Below is the email I received notifying me that the book of my heart is nominated in Paranormal.  I hope that everyone will take a minute to vote for Sinners' Opera (cover by Elise Trissel)

 

Dear Linda Nightingale,

 

Because your book, Sinner's Opera, received the high review rating of a 4 star or better, it has continued to the second, public voting phase for the 2014 RONE Awards.  In this phase the readers will be narrowing down the contestants to  4 - 6 finalists in each genre by choosing the books they love best. 

 

This is to inform you that your book’s genre is open for voting from March 31 - April 6,2014!  It will only be open for votes for exactly one week, so it is extremely important that you let all your friends and fans know!  We would hate to think a superior quality book was lost only because people were unaware of the time limit,  so we are including the link for voting so you can pass it along!

 

http://indtale.com/2014-rone-awards-week-four

 

The finalists in this round will then be read and judged by a group of professionals in the industry to determine the very best in indie and small published books of 2013.  They will then be awarded the prestigious RONE award, itself, at the formal ceremonies, July 11th, at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

As you can tell, we at InD’tale magazine went to extensive labor to create and present the most credible and prestigious award in the industry today.  Our three round system of elimination covers every facet - highly reviewed, loved by fans, and critiqued by qualified judges.  No other award system today begins to compare, making the RONE award the very highest of honors bestowed on a book in the publishing industry.

 

Thank you so much for submitting your wonderful book to InD’tale magazine and good luck!

 

Sincerely,

The InD’tale Magazine staff

When I started revisions on Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides, my story didn't click until I found my true hero.

If you've seen the cover (above), my pinterest page about the book, or the trailer, you've seen Paul Walker is my chosen muse for the character of Trent Wellington. One of the deciding factors for choosing Paul wasn't just that he's handsome, oh and believe me he is, but it was discovering the man beyond the movies.

In addition to his movie endeavors, he founded Reach Out Worldwide whose mission statement reads: "REACH OUT Worldwide is a quick-response, mobile first aid organization aiding in rescue and recovery after major natural disasters around the globe."

Their relief efforts have helped with Tornados in Illinois, Alabama, and Oklahome City, the Colorado Flood, and Typhoons in Haiyan and the Philippines. It's amazing to see such a humble man who cared so much then give of himself, not to mention how far reaching his efforts have gone.

But his story doesn't end here.

In my opinion, Paul is not the only hero in the Walker family. Enter Cody Walker.

I'm using his official Facebook Bio here with his permission:

I'm the youngest of the Walker siblings. I grew up in So. Calif and graduated from La Canada High School in 2006. I then went on to Santa Barbara City College and eventually graduated from UCSB with a Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology. Immediately after graduating I earned my EMT certification from UCLA center of Prehospital Care and moved up to Oregon where I pursued schooling to become a Paramedic. For the last two and half years I worked on an ambulance as an EMT and then in June of 2013 I completed school and became a licensed Paramedic. At that time I continued with the ambulance and began working as a Paramedic.

This in and of itself is a remarkable man. And again, the story doesn't stop here.

In light of the loss of Paul Walker who passed away on November 30, 2013, Cody made a life changing decision to make sure his brother's legacy lived on. He packed his bags and moved back to California: "to give ROWW all I've got. I wanted to make Paul proud in life, and I want him to look down on ROWW now knowing that its future is bright. I look forward to working with the ROWW team and fulfilling the unmet need."

Paul Walker will be truly missed, but his legacy lives on in his beloved brother, Cody. Way to go Cody, my new hero.

Please join me in supporting Cody Walker and Reach Out Worldwide and help make a difference. I will be donating a portion of the profits of my debut book to ROWW...anyone else???

Bless you Cody!

deb

Some excellent deals today, and let's begin with those of us who love to dine out at the Melting Pot. In honor of National Cheese Day, take a moment to visit the Melting Pot's website and sign up for Club Fondue. Between 3/31-4/2, you may receive a coupon for a free cheese fondue at their restaurant. Amazon.com is offering the Office Suite Professional 7 app for Android at no cost, (regularly a $14.99 value) Also free on Amazon's Kindle today: "Googling Earth, Using Google Earth." Enjoy! Favorite quote: "I can't afford to save any more money."

Hi everyone, I love free. So, I've just registered for a new website: yerdle This is a free stuff swap, and you simply browse the categories and request an item. The item is free, and may be new or (gently) used, and all the buyer pays is a shipping fee. Everyone start out with 250 credits, which is more than enough to "buy" a few items. Sign up on Facebook or Google and check it out. Two free books for today on Amazon's Kindle: "Accounting for Non-accounting Students", a $125.00 value, and "Mastering Digital Photography." Enjoy! Favorite quote: "I can't afford to save any more money."

Some umphteen years ago when I started on this bumpy journey as a writer, I thought all I had to do was write a good book and then another and another and my career would be all rainbows and roses. I’m content to work at home and be by myself. In fact, I love being home and setting my own hours. But, HA HA! It didn’t take me long to realize that writing a good book was only half the job of being a published author, at least it is in today’s world.

An author not only has to write, edit and sometimes publish their own work, but they also have to market themselves, 24/7/365. (I had written almost but backed that little word out) GONE are the days where publishers backed every author they published with publicity team. GONE are the days where maybe a hundred books were published a month and your stories were easily found by libraries and book clubs. GONE are the book tours and huge book signings where the book store owners were all happy to have you in their store and told their customers weeks ahead that you were coming. We have websites and Facebook Author pages and newsletters and tweeter feeds and Pintrest boards and my space and...... (HOLDING MY HEAD)

I don’t know about other writers (And I hope writers reading this throw their two cents in) but I find the task of ‘putting myself out there’ every single day draining. Not just tiring, but muse sapping. When I'm working on a book, I'm working on that book 24/7-thinking and writing. To make my creative muse think of what to write for a blog, a tweet or a FB post is detrimental to my real purpose. But you must soft sell yourself every day, otherwise readers seem to forget you in their social circles. With a click of a key, your dropped from their watch-lists.

Working the social media is time consuming. Some writers I've heard only spend a twenty minutes on social media. I can't do that. I’m the type of person who if a reader takes the time to connect with me, I want to answer them. And when another author re-tweets or shares my posts, I try to remember to share their news with my circle. When you have thousands of people as friends and twenty or fifty connect with you, how can you do it all?

I can see why STARS need a whole staff whose job is to connect with their fans for them.

So tell me, if you’re a writer, how do you handle social networking?

And if you’re a reader, do expect the person your following to answer you ASAP, or at all?

********

AMAZON BESTSELLER PERFECT Now available also at B&N

Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides has been released, March 3, 2014. I'm promoting it. It's selling. What's next?

I had planned this as a 3 book series, and luckily I have book 2 and 3 done...ONLY...my editor said, "What about Angel?"

I felt like I'd been hit over the head with a sledge hammer. I'd never given her a thought past her part in this story.

So I started asking myself questions. What's her story? Where did she come from? How did she end up running a bridal/intimate apparell/adult store? I thought it might be fun to do a novella between book 1 and 2. I suggested it to my editor. Her response, "Do you think you can say it all in a novella?" I should have listened good and hard to that question. I made a goal for myself and planned to do the novella for NaNo. Figured about 75 pages and I did it. But when I asked for some critiques, they said, it needs to be longer.

The hardest thing I've ever done was to turn a novella into a full book. Holy Moses...filling in gaps, fleshing out backstory, adding everything necessary is driving me insane...yeah, like I need any help.

I have 45K words, the rest is plotted and all my plot points have been added where I need to fill in. With any luck I'll be done in a week, ready to polish and get to my editor.

What's next: Book II - Antics, Antidotes, and Angel

Travis Wellington has everything a successful man could want. He's first in line for the Wellington empire, millions at his disposal, and he can have any woman he wants. That is...until he meets Angel Talbot, who wants nothing to do with him. What's a man to do?

Angeline Talbot, Angel to her friends. Angel is hiding from a past she can't let go of. Her focus is currently on her business and trying to re-open her bridal salon. Angel runs Angeline's an intimate apparel shop that also has a decadent supply of adult paraphernalia and the genius to know how to use it. When Travis' past comes back to haunt him the Blue-hair Brigade come to the rescue, but will Travis and Angel survive the Blue-hair Bridage?

I hope you'll be as excited as I am when you finally meet these two and go on their crazy journey while they fight for their "Happily Ever After."

Have a great day.

deb

         Scarlet loves a party and Mama Mary is right along with her! Bring your appetite! I have chocolate and cheese and homemade sweet potato chips!

A Romance Caper & you’re invited! There will be prizes! 

We're having a come as you are party, clothes optional!

We'd love for you to come by and talk about our books and about romance! 

Mary Marvella & M. J. Flournoy!

Guest authors include Carol Burnside, Anna Kurtz Steffl, Linda Nightingale, Jodi Vaughn, & more.

Sunday, 3/16/2014 from 2 PM - 10 PM Eastern https://www.facebook.com/ARomanceCaper

I know what I'll wear!

Do you see this precious beautiful face. That's the face of my adorable, granddaughter, Kylie. I just love her and her brother to bits. She and Donivan are the light of my life. They keep me laughing with all their shennanigans.

Here's a couple of examples, picture this then you decide.

Just last week my 8 year granddaughter asks:

Kylie: Mama can I use one of your cake pans to make my Barbie a hot tub?

Me: Sure, use the round ones, the sides are higher.

Kylie gets the pan out then goes to the sink and proceeds to fill it with cold water. Carefully takes it to the dining table then puts my blue fuzzy scarf around it and looks back at me.

Me: raised eyebrows trying to hold back laughter.

Kylie: What? Barbie needs privacy.

Me: (laughing) I don't know why you're worried about her privacy when you filled her tub with cold water, she's going to freeze her butt off.

Kylie: (without missing a beat and with a straight face) She's plastic Mama, leave the comedy for your books.

This is also the kid who, less that two months after her baby brother was born and began stealing her attention, made me laugh so hard I cried.

Kylie's mom, Amber, was on the couch watching television with me. Donivan (2 months old) had been asleep but woke up crying with a dirty diaper and hungry, so his mom sat on the floor ready to change his diaper. Kylie tried to crawl into her lap, wanting attention.

Amber: Kylie move, Mommy has to change Donivan.

Kylie scootches closer.

Amber: Move honey, Mommy needs to change your brother, he stinks.

Kylie: Moves sits on the floor and starts to pout.

Kylie tries again to climb on her mommy's lap.

Amber: Kylie, come on, let me get done.

Kylie: Flings her head back against the couch, covers her eyes as only a 2-year-old can do and cries, "He's ruining my life!"

Amber and I looked at each other and started laughing...I ended up with tears running down my cheeks

I believe true happiness is the ability to laugh at anything. With these kids, I feel like life is about to get a whole lot funnier?

Thanks for letting me share the rantings of an amused Grandmother.

I hope y'all have a great day!

deb

We’ve all heard the old adage, ‘When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. ‘ The saying is an optimist’s advice to a pessimist on navigating the hard times of life. But how much lemonade can one person make? Or drink?




If you’re going to keep it for yourself, I guess you’d get tired of the drink real fast. The smell of lemons would sicken you. The acid would burn your skin. Sweetness would be lost on your taste buds. But, if you plan to share the lemonade with your family or friends, you could make a little more, right? Others might be able help you put things into perspective. Maybe help tweak your recipe.

And if you decided to look beyond those first thoughts and think outside of the box, you’d realize you could experiment, develop a really great, unique recipe for lemonade and share it with the world. Doing so, might lead you down a path you’d never thought of taking. One that might be the sweetest road you’d ever traveled.




Cheers!


I posted this blog four years ago when I was at a very different place in my life. I thought it preachy at the time but really it's not. It’s the thought that we always need to strive to learn from the bad and good things that happen to us and strive to be a better friend to our self and to share our gifts with others.


www.autumnjordon.com

In her post below, Autumn fondly remembers her grandmother. My new herbal is dedicated to my own dear Grandmother Mack who knew the names of every tree and wildflower, beyond what I can summon, and would be proud of my efforts. 

Finally, after abundant research, writing, and seemingly endless revising, Plants for a Medieval Herb Garden in the British Isles is available in kindle at Amazon. Daughter Elise did the gorgeous cover and is working on getting this into print, but with over 100 images in the herbal, that will take some doing.

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 been many who follow my blog, 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 to 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.

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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.~

March 7. 2014

March 20 is the first day of spring. While a few signs of its arrival have been sighted NE PA, it's doesn't seem so close. Layers of ice cover most of the area. Sadly this year, Punxsutawney Phil was right on. However, we'll take hope in the small things.

Spring brings many memories to my mind. One is my grandmother. As soon as the weather broke and the coal stove was dampened down and the windows open to let fresh air breeze through the house, it was time for spring cleaning. The furniture was moved back and the carpets rolled up and taken outside and hung over the wash line. It was the younger childrens' job to bat the heck out of them. The carpets wouldn’t be brought back into the house until the last a spec of dust fell from its fibers.

While the carpets were handled, drapes, furniture cushions, and pillows found their way to the wash line too. The venetian blinds were stripped from the windows and put into huge tubs of sudsy water. Grandpa was called if any repairs had to be made. This was the time, before the real work began.

Once he was done, and his tools put away, the furniture was brushed and wiped down. (They didn’t have vacuum extensions during this time period. Grandme’s vacuum was huge and roared like a T-Rex.) Dust Bunnies were rounded up. The furniture was move to the center of the room. The walls were stripped of all adornments and then, came the hot soapy water. The walls wiped sown. Hot soapy pine water was used on all the wood work. And, hot vinegar water was use to scrub the windows. Newspaper was used to dry them and make them shine. Finally the floor was scrubbed.

Only after the room passed Grandme’s inspection was everything put back into place. Then it was onto the next room.

While the women worked inside the men were busy outside. The house was taken care of before the spring planting could begin.

Spring cleaning usually took a good four days, but by Sunday all the chores were done and we could relax and enjoy a Sunday dinner in a sparkling home.

So a the next few weeks, like my grandmother and my mother, I’ll begin my spring cleaning. My job will be made easier by modern conveniences. I can’t wait to smell inside the freshness of SPRING.

Disclaimer: I’m not as old as this blog might make me seem, but this is my grandmother I’m blogging about. She had her ways and her tools and we helped doing the job her way.

For a great weekend read to warm your heart, try PERFECT