here for a while.  Whether you say "stuck at home" or "home for a holiday" is a matter of perspective.  As writers, we're very familiar with perspective, it being probably the most important of all writing skills--to tell a story from inside a character's head.  This time, the story is told from my own perspective.  Scary, eh?

The thing of it is, most writers are just happy as can be when they're "forced" to stay home.  Now, whether any writing gets done (um, that would reference family members who are also home) is a whole 'nother question.

Whether you're a reader and/or a writer (all writers that I know are also avid readers and booklovers extraordinaire), this is a great time to catch up with our TBR piles.  And heck, why not buy a few more books?  We have nothing but time on our hands, after all.

So when the Facebook group Pioneer Hearts decided to have an April Fool's Day sale, I was all in.  I dusted off the first book of the Hearts of Owyhee series, Much Ado About Madams.  Normally $3.99, this book is on sale for only 99¢ for two more days.

Oh my stars! 

Suffragist Lucinda Sharpe can’t believe she was hired to teach a bunch of soiled doves their letters. And what about the handsome brothel owner? Only a despicable cad would engage in such a business.

Blast that woman! 

Reese McAdams didn’t want the brothel in the first danged place, and now a suffragist schoolteacher is stirring up the works.

Can Lucinda reform the Comfort Palace ladies without losing her heart? 

Will her secret past ruin her future?

Much Ado About Madams is the first book in the Hearts of Owyhee series, has won several awards, and has 75 four and five star reviews such as: "What a great plot and hilarious character development this story has. The dialogue is just naughty enough to be funny. I laughed out loud during many of the scenes. I highly recommend this book for a fun, light-hearted read." (Grammy, Amazon Reviewer)

To see the other five books in the Hearts of Owyhee series, go to the bottom of this page.

What am I working on now?  It's called Aurora's Treasure and I can't say much about it yet (because it's a multi-author project) except the main character, Aurora Valentine, was one of the brides from Much Ado About Mail-Order Brides.  So even though the new book is fantasy romance, it's still connected to the Hearts of Owyhee series.  See how I did that?  LOL

Okay, it's time to get back to work.

Happy reading!  

Jacquie's Website | Amazon author page | BookBub

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

Pickle Barrel Bar and Books on Facebook

If you're on Snapchat, friend me!  My handle is jacquierogers.  You can get videos of Sassy's latest updates there.  And goofy pictures of her scribe.

Keep up with Jacquie Rogers' latest news at the

Pickle Barrel Gazette!
Honey Beaulieu - Man Hunter series

Hearts of Owyhee series