May Brings Complications, Not Flowers

Yes, overcoming challenges is what I've been doing since the beginning of 2022.

Life is complicated and frustrating sometimes, isn't it?

That's what I've been dealing with plus writing a book about blogging.

Just Since May 1

Our younger daughter had surgery. Everything was going well for a few days then 4 days later she ended up in the ER due to a fever. She's fine now, but I was worried for a while.

It wasn't enough that our daughter had surgery, my big strong husband developed a hernia a few days later after loading and unloading heavy landscape rocks he'd brought from the ranch to start landscaping our yard in town.

Less than a week later, a week ago today in fact, he was in surgery having the hernia repaired. So I've been playing post-op nurse for the entire month and trying to finish my book on blogging tips.

My brain is completely overloaded with content for my blogging book so I'll tell you about it then go to bed since I have to get up at 3 in the morning to give Darling Hubby his pain med.

Blog Ops: Be a Better Blogger

I've been a blogger since the century turned. My book of blogging tips is designed to help you blog easily and learn to love the activity instead of dreading it.

Blog Ops publishes June 5, and costs only 99¢. It's available for pre-order now.

Here's the quick blurb.

For more than 17 years, Joan Reeves, a NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, has been blogging as a ghost blogger, a member of group blogs, and the writer and publisher of her own blog, SlingWords. 

Now, she's sharing concise, specific tips to help you not only be a better blogger but also to enjoy blogging rather than looking at it as a tedious task. The book will give you many ideas for content so you're not constantly wondering, "What do I blog about?"

If you have an old blog that needs rescuing, BLOG OPS will show you how to breathe life into it. If you started a blog and don't know how to keep it going when the initial excitement wanes, BLOG OPS will give you a strategy to keep it fresh and vibrant.

In case you think blogging is dead, think again. It's alive and well and paying rewards to those who utilize it smartly.

Now I'll grab a quick nap while I can.

Have a wonderful May!

Reading aloud

 by Rain Trueax

 

We took down the last of Christmas-- the tree-- on Epiphany, which seemed an appropriate time given the story of the Wise Men. At first our home seemed incredibly sparse without all the greens, but I've settled back into it. I love this simple little house and feel grateful many times just walking into a room that is so us. It is full of art and furniture collected over many years with no idea it'd end up here when it was purchased. It's not finished as in changes may come, but that's the beauty of life. We can change.

Earlier this week, I got curious regarding how many books we had together read in 2020, our way to escape into other worlds. My husband and I began reading aloud, taking turns, last January and it has proven a good experience. Previously, Ranch Boss (need a new name for him that relates to the desert since our son is running the ranch) had done very little reading aloud; so it was a new experience for him, which he came to like. We often talk over what we read when we are finished with the snippets. People did this for many centuries, once books were available (before that maybe they related myths), but then other entertainments became more appealing. I think this is one that bears a new look as a way to share. It might seem odd that a romance writer would choose all nonfiction, but I think it's really very typical and the ways we do research.

 

Our choices were all nonfiction, some originally published as articles in literary or nature magazines. Many were kind of memoirs-- sharing a small part of the authors' lives. They are set in the Southwest with a couple of exceptions. Most we had already owned. A few led us to buy a book that carried on a theme. A couple I had to buy that I knew I owned in Oregon, but a used version was cheaper than asking our son to find them and mail them down here. I didn't think to write titles down as we finished them last year but we searched them out. They are not in order. Two of them we mailed to our son for him to read (the first two below).

The Happiness Equation

The Dude and the Zen Master

The Desert Year

The Hidden West

Chulo

Taos Memory

Home is the Desert

One Life at a time, Please

Book of the Hopi

Pumpkin Seed Point

The Desert Smells like Rain

The Dancing Healers

The Theft of the Spirit

Kindling Spirit.

I was surprised to find we had read 14 with one more that we started in December but didn't finish until the new year. I might write more about it-- unless something else comes up for next Saturday.

Sweet Scent of Giveaways by @JoanReeves #SmartGirlsReadRomance

I'm not in the office today. Actually, each day this week has found me leaving home early and arriving back late--just like a regular commuter--except I'm commuting to doctors' offices.

So I decided to give some books away.

I have 2 Amazon Giveaways, and they're both Instant Wins. Plus, I have a 99 cent sale that started today on Scents and Sensuality.

(No Purchase Necessary. Official Rules. Just click the link to enter and you'll see immediately if you win. Giveaways end the earlier of Mar 1, 2017 11:59 PM PST, or when all prizes are claimed.)

(1) For a chance to win an Amazon Kindle copy of my new release, Last Chance New Year, A Moment in Time Romance Short Story, just click here to enter and see if you win.


(2) For a chance to win an Amazon Kindle copy of FRIDAY IS CAKE DAY, a collection of 52 cake recipes from 3 generations of family bakers, plus a dozen frosting recipes to mix and match, click here to enter and see if you win.

99 Cent Sale on Scents and Sensuality

From now through Feb. 20, my romantic comedy, Scents and Sensuality, is on sale. Amanda Whitfield is a perfume designer who's desperate for a date to her cousin's wedding, scheduled for Valentine's Day of course.

That desperation kicks off a chain of events that's funny and romantic when she meets Harrison Kincaid, a software millionaire who's tired of his matchmaking mom's schemes.

Amazon Reader Review

Amanda is a beautiful perfumer who can't seem to find a man. She needs one desperately as a date for her cousin's wedding.

Harrison has no trouble attracting women, but his mother is tired of waiting for him to settle down and believes Amanda could be Ms. Right. When she offers her son as Amanda's date, Harrison resents her matchmaking and sets out to sabotage her efforts--until he meets his date and realizes he's made a mistake that he can't easily put right.

Meanwhile, Amanda is pretending to be someone she isn't in order to hold his interest. As they grow closer, being honest with each other means discovering truths about themselves.

Great fun to read, this novel crackles with delicious sexual tension and humour. Joan Reeves has a flair for snappy dialogue and creating characters that come alive on the page. Vivid descriptions make you feel like you're in the room watching it all unfold. A satisfying romance.

Post Script

Joan Reeves is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Sassy, Sexy Contemporary Romance. Her books are available at all major ebook sellers with audio editions available at  Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. In 2017, new print editions of her books will be published.

All of Joan's books have the same underlying theme: It's never too late to live happily ever after. Joan lives her happily ever after with her hero, her husband, in the Lone Star State.

Sign up for Joan's mailing list/free NL and receive a free ebook. Find Joan online: Blog, Website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

New Release! Plants For A Medieval Herb Garden in the British Isles

I finally did it! After abundant research, writing, and seemingly endless revising, my first herbal is available in kindle at Amazon.  I initially embarked on this undertaking last year for the workshop I gave focused on herbs and medicinal plants of the British Isles. Participants were so enthusiastic, as have many others, that I was inspired to go all out and turn this project into a much longer work. No small effort, but I enjoyed the process and learned a lot along the way. I’m always learning because this is such a vast trove of material to delve into.

 I’ve also had fun choosing images lo illustrate this book. Some are photographs of our garden taken by Elise, many are royalty free images I purchased, and a few are in public domain.  I hope you enjoy Plants For A Medieval Herb Garden in the British Isles. A lot of these plants were brought to America with the early colonists and are widespread here now. Others are well and truly British and Scottish.

Elise did the gorgeous cover.

Book Description:  An illustrated collection of plants that could have been grown in a Medieval Herb or Physic Garden in the British Isles. The major focus of this work is England and Scotland, but also touches on Ireland and Wales. Information is given as to the historic medicinal uses of these plants and the rich lore surrounding them. Journey back to the days when herbs figured into every facet of life, offering relief from the ills of this realm and protection from evil in all its guises.~